Facebook makes fintech move with UK launch of p2p payments via Messenger feature November 6, 2017 Facebook is making its first foray into finance in the UK with the launch of a new feature which lets users send and receive payments via Messenger. Cash can be transferred with just a message and users can even add emojis and gifs. Facebook’s artificial intelligence powered virtual assistant for Messenger, called M, will also [...]
eDreams Odigeo hints at a merger on the horizon with a strategic review November 2, 2017 Barcelona-based travel booking firm eDreams Odigeo could be about to sell itself or merge with another company after it announced a strategic review this morning. Unsolicited approaches from potential investors prompted the unanimous decision by the board to being a review and appoint Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor. At the same time, the company [...]
Risks of artificial intelligence on financial markets must be monitored, warns Financial Stability Board November 1, 2017 The world’s top central bankers have warned that the spread of artificial intelligence could pose a threat to financial stability. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) said yesterday it was crucial for regulators to monitor the growing adoption of AI and machine learning technology across the financial industry, from hedge funds to brokers to banks. Read [...]
Ada Health lands €40m from Len Blavatnik, Amazon Alexa creator William Tunstall-Pedoe and Google business chief Philip Schindler’s June Fund October 31, 2017 The company behind a healthcare app which can help diagnose symptoms has landed a multi-million pound round of funding from investors, who include a top Google executive, the man who created Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and one of Britain's richest billionaires. London and Berlin based Ada Health has raised €40m (£35.2m) to grow the business [...]
Rise of the robots: 600k construction jobs could be lost to automation by 2040 October 31, 2017 More than half a million jobs in the construction industry could be lost as a result of the rise of robots. The so-called fourth industrial bringing with it technology such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, which could replace jobs done by humans. Read more: Four in five retail jobs [...]
The Indian Billionaire With His Eye On Robotics October 30, 2017 Tej Kohli, the Indian billionaire philanthropist aiming to halve the number of people with corneal blindness, has a new ambition. The entrepreneur and philanthropist has a mission to control and reduce the magnitude of avoidable corneal blindness worldwide by 2030. Now Kohli has committed to becoming one of Britain’s leading investors in artificial intelligence and [...]
Making British industry digital could boost the economy by billions and create thousands of new jobs – Siemens boss Juergen Maier’s review October 30, 2017 New plans for making the UK a global leader in high-tech manufacturing have been put forward in a bid to boost the economy by more than £450bn and create nearly 200,000 jobs over the next decade. And the proposals could even form the basis for a sector deal after Brexit. A dozen digital innovation hubs [...]
What the peer-to-peer lending industry learnt from Lego October 26, 2017 Fidget Spinners are out. Loom bands are out. Pokemon Go? So out. What’s the latest craze sweeping the nation’s playgrounds this term? Lego. And more precisely, Lego figurines. These little Lego people have broken free to become one of the must-have tradeable toys this autumn. Lego is no longer just about the bricks, and the [...]
The future may be powered by data, but it must be piloted by humans October 24, 2017 Of the six most valuable companies in the world, five are tech firms, whose worth is embodied less in physical assets than in intellectual property and customer data. Apple and Microsoft provide the tools to connect people, and to collect and process data. Google, Facebook and Amazon provide services, and in return accumulate more data [...]
London’s no longer the UK’s top smart city as Bristol overtakes October 23, 2017 Bristol has overtaken London as the UK’s leading smart city a new index reveals. The south west city leapfrogged the capital when it comes to how it approaches digital innovation and its vision for a connected city. Under the so-called smart cities label comes tech such as driverless cars, 5G connectivity and "big data" – [...]