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☆ Amazon announces 'Bedrock,' its ChatGPT and DALL-E rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon announced on Thursday its generative AI toolkit called "Bedrock," a ChatGPT and DALL-E rival. Amazon Web Services customers can use Bedrock to build chatbots, generate text, and create images. AmazonThe announcement comes after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in his annual shareholder letter that his company is betting big on generative AI. As generative AI tools have become more widely available to the public, people have flocked to tools like ChatGPT to start their own businesses. Amazon is the latest big tech giant to release generative AI tools along companies like Microsoft and Google, which launched their own versions of AI chatbots earlier this year.

☆ YouTube TV contractors in early stages of organizing say they're being held in 'captive meetings' to discourage unionizing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

YouTube TV contractors are in the early stages of making a push towards unionization. The YouTube TV contractors' efforts follow that of their colleagues in YouTube Music. In response, Cognizant held two "captive meetings" with the YouTube TV team in the past two weeks to dissuade them from organizing, contractors say. Contractors working for Cognizant say they've been told they should not take these new signs down. In the past year, more than 300 Starbucks locations organized under the Starbucks Workers Union.

☆ Premarket stocks: Main Street investors bet on comeback for regional banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Forget the banking crisis — Main Street’s retail investors have barreled into embattled bank stocks. At the same time, he said, institutional investors, the so-called “smart money,” have been trading out of volatile regional bank stocks. That could mean bad news for those who are betting they’ll see big returns on regional bank stocks. This is a risky move for retail investors, said Iachini, and a speculative play. We’re not seeing a meaningful recovery, at least yet, for regional bank stocks, he said.

☆ China reluctantly keeps sanctions powder dry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet most trade measures Xi has taken so far are best seen as defensive tactics to protect market share from aspirant rivals in the West and India. The easiest option is picking on America’s $120-billion-plus of direct investment stock in China. Of course, that is no way for China to revive the decaying quantity and quality of the investment it receives. Chinese officials consistently say they welcome U.S. trade and investment and there is no reason to doubt them. The move comes after the United States implemented multiple restrictions on sales of chipmaking tools and components to China.

☆ Australia's Latitude Group opposed to paying ransom to cyber attack criminals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 11 (Reuters) - Australian consumer finance firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (LFS.AX) will not pay a ransom to those behind a cyber attack last month, saying it will be detrimental to customers and cause harm to the broader community by encouraging further attacks. "We will not reward criminal behaviour, nor do we believe that paying a ransom will result in the return or destruction of the information that was stolen," Latitude said in a statement on Tuesday. Latitude, which provides consumer finance services to retailers Harvey Norman (HVN.AX) and JB Hi-Fi (JBH.AX), had also taken its platforms offline. Several Australian firms have reported cyber attacks over the past few months, which experts attribute to an understaffed cyber security industry. Reporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Florence LoWASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The leader of a U.S. congressional committee on China said on Monday he was concerned about electric carmaker Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) dependency on China, a day after the company revealed plans to open a Megapack battery factory in Shanghai. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives' select committee on China's Communist Party, said he would like to know how Tesla's CEO Elon Musk balances U.S. government support for Tesla and its operations in China. "I'm concerned about this," Gallagher told Reuters when asked about the battery factory. "Tesla seems entirely dependent, A, on the largesse of the federal government via tax breaks, and B, upon access to the Chinese market," Gallagher said. Tesla generated $18.15 billion in revenue from China last year, accounting for over one fifth of its total revenue.

☆ I never thought I'd go into business. Now my sugar wax brand is on shelves in Ulta — here's what I've learned so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I grew my sugar wax business using TikTok, and now Sugardoh products are in Ulta Beauty stores across the US. Eventually, that became the basis of Sugardoh — educating people about sugar wax and how to use it safely for hair removal. While debating my options for waxing as a college student in 2016, I found sugar wax, basically the number one do-it-yourself hair removal option on social media. I also realized that sugar wax was more sustainable than other options. Through social media, I was hearing about customers' experiences with hair removal, so I used that to educate buyers on what I was seeing.

