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☆ Silicon Valley presented AI as a noble research tool. Now it's all about cold, hard cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tech firms once had the luxury of pursuing expensive AI research. It's a sign that companies hope AI will play a greater role in boosting revenue. The Financial Times reported that the company axed a team involved in protein folding research as part of its massive restructuring program, which Mark Zuckerberg has called the "Year of Efficiency." The company's vice-president of AI, Joelle Pineau, also said Meta "remains committed" to its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) Team, which conducts "exploratory research based on open science." The race to make money from AI then is heating up.

Persons: that's, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta, Joelle Pineau Organizations: Morning, Google, Meta, Financial Times, Facebook, DeepMind, AI Research, FAIR Locations: DeepMind

☆ Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant startup, raises $280 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk’s biotechnology startup Neuralink raised $280 million in a fundraising round, the company announced Monday via X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company wrote. The brain chip startup wants to use implants to connect your brain to a computer, a goal Musk has been working on for five years. The funding news comes months after Musk announced the company was moving towards human trials. Before Neuralink’s brain implants are mass-produced and hit the broader market, they’ll need regulatory approval.

Persons: New York CNN —, Peter Thiel, Neuralink, Musk, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York CNN — Elon, Twitter, Founders Fund, PayPal, Food and Drug Administration, Reuters, FDA, Neuralink Monday Locations: New York, San Francisco, Neuralink

☆ Apple is planning to move the button to hang up a call in new iPhone software
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook holds a new iPhone 14 Pro during an Apple special event on September 07, 2022 in Cupertino, California. Apple's iOS 17 will include one of the biggest revamps to the iPhone's phone app in years. But one tweak will require longtime iPhone users to retrain their muscle memory. In beta versions of iOS 17, Apple has moved the "End Call" button. Here's what the new call screen looks like on a beta version of iOS 17:

Persons: Tim Cook, It's Organizations: Apple Locations: Cupertino , California

☆ Google-parent Alphabet offloads nearly 90% stake in trading app Robinhood
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoAug 4 (Reuters) - Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) said on Friday it had slashed its stake in Robinhood Markets (HOOD.O) by nearly 90%, days after the trading app said it had turned a profit for the first time as a public company. Shares of the company, whose trading platform was at the center of a meme stock frenzy in January 2021, have lost 86% since hitting their peak in August of the same year. To counter this weakness in its mainstay trading business, Menlo Park, California-based Robinhood is looking for new revenue streams. In its regulatory filing, Alphabet said it had around 612,214 shares in Robinhood as of June 30, compared with 4.9 million shares in the first quarter ended March 31. As of Robinhood's last close on Thursday, Alphabet's stake would be worth just about $7 million, according to Reuters calculations.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Robinhood, Alphabet's, Niket, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Inc, REUTERS, Robinhood, Menlo, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Menlo Park , California, Robinhood, Bengaluru

And its flagship gaming brand, Republic of Gamers (ROG), offers a range of graphics cards, desktop towers, monitors, and more — including laptops, like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a gaming laptop that packs premium performance into a lightweight package. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Gaming Laptop (GA402XY) The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) is a slim gaming laptop equipped with top-tier hardware. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: SpecsAsus produces a variety of different G14 models, each with different specifications. The Zephyrus G14's bright screen, great performance, and portability make it a perfect match for gamers or creative professionals on the go.

Persons: I've, William Antonelli, It's, Fortnite, Price, I'd Organizations: Asus, Republic of Gamers, Nvidia, ASUS, AMD, McAfee, Bluetooth

☆ The Best Mesh Wi-Fi Systems for Your Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( David Murphy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +22 min

Our favorite mesh Wi-Fi system, TP-Link’s Deco XE200, supports Wi-Fi 6E, meaning it will deliver the best possible speeds for any device you can buy in mid-2023. Best overall mesh Wi-Fi systemBuy Side Top Pick TP-Link Deco XE200 $800 at Amazon $800 at b&h The XE200 offers the perfect mix of fast speeds, simple setup and app-based adjustments, offering the fastest mesh Wi-Fi at home for all the latest Wi-Fi 6E devices. Price: Our research found you’ll spend around $300 or less for a lower-price mesh system, or about $800 or less for a high-performance mesh system. We tested the mesh systems by first connecting a Google Pixel 7 Pro to a single Wi-Fi mesh access point (set up as the home’s primary router) from a handful of feet away within the same room. It’s still important that a mesh Wi-Fi system be able to deliver strong performance across as far a range as possible.

