Phew! Facebook’s AI chief says intelligent machines are not a threat to humanity July 31, 2016 The chief scientist leading Facebook's research into artificial intelligence doesn't believe the technology is a threat to human existence – unless we are very stupid. "I don’t think at AI will become an existential threat to humanity," said Yann LeCun, the top professor who is leading Facebook's efforts in the space of AI and machine learning. "I’m [...]
China’s Ant Financial is testing out blockchain technology July 31, 2016 Ant Financial, the Chinese fintech giant spun off from Alibaba, is testing out blockchain technology for the first time to build a more transparent process for donating money. The group's charity platform, Ant Love, will use blockchain technology to track donations to one project being funded via the site. “We are trying to bring small and [...]
French bank BPCE acquires hot fintech challenger Fidor July 28, 2016 France’s fourth largest bank has gobbled up a fintech startup that specialises in digital banking. BPCE has acquired German challenger Fidor to push forward its digital strategy across Europe. Fidor, named one of Europe’s hottest fintech companies, currently operates in several countries including the UK. Founded in 2009 and with investment from Anthemis Group among others, BPCE has agreed [...]
An upside down hype cycle is the reassuring Brexit chart you’ve been looking for July 28, 2016 Meet the chart that might put your mind at ease over the hand wringing brought about by Brexit. Gartner’s hype cycle is the go-to chart that lays out the ups and downs of the trends in technology, if you’re not familiar. There’s the “innovation trigger” stage when ideas are at the earliest research stage, then the “peak [...]
Mark Zuckerberg added $1.9bn to his wealth in less than 24 hours July 28, 2016 How do you fancy making $1.9bn in less than a day? You'd need to have founded the hottest company of the last decade and exclusively wear grey T-shirts – yep, basically, be Mark Zuckerberg. Yesterday the Facebook founder was worth $53.3bn. Today, his wealth stands at an even heftier $55.2bn. Not at all bad for less than 24 [...]
The monster that is Facebook just hit a record high and overtook Exxon July 28, 2016 Shares in Facebook have hit a record high after smashing Wall Street forecasts across the board, helping it briefly overtake oil firm Exxon Mobil to become the fourth largest company in the world. Shares jumped nearly four per cent on the back of a more than impressive 59 per cent growth in revenue while net income rocketed [...]
Apple’s iPhone sales and revenue fall again – but Wall Street’s loving it July 28, 2016 Apple shares have jumped more than seven per cent, breaking through the $100 mark, after reporting earnings and iPhone sales slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations on Tuesday evening. The figures Apple revenue hit $42.4bn in the third quarter, down from $49.6bn in the same period last year and from $50.6bn in the previous quarter. That came in [...]
Just Eat soars to record high delivering upgraded outlook July 28, 2016 Shares in takeaway firm Just Eat have soared to a record high after upping its outlook for the year. The figures Revenue for the first half the year to June was up 59 per cent to £171.6m as like-for-like orders surged 40 per cent. Underliying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to £53.4m [...]
Telefonica reports revenue falls in quarter of O2-Three merger collapse July 28, 2016 Telefonica has reported a near-eight per cent fall in revenue in the quarter its O2 sale fell through. The figures Telefonica UK’s revenue for the quarter was €1.7bn (£1.4bn), down 12.3 per cent. The UK market was the second biggest faller in terms of revenue, behind Latin America, where it fell 14.6 per cent to [...]
Pensions giant L&G invests more than £3m in London auto enrolment fintech firm Smart Pension July 28, 2016 Is auto enrolment London's next technology cash cow? L&G seems to think so: it's invested more than £3m in London pensions firm Smart Pension – which is barely a year old. Although it hasn't disclosed exactly how much it spent, City A.M. understands the figure was higher than Smart Pension's last funding round, earlier this year, in which it [...]