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☆ Here's why China was largely unaffected by Friday's IT outage
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"The main reason why is that local Chinese companies basically do not use CrowdStrike products, so they are not affected," Gao said. Chinese state media also said Friday evening that international flights at Beijing's two airports were running normally, and that Air China , China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines had not been affected by large-scale technical system failures. Microsoft products are widely used in China — Windows had about 87% of personal computer shipments in the mainland last year, according to Canalys. Microsoft products Office 365 and Azure cloud are operated in China by a local company called 21Vianet . Why don't Chinese companies use CrowdStrike?

Persons: Pempel, Gao Feng, Gao, China — Organizations: REUTERS, Gartner, CNBC, Air, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Microsoft, Windows, Weibo Locations: REUTERS BEIJING, U.S, China, Texas, United States, Europe, Air China, Beijing

☆ We're buying back into a chipmaker that offers a new reason to own it
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Shortly after the opening bell, we will be initiating a position in Advanced Micro Devices , buying 150 shares at roughly $184.35. Following the trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 150 shares of AMD, representing 0.80% of the portfolio. In his Sunday column, Jim called this the new reason to own AMD. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: Jim Cramer's, Jim, MI300X, Lisa Su, Su, —, Ben Reitzes, Jim Cramer Organizations: Devices, AMD, Charitable Trust, Broadcom, VMWare, Oracle, Club, Microsoft, Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Nvidia, Silo, Melius, FactSet, IDC, Gartner, CNBC Locations: Europe, Wednesday's Homestretch

☆ 65-year-old quit his job and emptied his life savings to start a business—now he's worth $11 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Not really," Chaudhry, the billionaire founder and CEO of cloud security company Zscaler, tells CNBC Make It. Together, they plunged their life savings — roughly $500,000 — into SecureIT, a cybersecurity software startup they co-founded in 1997. His timing was perfect: In 1998, Chaudhry sold SecureIT to VeriSign in an all-stock deal worth nearly $70 million. I said, "If [Netscape co-founder] Marc Andreessen could start a company — he was a young guy [right] out of college — why shouldn't I start a company?" It took us a few years to really start getting traction in the market, and VCs can write you off and move on.

Persons: Jay Chaudhry, he'd, Chaudhry, Jyoti, SecureIT, Chaudhry —, —, Marc Andreessen, Let's, we'd, Zscaler, you'll, VCs Organizations: IBM, Unisys, CNBC, Netscape, Atlanta, Software, BellSouth, Fortune, Forbes, IDC, Gartner, VCs Locations: India, SecureIT, Atlanta, Alpharetta , Georgia

☆ Stocks extend their winning streak, Apple pops and the PC recovery continues
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

PC recovery continues: We received two positive data points over the past two days confirming the PC recovery cycle is on track. On Tuesday IDC said the traditional PC market grew 3% in the second quarter, marking its second quarter of growth after seven straight quarters of decline. Gartner said Wednesday that worldwide PC shipments increased 1.9% in the second quarter, making it three straight quarters of year-over-year growth, according to its data. Apple pops : Apple extended its record-high streak after Bloomberg reported the company has told suppliers and partners it expects 10% growth in shipments of its new iPhone 16 this year compared with the 15 models in 2023. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jerome Powell, Powell, Gartner, Mikako Kitagawa, we've, We'll, Jim Cramer's, Jim Organizations: CNBC, Nasdaq, Financial Services Committee, IDC, Gartner, Bloomberg, Apple Intelligence, Apple, Costco, PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines, Jim Cramer's Charitable, Visual China, Getty Locations: China, GLP, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

☆ A CEO went viral with a list of things he's 'sick' of hearing from his employees — and he has a point
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewA CEO caused a stir on X with a post about the workplace culture he promotes. Rob Dance, who is the founder of Rock, one of the UK's largest IT consultancies, wrote a list on a whiteboard of things he was "sick of hearing" from his employees. Some people responded to the thread, thinking Dance was suggesting he expected his employees to always be at their desks. "Well, I would also say that means you're extremely stressed, and you're going to burn out," she added. "Rather than driving to the point where they start adopting destructive behaviors that affect themselves or affect the company."