Persons: David Murphy, won’t, they’re, it’s, you’re, you’ll, we’d, ET8, Asus’s, Eero, Dong Ngo, I’ve, Jerry Jongerius, You’ll, ” Ngo, backhaul Organizations: Netflix, Amazon, Pro, Dong Knows Tech Locations: California

☆ TweetDeck is turning into XPro, as Elon Musk's Twitter rebrand continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Gabriel Rivera | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's Elon Musk's latest change to Twitter's famous lexicon as part of the platform's rebrand to X. Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, seems to be in the process of renaming its TweetDeck feature "XPro." It's the latest change in Musk's ongoing transition of Twitter to X that has upended the social media platform's hallmarks, such as its lexicon and logo. TweetDeck is still undergoing changes, but its new name, XPro, is starting to appear on the webpage. "If successful, X will enter the vernacular in ways that we don't yet know," Musk wrote on X Wednesday regarding the rebrand.

Persons: It's Elon, Elon Musk's, Musk, We'll, — Organizations: Twitter, San Locations: San Francisco

☆ Elon Musk has a plan to create a hub on X for users to trade stocks, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's X app is looking to build a stock-trading hub within the platform, according to Semafor. But Musk said on X: "No work is being done on this to the best of my knowledge." Still, considerations for how to turn X into a trading hub would not be far off prior ideas for the platform. In April, Twitter also entered into a partnership with eToro to allow users to trade stocks and other assets, by giving them access to eToro's platform. Musk has had plans to create a go-to app for a variety of services, and in October, he tweeted, "Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app."

Persons: Elon, Musk, Semafor, Tencent's Organizations: X, Service, Privacy, Twitter, eToro, PayPal Locations: Wall, Silicon, China

☆ I used the hot new web browser Arc for 8 months, and am never going back to Chrome. These are the best and worst things about it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Arc is a buzzy web browser that sheds the traditional browser interface as we know it. Eight months ago, my browser tab hoarding was out of control. Finding an open tab was like playing hide and seek in the cluttered abyss of Chrome, each link harder to find than the last. Then came Arc, a new web browser recommended by Jason Spinell, manager of Slack's early-stage investment fund. If tidying guru Marie Kondo had a favorite web browser, it would be Arc.

Persons: I'm, Jason Spinell, Slack's, Spinell, Marie Kondo, Arc Organizations: The Browser Company, Browser Company

☆ Democrats press Musk on X's 'hostile stance' toward independent research of its platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Three Democratic lawmakers are pressing Elon Musk on his social media platform's "hostile stance" toward independent research efforts after X, formerly known as Twitter, sued a nonprofit research group that found an increase in hate speech after the billionaire's takeover. The lawmakers pointed to X's recent lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, after the nonprofit found an increase in hate speech on the platform in the wake of Musk's takeover. This time, they added a question about whether X had successfully reduced hate speech and extremist content on its platform and if that had been verified by any third parties. The company added that values of platform safety and free expression are not in conflict with one another. X also alleged that CCDH had scraped its platform, in violation of its terms of service.

Persons: Elon Musk, Lori Trahan, Adam Schiff, Sean Casten, Linda Yaccarino, X, CCDH, Brandwatch, Imran Ahmed Organizations: Democratic, Twitter, X Corp, CNBC, Center, Bloomberg

☆ Meta is trying to catch up with ChatGPT with new AI chatbots that speak like famous figures including Abraham Lincoln, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta could soon be launching AI chatbots that speak like famous people including Abraham Lincoln. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to retain users by introducing chatbots that rival ChatGPT. Meta is exploring plans to launch AI chatbots as soon as next month that imitate famous figures, including Abraham Lincoln, as it scrambles to retain users and see off the threat from ChatGPT, a new report says. However, Meta has lacked a more consumer-facing, engaging interface like ChatGPT or Snapchat's My AI chatbot. The FT report added that the chatbots will aim to offer users fresh search functions as well as recommendations.

