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☆ Wealthy Americans are racing to get the EU's last remaining 'golden passport' before it's gone
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For the first time, Americans are applying for "golden passports" more than any other nationality. For the first time, Americans are applying for golden passports and visas more than any other nationality, according to Henley & Partners' 2023 USA Wealth Report, released Thursday. Henley & Partners' Head of North America Mehdi Kadiri said Malta's golden passport scheme was the second-most sought-after program among Americans, in part because Malta's program is accessible through real estate investment. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly applied for European citizenship in 2020 through Cyprus' now-defunct golden passport program. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, golden passports and visas faced global scrutiny for allowing sanctioned oligarchs access to the UK.

☆ Business Technology Chiefs Question ChatGPT’s Readiness for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Angus Loten | Chris Bedi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Yet some business-technology professionals are uneasy about integrating it into the enterprise stack, citing concerns over its use of online data and security risks. But at the moment, ChatGPT “should be used with caution in an enterprise business setting,” she said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. For now, Mr. Schmidt said, generative AI capabilities should be reserved for writing corporate boilerplate—product or service announcements, or other promotional materials. For enterprise information-technology, “ChatGPT use cases might be a smaller universe than people are imagining,” he said.

☆ Exclusive: Alphabet spinoff Sandbox AQ raises $500 mln for cyber security, other work
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Sandbox AQ, a startup spun off from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) last year, said on Tuesday it raised $500 million as it helps customers prepare for a quantum computing future. Former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt is the startup's chairman as well as an investor. Other investors include Breyer Capital, T. Rowe Price funds and Salesforce.com Inc founder Marc Benioff's TIME Ventures. Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: Alphabet spinoff Sandbox AQ raises $500 mln for cyber security, other quantum work
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb 14 (Reuters) - Sandbox AQ, a startup spun off from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) last year, said on Tuesday it raised $500 million as it helps customers prepare for a quantum computing future. Quantum computers, whose processors run based on quantum physics, could one day carry out certain calculations millions of times quicker than today's fastest super computers, yet they remain years away from making a big change, such as breaking encryption. The simulation does not currently need quantum computers to work, said Hidary. When quantum computers are ready, that work would speed up even further. Sandbox AQ is also using existing types of sensors based on quantum physics.

☆ AI's impact on warfare will be as big as nuclear weapons', says ex-Google CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said AI could have as big of an effect on warfare as nuclear weapons did. Schmidt told Wired that the US military must deploy AI tools in combat to compete with world powers. AI could be what is needed to lead that change, Schmidt told Wired. In fact, AI technology — drones with sensors, for example — may be just as impactful as nuclear weapons when it comes to changing the state of warfare, he said. Technologies like Istari can be used to build a stronger US military that can out-compete forces in countries like China, Schmidt told Wired.

☆ Google, Microsoft ChatGPT Clones Will Destroy Internet Search
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The other kind of search — "exploratory search" — is the hard one. That's where you don't know what you don't know. When you're scrolling through the links in a Google search, looking for "esoteric shit," as one search expert calls it, you see some pages that just look dodgy, maybe in ways you can't even totally articulate. But search chatbots can fake all that. Google's search pages already aren't fully trustworthy — they overindex YouTube video results, for example, because YouTube is a subsidiary of Google.

☆ Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt tapped for federal biotech commission that allows members to keep biotech investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

On Dec. 30, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees announced the selection of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and 11 others to serve on a new federal commission on biotechnology. The appointment, however, doesn't require commission members to divest their own personal biotech investments — even as they help shape U.S. policy overseeing the industry. The person didn't say when Schmidt made the decision to donate profits, adding that he hasn't yet named any recipient charities. The new federal commission will likely have a say in steering such investments over the two years of its lifetime. Schmidt's biotech investments are relatively recent.

☆ Tech's ultimate nepo babies: Meet the Drapers, the first family of Silicon Valley
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The billionaire Tim Draper is part of a lineage often lauded as Silicon Valley's premier VC family. As far as powerful professional networks go, it's hard to top the Draper family tree. Draper's venture-capital career began in the 1950s at his father's own trailblazing firm, Draper, Gaither, and Anderson, an early entrant in a new field. Meet the Draper family, the ultimate tech nepo babies and Silicon Valley royalty. Jesse DraperJesse Draper founded Halogen Ventures, which counts her father as an advisor.

☆ Steve Jobs' nepo babies: From a model to a secret daughter, here's everything we know about the Apple cofounder's kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Grace Kay | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Steve Jobs left the bulk of his fortune to his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, when he died in 2011. Later, he had Reed Jobs, Erin Jobs, and Eve Jobs with his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs. Apple, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Reed Jobs did not reply to requests for comment, nor did representatives for Lisa Brennan-Jobs and Eve Jobs. Since Jobs' death, Powell Jobs has been active in philanthropy and founded Emerson Collective in 2004 as a "social change organization." Erin Siena JobsErin Siena Jobs is the most private of Steve Jobs' children.

