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☆ How Elon Musk upended Twitter and his own reputation in 6 months as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But it’s not clear just how and when Musk might return Twitter to growth. Musk’s primary plan to grow Twitter’s business through an overhauled subscription strategy has resulted in much chaos but only a limited number of actual subscriptions. In the process, Musk has also upended his own reputation. Disrupting the digital town squareFor years, what differentiated Twitter from other social platforms was that it served as a central hub for real-time news. Tesla (TSLA) shareholders recently complained to the company’s board that Musk appears “overcommitted.”“His reputation has been diminished significantly with Twitter … and once you lose it, it’s very difficult to recover,” Klepper said.

☆ Oil mixed as recession fears are tempered by U.S. inventories
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ahmad Ghaddar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. crude oil stocks fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the week ended April 21, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday. Analysts had expected crude inventories to fall by about 1.5 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week while distillate inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels, the sources said. U.S. crude oil stockpiles have been falling since the middle of March as refineries have increased runs to produce more gasoline ahead of the peak summer demand period that starts in May. This has pushed WTI futures prices into backwardation, when prompt futures are higher than later-dated futures, reflecting the higher refinery demand.

Companies First Republic Bank FollowApril 26 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Wednesday after plunging more than 2% in the previous session as reports of falling U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories refocused investors on robust demand in the world's top oil consumer. Brent crude climbed by 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.07 a barrel by 0358 GMT. U.S. crude oil stocks fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the week ended April 21, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday. Analysts had expected crude inventories to fall by about 1.5 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell 1.9 million barrels last week, while distillate inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels, the sources said the API reported.

☆ Major Gulf markets mixed in early trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Wednesday amid rising recession fears in the United States, with the Saudi index on course to end five-day winning streak. U.S. Consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in April, a survey showed, intensifying concerns of a potential recession. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.3%, on course snap a five-session gains, hit by a 1.1% drop in oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE). Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) retreated 0.6%, weighed down by a 3.2% slide in Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAR.DU). U.S. crude oil stocks fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the week ended April 21, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday.

☆ Data-hungry AI models could help Reddit valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reddit’s data, as it benefits AI models, may be just the catalyst that it needs. Reddit plans to introduce a new revenue stream to supplement what it already earns from advertising. While Alphabet, say, won’t want to sell data to Microsoft, Reddit is going to be willing to create a competitive market. And on that basis, it would need to get just 40 customers to nearly double the $350 million revenue it made in 2021. It would take some mind-bending when Reddit tries sell shares to public investors.

☆ Oil slips on economy worries, despite upbeat China data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Alex Lawler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Crude was also pressured by the Iraq federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) taking a step towards a resumption in northern oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan after they were halted last month. Brent crude fell by 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $84.58 a barrel by 1336 GMT, giving up early gains. "As things stand, it's all systems go in China, much to the relief of those betting on higher oil prices," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. But the prospect of another increase to U.S. interest rates, which has been supporting the U.S. dollar, remained a drag on sentiment. Analysts expect U.S. crude inventories to fall by about 2.5 million barrels and also forecast declines in gasoline and distillates.

☆ This startup that automates SME invoices with AI just raised $8 million. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Triver used to raise the fresh funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The startup was founded by former Funding Circle executive Jerome Le Luel and is backed by Stride.vc. A London-based startup that will provide instant working capital to SMEs has emerged from stealth with an $8 million funding round. Like most forms of short-term working capital, financing solutions for the SME market are often expensive and time-consuming. Most providers run checks based on e-commerce data, but Le Luel believes that Open Banking data allows for better risk and analytics modeling. The company wants to launch its platform within this quarter and said that it had a "line-of-sight" to a very profitable business by 2027.

☆ Oil prices steady as strong China data offsets US rate worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

2 oil consumer China offset concerns that possible increases in U.S. interest rates could dampen growth in the top consuming country. China's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 4.5% in the first quarter while oil refinery throughput rose to record levels in March, data showed. The dollar eased on Tuesday after the upbeat China data. Most traders, however, believe that the recent crude price rally is in need of a correction, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. Crude prices posted gains for the last four weeks, a streak not seen since June 2022.

☆ Reddit to AI companies: Pay up if you're using our content
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reddit said it plans to start charging companies for access to its data that is used to train AI. Major players in the AI race like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google train AI models using Reddit's data, NYT reported. "The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable," Steve Huffman, cofounder and CEO of Reddit, told The Times. Huffman told The Times that Reddit's API will still be free for developers building applications to help people with using Reddit. Most developers and third parties who use Reddit's API have been notified by email, the company said.

