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☆ Ending the retailers’ crisis has a high price tag
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BARCELONA, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - High-street retailers are facing a heavy bill to weather the cost-of-living crisis. The cost of heating stores and staff requests for pay rises are squeezing operating margins at top players like H&M (HMb.ST) and Next (NXT.L). Shrinking disposable income is making it hard for these retailers to boost sales to protect margins. Most bricks-and-mortar retailers trade on higher multiples than they did before the war in Ukraine sparked soaring inflation. But that leaves a squeezed middle of retailers like H&M exposed to the brunt of the retail crisis.

☆ This AI-generated ad for a fake pizza restaurant shows the tech still has a long way to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Reddit user posted a pizza ad he made using AI tools like ChatGPT Plus and Midjourney. The ad is for a fake pizza restaurant called "Pepperoni Hug Spot," and shows "people" eating pizza. Well unsurprisingly, the ad for a fake pizza restaurant called "Pepperoni Hug Spot" is not real — it's all AI-generated. The fake pizza restaurant ad was created by a Reddit user named PizzaLater, and was posted to the Midjourney Reddit page. "Our chefs make pizza with heart and special touch," the ad says, not too far off something a normal pizza ad would say.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg said the word 'AI' no less than 27 times during a Meta earnings call this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg referenced AI about 27 times at Meta's earnings call on Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg was careful to remind investors on Wednesday that Meta is very much invested in the AI arms race underway in the tech industry. Overall, the word "AI" was used 57 times on Wednesday between Zuckerberg, analysts' questions, and comments from Meta CFO Susan Li. At the previous earnings call in February, Zuckerberg referenced AI about 16 times and before OpenAI's ChatGPT made headlines in November, he addressed it 9 times. Meta's stock jumped 14% on Thursday after the company's earnings beat Wall Street expectations.

Google used the term 52 times on its first-quarter call on Tuesday, up from 45 in the fourth quarter. Both companies said AI was already juicing sales, but neither said when or if they would start breaking out any sales, costs, or profits from the technology. Bing has lagged Google search for decades but Nadella said that Bing downloads had jumped since the addition of AI features and now had 100 million daily users. Toyama said Google already used AI to monetize their search algorithms and he did not expect AI advances from its rivals to be as much of a threat as some thought. Meta, which has admitted it is playing catch-up in AI, has published an AI model that can pick out individual objects from within an image.

☆ Meta is younger dog learning newer new tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is a full generation younger than its Big Tech peers, and it’s looking pretty fresh, too. The company's first-quarter profit announced on Wednesday beat analysts’ expectations, sending shares of the $530 billion company up 12% in after-market trading. A 3% year-over-year boost in revenue, the first such increase the company has had in a while, was a pleasant surprise. In order to grow ads 26%, the company had to slice the average price per ad by 17%. Operating expenses jumped 10% from the same period last year, giving the company a 25% operating margin for the quarter.

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - As "fragmentation" of politics and economics becomes the new buzzword for a world that appears to be splintering into blocs, the related costs of the new order are only now being totted up. Corporate rethinking of foreign direct investment (FDI) - bricks-and-mortar developments overseas as well as mergers and acquisitions - would make the hit even scarier. And if FDI fragmentation is defined by a permanent rise in cross-bloc barriers to imported investment inputs, the IMF said developments could cut world output by 2% in the long term. "Fragmentation of the global economy will likely put inflation at a higher structural level, and the cost of capital will likely go up, squeezing low-quality and leveraged companies." Reuters GraphicsBIS chart on global trade as share of GDPBCG projections on world trade to 2031The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

☆ 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.

☆ Explainer: What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI? Like other forms of artificial intelligence, generative AI learns how to take actions from past data. The most famous generative AI application is ChatGPT, a chatbot that Microsoft-backed OpenAI released late last year. Generative AI likewise can take notes during a virtual meeting. Cybersecurity researchers have also expressed concern that generative AI could allow bad actors, even governments, to produce far more disinformation than before.

☆ Inflation drops to 6%, but housing costs remain high—and the Fed is still watching 'supercore' inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The latest inflation numbers are in line with expectations, dropping to 6% year-over-year, with "supercore" inflation increasing slightly, according to Labor Bureau data. Supercore inflation is a new buzzword used by economists to describe the price of services for things like visiting the dentist or getting a haircut, but it excludes housing, food and energy costs. In February, "supercore" services inflation rose 0.2% for the month and was 4% higher than a year ago. The increase was driven mostly by shelter costs, which were up 0.8%, compared with 0.7% last month. This was largely expected, as consumers are still reeling from housing costs that have surged in the last two years.

