AI is growing: How do we create fair technology we can trust in, and minimise the risks of gender bias? May 7, 2021 This year marks 20 years since Spielberg’s sci-fi / drama movie came to our screens: A.I. Artificial Intelligence – and in 2021, AI is no longer the work of science fiction. In the last 20 years, AI uses have been explored for human benefits in numerous industries. AI has played a key role in developing vaccines against [...]
SOX or no SOX? The focus on internal control is here to stay May 7, 2021 The UK Government is considering whether to introduce something along the lines of SOX. Regardless of where we end up following the current consultation process, it will almost certainly not be the end of the debate on internal control. More than twenty years have passed since the corporate collapse of Enron. The response of the [...]
Infosys to add 1,000 UK staff to help with digital growth May 4, 2021 Indian software exporter Infosys has said it will hire 1,000 new staff in the UK to meet increased demand for its services during the pandemic. Infosys will ramp up its presence in the UK over the next three years after the pandemic “exacerbated” the need for digital skills and infrastructure. The New York-listed company said [...]
Marks & Spencer chair: More young faces are needed on company boards May 1, 2021 Archie Norman, chairman of Marks & Spencer, has said company boards are “made up of old people”, and as a result are not able to keep pace with disruptive, smarter and faster technological advances. Norman, who is also chairman of Signal AI, an artificial intelligence-powered public relations platform, and special advisor to Lazard Bank, said [...]
Goldman Sachs in talks to invest £250m in challenger OVO Energy April 30, 2021 A division of Goldman Sachs is reportedly in talks to invest £250m into the UK’s second largest energy supplier OVO Energy. A private investment division of Goldman Sachs’ asset management division is in “advanced” talks with the company, Sky News reported, and the deal could be announced within weeks. It could raise between £250m and [...]
Darktrace races out of the blocks: A boost for London’s IPO market after Deliveroo’s flop April 30, 2021 In a welcome boost for the London IPO market after the Deliveroo flop, UK cybersecurity company Darktrace launched this morning well above its initial price of 250p per share, jumping sharply to 350p in opening trade. There were early indications that the initial valuation might be higher than this, at around £3bn, however it appears that [...]
Softbank leads $525m round in British drug developer Exscientia April 27, 2021 British pharmaceutical company Exscientia has received funding from Softbank Vision Fund just a month after closing its last investment round. Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to discover new drug molecules and has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 of clinical trials. The Oxford-based company today announced it had completed a $225m Series D [...]
Mike Lynch: Cass Business School’s new name is fitting tribute to information forefather Thomas Bayes April 23, 2021 It was encouraging to read the news Cass Business School has been renamed after the statistician Reverend Thomas Bayes who, unbeknownst to many of us, plays an important part in all our lives – including my own. Bayes deserves far more historical credit for the place he occupies among the forefathers of information theory. If [...]
AI-Powered Ubiquitous Investing April 22, 2021 Have you noticed that your bank statements are now a succession of Netflix, Uber, Spotify, Deliveroo, Apple and Amazon payments? All of them offer us all types of services at our fingertips. No more wasting time sourcing or waiting to access the best way to get an amazing selection of food, music, films, transport or [...]
EU sets out plans to curb facial recognition in Big Brother crackdown April 21, 2021 The EU has set out plans to regulate the use of “risky” artificial intelligence (AI) such as facial recognition with hefty fines for companies that breach the rules. The draft rules, published by the European Commission today, mark the first international efforts to curb the use of technology that critics warn could be used by [...]