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI's, Zuckerberg, Meta Organizations: Financial Times, Morning, Financial, Meta, Facebook

☆ Op-ed: Gottlieb says A.I. may take on doctors' roles sooner than later
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Scott Gottlieb | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The AI tools being applied to healthcare can generally be divided into two main categories. The first encompass large language models that are applied to administrative functions like processing medical claims or creating and analyzing medical records. In fact, up to 30 percent of radiology practices have already adopted AI tools. Right now, there are only a few clinical language models, and even the largest ones possess a relatively small number of parameters. As the quality and scope of clinical data available for training these large language models continue to grow, so will their capabilities.

Persons: Scott Gottlieb, ChatGPT, Amazon's, retinopathy, IBM's, Watson, they're, William J Organizations: CNBC, Pfizer, Aetion Inc, Cruise Line Holdings, Harvard, FDA, Oncology, Google, Healthcare

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery is making a big shake-up to its ad sales org. Read how its sales chief explained the changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Discovery is shaking up its ad sales organization. It's also expected to make further staff reductions in ad sales as part of the restructure. Discovery is shaking up its ad sales organization and structure. EVP Jim Keller, who was key to bringing a digital approach to the merged company's newly combined sales team, left, along with Scott Kohn, EVP of national ad sales, and John Dailey, SVP of ad sales. Based on the learnings and successes we've experienced in the past year, this morning we are announcing a new sales structure and strategy.

Persons: It's, Marybeth Strobel, Greg Regis, Regis, Strobel, Ryan Gould, Jon Diament, Sheereen Russell, WBD, Jon Steinlauf, Jim Keller, Scott Kohn, John Dailey, David Zaslav, we've, AE's, Lucia Moses, lmoses Organizations: Warner Bros, WBD, Max, CNN, NBA, NCAA, MLB, NHL

☆ If Elon Musk understood anything about China, he'd know his attempt to make X a super app like WeChat is doomed to fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk thinks turning X into an everything app like WeChat could make the company profitable. Elon Musk may be going all in with his plan to turn X into an everything app in the vein of China's WeChat. In fact, Musk gave us all some insight into what X might one day look like when he expressed his admiration for China's everything app, WeChat, last summer. We don't have anything like that outside of China," Musk continued. Even foreigners would be hard pressed to make their way around China without using the WeChat app to make simple purchases.

Persons: Elon, Musk, WeChat, HECTOR RETAMAL, he's, —, Feng Kaihua, Tencent, China's Didi Chuxing, doesn't Organizations: Morning, PayPal, Twitter, Getty Images, Facebook, Getty, Netflix, YouTube Locations: China, AFP, Xinhua

☆ Reddit throughout the years: Its rise to prominence, recent revolts and IPO plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The price hikes have led some beloved third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo to shut down, instigating an uproar among the website's community of volunteer moderators, who often rely on third-party apps to run the site's 100,000+ discussion communities, called subreddits. But tensions remain high, and some say that if Reddit doesn't rebuild trust, its most passionate users will go elsewhere. Ohanian rejoined Reddit as executive chairman in 2014 and Huffman rejoined as CEO the next year. But it's not just tech giants who use Reddit's API. These third-party apps are largely just alternatives to Reddit's official mobile app, which didn't even exist until 2016.