☆ Supercore inflation: Why the Fed suddenly cares about your barbershop and plumbing bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Hence, supercore inflation equals the inflation of a basket of goods and services, minus the food and energy inflation, and minus the housing inflation. This ultra-focussed lens is what makes the set of prices in the inflation measure "supercore." supercore inflation, "may be the most important category for understanding the future evolution of core inflation," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in November. "Traditionally, the Fed focused on core inflation because the components were deemed to be less volatile — and by extension, transitory. Not all economists think supercore inflation is all it's hyped up to beBut not all economists are convinced about the focus on supercore inflation.

☆ The New Tech That Will Take Us Beyond the Smartphone. Maybe.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BARCELONA—It’s a tough time for the smartphone market. Not that you’d know from the 2,000-plus exhibitors and 80,000-ish attendees jammed into a conference center for MWC, the mobile-tech show formerly known as Mobile World Congress. Everyone seems to have optimism about the future, abuzz with buzzwords to sell it. The rules of Buzzword Bingo are simple. As fast as you can, scan the trade-show floor and spot all the acronyms: 5G!

☆ 'Quiet' is the workplace word of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Bare Minimum Monday, another workplace buzzword of 2023, also relates to quiet quitting. Experts think those "quiet" trends and more are set to continue throughout 2023 and beyond. "Quiet hiring" is one of the "biggest workplace buzzwords" of 2023 per Insider's reporting. Emily Rose McRae of Gartner's HR Practice said per reporting from GMA that quiet hiring is a workplace trend in 2023 in part because of a shortage in talent. Other buzzwords of the year from Insider's reporting relate to quiet quitting even if they don't use the word quiet.

☆ Young VCs thought the good times would never end. They did, and now they're pissed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider's Stephanie Palazzolo and Madeline Renbarger have a fascinating report on how young venture capitalists who came from investment banking and consulting are not having a good time. I encourage you to read Stephanie's and Madeline's story, which has all the juicy details about the current environment for young VCs. I've written a lot about how young investment bankers view their jobs as a means to an end, as opposed to an actual career. Timing has a lot to do with why young VCs are feeling like they've gotten such a raw deal. Click here to read more about why some young investment bankers are regretting their move to venture capital.

Copycat layoffsAndreyPopov/Getty Images"Copycat layoffs" is the idea that companies are being influenced by one another as they cut jobs. Since the start of 2023, numerous tech companies have laid off workers, including Google, Microsoft, and Zoom, picking up on job cuts that started in the second half of 2022. They followed on the way up; companies were hiring, so everybody decided to hire. Now, companies are laying off, and everybody decided to follow each other and lay people off." "It's difficult without being inside those companies to really point a finger at why these tech companies are shutting people," Minshew said.

☆ Silly Meta, Roblox isn’t just for kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Video-game and social-media hub Roblox (RBLX.N) isn’t playing around when it comes to expanding its audience. The company behind MeepCity and Royale High has been racing alongside Meta Platforms (META.O) to turn the metaverse into more than just a vague buzzword. Despite being unprofitable and considerably smaller than Facebook’s owner, it is putting up a solid fight. Meta is mulling ways to attract younger users, including maybe opening the game up to minors older than 13. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Inflation has gone supercore
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The new favorite: supercore inflation. Supercore inflation refers to prices that rise when workers get paid more for their services. “Supercore inflation was a strong 6.4% on a year-over-year basis through December 2022, but it is moderating,” said Mark Zandi, Moody’s chief economist. For the three months through December, supercore inflation is up only 2.4% annualized, and just 0.9% annualized in the month of December. “Supercore inflation is still way too hot, but it has begun to cool off, and all signs point to it and overall inflation getting back to something more comfortable over the coming 12-18 months,” Zandi told CNN.

☆ Here's how tech giants Microsoft, Google, and Baidu are dealing with ChatGPT, and what that could mean for investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

ChatGPT's viral success has caught the eye of big tech companies and investors. Microsoft is working to integrate the bot into its search engine, while Google is scrambling for alternatives. Major tech names like Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, and Chinese tech giant Baidu have all taken steps in recent weeks to show they're trying to harness the technology underpinning OpenAI's ChatGPT. BaiduChinese search giant Baidu is also working on developing a rival to ChatGPT to use in its services. But analysts generally expect Baidu's bounce to prove short-lived – because so many of its competitors, including Microsoft and Google, are working on similar AI programs.