☆ India Asserts Itself on Global Tech Deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tech firms such as Google look set to face heightened scrutiny if they try to expand their presence in India. India wants to have a seat at the table vetting overseas mergers and acquisitions as the country asserts itself on the global tech stage. If the country’s internet population is anything to go by, it is about time. Earlier this week, India authorized its antitrust regulator to parse global deals by approving amendments to the competition law, which includes a requirement for companies with substantial business operations in the South Asian nation to seek antitrust permissions for all deals exceeding 20 billion Indian rupees ($244 million) in transaction value. Until now, the Competition Commission of India examined deals based on companies’ asset size and turnover.

Public Investment Fund LIV Golf Trump World Performance54 LIV Golfers PLUS 45 OTHERS CONSULTANTS LAWYERS McKinsey & Company PwC Public Investment Fund Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan White & Case M. Klein & Company Teneo Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Majed al-Sorour Newcastle United Aramco Golf Saudi Benjamin Quayle Yasir al-Rumayyan Ari Fleischer Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LIV Golf Performance54 Trump World Greg Norman Donald J. Trump Gary Davidson Jed Moore Eric Trump Jared Kushner LIV Golfers Cameron Smith Phil Mickelson Dustin Johnson PLUS 45 OTHERSLIV Golf has cleaved men’s professional golf like no other force since the 1960s. Some of the world’s top players, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, have become the faces of LIV Golf. The Public Investment FundDiagram of the major figures in LIV Golf that are connected to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund. LIV Golf Trump World Eric Trump Jared Kushner Donald J. Trump Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund.

☆ Legal and finance jobs are among the most at risk from AI, while construction and trade jobs face minimal influence, studies suggest
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While the studies predicted advances in AI tech could also improve labor productivity and create jobs, they said some industries would likely be more affected than others. The researchers used a benchmark that matched specific work tasks with AI capabilities to calculate the results. They estimated that about 46% of work tasks in the sector could be automated. FinanceBanks are already incorporating AI tech into their day-to-day business operations. The Goldman researchers estimated that about 29% of computing and mathematical tasks in the US and Europe could be automated.

☆ Micron says operations normal in China amid government review
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) on Monday said that its business operations in China are normal while it is cooperating with a Chinese government cybersecurity review of its products. Last week, the Cyberspace Administration of China said it would conduct a security review of Micron's products sold in the country. The move comes amid a deepening rift between the United States and China over chip technology that has left companies caught in the crossfire. Micron is the only U.S.-based player in the global market for memory chips and is building a new $15 billion factory in upstate New York. Chinese companies have also been working to break into the memory market, but the U.S. last year restricted export of chipmaking tools to the country.

☆ NBA’s Miami Heat sheds FTX from its arena’s name
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —The home arena for NBA’s Miami Heat is getting rid of FTX in its name, months after the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s fall from grace. Security software company Kaseya acquired naming rights for the formerly named FTX Arena in a $117 million deal. The Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County ended their relationship with FTX and began to search for a new naming rights partner the day the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy. The arena was renamed FTX Arena in 2021 after the company reportedly entered a $135 million, 19-year deal. Kaseya is headquartered in Miami and is the first local company to receive naming rights to the arena, according to the statement.

☆ Western Digital reports network security incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Data storage devices maker Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) on Monday said it is looking into a network security incident, after a breach in some systems disrupted parts of its business operations. The unauthorized party obtained certain data from its systems, and Western Digital is working to understand the nature and scope of that data, the company said in a statement. The company said the incident may cause further disruption to its business operations, and is implementing measures to secure the operations, including taking systems and services offline. The company also said it is working with law enforcement authorities, following its own investigation with outside security and forensic experts. Reporting by Yana Gaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Thomas White/IllustrationMUMBAI/NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - A surge in India's services exports, which hit a record high in the October-December quarter, is expected to shield the economy from external risks as a slowing global economy will likely weigh on the country's merchandise exports. Services exports will likely surpass goods exports by March 2025, he said. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsIT services still accounted for 45% of India's total services exports in April-December. EXTERNAL SHIELDThe continued rise in services exports is likely to help rein in India's current account deficit. There is room for further growth with India's share in world commercial services exports currently just at around 4%."