Persons: Reddit, David DeWald, Alexis Ohanian, Steve Huffman, Paul Graham, Ohanian, Huffman, Y Combinator, Condé Nast, Debra Aho Williamson, George Floyd's, it's, Apollo, Jakub Porzycki Organizations: University of Virginia, Advance, Facebook, Insider Intelligence, GameStop, AMC, Google, Getty

☆ I'm an engineer on one of the most innovative teams at Ken Griffin's Citadel. Here are 7 lessons that have been critical to my rise at the $59 billion hedge fund.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kristofer Baxter leads a team of about 20 UI engineers at Citadel, a $59 billion hedge fund. Now I work at Citadel, leading user interface (UI) on the Citadel X team. But it's really important to be quick. We work really closely with front-office partners and investment professionals so we know what to build. The really important thing there is that you can't be afraid of scale, or even failure.

Persons: Kristofer Baxter, Bianca Chan, Ken Griffin, I've, iterating Organizations: Citadel, Citadel X, Netflix, LinkedIn, Google Locations: Miami

☆ Elon Musk is 'totally out of his element' at Twitter because he doesn't 'understand social media,' a Harvard leadership expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Harvard leadership expert thinks Elon Musk is "totally out of his element" in running Twitter. He explained that the billionaire doesn't have any expertise of running a social media platform. A Harvard leadership expert weighed in on Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and the changes he's made, saying that the billionaire is "totally out of his element" because social media is not his area of expertise. George suggested that Musk should let Twitter's new CEO Linda Yaccarino call the shots. William Klepper, a management professor teaching an executive leadership course at Columbia Business School, previously told Insider that Musk's Twitter takeover is "a case study of failed leadership."

Persons: Elon Musk, doesn't, Bill George, Elon, George, Musk, Parag Agrawal, Ned Sagal, Vijaya Gadde, Sean Edgett, Linda Yaccarino, William Klepper, Klepper Organizations: Harvard, Twitter, Harvard Business School, CNBC, SpaceX, Columbia Business School Locations: Elon Musk's

☆ Meta, Microsoft and Amazon team up on maps project to crack Apple-Google duopoly
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Overture is aiming to establish a baseline for maps data so that companies can use it to build and operate their own maps. For many companies, Google 's and Apple 's maps aren't ideal, because they don't provide access to the underlying data. For example, app makers pay per thousand Google Maps lookups through an application programming interface (API). Apple allows access to Apple Maps for free for native app developers, but web app developers need to pay. Overture is only offering the underlying map data, leaving it up to companies to build their own software on top of it.

Persons: Marc Prioleau, Prioleau Organizations: Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, CNBC

☆ Elon Musk plans to rebrand Twitter as 'X' — an idea that harkens back to the CEO's early days when he was ousted from PayPal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk announced Saturday that he plans to rebrand Twitter and change the bird logo to 'X.' Musk previously wanted X to be the name of a banking services site now known as PayPal. Musk said a new "interim" X logo will go live Sunday. Elon Musk in Palo Alto, California, on August 7, 2000. According to Ashlee Vance's biography "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," almost everyone in the company preferred the name PayPal.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Elon, Pauline Lubens, Julie Anderson Ankenbrandt, Ankenbrandt, x.com, X.com, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Musk's, Thiel, Ashlee Vance's Organizations: Twitter, PayPal, MediaNews, Mercury, Getty, Elon, SpaceX, X Corp Locations: Silicon Valley, Palo Alto , California, Palo Alto, Nevada

☆ India's Paytm says quarterly revenue rises 39% as loan demand soars
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, July 22 (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS) reported a 39% rise in quarterly revenue, helped by soaring demand for loans. Operating profit came in at 840 million rupees, compared with an operating loss of 2.75 billion rupees, while the net loss narrowed to 3.57 billion rupees. Paytm defines operating profit as core profit before cost of employee stock-owning plans. It first reported an operating profit for the final three months of 2022 – nine months ahead of schedule. Quarterly expenses were up 15.9% at 28 billion rupees, with appraisals during the period driving up employee costs 21%.

