Google parent firm Alphabet’s profit ahead of expectations thanks to ad rebound July 26, 2023 Google owner Alphabet’s second-quarter profit exceeded expectations as it announced that long-time CFO, Ruth Porat, would assume a new role while the company sought a new finance chief. Alphabet’s results were helped by steady demand for its cloud services and a rebound in advertising. The shares jumped 8 per cent in after-hours trading. Shares of [...]
Microsoft charges ahead with spending to serve AI demand July 26, 2023 Microsoft on Tuesday laid out an aggressive spending plan to meet demand for its new artificial intelligence services after surpassing Wall Street estimates for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and profit. Costs rose sharply as Microsoft built new data centers to support AI, and Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on a conference call with analysts the company’s capital expenditures [...]
Explainer: Elon Musk is tearing Twitter apart bit by bit July 25, 2023 Elon Musk might have already switched the beloved Twitter bird for his X logo online, but it’s proving a bit harder in real life. Yesterday, police stopped workers who were removing the Twitter sign from the headquarters company in San Francisco. Apparently, Musk had forgotten to notify security or the building owner of his plans. [...]
Italian banking giant Mediobanca backs London with £10.4m investment in startups July 25, 2023 One of Italy’s largest investment banks Mediobanca has committed €12m (£10.4m) to a joint venture with early stage investor Founders Factory to help scale fintech startups. The joint venture will build and invest in 35 fintech businesses over the next five years. Mediobanca’s investment will help underpin a new fintech venture studio accelerator, enabling innovation [...]
Big tech look ahead: Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon shares in focus July 23, 2023 THE RACE to exploit the potential of artificial intelligence will dominate investor chatter around big tech this week, with all the big players set to release results to Wall Street.
Tesla may keep cutting prices in ‘turbulent times’, Musk says July 20, 2023 Tesla CEO Elon Musk signalled late Wednesday that he would cut prices again on electric vehicles in “turbulent times”, even as his all-out price war on automaker rivals squeezes the company’s own margins. The company has slashed prices several times in the United States, China and other markets since late last year, and increased discounts [...]
MI6 chief calls for Russians to spy for UK July 19, 2023 The head of MI6 has urged Russians angry at Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine to spy for the UK. Sir Richard Moore told them “our door is always open” and “we will work to bring the bloodshed to an end”. He said that while artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to help target the Kremlin’s [...]
Cleverly calls for global cooperation at first UN Security Council meeting on AI July 18, 2023 James Cleverly called for global governance of artificial intelligence as it “knows no borders” at the first UN Security Council meeting on the issue. The Foreign Secretary said the technology would “fundamentally alter every aspect of human life” and could “enhance or disrupt global strategic stability”. The UK chaired the first UN Security Council session on the [...]
National Audit Office launches probe into FCA as regulator sizes up crypto and AI July 17, 2023 The National Audit Office (NAO) has launched a probe into the functions of the City regulator as its remit swells to take on oversight of technologies like cryptoassets and artificial intelligence.
Tax advisors want AI to perform manual tasks despite ‘trust gap’ on privacy July 17, 2023 More than half of UK tax professionals want to use artificial intelligence tools to help with their daily tasks, new survey data has revealed. The study, conducted by Thomson Reuters, found that 12 per cent of UK tax professionals surveyed were either using or planning to integrate ChatGPT or other forms of generative AI into [...]