[1/2] Dressmaker Faieza Caswell from Mitchells Plain sews under candlelight in her workplace, on the Cape Flats due to South Africa's struggling power utility company Eskom, implementing regular power cuts - called 'load-shedding', in Cape Town, South Africa February 11, 2023. South Africa's relatively wealthy, developed economy and nearly three decades of political stability helped drive industry growth and draw in reinsurers. And they are now tightening the conditions of their agreements with insurance companies. Reinsurers are also pushing insurance companies to include so-called "named perils" in policies rather than offering blanket cover for catastrophes. Grid failure would plunge South Africa into a nationwide blackout that could last weeks.

☆ Crown Resorts' data vendor hacked, limited number of its files impacted
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest casino operator Crown Resorts said on Monday it was investigating a data breach at its third-party file transfer service, GoAnywhere, in which hackers obtained a limited number of Crown's files. "We were recently contacted by a ransomware group who claimed they have illegally obtained a limited number of Crown files," a spokesperson of the formerly listed firm said in a statement. "We can confirm no customer data has been compromised and our business operations have not been impacted." Suspicious activity at GoAnywhere was identified by U.S. cybersecurity firm Fortra nearly two months ago, that offers the service, and has impacted many organisations including mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.AX). Crown Resorts was bought out in a $6.3 billion deal by U.S. private equity giant Blackstone Inc last June.

☆ Everyone in Washington is talking about a TikTok ban. But is it really a national security threat?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

However, more than two years after the Trump administration first issued a similar threat to TikTok, evidence remains unclear about whether the app is a national security threat. “Regarding privacy, we also did not see the TikTok app exhibiting any behaviors similar to malware.”TikTok has cited Lin’s research as part of its defense. He also repeatedly noted that TikTok does not collect more user data than most of its peers in the industry. TikTok later confirmed the incident and ByteDance fired several employees who had improperly accessed the TikTok data of two journalists. “And governments around the world are ignoring their duty to protect citizens’ private information, allowing big tech companies to exploit user information for gain.

☆ Is Nvidia's high valuation justified? A cautious fund manager gives two reasons to own the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

NVDA 1Y line Nvidia's business model centers around selling high-performance graphics processing units that are essential for running the algorithms behind artificial intelligence technologies. While Mortimer acknowledged that Nvidia is currently his most expensive holding in the $580 million Guinness Global Innovators Fund, he expects data center and cloud computing sales to continue rising. The fund manager also pointed toward Nvidia's profitability advantage relative to its peers as a reason to own the stock. According to Mortimer, this rare feature gives it an edge over competitors who may struggle with balancing these two factors. Mortimer joined Guinness Global Investors in 2006 and also manages the $3.8 billion Guinness Global Equity Income.

HONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) on Wednesday announced plans for the restructuring of its $22.7 billion in offshore debt, which could set a template for distressed rivals and shape investor sentiment on the country's embattled property sector. The world's most indebted property developer gave creditors a basket of options to swap their debt into new bonds and equity-linked instruments tied to two Hong Kong-listed companies, Evergrande Property Services Group (6666.HK) and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708.HK). With more than $300 billion in total liabilities including offshore debt, Evergrande has been at the centre of a property debt crisis in which multiple Chinese developers defaulted over the past year, forcing many to enter debt restructuring talks. "The proposed restructuring will alleviate the company's pressure of offshore indebtedness and facilitate the company's efforts to resume operations and resolve issues on shore," Evergrande said in the filing. Evergrande, which began one of China's biggest debt restructuring processes early last year, said on Monday that a key bondholder group had agreed to its proposed terms.

