Tory donor acquires stake in former Virgin Money chief’s fintech startup Snoop October 25, 2019 A Conservative Party donor has acquired a stake in the technology business of former Virgin Money chief executive Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. Lord Brownlow’s investment vehicle, Havisham assets, has bought a £5m share in Snoop according to Sky News, alongside Salesforce Ventures, which Jayne-Anne recently joined as UK and Ireland chief. Read more: Self-driving startup Fiveai [...]
UK mobile network operators reveal plan to end rural ‘not-spots’ October 25, 2019 The UK’s four mobile network operators have reached an agreement with the government to banish “not-spots” in the countryside where network coverage is poor. Vodafone, O2, EE and Three will spend £532m between them over 20 years, according to plans announced on Friday, with the aim of giving 95 per cent of the UK 4G [...]
DEBATE: Virgin Galactic is planning to float on the New York Stock Exchange – is going public a wise move? October 25, 2019 Virgin Galactic is planning to float on the New York Stock Exchange – is going public a wise move? John Mullins, associate professor of management practice at London Business School, says YES. It was exciting to learn that Sir Richard Branson is planning to float his space venture Virgin Galactic on the New York Stock [...]
Twitter shares plunge after revenue hit by advertising bugs and weaker demand October 24, 2019 Twitter has posted worse-than-expected profit and revenue figures for the third quarter, which the company blamed on advertising bugs and unusually low demand over the summer. Shares in the social media platform tumbled over 18 per cent following the announcement. Read more: Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has account hacked as series of racist messages posted [...]
Tesla holds share gains after surprise third quarter profit October 24, 2019 Shares in electric car firm Tesla were up more than 16 per cent today after chief executive Elon Musk delivered his promise that the company would return to profitability in the third quarter. The company’s shares surged 18 per cent in after hours trading last night after the car maker beat analyst expectations and posted [...]
London set for ‘fibre backbone’ to boost internet speeds October 24, 2019 New digital infrastructure will be built in London’s Tube tunnels in a “small but significant step” toward having full-fibre broadband across the capital. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will spend £10m on creating a “fibre backbone” to enable gigabit broadband – internet speeds of 1,000 megabits per second – in 118,000 homes in South London. [...]
Let’s use Tube tunnels to boost London’s broadband connections October 24, 2019 One of London’s biggest infrastructure challenges is how to spread gigabit connectivity far and wide. Today, because of the way connectivity has been managed nationally, the vast majority of Londoners still get their broadband services through a ‘last mile’ of copper connections, with full fibre only reaching around 10 per cent of households. Read more: [...]
Sir Richard Branson set to launch Virgin Galactic float on Monday October 24, 2019 Sir Richard Branson has announced that he is planning to float his space venture Virgin Galactic on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Branson said he hoped to be there to ring the bell himself as his space flight company becomes the first to go public next week. Read more: Boeing invests $20m in [...]
Facial recognition tech powered by AI poses a threat to society October 24, 2019 Facial recognition software feels like it has stepped out of the realms of science fiction and into reality. Thanks to massive developments in artificial intelligence (AI), cameras and surveillance systems can now check and analyse someone’s facial features in real time. This is a profound step forward in the realms of biometric security, and major [...]
The UK’s AI talent race just stepped up a gear October 24, 2019 Technology has the power to improve lives and tackle the great challenges of our time. At the University of Exeter, for example, Tim Dodwell is about to start a five-year project looking into how technology can make the aviation industry more sustainable and safer. He is one of the first five recipients of a new [...]