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☆ Tech layoffs raise new alarms about how platforms protect users
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Some also formed ethical AI teams and invested in oversight groups. And Facebook-parent Meta suggested that it might cut staff working in non-technical roles as part of its latest round of layoffs. “With that outsourcing, I feel like they had this comfort level that they could cut some of the trust and safety team, but Twitch is very unique,” the former employee said. It invested heavily in content moderation, public policy and an oversight board to weigh in on tricky content issues to address rising concerns about its platform. Tech leaders may also be grappling with the fact that even as they built up their trust and safety teams in recent years, their reputation problems haven’t really abated.

☆ Devoted Health quietly blew past other insurance upstarts in the red-hot market for seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While last year was a bloodbath for some young health insurers, Devoted Health ended 2022 relatively unscathed. Several newly public health insurers have struggled with losses, and some have been forced to retrench to stay afloat. Devoted has won more Medicare Advantage members in 2023 than competitorsExecutives of Devoted Health's rivals. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderInsider's analysis of the latest federal enrollment data found that Devoted had 126,287 Medicare Advantage members as of March 1. Bright had 122,371 Medicare Advantage members at the two California health plans it owns, while Alignment Healthcare had about 109,221 Advantage members, according to Insider's analysis.

☆ America's Parking Addiction Hurts the Economy, Drives up Housing Costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jeral Poskey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A society committed to housing and feeding its people will ensure plenty of land is dedicated to homes and farms. According to the builder WGI, the average parking stall in the US costs $27,900 to build, more than the cost of many new compact cars. The money and resources dedicated to parking could be used for other purposes, but breaking our country's reliance on parking has been difficult. Parking accounted for about 27% of per-unit costs, regardless of whether the resident owned a car or not. Better transportation, better land use, better citiesEfforts are underway to finally rid America of its unhealthy devotion to parking.

☆ Column: Electric grids need major upgrades to aid global energy transition: Maguire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

LITTLETON, Colorado, March 30 (Reuters) - Modern electricity grids that can optimize clean power production from a constantly changing flux of renewable and fossil energy sources will play a vital role in enabling global energy transition efforts. With renewable energy supplies climbing at a record pace just as global car fleets, households and businesses supercharge electricity demand, robust grids that can bridge both sides of the energy equation will be critical. The global power sector is also a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and so is incompatible with international efforts to drive pollution steadily lower from all sectors over the coming decades. Many ambitious grid alteration plans are also running in to stiff opposition from powerful organisations that object to the laying of miles of new transmission lines across open areas. But if renewable energy supplies surge as expected, and if those supplies are to be made available to power-hungry customers, global grids must grow in both scale and density in every major economy - and in record time.

☆ Here's what went wrong with Virgin Orbit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The deal, facilitated by a so-called blank check company, gave Virgin Orbit a valuation of nearly $4 billion. That debt gives the flashy British billionaire first priority of Virgin Orbit assets in the event of the now-impending bankruptcy. And Chief Strategy Officer Jim Simpson had also spent more than eight years in Boeing's satellite division before joining Virgin Orbit. That frustration continued after the pause, with employees confused by the lack of specifics about which investors were speaking to Virgin Orbit leadership. Virgin Orbit

☆ Poland's CD Projekt posts 66% profit leap
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Adrianna Ebert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A bird flies in front of the Cd Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Kacper PempelGDANSK, March 30 (Reuters) - Poland's biggest game developer CD Projekt (CDR.WA) on Thursday posted a 66% leap in full-year net profit to 347.1 million zlotys ($81 million), boosted by higher sales of flagship titles "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" and "Cyberpunk 2077". "A large portion of this profit – over 200 million zlotys – was invested in our future development projects." This year CD Projekt stands before the premiere of the highly-anticipated first and only expansion to Cyberpunk 2077 under title Phantom Liberty with marketing campaign starting in June. CD Projekt has sold over 20 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077, with Wither trilogy sales exceeding 65 million copies.

☆ Nvidia's stock has climbed as Wall Street bets on A.I. Why investors say its promise is worth the premium
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia shares so far this year Nvidia's stock' is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 58 times. The focus on Nvidia's capabilities in this area have only grown since it unveiled new AI technologies at its GTC conference. On the heels of the conference, Goldman Sachs called the chipmaker a "key AI enabler," while Bank of America said Nvidia's AI dominance could "reshape the existing tech industry." That's in part because along with the hardware and software, Nvidia offers the engineers and relationships with both end-users and research organizations, which could stunt competitor plans from the get-go, Freund explained . Because so many engineers are already using Nvidia's software, some companies may face resistance if attempting to transition to a new language, explained Pieran Maru, an investment analyst at global asset management firm GAM Investments.

