20 times that AI has tried to make it in the music business June 4, 2021 | City Talk Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming omnipresent across every segment of cultural and economic activity. But this phenomenon is not new – AI has been trying to carve a name for itself in the music business as a collaborator, composer, artist and lyricist since 1951… 1) The first computer generated music (1951) In 1951 British mathematician Alan [...]
How did we get here? A short history of artificial intelligence June 4, 2021 | City Talk For over seventy years the story of artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of saturating the capabilities of AI to the level of computational power available, and then waiting for Moore’s Law to catch up. During that time there have been bubbles of AI hype, research booms, funding busts and a quiet rebirth. Here we [...]
Facebook hit with double data crackdown as UK and EU open competition probes June 4, 2021 Facebook is facing a two-pronged attack after UK and EU regulators both opened investigations into alleged monopolistic behaviour in the tech giant’s use of advertising data. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will examine whether the social media platform has gained an unfair advantage over rivals through how it gathers and uses data for classified [...]
Grocery delivery app Getir bags $7.5bn valuation as it gears up for expansion June 4, 2021 Getir, an app that promises grocery deliveries in 10 minutes, has secured a $7.5bn (£5.3bn) valuation as it gears up to launch across Europe and in the US. The Turkish tech firm raised more than $550m in a series D funding round backed by existing investors such as Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. It has [...]
Apple staff called back to the office for three days a week June 3, 2021 Apple employees must return to the office for three days a week from September, chief executive Tim Cook has said, as the tech giant signalled an end to the work-from-home era. In a company-wide memo, the Apple boss said: “For all that we’ve been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the [...]
Watchdog clears Ebay’s $9.2bn classified ads deal with Adevinta June 3, 2021 The competition watchdog has cleared Ebay’s $9.2bn (£6.5bn) sale of its classified ads business to Norwegian rival Adevinta. In March the two companies said they would sell off three British divisions to secure regulatory approval for the tie-up. Adevinta said it will divest Shpock, while US ecommerce giant Ebay will sell Gumtree and Motors.co.uk. The [...]
Prosus snaps up Stack Overflow in $1.8bn edtech deal June 2, 2021 Prosus has bought Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a $1.8bn deal as it seeks to capitalise on the demand for online learning. Prosus is one of Europe’s most valuable tech companies and investors and is the largest shareholder in Chinese tech giant Tencent. It is its first acquisition in the edtech [...]
Free coding school 01 Founders launches in London with tech job guarantee June 2, 2021 A free two-year coding school that offers students a guaranteed job at a top tech firm has launched in London. 01 Founders is now accepting applications for its first school in the capital, where learners are offered two years of on-campus training with zero tuition fees followed by two years of employment. The coding push [...]
Zoom boss says home working is here to stay as app hikes forecasts June 2, 2021 The shift to home working will be a permanent change to working habits, the boss of Zoom has said, as his company hiked its forecasts for the full year. “Work is no longer a place, it’s a space where Zoom serves to empower your teams to connect and bring their best ideas to life,” said [...]
Former Huawei executive in court over China spying accusations June 1, 2021 A former Huawei executive and an ex-Polish secret services agent have appeared in court over allegations they carried out state-sponsored spying for China. Weijing Wang and Piotr Durbajlo, who were arrested in 2019 and have both pleaded not guilty, were in court for the start of the trial in Warsaw this morning. Polish prosecutors allege [...]