Persons: —, Rob Dance, I've, Gandy, Gen Xers, There's, Kevin Legg, Sage, Legg Organizations: Service, Business, Skillsoft, Junior, CNBC, Gartner Locations: millennials

☆ AI will power the S&P 500 another 27% higher before peaking next year, research firm says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Enthusiasm for AI will drive the S&P 500 to 7,000 by next year, Capital Economics forecasts. The firm says AI is a market bubble that will inflate through 2025. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . While the AI market mania has drawn comparisons to the 2000's dot-com bubble, some have dismissed the analogy, noting that today's AI benefactors are nowhere near as overvalued as early internet counterparts.

Persons: —, Neil Shearing, Shearing, MIT's Daron Acemoglu, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Service, Capital Economics

☆ AI resurrects deceased actors’ voices to read audiobooks
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Earlier this week, AI company ElevenLabs said it is bringing digitally produced celebrity voice-overs of deceased actors, including Garland, James Dean and Burt Reynolds, to its newly launched Reader app. “We deeply respect their legacy and are honored to have their voices as part of our platform,” said Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs. The AI is trained on old recordings and those recordings are under copyright. It’s not unlike a company negotiating a copyright deal to use a popular song by Queen in an ad. It’s unclear, however, how AI versions of well-known voices will be received by mass audiences and if it will raise concerns around authenticity.

Persons: Judy Garland, Oz, you’ll, ElevenLabs, Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, ”, Dustin Blank, Joe Biden, OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson’s, ” Johansson, David Gunkel, “, Queen, they’re, ” Bern Elliot, Al Michaels, Michaels, Gunkel Organizations: CNN, Hollywood, New, Northern Illinois University, Gartner, Media, NBC Locations: ElevenLabs

☆ Move over, remote jobs. CEOs say borderless talent is the future of tech work
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-30 | by ( Rachel Curry | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Borderless tech hiring has doubled in the last three years, according to Gartner's 2023 CEO Survey. By 2022, the tech talent workforce in cities like Beijing and Delhi far outweighed that of U.S. powerhouses like San Francisco and New York, reports CBRE Global Tech Talent Guidebook 2024. The report cites burgeoning tech talent markets like Bucharest, Romania; Cape Town, South Africa; Cebu City, Philippines; Nairobi, Kenya and more. Pockets of talent worldwideAdam Jackson, CEO of decentralized tech talent platform Braintrust, does borderless differently. Caplan relishes in the more altruistic potential of borderless employment, namely its ability to "lift up communities around the globe."

Persons: Jeremy Johnson, Goldman Sachs, Johnson, John Caplan, Adam Jackson, Jackson, That's, synchronously, Caplan, Caplan relishes Organizations: CBRE Global Tech, Global, NASA, Deel's Locations: Beijing, Delhi, U.S, San Francisco and New York, Bucharest, Romania, Cape Town , South Africa, Cebu City, Philippines, Nairobi, Kenya, Braintrust, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Europe, Africa, America

☆ What’s to become of summer Fridays in the age of hybrid work?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

With any luck, if your employer has instituted a Summer Fridays policy, you’ll get to knock off work early or even take the whole day off. Only 13% of US employees, for instance, said their organizations had Summer Fridays, in a 2023 survey commissioned by consulting and research firm Gartner. Among US employers, a survey last year from HR consulting firm Mercer found that only 19% said they offered summer working hours, up from 15% in 2021. Nevertheless, some employees may have even better options today, thanks to the transformation of work culture spurred by the pandemic. But Caitlin Duffy, senior director of Gartner’s HR practice, said she wouldn’t be surprised if Summer Fridays become less of a featured benefit from employers because flexible work has become so much more prevalent.