☆ The Lamborghini Revuelto is a 1,001 horsepower hybrid supercar flagship
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Lamborghini Revuelto is a plug-in hybrid and, while it still has a V12 gasoline engine, it also has three electric motors. The new V12 engine is also slightly lighter – by 37.5 pounds – than the engine in the Aventador supercar it’s replacing. Lamborghini has not yet announced the price of the Revuelto but all these new plug-in hybrid models will cost significantly more than the models they replace, Winkelmann said. Still, the sharing of parts and production lines will do little to offset the increased cost of the shift to plugin hybrid power, he said. Given current battery technology, an electric Lamborghini supercar just isn’t possible, Winkelmann has said, because the batteries are simply too heavy.

☆ Amazon sellers are using ChatGPT to help write product listings in sprawling marketplace
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesChad Rubin was looking for a way to spice up his Amazon listing for a vacuum hose. For assistance, Rubin turned to ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot that's gone viral since its launch late last year. Rubin asked ChatGPT to "generate 5 insanely clever and catchy headlines" for an infographic promoting his vacuum cleaner hose. A stream of YouTube videos, articles and LinkedIn posts have appeared in recent months touting the benefits of ChatGPT for Amazon sellers. Rubin said he plans to incorporate ChatGPT into a new tool that will help sellers quickly fine-tune their product listings.

☆ Spooked dealmakers scurry back into their foxholes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer by training, has become something of a magician. Pay closer attention, however, and Kanter is methodically rewriting a decades-old regulatory playbook. Last year, these breakup charges reached their highest level in a decade, at an average 4.5% of deal prices. The Department of Agriculture partnered with the DOJ on the case, another feature of Kanter’s plan of attack. As legal weaknesses emerge, dealmakers should be in position to better structure transactions and defend themselves at trial.

☆ A popular post on Blind says all tech workers who got jobs during the pandemic were 'charity cases,' but getting hired now at a big tech company will actually mean something
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A popular post on workplace forum Blind calls tech workers hired during the pandemic "charity cases." One popular post on the anonymous workplace forum Blind takes that a step further, saying tech employees brought on during the pandemic were "charity cases." Tech companies added many new employees to their ranks during the pandemic, when business was booming for the sector. At the time time, other commenters on the popular Blind post defended employees who got tech jobs during the pandemic. "Also I refuse to believe I am some charity case, I was good enough for the company, did their process and got hired.

☆ Amazon's post-Bezos experiment hasn't gone exactly as planned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during an Action on Forests and Land Use event on day three of COP26 at SECC on November 2, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Since Jassy officially succeeded Bezos in July 2021, Amazon has experienced its most turbulent period since the dot-com crash. But whether it's bad luck, his own missteps or some combination of the two, Jassy is an unenviable position as only the second CEO in Amazon's history. So far, the Jassy era has been all about belt tightening and retrenchment from some of Amazon's more experimental pursuits. He made the decision to shutter all of its 4-star, Pop Up and Books stores and, earlier this year, announced Amazon would close some Fresh supermarkets and Go cashierless convenience marts.

☆ Factbox: Key takeaways from China's annual NPC parliamentary meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

These include Premier Li Qiang, NPC Chairperson Zhao Leji, Executive Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, and Vice President Han Zheng. China's private sector has been rattled in recent years by a sweeping regulatory clampdown targeting some of its most vibrant industries, including the internet and private education. The new national financial regulatory administration will replace the existing banking and insurance watchdog and oversee all aspects of China's $57 trillion financial sector apart from the securities market. A separate top-level party financial watchdog, the Central Financial Work Commission, is likely to be resurrected after the NPC, sources earlier told Reuters. This will likely have responsibility for the new state financial regulator.

☆ Everyone's freaking out about SVB because everyone else is freaking out about SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the real star — or perhaps supernova — of Thursday was SVB Financial, which saw shares drop as much as 62%. As you can imagine, the past year has not been kind to SVB. SVB had to sell a $21 billion bond portfolio for a $1.8 billion loss (thanks a lot, interest rates!). It wasn't long before reports started rolling in about VCs instructing their founders to get their money out. Here's more on the tech founders trying to calm everyone down amid the chaos.

☆ Club holding Meta is likely to be a winner in the nascent generative AI battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Meta Platforms (META) is muscling its way into a heated AI arms race just as competitors Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are making big strides. Generative AI encompasses a set of machine learning techniques that allow computers to generate text, images and other media in response to human queries. The Facebook parent's generative AI capabilities are competitive, according to Mark Zgutowicz, a research analyst at Benchmark. META 1Y mountain Meta Platforms (META) one-year performance. We also expect Meta to benefit from it's partnership with Club holding Nvidia (NVDA), whose semiconductors and related software are integral to the generative AI field.

☆ Publisher Drops Plan to Release Book From ‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Scott Adams made racially insensitive remarks last week, leading many newspapers to drop his ‘Dilbert’ comic strip. A Penguin Random House imprint said it won’t publish “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams’s upcoming book “Reframe Your Brain,” previously expected to be published this coming September. Mr. Adams made racially insensitive remarks last week, leading many newspapers to drop his “Dilbert” comic strip after he referred to Black Americans as a “hate group” in a rant online.

