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And so whenever I get one of those notifications, I know I’m going to have a good time there. kevin roose[LAUGHS]: I actually don’t think I could’ve told you what IBM stood for. kevin rooseSo I’ve thought a lot and written a lot about how and when AI actually is a threat to jobs. The third category is just the jobs that I think are going to be protected, the jobs that we won’t let AI do. But I don’t actually think the speed of it matters at all.

☆ Big Tech Expects Some Assets to Last Longer. But the Boost to Profit Is Temporary.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Google parent Alphabet is among the tech firms that have made extensions to their servers and network equipment this year. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesA growing number of tech companies expect their servers and network equipment to last longer, an accounting change that reflects the slower pace of developments in certain chips while also boosting profits at a difficult time for the industry. Companies such as Google parent Alphabet, information-technology business International Business Machines and cloud-services firm Akamai Technologies made extensions so far this year. Other tech firms—including Meta Platforms , Microsoft , Oracle and Amazon.com —have also revised their estimates since 2022. Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon made two separate sets of extensions in recent years, two years apart, filings show.

☆ IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 1 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) expects to pause hiring for roles as roughly 7,800 jobs could be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming years, CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg News on Monday. Hiring specifically in back-office functions such as human resources will be suspended or slowed, Krishna said, adding that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced by AI and automations in five years. The reduction could include not replacing roles vacated by attrition, the PC-maker told the publication. IBM did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

OAKLAND, California, April 19 (Reuters) - Chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS.O) said on Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit against International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), accusing it of unlawfully sharing confidential intellectual property and trade secrets. New York-based GlobalFoundries said in its complaint that IBM had shared IP and trade secrets with Rapidus, a new state-backed Japanese consortium that IBM is working with to develop and produce cutting-edge two-nanometre chips. It also asserted that IBM had unlawfully disclosed and misused its IP with Intel Corp (INTC.O), noting that IBM had announced in 2021 it would collaborate with Intel on next-generation chip technology. "IBM is unjustly receiving potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing income and other benefits," GlobalFoundries said in a statement. GlobalFoundries is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as an injunction against IBM to stop using the trade secrets.

NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Cybersecurity firm Forcepoint is exploring a sale of its government security unit for more than $2 billion, five people familiar with the matter said. Forcepoint is looking to offload the unit as part of its strategy to focus on growing its commercial business, which caters to large corporations, the sources added. Austin, Texas-based Forcepoint develops and creates computer security software, data protection, and firewall solutions. Last year, Forcepoint won an $89 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to provide software solutions that would help monitor user activity. Forcepoint also counts the likes of International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) as customers.

☆ Three investors on how to protect your portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Wall Street has been hit with a barrage of complex signals about the economy’s health over the past month. From banking turmoil to weakening jobs data to slowing inflation, and now the start of earnings season, investors have remained largely resilient. So, how should investors protect their portfolios? Investors say there isn’t one asset that Wall Street should pile all their bets on, but there are fundamentals that should underlie their investment strategies. Doug Fincher, portfolio manager at Ionic Capital Management, says investors should brace their portfolios against inflation.

☆ IBM Explores Sale of Weather Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Laura Cooper | Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IBM has been taking steps to focus on its platform-based hybrid cloud and artificial-intelligence strategy. International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a sale of its weather operation, according to people familiar with the matter, as the technology company seeks to streamline its operations. An auction of the business is at an early stage, the people said, and there may not be a deal. Should there be one, private-equity is most likely the buyer in a deal that could be valued at more than $1 billion, the people said.

☆ Pro Take: AI Boom Will Test Readiness of IBM, and Its Customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said the world is coming to believe that AI is a fundamentally transformative technology. ARMONK, N.Y.—International Business Machines Corp. researchers spent decades developing artificial intelligence when most of the world wasn’t ready to embrace it, and the company struggled at times to build a business around it. Now, as interest in AI booms amid new advances, IBM is tailoring the technology to address the individual business problems of customers that are prepared to use it. “I think we’ve all talked a lot about AI as a fundamentally transformative technology and I think maybe over the last few months, now, the world is coming to agree,” IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said during an interview at company headquarters. “I think before that they might not have disagreed, but I’m not sure they fully believed.”