Persons: you’ll, It’s, Mercer, Caitlin Duffy, wouldn’t, Duffy, she’s, ”, Rich Fuerstenberg, you’ve Organizations: New, New York CNN, Gartner, Pew Research Center Locations: New York

☆ Summer Fridays are on the decline—companies may be replacing them with work-from-home days
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The share of workers who say they get Summer Fridays has dropped dramatically in recent years. Just 11% of North American workers say they have access to Summer Fridays, according to a November 2023 survey from Gartner of more than 1,100 people. Some companies have made headlines for scaling back on workplace flexibility that emerged during the pandemic. Duffy says organizations should consider how reducing workplace flexibility will impact their employees before imitating what their competitors are doing. "But we have heard HR leaders still say they're concerned about the impact of return-to-office on their ability to attract and retain talent."

Persons: Caitlin Duffy, Duffy, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase Organizations: Gartner, CNBC, Boeing, UPS, Fortune

☆ The complicated partnership between Apple and OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Nearly an hour later, the iPhone maker announced a much-rumored partnership with OpenAI to bring its ChatGPT technology to devices later this year. “I think Apple will take a pragmatic approach to the OpenAI partnership,” Wood said. Apple said it will not share any personal user information with OpenAI, so inquiries made through ChatGPT won’t be linked to an Apple user’s account. So it came as no surprise when some industry watchers, including Elon Musk, were quick to react to Apple’s partnership with OpenAI. “When users do query ChatGPT, Apple will track the prompts and gather metrics to improve its own models,” he said.

Persons: Sam Altman, Steve Wozniak, OpenAI, Altman, Tim Cook, ”, Ben Wood, “ Apple, Siri, Apple, ” Wood, Jeff Chiu, It’s, ” Cook, it’ll, Wood, Reece Hayden, Elon Musk, Musk, ” Musk, Annette Zimmermann, ” Andrew Cornwall, Forrester, “ Organizations: CNN, Apple, Insight, Apple Intelligence, Nvidia, Microsoft, ChatGPT, ABI Research, Industry, OpenAI, SpaceX, Gartner Locations: China, Washington, Cupertino , Calif

☆ Computing and storage are moving to the edge, and IT needs to be ready
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"In essence, edge computing complements cloud computing, extending digital transformation to the edge," Bittman said. Gartner research shows that edge computing has value in all industries, "although how it's used varies widely," Bittman said. "Whenever an enterprise has people or assets widely distributed, where interactions are taking place at the edge — shopping, assembling, collaborating, systems of all sorts — edge computing may make sense." Sectors that are the most distributed or are asset-heavy are and will use edge computing the most, Bittman said. "Edge computing brings data, analytics processing, and storage closer to the equipment to monitor machine health in real time," she said.

Persons: Thomas Bittman, Bittman, Michele Pelino, Pelino Organizations: International Data Corporation, IDC, Companies, Gartner, Forrester Research

☆ Apple AI: Today’s the day for Apple to reveal its next big thing
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Here’s a closer look at what to expect at Apple’s big event:AI, AI and more AIApple is expected to call its AI initiative “Apple Intelligence” and make it opt-in only. A strategic partnershipIn the spring, Apple was reportedly discussing partnership opportunities with both OpenAI and Google to power its AI tools. That partnership Apple could elaborate on during the opening keynote on Monday. Apple aligning itself with a company and a technology that have yet to win public trust could pose some risks for Apple down the line. Generative AI could potentially propel the headset into another level of personalization and immersion and usher in new use cases for businesses, particularly in the education and medical spaces.