☆ Deadly HIMARS strikes show how Ukrainian forces are turning cell phones into 'force multipliers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine has launched deadly long-range strikes against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Some of those strikes and other attacks have reportedly been enabled by Russian cell phone use. Those cases illustrate the growing use of cell phones as sensors on the battlefield. In addition, Ukrainians have used their cell phones to report on Russian military movements. Cell phones have also provided accountability, allowing observers to tally losses and to shed light on misdeeds.

☆ How billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson spend their vacations, from cruising on yachts to visiting private islands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Vacations look a little different for the world's billionaire executives. For Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt, cruising in a luxury yacht may be on the agenda. But for the wealthy and powerful, vacations look a little different. Or there's Tim Cook, Apple's billionaire CEO, who spends his time away from running the iPhone-maker exploring America's national parks. Take a look at how some of the nation's most high-powered billionaire execs spend their vacations.

Underlining the bleak return prospects at home, hedge funds with Greater China strategies have lost 12.9% for the year to end-November - on track for their worst year since 2011, according to Eurekahedge data. Rich Chinese are also fretting about Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" drive to reduce income inequality, asset managers said, adding that they are looking at overseas private equity and property investment opportunities in countries like the United States and Japan. Although investing outside of mainland China is not a new development, a significant chunk of that wealth has usually been invested in Chinese assets such as Chinese securities listed in the offshore markets. The Boston-based asset manager has been receiving many queries from Greater China family offices to learn about U.S. economic policies and investment rules, he said. The U.S. consulate told Reuters that it frequently explains investment and economic trends in the United States to a wide variety of audiences.

Warren said she was concerned about reports alleging Schmidt leveraged his positions on two federal advisory committees "to further his own personal financial interests." Those reports could suggest the Defense Department did not adequately apply federal conflict of interest rules "and therefore failed to protect the public interest" in Schmidt's case, wrote the Massachusetts Democrat. There was no indication that Schmidt broke any ethics rules or did anything unlawful while chairing the commission. Both advisory boards are subject to conflict-of-interest rules under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. "I am concerned by press reports indicating the Department may not have adequately followed FACA conflict of interest rules and therefore failed to protect the public interest."

☆ Larry Page, Sergey Brin Post-Google Lives: Investments, Yachts, Islands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +33 min

Even before their retirement from Google, Page and Brin relied heavily on their respective family offices to bring order to their worlds. The Bay Area headquarters of Koop, Larry Page's family office, is nondescript and gives little indication of the billionaire's empire. Insider; Marianne Ayala/Insider Show less Bayshore Global Management, Sergey Brin's family office, is based in Palo Alto and has a bit more of a public face. Insider; Marianne Ayala/Insider Show lessThe difference in styles holds true for Brin's family office, Bayshore Global Management. The CEO of Page's family office is Wayne Osborne, a former elder in the Presbyterian Church who attended Princeton Theological Seminary.

☆ The 5 best leadership books I read this year — and what they taught me about running a company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Siegel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For a roadmap for effective, kind leadership and smart decision-making, he shares 5 book recommendations. Publishing a leadership book gave me a newfound perspective on the genre. Here are the top five leadership books I read in 2022 and why I found each one particularly enriching. After reading The Promise of a Pencil, I learned how seemingly small acts can make a world of difference in communities. For anyone considering executive coaching or looking to find a coach, this book is a must-read.

☆ Fact Check-Experts dispute claims that GPS data leads to election fraud by helping cast illegal ballots
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

More examples of the image, which says GPS data can help “tip the election/s to their preferred candidates” (without identifying who “they” are), are viewable (here), (here). But GPS accuracy is degraded by satellite signal blockage (due to buildings, bridges and trees), indoor and underground use, as well as signals reflected off buildings, among other factors (here). There is no mention of using online surveillance via GPS and geolocation to verify who voted, contrary to the social media claims. For example, by monitoring the sites an individual visits or the posts they create on social media, Google “can have some idea on” voter preferences. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .

☆ Check out Contrary NYC, a 'Soho House for techies' community hangout that's generating buzz and drawing visitors like Serena Williams
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Silicon Valley venture firm, Contrary, recently opened a community space for tech workers in New York. In September, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Contrary added another space to the list. Contrary NYC bills itself as a "Soho House for techies." Until recently, the space has mostly been accessible to people already associated with the firm— investors, founders, and fellows. I paid a visit to Contrary during the second week of October, the tail end of New York Tech Week — five days of events dedicated to the city's growing startup ecosystem.

