Pokemon Go creator Niantic buys London startup Sensible Object June 18, 2019 Pokemon Go developer Niantic has acquired London-based games studio Sensible Object for an undisclosed sum as it continues to expand its gaming platform. Read more: Pokemon Go creator Niantic valued at $4bn Sensible Object, which uses voice AI and augmented reality (AR) in its games, will continue life as Niantic London after the acquisition. Founder [...]
Technology fuels increasingly mobile future for investment professionals June 18, 2019 CFA Institute report finds that nearly half of investment professionals expect their roles to substantially change within the next decade.
‘Ideological war’ over future of AI as businesses warn against robot tax June 15, 2019 Businesses and trade bodies have urged the government and industry to embrace the rise of robots and better prepare workers and future generations. The business, energy, and industrial strategy (Beis) committee is in the midst of an inquiry into the automation and the future of work in the UK. Read more: The robots are coming [...]
Surge in demand for UK tech visas as digital sector draws in top talent June 13, 2019 The number of applications for UK tech visas has soared 45 per cent in the last year as the booming tech sector continues to attract global talent. The surge marks the fifth consecutive year of growth in application numbers, according to industry body Tech Nation. Read more: Facebook to create 500 tech jobs in London [...]
Unilever invests in influencer marketing platform Creator IQ June 12, 2019 Unilever Ventures has partnered with TVC Capital to invest $12m (£9.4m) in influencer marketing platform Creator IQ as it looks to crack down on fraud in the industry. The investment comes a year after Unilever warned that fraud was undermining influencer marketing and vowed to improve integrity, transparency and measurement in the sector. Read more: [...]
Gympass secures $300m in Softbank-led funding round June 12, 2019 Gympass has raised more than $300m (£236m) in a funding round led by Japanese investment giant Softbank. Read more: Softbank earns $11bn for selling some of its huge Alibaba stake The corporate fitness platform, which offers flexible gym memberships, said it has secured the funding from Softbank’s Vision Fund and existing investors. Softbank’s Latin America [...]
Financial services jobs at risk amid rise of the robots June 12, 2019 As many as one in five jobs in the financial services sector could be replaced by robots within the next five years, a new survey has revealed. Research by KPMG and recruitment firm Harvey Nash showed the rapid rise of new technology such as automation and AI could remove the need for up to 20 [...]
Salesforce to buy Tableau Software in $15.7bn deal June 10, 2019 Salesforce has agreed to buy data analytics platform Tableau Software in an all-stock deal valued at $15.7bn (£12.4bn), the company said today. Read more: Salesforce’s venture capital arm raises second European tech fund at $125m Tableau shareholders will be given 1.103 shares in Salesforce, valuing the offer at $177.88 per share, a 42 per cent [...]
AI to boost British GDP by a fifth in the next decade June 10, 2019 British companies that fully incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their organisations could increase their economic value by 120 per cent by 2030, while the technology itself could provide a 22 per cent boost to UK GDP. Similarly, companies that adopt AI late or not at all could lose around 20 per cent of their [...]
Would you want to be trained by an AI? June 7, 2019 By 2025, five billion people will be connected to each other through four billion smartphones and 50bn other devices. This will produce new data at unimaginable rates. Add in exponential growth in artificial intelligence (AI) – which is predicted to generate 1.7MB of data for every person every second by this time next year – [...]