Persons: OpenAI, ”, Tim Cook, Dan Ives, Here’s, –, Siri, ” Thomas Husson, Forrester, Reece Hayden, Apple, ” Hayden, Hayden Organizations: California CNN, Developers Conference, Nvidia, ” Apple, Apple, Apple Intelligence, Bloomberg, CNN, ABI Research, Google, Fortune, Apple Vision, Gartner Locations: Cupertino, California, China, Washington

☆ Apple prepares for its 2024 WWDC event
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-08 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Apple is on the verge of kicking off perhaps its most important event in years as it faces a gauntlet of challenges. Apple is expected to team up with ChatGPT creator OpenAI Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/Getty Images/FileA strategic partnershipIn the spring, Apple was reportedly discussing partnership opportunities with both OpenAI and Google to power its AI tools. But now the company is believed to have inked a deal with the ChatGPT creator, a partnership Apple could elaborate on during the opening keynote on Monday. Apple aligning itself with a company and a technology that have yet to win public trust could pose some risks for Apple down the line. Generative AI could potentially propel the headset into another level of personalization and immersion and usher in new use cases for businesses, particularly in the education and medical spaces.

Persons: OpenAI, ”, Tim Cook, Dan Ives, Here’s, Siri, Suzanne Plunkett, –, ” Thomas Husson, Forrester, Reece Hayden, OpenAI Jaap Arriens, Apple, ” Hayden, Hayden Organizations: CNN, Developers Conference, Nvidia, ” Apple, Apple, Apple Intelligence, Bloomberg, ABI Research, Google, Fortune, Apple Vision, Gartner Locations: China, Washington

☆ How AI could supercharge the Vision Pro
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It could also boost sales of the pricey Vision Pro, which has reportedly and unexpectedly received a production cut. During its most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said more than half of the Fortune 100 companies have already bought an Apple Vision Pro. But while it’s unclear when generative AI will come to the Vision Pro, Nygugen said: “It’s only a matter of time.”That’s because the Vision Pro is merely just another interface – much like a tablet, laptop, or watch, that touches Apple’s ecosystem. The Vision Pro, the tech giant's $3,499 headset, is its first major release since the Apple Watch nine years ago. “Vision Pro just came out a few months ago and it needs to get its feet under it before it really starts to take off,” Llamas said.

Persons: it’s, Tim Cook, It’s, Siri, “, Tuong, ”, Nygugen, ” Nygugen, Angela Weiss, Ming Chi, Kuo, Jeremy Bailenson, Bailenson, Ramon Llamas, Apple, ChatGPT – Organizations: CNN, Developers, Google, Samsung, Vision, Fortune, Apple Vision, Gartner, Apple, Apple Watch, Getty, Vision Pro, Stanford, VR, IDC, Microsoft, “ Locations: Cupertino , California, New York City

☆ These stocks are the most hated on the Street, but their fundamentals are improving
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Some stocks on Wall Street are absolutely hated by analysts and investors, but their fundamentals are improving, leaving a potential buying opportunity for contrarian investors, according to UBS. Most analysts currently covering the stock have assigned it a hold rating, with predicted upside of about 16% to consensus price targets. "The iconic automaker continues to enjoy strong profits from its core markets and a policy driven investment cycle in the U.S," the analyst wrote. Most analysts have assigned Airbnb stock a hold rating. The analyst consensus has shares at a hold rating, with predictions suggesting the stock could rise an average of 26% from its Thursday close.

Persons: Jonathan Golub, Bernstein, Daniel Roeska's, Wedbush, Scott Devitt, Ben Chaiken, Jan, Chaiken, Clorox, Estee Lauder, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: UBS, Stocks, Wall, Ford Motor, Ford, Cruise, Mizuho, Pfizer, Gartner, Northern Trust

☆ Inside Amazon's struggle to crack Nvidia's AI-chip dominance
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

"I'm not aware of anyone using AWS chips in any sort of large volumes," Rasgon told Business Insider, referring to Amazon's AI chips. This time, the idea is to avoid paying for expensive Nvidia GPUs, while still providing cloud customers with powerful AI services. An obvious response to this would be to have cloud customers use Amazon's AI chips instead. However, some of the largest AWS customers have not been willing to use these homegrown alternatives, the documents said. For example, AWS's AI chips still have "compatibility gaps" in certain open-source frameworks, making Nvidia GPUs a more popular option.