☆ Google veteran launches 'digital family office' backed by Betsy Cohen, Eric Schmidt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Arta Finance, a fintech that aims to replicate the family office experience for a wider audience through artificial intelligence, debuted on Wednesday with $90 million in funding from investors who include Betsy Cohen and former Google (GOOGL.O) chief Eric Schmidt. While family offices cater to those with hundreds of millions in assets, Arta is targeting those with $100,000 to several million dollars in investable assets, Sengupta said. BNY Mellon's (BK.N) Pershing will serve as Arta's broker and custodian and offer credit lines to eligible investors. "We're actually really trying hard to scale as much as we can to get to as many people who we can serve," said Sengupta. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fmr. Google CEO raises ethics concerns over conflict of interest with AI investments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFmr. Google CEO raises ethics concerns over conflict of interest with AI investmentsCNBC's Eamon Javers joins 'Squawk Box' to report on the direct AI investments fmr. Google CEO Eric Schmidt made while chairing the Federal Advisory AI Commission, and the fractures in government oversight and ethics systems that enabled Schmidt's activity.

☆ How Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt helped write AI laws in Washington without publicly disclosing investments in AI start-ups
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

'Conflict of interest'Schmidt's investment was just the first of a handful of direct investments he would make in AI start-up companies during his tenure as chairman of the AI commission. Altogether, Schmidt and entities connected to him made more than 50 investments in AI companies while he was chairman of the federal commission on AI. To Poulson, Schmidt was simply given too much power over federal AI policy. The new entity would continue the work of the congressionally created federal commission, with many of the same goals and much of the same staff. More than a dozen staffers from the federal commission followed Schmidt to the new private sector project.

☆ White House Issues ‘Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The White House on Tuesday issued guidelines aimed at safeguarding personal data from misuse in artificial-intelligence algorithms that drive hiring, lending and other business decisions. The guidelines, which the Biden administration described as a “blueprint for an AI bill of rights,” are nonbinding and don’t include enforcement measures. They also fall short of the European Union’s landmark privacy regulation that has forced global technology companies to change how they collect data, among other things. Still, some technology leaders said the White House blueprint could lead to heavy-handed regulation that might risk putting U.S. businesses at a disadvantage. “If implemented properly, the bill could reduce AI misuse and yet support beneficial uses of AI in medicine, driving, enterprise productivity, and more,” Mr. Etzioni said.

☆ Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn't like the metaverse—he predicts a different technology will shape the future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-03 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Unsurprisingly, Apple hasn't yet publicly touted any plans for the metaverse , a term typically used to describe virtual reality (VR) platforms where people can interact, work, shop and play games using immersive technology like a virtual reality headset. "I always think it's important that people understand what something is," the Apple CEO told Dutch publication Bright on Friday. Instead, he's pushed his company's plans around augmented reality (AR), where virtual elements and images are superimposed onto the real world. "I think AR is a profound technology that will affect everything," Cook said. "Zoom out to the future and look back, you'll wonder how you led your life without augmented reality," Cook said.

☆ Hollywood star, tech execs invest in Italian start-up Bending Spoons
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterActor Ryan Reynolds gestures as he speaks during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Eric GaillardMILAN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Italian app developer Bending Spoons has raised more than $340 million from investors including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and Kerry Trainor, the former CEO of video streaming platform Vimeo (VMEO.O), it said on Tuesday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOther backers included Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) and Banco BPM (BAMI.MI), the Milan-based start-up said in a statement. Since launching in 2013, Bending Spoons has registered more than 500 million downloads and has 90 million monthly active users, according to its website. (This story corrects currency in first paragraph to dollars from euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Elvira Pollina Writing by Gianluca Semeraro Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt on why in-office work is better: 'I don't know how you build great management' virtually
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-05 | by ( Jade Scipioni | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Schmidt, who served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011, helped transform the then-young Silicon Valley start-up into today's $1.9 trillion global tech behemoth — and credits in-office work for much of that growth. Younger employees, particularly those between the ages of 25 and 35, can also use in-office settings to more effectively develop their management styles, Schmidt says. "If you miss out [on that] because you are sitting at home on the sofa while you're working, I don't know how you build great management. Still, Schmidt says, a largescale movement to permanently work remotely would deny at least 30 to 40 years of workplace experience. Don't miss:Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt on working with Steve Jobs, handling criticism and finding his management style

☆ A former executive assistant to Jeff Bezos, Marissa Mayer, and Eric Schmidt shares her career tips from working with Amazon and Google's top talent
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-19 | by ( Stephen Jones | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ann Hiatt worked as Jeff Bezos's executive assistant and as chief of staff at Google for Eric Schmidt. Hiatt tells readers to find managers who they admire and who have an aspirational career path. That's the advice of Ann Hiatt, who worked as an executive assistant to Jeff Bezos and Marissa Mayer, and as chief of staff to Eric Schmidt. Amazon founder Bezos hired Hiatt in 2002 and they worked together until 2005, when she left to study for a PhD. Hiatt wrote in her book: "My next career steps have always been inspired by asking myself the key question of 'What do I want to learn in the next phase of my career?'"

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