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☆ Norfolk Southern CEO says he supports parts of new rail safety bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Wednesday told senators that his railroad company supports parts of two bipartisan rail safety bills that came in the wake of a derailment last month of a train carrying toxic materials in Ohio. Shaw did not fully endorse the Railway Safety Act, which includes provisions calling for two-person crews on all railroad locomotives. "We're not aware of any data that links crew size with safety," Shaw said Wednesday. "There are significant opportunities for advanced technology to enhance rail safety, and we encourage Congress to consider additional research into on-board rail car defect detection technology." Ohio sued Norfolk Southern last week, seeking damages, civil penalties and a "declaratory judgement that Norfolk Southern is responsible," Attorney General Dave Yost said.

☆ ‘Marie Antoinette’ Review: Boudoirs and Bloodlines on PBS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

An ornate soap opera of the sort that has become a fixture of Sunday nights on PBS, the eight-part “ Marie Antoinette ” is a little like “Titanic”: We all know the subject’s destination. The question is how long it will take to get there. It’s not a brisk trip. Not usually a problem, if the parties are eager and the plumbing is intact. But the dauphin, Louis-Auguste (Louis Cunningham), is diffident to the point of paralysis and Marie spends much time worried if he’ll ever rise to greatness.

Greg Becker, who was the longtime CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, pictured last year. "Looks like Silicon Valley Bank is in some deep shit," Uncommon Capital general partner Jamie Quint tweeted. Startup founders scrambled to get their funds out of Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse. Andreessen Horowitz announced this week that it will continue banking with Silicon Valley Bank "for the foreseeable future" but is crafting a longer-term plan to diversify. Even so, he added, "I think we'd be supportive, as they stabilize, for them to be one of many partners that our founders bank with."

☆ The rise of AI automation in the workplace is bad news for the 'brilliant jerks' of tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This will make it more important for tech workers to be good at collaboration and communication. This is bad news for tech workers who thrived as brilliant solitary jerks. The more AI becomes integrated into a workplace, those experts suggested, the more all workers can work with others to get more creative in solving issues. That doesn't leave a lot of room for the brilliant jerks who struggle to treat their colleagues and customers with respect. He added that AI tools combined with interpersonal and collaboration skills create a more team-based culture in the workplace.

That's the question posed by certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. He and others pushing a grind culture are motivated, as tech employees commenting on the workplace app Blind noted. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ Silk-FAW drops plan to build Italian plant for electric sports cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The facility was part of a wider plan to invest more than a 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to build electric cars in Italy under the Hongqi brand. The document includes acknowledgement by the Emilia-Romagna region of Silk-FAW's decision. Silk-FAW did not respond to a request for comment via the company's website. Two sources close to the matter said Italian prosecutors were investigating the Silk-FAW project. Silk-FAW did not respond to a separate request for comment on the matter via the company's website.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's meltdown shows that tech's elites need the government after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Silicon Valley Bank meltdown is teaching the tech industry that regulators are sometimes needed. Tech's relationship with regulation has long been contentiousGovernment regulations, some of tech's most vocal figures contend, can stifle innovation and creativity. "I would suspect that this failure will result in some significant changes to banking regulation," Griffin said. "My logic for that is it isn't sustainable to have a run on a bank triggered mainly on Twitter." Very few in the VC world believe that the move to protect depositors will be bad for the industry's overall health.

That's the question posed by a certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. "There's nothing for these people to do — they're really — it's all fake work," he said. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

After a bank run of $42 billion in withdrawals, Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by regulators on Friday. The founders were banking at Silicon Valley Bank and wanted to switch banks immediately after being told by their venture investors that the bank was suffering from "liquidity issues." The go-to bank of Silicon ValleySilicon Valley Bank has been a pillar of the startup of ecosystem for four decades, acting as the go-to financial institution for VC fundraising and building strong ties with founders and investors alike. This helped bolster SVB's reputation as the go-to bank of Silicon Valley in the good times, but exacerbated the crisis when it hit Thursday and Friday. "If you're given responsibility to run this iconic Silicon Valley company, you need some humility."

☆ American-made cheese can still be called 'gruyère,' a court ruled, and cheese makers in France and Switzerland aren't happy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"Gruyère" can be used for cheeses produced in the United States, an appeals court ruled. It's a victory for dairy groups in the US, but cheese-makers in Switzerland and France aren't happy. Gruyère is a firm yellow cheese named after the town of Gruyères in Fribourg, Switzerland, where it originated. "Cheese consumers in the United States understand 'gruyère' to refer to a type of cheese, which renders the term generic." Krysta Harden, president of the US Dairy Export Council, called the ruling an "outstanding result for manufacturers and farmers here in the United States," per Reuters.