☆ Activist investor urges Getty to partner with Meta, Microsoft to grow revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Meta Platforms Inc's logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationApril 17 (Reuters) - Activist investor Trillium Capital said on Monday stock-photo company Getty Images Holdings Inc (GETY.N) should expand and create partnerships with technology firms and publishers to grow its revenue. Last week, Trillium asked Getty for a board seat and urged the company to evaluate strategic options including a sale. The investor, which holds more than 500,000 shares of Getty, said the platform should expand its library of generic stock photos to special events including religious functions, weddings, graduations and family celebrations. Trillium also listed Nvidia, Microsoft, Adobe and Meta as potential takeover suitors for the company.

☆ Amazon is ‘investing heavily’ in the technology behind ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon wants investors to know it won’t be left behind in the latest Big Tech arms race over artificial intelligence. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “investing heavily” in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, the same technology that underpins ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots. Since ChatGPT was released to the public in late November, Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all talked up their growing focus on generative AI technology, which can create compelling essays, stories and visuals in response to user prompts. With that in mind, Amazon on Thursday unveiled a new service called Bedrock. It essentially makes foundation models (large models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data) from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon accessible to clients via an API, Amazon said in a blog post.

☆ Twitter partners with eToro to let users trade stocks, crypto as Musk pushes app into finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told a Morgan Stanley conference last month he wants Twitter to become "the biggest financial institution in the world." Twitter will let its users access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets through a partnership with eToro, a social trading company. With the eToro partnership, Twitter cashtags will be expanded to cover far more instruments and asset classes, an eToro spokesperson told CNBC. We believe this partnership will enable us to reach those new audiences [and] connect better the brands of Twitter and eToro." Founded in Israel in 2007, eToro is an online brokerage that lets users buy and sell stocks, cryptocurrencies and index funds.

☆ Oil rises 2% on lower-than-expected US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Prices rose about 2% on Tuesday. The CPI rose 6% year-on-year in February. Markets shrugged off a small build in U.S. crude oil stocks, attributing it in part to a congressionally mandated release of oil from the U.S. emergency reserve and lower exports at the start of the month. Meanwhile, the global oil market could see tightness in the second half of 2023, which would push oil prices higher, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. In a negative for oil demand, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook, citing the impact of higher interest rates.

☆ Oil edges up as market awaits key US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Muyu Xu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on Wednesday as the market waited for U.S. inflation data later in the day that will likely influence the Federal Reserve's policy on future interest rate hikes. The U.S. consumer price index is expected to show March core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis (USCPF=ECI) and 5.6% year-on-year (USCPFY=ECI), according to a Reuters poll of economists. In another negative for oil demand, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook, citing the impact of higher interest rates. In addition to the inflation data, the market is waiting for more clarity on oil demand and supply with monthly reports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency due on Thursday and Friday respectively. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday cut its forecast for oil production by OPEC countries by 0.5 million barrels-per-day for the rest of 2023 and cut its 2023 world oil demand growth forecast by 40,000 bpd.

☆ Oil steady as market awaits key US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Muyu Xu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices were mostly steady on Wednesday as the market waited for U.S. inflation data later in the day that will likely influence the Federal Reserve's policy on future interest rate hikes. The U.S. consumer price index is expected to show March core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis (USCPF=ECI) and 5.6% year-on-year (USCPFY=ECI), according to a Reuters poll of economists. In another negative for oil demand, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook, citing the impact of higher interest rates. In addition to the inflation data, the market is waiting for more clarity on oil demand and supply with monthly reports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency due on Thursday and Friday respectively. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday cut its forecast for oil production by OPEC countries by 0.5 million barrels-per-day for the rest of 2023 and cut its 2023 world oil demand growth forecast by 40,000 bpd.

☆ Oil steady after surprise build in U.S. crude stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Wednesday after industry data showed an unexpected build in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories, offsetting concerns about tightening supply ahead of output cuts by OPEC producers. In a sign of market tightness, U.S. crude futures have flipped into backwardation, with the front month contract trading 6 cents higher than the second month. Brent crude fell 5 cents at $85.57 a barrel by 0029 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 6 cents to $81.48 a barrel. Prices had risen about 2% on Tuesday on hopes that the Federal Reserve might slow its policy tightening after U.S. consumer prices data releases on Wednesday. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said he feels the U.S. central bank may soon be done raising interest rates, while Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said he believes inflation, now at a rate of 5% by the Fed's preferred measure, will get to "the mid-threes" by the end of this year.

Summary Dip in China consumer inflation points to weak demandU.S. inflation report due on WednesdayComing up: API data on US crude stocks at 4:30 p.m. Brent crude futures settled up $1.43, or 1.7%, to $85.61 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose $1.79, or 2.2%, to $81.53 a barrel. read moreA U.S. inflation report to be released on Wednesday is expected to help investors gauge the near-term trajectory for interest rates. OPEC output will fall by 500,000 bpd in 2023, then rise by 1 million bpd in 2024, after the group's output agreement expires, the Energy Information Administration forecast on Tuesday.

