Dear politicians: What the City wants to see in your election manifesto October 29, 2019 With the news of a potential December election hanging in the balance today, the City is bracing itself for another potential new government in Downing Street. Yet while much of the debate in the coming weeks is likely to be centred on Britain’s imminent departure of the EU, the financial sector is hoping to see [...]
Travel startup Duffel picks up $30m to revitalise outdated airline technology October 28, 2019 Duffel, a London-based startup seeking to provide airlines with a fresh software update, has today closed a $30m (£27.1m) funding round led by Dropbox and Slack investor Index Ventures. Existing investors Benchmark Capital, which has backed the likes of Snap and Uber, and Blossom Capital also participated. Duffel helps travel agencies to connect to airline [...]
Beware the chilling consequences of facial recognition technology on society October 28, 2019 Since the 1950s, researchers have been working towards the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI). Now, as last week’s City A.M. feature outlined, recent advances are moving out of the lab and into our daily lives – with disturbing implications. Facial recognition systems, powered by these developments in AI, are spreading into society. This is [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Self-driving startup FiveAI launches commuter trials on London streets October 24, 2019 British startup FiveAI has today announced the launch of commuter research trials for its self-driving car technology, alongside motor insurance giant Direct Line. As part of the Streetwise Consortium, which also includes TRL, a 19km self-driving research route featuring human passengers will be launched in Croydon and Bromley to test out the technology. The invite-only [...]
Cloud computing drives Microsoft revenue up October 23, 2019 Microsoft boosted revenue and earnings in the first quarter, driven by growth in its cloud computing business. The tech giant reported a revenue increase of 14 per cent to $33.1bn in the three months to 30 September, while operating income increased 27 per cent to $12.7bn. Read more: SAP strikes three year cloud computing deal [...]
Blackstone’s third-quarter results beat expectations October 23, 2019 Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, has reported an increased profit for the third quarter, but a drop in the proportion of earnings that could be returned to shareholders. The group posted a profit of $779m (£605m) for the third quarter, up from $443m a year earlier. Read more: Takeover titan and Blackstone boss [...]
What can AI and big data do for finance? October 23, 2019 Larry Cao, CFA, is the author of AI Pioneers in Investment Management from CFA Institute. AlphaGo brought artificial intelligence (AI) out of computer labs and into the living room. From October 2015, when the AlphaGo AI first beat a professional human competitor, to January 2018, several months after it defeated Ke Jie, the top-ranked player in the [...]