Liberty Global inks €1.5bn deal with IT giant Infosys to scale up Horizon entertainment platform August 15, 2023 International telecoms firm Liberty Global (LG) has struck a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) deal to outsource its Horizon entertainment platform to Indian IT consultancy Infosys. The two corporate giants are poised to collaborate over a five-year period, with Infosys helping Liberty Global expand its Horizon entertainment platform, a TV and video streaming service used by over 10m. [...]
UK banks handling interest rates better than US counterparts – but are lagging on AI August 15, 2023 UK financial services execs are coping better with the bleak market conditions compared to their US counterparts, according to a study by New York-listed Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). While 91 per cent of financial services company executives in the US have expressed that soaring interest rates have been hampering their investments, only 78 per [...]
How ‘tourist’ venture capital investors scarpered and popped the valuation bubble August 15, 2023 A flood of so-called ‘tourist’ cash flowing into the venture capital industry has dried up over the past 12 months and helped trigger a plunge in the valuation of UK and European startups, new research has shown.
Most European financial services bosses wary of ‘unintended consequences’ of AI August 14, 2023 A new survey has revealed the extent to which chief executives of European financial services companies are concerned about the potential dangers of AI. The latest EY CEO Outlook Pulse Survey has revealed that 63 per cent of financial services bosses are concerned not enough is being done to manage the “unintended consequences” of artificial [...]
Apple supplier Foxconn cautious despite beating earnings forecasts August 14, 2023 Apple supplier Foxconn beat estimates for second-quarter earnings on Monday thanks to a booming artificial intelligence sector – but the firm retained a cautious outlook for this year due to global economic uncertainties. The world’s largest contract electronics maker downgraded its outlook for full-year revenue to a slight decline from a previous guidance of flat as it [...]
Anthropic secures $100m boost from SK Telecom for new AI venture August 14, 2023 Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence startup founded by ex-OpenAI luminaries, is set to receive $100m (£78.7m) in backing from South Korean telecoms company SK Telecom (SKT). The cash injection will fund the creation of a multilingual large language model (LLM), jointly developed by Anthropic and SKT, according to an announcement made by the telecoms giant [...]
Amazon rolling out generative AI feature targetting product reviews August 14, 2023 Amazon is rolling out a new generative AI feature that summarises product reviews for customers. The feature, which the company began testing earlier this year, is designed to help shoppers determine at a glance what other customers have said about a product before they spend time reading through individual reviews. It will pick out common themes [...]
SoftBank aiming to buy back Arm stake ahead of high-stakes New York IPO August 14, 2023 SoftBank is reportedly in talks to buy back the remaining 25 per cent stake in Cambridge-based chip designer Arm its own investment unit established in 2017. In a strategic move ahead of Arm’s impending float in New York, Japanese tech company SoftBank is looking to regain Vision Fund’s quarter stake in order to fully own [...]
Glantus: Another listed tech firm set to go private as KKR-Accel vehicle completes raid August 14, 2023 London-listed software outfit Glantus is set to go private after receiving a £17.8m offer from the KKR-Accel-backed Basware. The boards of directors of both companies have reached an agreement on the deal, which values Glantus at around £17.8m and implies a total enterprise value of £29.5m. Under the proposed deal, Glantus shareholders will receive £0.3342 [...]
Leica Q3 review: The best travel camera ever made August 12, 2023 How I agonised as I ummed and ahhed over how to say this. Worrying whether to pull my punches, or give it to you straight? But enough of this torture. Let’s just cut to the chase. This camera is a masterpiece. Come on, a Leica with autofocus! You’ve got to get breathless. Believe me, there [...]