Persons: Nandan Mandayam, Pooja Desai, Mike Harrison Organizations: Communications, Unified, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru, Siddhi Nayak, Mumbai

☆ TikTok allows Europe to access research software, with eye on EU online content rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, July 20 (Reuters) - Short-video app TikTok on Thursday opened up its research software to researchers in Europe ahead of new EU rules requiring Big Tech to do more to police online content. "TikTok is proactively rolling-out its Research API ahead of further technical guidance and launching a commercial content library ahead of the DSA compliance deadline," the social media app said in a statement. "All researchers will need to have their own TikTok for Developers account and be located in the United States or Europe to access our Research API." The company released an initial version of its Research API to academic researchers in the United States earlier this year. TikTok on Thursday also allowed researchers access to its commercial content API.

Persons: TikTok, Foo Yun Chee, Alex Richardson Organizations: Big Tech, Digital Services, European Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, United States

☆ So, that's the end of OpenAI's ChatGPT moat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the fast-changing world of AI, OpenAI appeared to have created a powerful moat through ChatGPT. But Meta rolling out its own powerful language model, Llama 2, with few restrictions puts ChatGPT at risk. And unlike OpenAI's ChatGPT, Llama 2 doesn't come with an easy-to-use consumer interface. As the first popular entrant into the generative AI space, OpenAI's chatbot had the advantage of capturing the imaginations of millions before Google, Meta and the rest. But open models were always the threat.

Persons: OpenAI, chatbot, Mark Zuckerberg, Erin Scott, Warren Buffett, ChatGPT, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan, Nathan Lambert, Lambert, It's Organizations: Meta, Google, Microsoft, ChatGPT, Stanford University, UC Berkeley

☆ Why Tesla investors should care about Elon Musk's multiplying ventures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's multiple ventures and the relationships between them are facing increased scrutiny as the Tesla CEO continues to add more to his plate. Can you talk about how xAI might overlap, might perhaps compete with Tesla or in other ways perhaps it enhances the value of what Tesla does?" Musk previously enlisted Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Co. employees to assist him with his Twitter takeover, as CNBC reported. At least one senior Tesla employee has jumped ship to Musk's X Corp., the parent company of Twitter. Among these, Tesla revealed that "Twitter is party to certain commercial and support agreements with Tesla.

Persons: Elon, William Stein, Musk, Google Bard, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Stein, Tesla, Charles Kuehmann, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, He's, funder, Batura Organizations: Google, Tesla, Apple, SpaceX, Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter, Co, CNBC, X Corp Locations: Nevada

☆ Apple Maps has actually gotten good — and some people are even choosing it over Google Maps
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some users told the Journal they prefer Apple Maps over Google Maps for its design and usability. Rabinowitz mow finds that Apple Maps offers public transit directions that are faster and more creative than those from Google Maps, the Journal reported. Apple Maps, he said, also takes into consideration commuting disruptions like subway outages better than its competitor does. She has since begun choosing it over from Google Maps, as she says Apple Maps has a more clear and legible display. Google Maps, he said, might be better for those who want to use their personal data to inform what information gets displayed.

Persons: Tim Cook, Jason Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz mow, Rabinowitz, Jane Natoli, Tom Pritchard Organizations: Apple, Street Journal, Google Locations: New York

☆ Opinion: ‘Dear Canada…’ an American firefighter’s heartfelt letter to north of the border
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Opinion Clare Frank | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This means agencies creating the wildland-urban interface or WUI — where human settlements meet the natural environment — are not ultimately responsible for protecting it. By my fifth year in firefighting, I’d seen plenty of wildfires and structure fires, and wildfires threatening structures. As we convoyed in, a battalion chief instructed each engine company, “If it’s not savable, leapfrog to the next house. Smoke rises from the Texas Creek wildfire south of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, on July 9. In this banner year, some are crying for Canada to form a national fire department.

Persons: Clare Frank, Read, Cynthia Smalley, nature’s, partiers, leapfrog, Luis Ascui, they’d, ember, Smokey Bear, “, it’s, Canada’s Organizations: CNN, CNN —, Del, Getty, Australia, Service, Reuters, Twitter, Facebook Locations: California’s, United States, Pebble Beach , California, Del Monte Forest, Kinglake, Victoria, Australia, Canada, Texas, Lillooet, British Columbia, California, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France

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