☆ Baidu to finish testing ChatGPT-style project 'Ernie Bot' in March; stocks rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) - China's Baidu Inc (9888.HK) said on Tuesday it would complete internal testing of a ChatGPT-style project called "Ernie Bot" in March, as interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) gathers steam. The news sent search engine giant Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares up 15.3% on Tuesday. Baidu, China's answer to Google, joined the frenzy on Tuesday. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that Baidu was planning to launch such a service in March. The company has been investing heavily in AI technology, including in cloud services, chips and autonomous driving, as it looks to diversify its revenue sources.

☆ Morning Bid: Market to ChatGPT: what's Powell gotta say?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] ChatGPT logo and rising stock graph are seen in this illustration taken, February 3, 2023. Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unveiled a rival to super popular ChatGPT, saying it will launch a chatbot service named 'Bard'. Asian shares held their ground while the rally in the U.S. dollar took a breather on Tuesday. Reuters GraphicsMeanwhile, a deadly earthquake killed more than 3,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria, sending Turkey's lira to a record low. Before Powell takes centre stage and hogs the limelight, Bank of England's Huw Pill is also due to speak and his comments on monetary policy will likely move markets.

☆ Baidu to finish testing ChatGPT-style project 'Ernie Bot' in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) - China's Baidu Inc (9888.HK) said on Tuesday it would complete internal testing of a ChatGPT-style project called "Ernie Bot" in March, joining a global race as interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) gathers steam. It has gradually grown to be able to perform tasks including language understanding, language generation, and text-to-image generation, it added. Search engine giant Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 13.4% on the news. The company has also worked to add OpenAI's image-generation software to its Bing search engine in a new challenge to Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google. The company has been investing heavily in AI technology, including in cloud services, chips and autonomous driving, as it looks to diversify its revenue sources.

☆ AI stocks rally in latest Wall Street craze sparked by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Shares of C3.ai Inc, BigBear.ai and SoundHound AI extended a rally on Monday as artificial intelligence becomes a new buzzword on Wall Street with the viral success of ChatGPT chatbot, attracting interest from retail punters. Software firm C3.ai (AI.N) rose 11%, analytics firm BigBear.ai (BBAI.N) jumped nearly 21% and conversation artificial intelligence company SoundHound (SOUN.O) surged 40%. "Any company that mentions ChatGPT or something about AI, sees this rally ... it's just the hot buzzword of the month," said Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading. The success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which drew multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), has left investors scouring for companies that develop AI-related technologies. C3.ai and SoundHound have more than doubled in value this year while BigBear.ai has surged more than 700%.

☆ How 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova ended up as the only woman on the FBI's most-wanted list
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Ruja Ignatova is one of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives -- the only woman currently on that list. FBIShe is now one of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives, alongside accused gang leaders and murderers, and is the only woman currently on that list. The bureau declined to provide additional details to CNN beyond court documents from the US Department of Justice, which did not list an attorney for Ignatova. “The cryptocurrency OneCoin was established for the sole purpose of defrauding investors,” IRS Special Agent John R. Tafur said in a statement. Less than two weeks later, on October 25, 2017, she boarded a commercial flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, court documents said.

☆ ChatGPT is coming for classrooms, hospitals, marketing departments, and everything else as the next great startup boom emerges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to look at generative AI as a tool to solve a myriad of problems. This year will be the year new ways of using generative AI will thrive. Jasper competitor Copy.ai, which uses ChatGPT for marketing, raised $11 million in Series A in October 2021. Not all generative AI companies have longevity, and not all sectors have problems that generative AI can solve. For now, investors are confident their bets in generative AI will pay off, said Josh Constine, partner at Signal Fire.

☆ Gen Z VCs founder Meagan Loyst used ChatGPT to write a new educational children's book in 2 hours — to show why she thinks generative AI can be a major learning tool
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meagan Loyst, the founder of Gen Z VCs, is bullish on generative AI as a tool in education. Loyst self-published a children's book on AI that she wrote using ChatGPT and DALLE-2 in two hours. Here's why she thinks generative AI will have a big role in education, even amid teacher concerns. To prove to her following of VCs and startup founders what generative AI is capable of, Loyst self-published a children's book on Amazon titled "Show Me What AI Can Do!" "So a children's book just seems really natural—so many VCs are parents, and the youngest Gen Zers are 10 years old!"

As the cost of signing up new customers rises, “lifetime value” is set to become must-use jargon for technology executives, investors and analysts in 2023. The concept of lifetime value is not new, but a common definition remains elusive. The problem is that everyone seems to have a different definition of lifetime value. But lifetime value isn’t a silver bullet, as Gurley noted a decade ago. As with previous buzzwords, investors may find that references to lifetime value do more to confound than clarify.

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