☆ US, Canada plan North American chip corridor, starting with IBM expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 24 (Reuters) - The United States and Canada said on Friday they would work together to create a bilateral semiconductor manufacturing corridor, as International Business Machines (IBM.N) signaled its intent to expand in Canada. The Canadian government will spend C$250 million ($181.94 million) on its domestic semiconductor industry to boost research and development and manufacturing, the prime minister's office said in a statement. The countries did not disclose the amount of IBM's investment in Canada. IBM maintains semiconductor research and manufacturing operations in upstate New York. ($1 = 1.3741 Canadian dollars)Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Executive Bet on Partner’s Idea for U.S.-Style Hotels in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Bob Tita | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Gérard Pélisson helped build one of the world’s largest hotel companies in Accor SA. Gérard Pélisson bet on an untested business idea for hotels in Europe and picked the right partner for it. Mr. Pélisson gave up a career as an executive at International Business Machines Corp. in the 1960s to start a hotel company with Paul Dubrule, who had taken notice of successful hotel chains like Holiday Inn while working in the U.S. Mr. Dubrule convinced Mr. Pélisson that similar hotels could work in France and elsewhere in Europe, too. Mr. Pélisson mostly focused on the financing for the project and Mr. Dubrule devised the marketing plans. They opened their first Novotel hotel in northern France four years later in 1967.

☆ Rapidus picks northern Japan's Chitose as semiconductor plant location
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's state-backed Rapidus said on Tuesday it would build its semiconductor plant in Chitose, a manufacturing hub on the nation's northern island of Hokkaido. The factory and a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) plant under construction on the southern island of Kyushu are the key pillars of Japan's strategy to boost its capability to make more advanced chips and shield itself from supply chain snarls. Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi told Reuters this month that the company would need about 7 trillion yen ($51.4 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass producing advanced logic chips around 2027. Chitose, a city of about 100,000 people, already hosts a wide range of factories run by major manufacturers including silicon wafer maker SUMCO Corp (3436.T) and auto components maker Denso Corp (6902.T). ($1 = 136.1500 yen)Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ginni Rometty Learned How to Use ‘Good Power’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Emily Bobrow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Virginia “Ginni” Rometty emerged as a strong contender to run International Business Machines Corp. after she successfully led the company’s merger with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s consulting arm in 2003. When months went by without hitting her profit targets, Ms. Rometty knew she needed to turn things around. What didn’t help, she says, was hearing from a superior that if she failed she was “no longer a welcome member of the family.”“Some of the biggest lessons I learned about power were about how not to lead,” Ms. Rometty, 65, said over video from her home in Naples, Fla. Since retiring as IBM’s chairman and CEO in 2020, after nearly a decade in the job and a lifetime at the company, she says she has been thinking a lot about how power is wielded and abused. “Given the many negative stories about leaders in politics and business, people now associate power with fear, with being uncomfortable,” she says.

☆ Generative AI Helping Boost Productivity of Some Software Developers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The technology, known as generative AI, has been pioneered by OpenAI, the lab behind the ChatGPT writing system and the Dall-E visual illustration generator. Copilot, as well as other tools from Amazon.com Inc., International Business Machines Corp. , and startups like Tabnine Inc. and Magic AI Inc., have quickly found a receptive audience among developers seeking a productivity boost. The AI model behind Copilot is trained on data from GitHub, which houses a popular open-source community where developers contribute and share code. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. And, with a tightening economy in mind, Hyland Software is holding back on spending for any new tools or technologies.

☆ As Deal Making Picks Up, Tech Chiefs Worry About Software Integration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How can tech executives smooth the integration of new digital tools when their vendors make acquisitions? Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

☆ Corporate Layoffs Spread Beyond High-Growth Tech Giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Chip Cutter | Theo Francis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Dow Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and SAP SE announced plans to cut thousands of jobs to prepare for a darkening economic outlook, as the current wave of corporate layoffs spreads beyond high-growth technology companies. Together with layoffs announced by manufacturer 3M Co. this week, these companies are trimming more than 10,000 jobs, just a fraction of their total workforces. Still, the decisions mark a shift in sentiment inside executive suites, where many leaders have been holding on to workers after struggling to hire and retain them in recent years when the pandemic disrupted workplaces.

☆ IBM to Cut 3,900 Jobs Amid Broader Tech Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IBM said its fourth-quarter revenue was $16.69 billion compared with $16.70 billion a year earlier. International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday joined the wave of companies making layoffs, saying it would cut about 3,900 jobs. The cuts will stem from Kyndryl Holdings Inc., the IT services business that IBM spun off last year, and its healthcare divestiture, from which the company will incur about a $300 million charge, a spokesman confirmed.