Persons: —, Stacy Rasgon, Bernstein, I'm, Rasgon, Adam Selipsky, Jensen Huang, Andy Jassy, Inferentia, Trainium, Omdia, Snowflake's, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Eóin Noonan, CUDA, Ramaswamy, James Hamilton, Jassy, Gartner, Huang Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Google, Business, Services, Nvidia, Intel, Amazon, NVIDIA CUDA, Netflix, Neuron, AWS, NVIDIA, Amazon VP, James Hamilton Amazon, BI Locations: CUDA, Toronto

☆ Inside Amazon's struggle to crack Nvidia's AI chip dominance
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The in-house AI chip efforts have yet to make a major dent in Nvidia's grip on the market. 'Parity with CUDA'Internally at Amazon, Nvidia's CUDA platform is repeatedly cited as the biggest roadblock for the AI chip initiative. AdvertisementAn obvious response to this would be to have cloud customers use Amazon's own AI chips instead. AdvertisementFor example, AWS's AI chips still have "compatibility gaps" in certain open-source frameworks, making Nvidia GPUs a more popular option. Don't count Amazon outDespite Amazon's AI chip struggles, the effort seems to have caught the attention of Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang.

Persons: —, Bernstein, Stacy Rasgon, I'm, Rasgon, Adam Selipsky, Jensen Huang, Andy Jassy, Inferentia, Trainium, We're, Snowflake's, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Eóin Noonan, Ramaswamy, James Hamilton, Jassy, Gartner, Amazon's, Huang Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Google, Business, Nvidia, Intel, Amazon, BI, Annapurna, NVIDIA CUDA, Netflix, Neuron, AWS, Amazon VP, James Hamilton Amazon, Amazon SVP Locations: Inferentia, Toronto, Canada, CUDA

☆ It's not just you, the AI dump feels never-ending right now
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewIf you feel like you can't keep up with the deluge of AI announcements, you're not alone. In the last two weeks, developers and consumers have been bombarded with a steady stream of AI updates and product launches, showing just how heated the AI race has become. Gartner's Chandrasekaran gave two reasons for why the flurry of AI announcements is happening now. AdvertisementThat means that there's going to be a lot of so-called AI washing and AI marketing as companies fight for a chance to get noticed, Chandrasekaran added. "And they could be calling it AI or they may be using more classic machine learning and calling it like Gen AI."

Persons: —, Eric Schmidt, OpenAI, Arun Chandrasekaran, Sundar Pichai, Gartner's Chandrasekaran, Chandrasekaran, It's, There's, it's, there's Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Gemini, Project Astra, Microsoft, Apple, Gartner, Bloomberg Locations: Paris

☆ What Walmart's RTO mandate is really about
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Dominick Reuter | Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Walmart's chief people officer, Donna Morris, commented similarly in a memo announcing the layoffs and relocations earlier that week. She wrote that working in an office would help workers collaborate, innovate, and "move even faster." Still, some employees continued working remotely, and several satellite offices remained open in cities like Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto, and Seattle. He also said he doesn't think the company is using this RTO mandate as a cover for achieving cost savings through workforce reductions, commonly referred to as "quiet firing," but that it's more part of Walmart's ethos. For the remote worker BI spoke with, the next few weeks will be filled with uncertainty.