☆ Lawmakers say TikTok is a national security threat, but evidence remains unclear
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

If there’s a risk, it’s primarily concentrated in the relationship between TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, and Beijing. TikTok has been erecting technical and organizational barriers that it says will keep US user data safe from unauthorized access. “Regarding privacy, we also did not see the TikTok app exhibiting any behaviors similar to malware.”Are there other security concerns? TikTok later confirmed the incident and ByteDance fired several employees who had improperly accessed the TikTok data of two journalists. “And governments around the world are ignoring their duty to protect citizens’ private information, allowing big tech companies to exploit user information for gain.

☆ 20 years of digital transformation, as seen by an IT expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Goto | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Back then, the average person would hear the term "remote support" and probably think it meant getting help for their TV controller. Jaromi said he has seen teams increase their productivity between 20% to 50% by letting GoTo Resolve's efficiencies work for them. For SMBs, GoTo Resolve can often be their main IT presence. But Rescue and GoTo Resolve have constantly stayed a step ahead, building in the most secure layers possible. Looking to the futureOver his 18 years at GoTo, Jaromi has seen the company endure significant changes, from being an upstart innovator to an established industry leader.

☆ SVB listed remote work as a business risk before it collapsed. That's 'a convenient excuse,' experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

'A convenient excuse'The SVB report noted employees may struggle with work-life balance while remote, which could lead to "reduced productivity and/or significant disruptions in our business operations." "Remote work itself is not the cause of performance issues," he tells CNBC Make It. Experts say a drop in employee performance has more to do with leadership than working remotely. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which took over SVB, told workers to continue working remotely, except for essential workers and branch employees, per Reuters. Remote work isn't the only thing hindering productivity

☆ 3 reasons why a major student-loan lender thinks millions of borrowers should be thrown back into repayment, with or without debt relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Student-loan lender SoFi filed a lawsuit to end the student-loan payment pause. The administration pushed back on the lawsuit, saying the payment pause is legal. Here are three reasons why SoFi thinks it's time for millions of student-loan borrowers to start paying off their debt. SoFi has suffered revenue loss from the payment pauseSoFi laid out direct harm the student-loan payment pause has caused its business. If the court does not end the entire student-loan payment pause, SoFi is asking that borrowers ineligible for broad relief reenter repayment and place a permanent injunction preventing the Education Department from giving those borrowers additional relief.

☆ Binance continues to get more popular with Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX out of the picture, despite increased regulatory scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance is extending its dominance in crypto trading since FTX collapsed in November. Its market share grew to 61.8% in February from 59.4% in January, CryptoCompare data showed. According to data from CryptoCompare cited by CoinDesk, Binance increased its market share for the fourth consecutive month in February, growing to 61.8% from 59.4% in January. Coinbase was a distant second with trading volume of $39.9 billion, down 29% from the prior month, and Kraken was third with $19.3 billion, down 11%. Meanwhile, former rival exchange FTX continues to wade through bankruptcy procedures and is effectively out of the picture as far as competition.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Y Combinator alum Opkit, a health insurance verification startup, used to raise funding from investors like Plaid CEO Zach Perret's VC firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Opkit is a startup that helps telehealth companies verify and process patient health insurance. Software engineers Sherwood Callaway and Justin Ko first met as early employees at the fintech startup Brex and became fast friends. As more telehealth companies were popping up after the pandemic, they often had issues with quickly processing patient health insurance for care, Callaway told Insider. Opkit also offers providers an insurance dashboard, that allows telehealth employees to perform eligibility checks or inquiries to insurance companies about specific patients' plans. "Opkit was our first experience doing venture fundraising, and Y Combinator really helped us make connections with investors," said Callaway.

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