☆ IBM Reports Flat Sales Amid Broader Tech Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IBM said its fourth-quarter revenue was $16.69 billion compared with $16.70 billion a year earlier. International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday posted flat sales after a strong U.S. dollar hurt its reported revenue by more than $1 billion. The information-technology company said exchange rates would improve in its favor in 2023. “We saw accelerating demand as we exited the year,” Chief Financial Officer Jim Kavanaugh said in an interview.

☆ Tech Chiefs Fear ‘Frankenstein’ Software Integrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Microsoft Corp. this month said it plans to incorporate AI into all of its enterprise software, while boosting its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, the startup behind chatbot ChatGPT. That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Tesla, Chevron, ServiceNow, Levi Strauss, IBM and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla — Shares rose 0.4% in volatile trading after the electric-vehicle maker reported earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter that beat analyst expectations. Chevron — Shares advanced 2.7% after the oil company announced a $75 billion stock repurchasing program. Levi Strauss — The denim company jumped 7% after its earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter came in above expectations. International Business Machines — IBM beat quarterly earnings and revenue forecasts, but the stock fell more than 2%. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $3.72 billion.

☆ IBM to cut 3,900 jobs - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) will cut 3,900 roles, or about 1.5% of its global workforce, its chief financial officer, James Kavanaugh, told Bloomberg News in an interview on Wednesday. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Global IT Spending Decreased in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Companies worldwide made deep cuts in enterprise technology spending last year, with tighter information-technology budgets likely to stretch well into the year ahead. Global IT spending contracted 0.2% in 2022, dropping to $4.38 trillion—a rare instance of corporations spending less on digital business tools than in the previous year, according to IT consulting and research firm Gartner Inc.Gartner had initially estimated that IT spending had increased 0.8% last year. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Spending on business software and IT services is expected to remain steady year-over-year, together accounting for more than $2.16 trillion in projected spending in 2023, Gartner said. Within IT services, spending on consulting services alone is projected to reach $264 billion, up 6.7% from 2022, Gartner said.

☆ Cloudflare Takes Aim at a Top Security Threat: Your Inbox
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Cloud-infrastructure company Cloudflare Inc. announced Wednesday new email security capabilities aimed at helping businesses defend against phishing, malware and other cyberattacks commonly targeting corporate email accounts. It provides web performance, cybersecurity and other services to millions of customers, of which more than 156,000 pay for its services. Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare Photo: Cloudflare Inc.Chief Executive Matthew Prince said the new security functions are also in response to an increase in ransomware and other sophisticated cyberattacks, some of which are perpetrated by relatively unsophisticated hackers. Prince said, referring to the growth of so-called “ransomware-as-a-service,” where ransomware operators provide malware programs to affiliates to launch attacks. Prince said Cloudflare, which was itself a customer of Area 1 before pursuing an acquisition, has more closely integrated its existing cybersecurity services with Area 1’s email security platform.

☆ How Kellogg Uses Standardized Benchmarks to Boost Cost Savings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Kellogg Co. is working to reap additional cost savings by relying more heavily on standardized performance benchmarks, a move that could prove particularly useful as the economy slows. Kellogg began using the benchmarks in 2019. WSJ: What led Kellogg to start using standardized benchmarks in 2019? Anytime we have a process change or process improvement, the process happens all over again. WSJ: How have you boosted efficiencies from using benchmarks?

☆ Cyber Chiefs Face Scrutiny and Challenges in 2023’s Uncertain Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( James Rundle | Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

That leaves security teams, in real terms, working with fewer resources, Ms. Huth said. Inflation is pushing wage demands higher and the scarcity of cyber professionals—particularly within highly technical industries such as power—means security staff are in demand, Mr. Bojar said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Cybersecurity news, analysis and insights from WSJ's global team of reporters and editors. Cyber staffs will need to vet third-party services while installing safeguards against new avenues hackers could exploit, Kohler’s Ms. Huth said. Retail giant Amazon.com Inc. hopes to grow its security team, said Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt, despite a company-wide hiring freeze and layoffs for up to 10,000 workers elsewhere in the company.

☆ Southwest Meltdown Shows Airlines Need Tighter Software Integration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Southwest’s software wasn’t designed to solve problems of that scale, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said Thursday, forcing the airline to revert to manual scheduling. Unlike some large rivals with hub-and-spoke networks, Southwest planes hopscotch from city to city, which may have been another complicating factor. Mr. Alamzad said the most serious IT challenge airlines face stems from the applications developed in silos by vendors or the airlines themselves. Southwest recently completed an upgrade of its new reservation system and had been working through multiyear upgrades to systems used in its operations. Other carriers have given priority to upgrading customer-facing reservations platforms and flier loyalty programs over operations systems, Mr. Alamzad said.

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