Persons: —, it's, Sam Walton, Nelson Lichtenstein, Doug McMillon, Donna Morris, Morris, Suresh Kumar, Walmart's, Kumar, Kelli Oakes, she'd, I'm, Oakes, Lichtenstein, there's, Gartner Organizations: Service, Walmart, Business, University of California, Executives, BI, Home, LinkedIn, Walmart Global Tech, Sam's Club, UC Locations: Arkansas, Bentonville , Arkansas, New York, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Bentonville, Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto, Seattle, Bay, Hoboken , New Jersey, South Carolina, Northwest Arkansas

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Narayana Nadella speaks at a live Microsoft event in the Manhattan borough of New York City, October 26, 2016. Microsoft 's Build developer conference kicks off on Tuesday, giving the company the opportunity to showcase its latest artificial intelligence projects, following high-profile events this month hosted by OpenAI and Google . Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in January that 2024 will mark the year when AI will become the "first-class part of every PC." Now, PC users will get to hear more about how AI will be embedded in Windows and what they can do with it on new AI PCs. Demand for PCs was "slightly better than expected," Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said on the company's quarterly earnings call last month.

Persons: Satya Narayana Nadella, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, Morgan Stanley, Erik Woodring, Amy Hood Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Windows, Bing, Dell, Technology, Gartner Locations: Manhattan, New York City

☆ 1 in 3 senior execs say a return-to-office mandate is pushing them to quit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. That earlier survey also found that 19% of non-exec workers would likewise quit if forced to pick up their commute again. AdvertisementOgawa said the findings were also notable because high-up executives are often the people tasked with implementing RTO mandates. That's a big drop from a prior survey in 2023, when 62% of CEOs held that expectation. Advertisement"They might not be looking to retain folks who wouldn't want to come back to the office," she said.

Persons: —, they'd, Gartner, Caroline Ogawa, execs, Ogawa, That's, Paul Knopp, Erik Bernard, What's, RTO Gartner's Ogawa, we've Organizations: Service, Gartner, Business, KMPG, KPMG US Locations: IT, Australia

☆ Tesla, Google, and Microsoft won't stop laying people off. Here's why that could backfire.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The recent quip on Blind came from a worker at a large tech company commenting on word of more job cuts at Google. There's little doubt that for some tech workers, this gallows humor feels spot-on after waves of layoffs at some of the industry's biggest names — including Google, Microsoft, and Tesla. Elon Musk told staff last month that Tesla will lay off 10% of its workers. Advertisement"They think that their brand is bulletproof," Cascio said, referring to big-name tech companies.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, Tesla, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Sandra Sucher, Harvard Business School who's, Wayne Cascio, who's, Cascio, Rich Otto, he'd, Harvard's Sucher, Zers, Caroline Ogawa, Ogawa, That's, Gartner's Ogawa Organizations: Service, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Business, Bloomberg, Harvard Business School, University of Colorado, LinkedIn, Gartner, Social Locations: University of Colorado Denver, Silicon

☆ Gen Z hates phone calls, so one $9.7 billion company is pouring money into AI chatbots for customer service
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Meghan Morris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI chatbots are expected to replace 20-30% of customer service agents by 2026, according to Gartner. Despite the potential savings and efficiency, AI customer service has seen limited adoption. AdvertisementGen Z hates talking on the phone, so companies like the $9.7 billion buy-now, pay-later giant Affirm are betting big on AI-powered chatbots. AI customer service hasn't been a panacea for all businesses, though. People tricked and hacked a car dealership's customer service AI in December, and in January, a UK mail service's bot swore at a customer.

Persons: —, Max Levchin, We've, Levchin, chatbots, that's, Deb Cupp, Mihir Shukla, hasn't Organizations: Gartner, Service, PayPal, Tech, Microsoft Locations: Davos

☆ Emotion could be a better way to measure brand value
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Billee Howard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Marketing has long struggled to establish an standard measurement for brand value. AdvertisementThe number one thing on the minds of CMOs in 2024 is proving measurable brand value. There have been many ways of assessing brand value in the past including revenue, the value of future net earnings, and net promoter scores. Some new disruptive thinking on brand value deserves consideration — the power of emotion. The power of emotion — the Equinox exampleEmotion is the new currency driving quantifiable brand growth.

Persons: —, Julia Klim, Equinox's, Klim, Billee Howard Organizations: Service, Gartner Locations: Brandthro

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