COP26: Government brings polluting car ban forward to 2035 February 4, 2020 The government’s decision to bring forward the ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars to 2035 has drawn mixed reactions ahead of Glasgow’s COP26 summit. Previously, the government had planned to phase out petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2040 as part of its aspiration for the UK to be carbon neutral by 2050. But [...]
Grab buys investment startup as it beefs up financial offering February 4, 2020 Softbank-backed startup Grab today said it has acquired retail wealth management startup Bento as the app looks to expand its financial services offering. The Singapore-based firm said Bento will be rebranded as Grab Invest, and its products will be rolled out in its home market and across southeast Asia in the first half of the [...]
Cyber firm Callsign set to unveil bumper JP Morgan backing February 4, 2020 London-based identity fraud firm Callsign is said to be on the verge of unveiling fresh funding worth tens of millions of dollars from Wall Street giant JP Morgan. Callsign, which uses AI to verify the identity of users, is signing off on a deal with JP Morgan Asset Management, which manages $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) [...]
Ferguson to consult shareholders on US listing plans February 4, 2020 Plumbing company Ferguson has launched a consultation with shareholders as it mulls a US listing following the demerger of its UK division Wolseley. Ferguson is considering two listing structures, one which would see it seek an additional listing of its shares on a major US stock exchange while remaining part of the FTSE 100. The [...]
Government’s AI adviser calls for crackdown on social media targeting February 4, 2020 Social media users are being left in the dark about the way major platforms target information at them, the government’s artificial intelligence (AI) adviser has warned. A report published today by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) called for tighter regulation of online targeting systems, which use personal information about users to decide [...]
Google admits it may have shared your private videos with strangers February 4, 2020 Google has been forced to alert some of its users that their private videos were inadvertently sent to strangers. In an email to Google Photos users, the tech giant said it had suffered a “technical issue” in Google Takeout — the function that allows people to download their data. “Unfortunately, during this time, some videos [...]
Ikea is closing its first big UK store February 4, 2020 Ikea is preparing to close its Coventry store this year, which will be the first time it has shuttered a large site in the UK since its launch in the country 33 years ago. More than 350 jobs are at risk following the decision, which Ikea said was due to the “changing behaviour of customers [...]
Fashion Week highlights: The global outlook of the fashion and textile industry February 4, 2020 | City Talk Counting the cost of international payments in uncertain times The arrival of London Fashion Week sees buyers looking to define the trends for the coming season but the nature of the buying cycle means that these are particularly challenging times for importers and exporters of textiles and fashion. Uncertainty in global trade created by Brexit [...]
UK PMI: Construction sector shows signs of life after election February 4, 2020 Output in the UK’s construction sector in January fell at its slowest pace since May of last year, survey data has shown, in a sign of green shoots for Britain’s builders amid lower political uncertainty. The IHS Markit/Cips gauge of construction output rose to 48.4 in January from 44.4 in December. The reading was still [...]
The second order impacts of artificial intelligence February 4, 2020 | City Talk Much has been said about how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning might change the investment profession. Whether it is the advancement of automated trading, using alternative data to find new investment signals, or robo-advisors becoming more capable, the main focus to date has been on how these tools will cause the investment manager’s job [...]