☆ Programmers are pumped by the rise of ChatGPT, because it makes their jobs easier and helps people to find a lucrative career in tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

People worry about their jobs, as ChatGPT and AI slowly become powerful enough to replace workers. But one group of workers sees ChatGPT as good for their industry: Programmers. Programmers said AI makes their work faster and opens up new job opportunities. There are still places for human programmers to shine, says Armory's Frank. But changes to the tech industry are on their way.

☆ Salesforce has been reportedly paying Matthew McConaughey $10 million a year to act as a 'creative adviser' despite laying off 8,000 employees last month
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Salesforce reportedly struck a deal with the actor Matthew McConaughey, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly agreed to pay McConaughey $10 million a year to serve as creative advisor and TV pitchman. McConaughey starred in an ad Salesforce ran during the 2022 Super Bowl donning an astronaut suit. But the cloud-based software company may still be paying millions to harness the star power of actor Matthew McConaughey. Salesforce reportedly agreed to pay McConaughey $10 million a year to serve as its "creative advisor and TV pitchman," The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday, citing people familiar with the arrangement.

☆ In surprise result, Italy's left picks Elly Schlein to rebuild party
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Italy's opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) picked Elly Schlein, a 37-year-old U.S.-Italian national who grew up in Switzerland, to be its new leader and rebuild the group after its election rout last year. Schlein will lead opposition in parliament to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with two women for the first time in Italian history heading the country's two main parties. Although she has promised a new start for the party, many of the PD's grandees have rallied behind her in recent weeks. Polls suggested he would easily beat Schlein, but in the end he only drew strong backing in the more traditionalist south. Schlein faces a monumental struggle if she hopes to heal divisions within her party and beat Meloni's conservative bloc in the next national election in 2027.

☆ Beaten and divided, Italy's centre-left seeks new leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) supporters gather during the electoral campaign closing event of Enrico Letta, secretary of PD, in Piazza del Popolo, ahead of the general election, in Rome, Italy, September 23, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneSummary Italy's PD looking to recover after 2022 election defeatParty seeks ninth leader in just 16 yearsModerate regional president faces young left-wingerROME, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) will chose a new leader this weekend who it hopes can pull the group out of a tail spin and provide a credible challenge to the nationalist prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. PD supporters will have to pick between two starkly different candidates who offer opposing views on how to revive the party after a string of crushing election defeats. He promotes himself as a sound administrator and proven vote winner, who would seek cross-party alliances to defeat the ruling right-wing coalition. Makeshift voting booths are being set up across the country and PD officials hope at least a million people take part.

☆ Bill Gates and professors at top universities agree: The future belongs to those who master AI like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Even though some school districts banned ChatGPT, educators encourage students to play with AI. But some in the education sector see the intrinsic value of ChatGPT, believing that a familiarity with AI will be an essential skill in the future. The students began to ask ChatGPT more complicated questions that showed they were using AI not to do the work for them, but rather to generate and explore different ideas. The potential for ChatGPT in education is thereNew York City and Los Angeles were two of the largest public school systems that banned ChatGPT. Ultimately, ChatGPT and AI will not go away, so you might as well learn how to use it to get a head start on others.

☆ Apple and Meta's cold war over privacy is coming to a head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Do you know any marketing/ad execs who are figuring out how to use generative AI? But experts told my teammate Paayal Zaveri that Meta needs to entirely reinvent its advertising model to escape Apple. Microsoft's new ChatGPT-powered Bing loves to pick fights and sling insults — and people are sharing their wild, wild, wild experiences with the chatbot. Generative AI like ChatGPT can do these side-hustles for you. Freelancers are relying on generative AI to increase their productivity and take on more projects.

☆ Tim Cook's mysterious silence on ChatGPT is making Apple look out of touch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook needs to balance AI development with its ongoing supply chain issues. Apple CEO Tim Cook himself has said that AI "will affect every product and service we have." Delivering an interesting AI product is not the only problem Apple needs to address. Apple faced supply chain issues in 2021, delaying the delivery of the iPhone 14 Pro after protests around Covid-19 shutdowns temporarily closed its Chinese manufacturing hubs. The company has talked about diversifying its supply chain process, which could take decades.