☆ Meta's WhatsApp rolls out business payment tool in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Andre Romani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, April 11 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) on Tuesday began rolling out its payments tool to small and medium-sized firms through its WhatsApp messaging platform in Brazil, part of Meta's strategy to use the Brazilian market as a key test space for business messaging. The development of business messaging has become all the more urgent as Meta's core advertising business has stalled. The tool will initially be available for some merchants that use WhatsApp Business. While Brazil is the first country to have the service launched for small businesses using the free version of WhatsApp Business, in India, WhatsApp's largest market, users can make payments to businesses that use the application's paid API. WhatsApp users in Brazil have been able to make payments between users through the app since 2021, and last year, Meta launched a commercial directory for WhatsApp in Brazil, allowing users find companies with business messaging accounts.

☆ Oil steady on China demand concerns with US inflation in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Noah Browning | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary China consumer inflation drop points to weak demandU.S. inflation report due WednesdayComing up: API data on US crude stocks at 4:30 p.m. Brent crude futures slipped 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $84 a barrel by 1102 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures eased 12 cents, or 0.1%, to $79.62 a barrel. A U.S. inflation report to be released on Wednesday could help investors gauge the near-term trajectory for interest rates. "The short-term crude demand outlook will soon be clearer. "Wall Street should have a strong handle on the trajectory of the economy after it gets a pivotal inflation report."

Summary China consumer inflation drop spurs stimulus casePOLL-US crude, product stockpiles seen down last weekComing up: API data on US crude stocks at 4:30 p.m. ETCHENNAI, April 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday on expectations of potential economic stimulus by China, healthy demand in the rest of Asia and a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. Brent crude futures rose 64 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.82 a barrel at 0557 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 67 cents, or 0.8%, to $80.41 a barrel. Crude futures also climbed as the dollar eased on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is getting closer to ending its rate hike cycle. Signs of strong fuel demand in India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, in March also supported prices.

ETSINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday on expectations that inventories in the U.S., the world's biggest crude consumer, are expected to fall and on signs that demand in emerging markets remains healthy. Signs of strong fuel demand in India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, in March also supported prices. On the U.S. supply front, industry data on U.S. crude stockpiles is due on Tuesday. Oil prices fell on Monday after rising for three straight weeks, after U.S. jobs data pointed to a tight labor market, heightening expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike that could curb oil demand. Rate hike expectations boosted the U.S. dollar index on Monday and Tuesday, which weighed on oil prices as dollar strength makes oil more expensive for other currency holders.

ETApril 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as market participants weighed supply cuts from OPEC+ that would tighten the global market against concerns about further interest rate hikes potentially hurting demand. Investors were awaiting a slate of reports on inflation, oil demand and supply due this week that could give the market direction. Rate hike expectations boosted the U.S. dollar index on Monday and Tuesday, which weighed on oil prices as dollar strength makes oil more expensive for other currency holders. In U.S. supply, industry data on U.S. crude stockpiles is due Tuesday. Also coming up are monthly reports from OPEC on Thursday and the International Energy Agency on Friday, which will update oil demand and supply forecasts.

☆ Instagram's creator marketplace could see an influx of brand deal opportunities as it opens up to 3rd-party platforms and agencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram is now onboarding third-party influencer-marketing platforms and agencies. Despite being less than a year old, Instagram's test of a creator marketplace has already had its share of ups and downs. That means Instagram's creator marketplace could potentially see an increase in brands and paid opportunities for influencers in the coming weeks. Agencies will be able to communicate with creators directly via Meta's Creator Marketplace. InstagramTikTok's creator marketplace made a nearly identical move in 2021 when it brought on "alpha partners" such as Influential, Whalar, and Captiv8.

☆ Elon Musk and Substack are beefing. Here's a rundown of the back and forth between the Twitter CEO and the blogging site.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Twitter users began noticing Substack links were being suppressed beginning Thursday evening. One of these claims is that Substack was trying to "download a massive portion of the Twitter database," Musk wrote on Twitter Saturday, to help support its recently announced Twitter competitor, Substack Notes. Thursday evening: Users begin reporting that Substack links are being suppressedSubstack bloggers who use Twitter to promote their work began noticing Thursday evening the Substack links seemed to be suppressed on Twitter, and Twitter users who tried to interact with posts that contained Substack links would receive an error message. Saturday: Musk clarifies that Twitter never blocked Twitter notesMusk clarified in a tweet early Saturday that Substack links were never blocked on Twitter. In the same post, Musk called Substack Notes a "Twitter clone" and claimed that Substack was "trying to download a massive portion of the Twitter database to bootstrap" their new feature.

☆ 5 ways GPT-4 is better than older versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI has announced its much-anticipated GPT-4, available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Its viral chatbot, ChatGPT, was previously powered by GPT-3.5. On Tuesday, Microsoft said its AI-boosted Bing had been powered by a version of GPT-4 that was "customized for search." The updated chatbot is still not immune to "hallucinations," a tendency for AI to generate false responses or reasoning errors. The company added that the updated chatbot could learn a user's writing style.

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