☆ Elon Musk's new Silicon Valley engineering headquarters will focus on AI, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's new California headquarters will focus on artificial intelligence, CNBC reported. The EV maker will focus on hiring engineers proficient in fields including artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, Elon Musk announced that Tesla was expanding its engineering headquarters in California, taking over office space in Palo Alto once occupied by Hewlett-Packard. The outlet reported that Tesla would focus on hiring engineers skilled in fields including artificial intelligence. In an interview with CNBC, California governor Gavin Newsom said all the "elite engineers" in the industry were based in the state.

☆ Fact Check-Video shows rocket launch in South Korea, not a UFO in Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of a rocket launch in South Korea from December 2022 has been miscaptioned by social media users in posts claiming that it shows a UFO in Poland. One post (here) includes a caption that reads, “The air force shoots down a UFO in Poland. A Google search for the words “South Korea UFO” (bit.ly/3Ivw0Zq) reveals many news reports of a rocket launch in South Korea causing a UFO scare among residents who had no knowledge of it. The caption reads, “The light trail is seen in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. The video shows a rocket launch in South Korea that happened in December 2022.

Even if you don't plan to file an insurance claim, always get a police report after a car accident. In an ideal world, everybody would have full coverage car insurance to protect themselves along with their passengers and other drivers. "When your nerves are working overtime, it's easy to forget what you should do immediately following a car accident," licensed insurance agent Ashley M. Hunter, founding partner of A. Notify your insurance agentRegardless of who is at fault, notify your insurance professional you've been in a car accident as soon as possible. In addition, things like dash cams and other technology can be a saving grace after a car accident.

☆ Menu photos created using generative AI could convince customers to order more from restaurants
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Generative AI is now being used to create menu photos when restaurants lack images. Since its January 19 launch, it has generated 175 million AI photos, he said. Julie Zucker, a partner and chief marketing officer at Branded Hospitality Ventures, said "mouth-watering" food photos may certainly drive a guest to order. The food tech VC firm, which also runs a string of restaurants in New York, invests in startups that solve problems for restaurants. If restaurants lack food photos, DoorDash said it offers complimentary photo shoots.

"There is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. At Friday's White House briefing, Kirby said: "There is no U.S. surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace. I'm not aware of any other craft that we're flying over into Chinese airspace." "This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control," Adrienne Watson, another White House national security spokesperson, said in a statement.

☆ Restaurants are now using generative AI to create menu photos that could convince customers to order more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Generative AI is now being used to create menu photos. Lunchbox is using OpenAI's tech for its AI Food Generator. Since its January 19 launch, it has generated 175 million AI photos, he said. Julie Zucker, a partner and chief marketing officer at Branded Hospitality Ventures, said "mouth-watering" food photos may certainly drive a guest to order. If restaurants lack food photos, DoorDash said it offers complimentary photo shoots.

☆ China tightens requirements on classifying banks' asset risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - China on Saturday tightened risk management requirements on banks, requiring them to classify financial-asset risks in a timely and prudent manner, in a bid to better assess lenders' credit risks. The rules will help "commercial banks evaluate credit risks more accurately and reflect the true quality of their financial assets," said the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC). The new rules, it said, will help prevent credit risks more effectively, the regulator said. Saturday's rules urge banks to scrutinise the underlying assets when they classify risks for asset management or securitisation products. Lenders will also be required to strictly abide by the rules when assessing credit risks in debt restructurings.

☆ Shopify just made its move into generative AI and said it's the first of many new features it plans to roll out this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Shopify is making its first step into generative AI with the launch of Shopify Magic. Shopify Magic uses AI to automatically write product descriptions. Shopify is stepping into generative artificial intelligence with the launch of Shopify Magic, a tool that generates product descriptions using large language models. The rapid rise of AI chatbot ChatGPT, which, like Shopify Magic, relies on LLMs, has fueled investment in other generative AI startups. Shopify Magic is the Canadian e-commerce company's first foray into generative AI, but it has indicated that more features are on the way.

☆ Frustrated Magic: The Gathering fans say Hasbro has made the classic card game too expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Travis Clark | Max Adams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Magic: The Gathering fans are upset with how much product Hasbro has been releasing. Some game shop owners have had to sell cards at a lower cost — meaning they lose money and Magic loses value. At this point, given the huge costs to keep up with the game, fans felt that they were rightly concerned that Magic was becoming a luxury hobby. Hasbro's Magic: The Gathering strategy has alienated a lot of longtime fans, LaGaccia said, which has left many game shops with unsold product. Some fans have moved on from Magic to other card gamesSome Magic: The Gathering fans have found alternatives.

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