☆ AI needs a set of rules — for its own good, and for ours
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Lawmakers and industry insiders agree: AI needs strong regulations for the industry to thrive. Ultimately, experts agree that this is a necessary step for the nascent AI industry to truly thrive. The AI industry welcomes regulationTech industry insiders say that AI regulation is a prudent step to helping make sure that the technology can be brought to the mass market in a sustainable, responsible way. While the tech industry has historically viewed regulation as harmful to innovation, supporters of rules for AI point to the many instances where strict rules have helped technologies flourish. Calls for AI regulation are not limited to policymakers and researchers.

☆ Google is facing its first real competition in search
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This is the first time search engines are in legitimate competition — with all thanks to ChatGPT for the plot twist. Now, the chatbot is integrated in Bing and gives the search engine its first fighting chance against Google. Microsoft for now has a "first-mover" advantage, meaning its first-ever AI search engine can attract a large share of users. More on the first-ever search engine race here. Tech workers with skills in Web3, AI, and cybersecurity remain in high demand.

☆ Microsoft’s Bing finally has a chance to take a bite out of Google with ChatGPT. But it has to move fast.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft finally announced a new ChatGPT-enhanced Bing that can challenge Google's search dominance. But while ChatGPT pushes Microsoft and Bing forward, Google has been aggressively reminding everyone that it's been doing the AI thing for a long time. Microsoft has to move fast to keep its advantageBing has consistently been a distant second to Google Search for decades. Still, with its sizable war chest and long history with developing AI in-house, Google appears ready for a fight. In much the same manner as Microsoft's master plan, Google plans to bring ChatGPT to its own suite of software, including Gmail and Google Docs.

☆ Sundance Movies: Brett Kavanaugh and Steph Curry Docs, "Cat Person"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Sundance Film Festival was back in person for the first time since 2020. In five days I saw eight films, and while I'm not a critic, I can affirm that not one of them was a clunker. Asked about the film's aspect ratio in an audience Q&A, Jalali said, "It was prettier that way." The bulk of the films I saw were more commercial, and four of them centered on relationships. And then there was "Cat Person," based on a 2017 New Yorker story about dating by Kristen Roupenian.

☆ Google will bring generative AI to Gmail. It's trying to stem the threat of the Microsoft-OpenAI alliance.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's been developing AI models for years and has used AI in products, including search. Google will release new tools and APIs for developers and users to experiment with its AI models. Unlike some Big Tech AI models, ChatGPT went insanely viral because it was so easy to use and available even to non-programmers. The company also announced plans to offer more AI products for businesses and organizations, though Pichai did not specify which kinds. Pichai pointed to using AI to improve Google Search and said people should expect further upgrades fueled by AI.

☆ Microsoft is chill with employees using ChatGPT — just don’t share ‘sensitive data’ with it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft warned employees against sharing "sensitive data" with ChatGPT. Leaked internal communications revealed that Microsoft's CTO office told employees that using ChatGPT is fine. "Companies and employees are all scrambling to find out the exact rules around using ChatGPT for work." He added: "The interesting thing here is that Microsoft is a big partner and investor of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. In theory, Microsoft stands to gain when ChatGPT collects more data and improves its technology.

☆ The Sundance Film Festival stirs buzz, draws A-list stars, and screens movies that get you talking, but it can't hide the crisis facing independent filmmakers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Sundance Film Festival was back in person for the first time since 2020. A-list stars like Anne Hathaway and Jason Momoa were present to promote their buzzy films. It was impossible not to feel optimistic about the state of independent film at the opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival. In five days I saw eight films, and while I'm not a critic, I can affirm that not one of them was a clunker. At an event like Sundance, even amid some hand-wringing over the future, the excitement is contagious.

☆ Marie Kondo says even she can't keep the house tidy with 3 kids. Moms had a mixed reaction.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marie Kondo says that her life is messier with three kids. Like many other parents before her, Kondo has realized that the pressure to keep a house clean can be at odds with sparking joy in parenthood. "Sometimes there's a negative stigma out there that it's not ok to have a clean house when you have kids," she said. "I felt validated, in some ways, by Marie Kondo supporting that a clean, organized space is beneficial for mental health," she said. Sometimes, more kids means going to bed with a clean house rather than having one all day, but that's still important to Myers.

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