Business

Russian Hackers Trick Diplomats With WhatsApp Codes
20Jan By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, Russia, Technology, US

Russian Hackers Trick Diplomats With WhatsApp Codes

A hacking group with Russian ties attempts to convince diplomats to join a WhatsApp group through targeted attacks to take over the entire account. According to a Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report, Russian Star Blizzard, a group operating on behalf of Russia, is attempting to take over users' accounts with a spear phishing campaign. Spear phishing is a highly targeted attack, often targeting high-ranking people. According to Microsoft, this method has been attempted since mid-November. In it, the victim supposedly receives an email from a US government employee inviting them to a WhatsApp group about non-government initiatives to support Ukraine. Microsoft warns that the campaign explicitly targets government or diplomatic employees, including predecessors and successors to...
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Microsoft Will Pump $80 Billion into Data Centres for AI Applications This Year
6Jan By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, Technology, US

Microsoft Will Pump $80 Billion into Data Centres for AI Applications This Year

Microsoft's chairman, Brad Smith, announced that it will invest $80 billion in data centre expansion by 2025. This is necessary to enable the enormous computing power required for AI applications. More than half of the investment is in the United States. "This reflects our confidence in the American economy," Smith said in a blog post. He also called on the new US President, Donald Trump, to support the sector and not to hinder it with "heavy regulations" regarding artificial intelligence. Race for computing powerIn the previous fiscal year, which ended in June 2024, Microsoft spent more than $50 billion on data centres. The major cloud infrastructure providers, such as Microsoft and Amazon, seem to have recently been engaged in a race for the most computing power to meet the g...
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OpenAI Wants to Get Rid of Nonprofit Structure
30Dec By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, Technology

OpenAI Wants to Get Rid of Nonprofit Structure

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is changing its structure and looking to give its for-profit arm a more significant role to attract big investors. OpenAI began in 2015 as a nonprofit organization focused on making significant steps in AI development through research. Now, the company says it needs to transform to meet that mission. Today, OpenAI has a for-profit division, which is the branch that Microsoft has been investing in for the past few years. However, that division still falls under the nonprofit OpenAI. The plan is to transform that for-profit division into a public benefit corporation (PBC). Such a PBC structure makes it easier for investors to get involved and receive shares in return. That is what OpenAI is mainly concerned with. The company acknowledges that when it started...
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TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition
10Dec By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, Europe, Germany, News, Technology, US

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

German TeamViewer is acquiring American 1E for 720 million dollars. In addition to remote support, it also wants to improve the user experience, supplemented with AI. 1E is a 300-person company with $77 million in recurring revenue, 99 percent of which comes from enterprise customers. It is positioned in the market with its digital employee experience (DEX) platform, primarily intended to make the experience more pleasant for end users. TeamViewer sees this as an excellent extension to evolve its remote assistance tool into an end-to-end offering. It will include management of digital workplaces and predictive maintenance, which should reduce irritation for the end user. 1E is an American company (with offices in the UK, India, and Ireland), which gives TeamViewer an extra foo...
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Chinese Tech Billionaire Jack Ma Resurfaces
9Dec By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Asia, Business, China, News

Chinese Tech Billionaire Jack Ma Resurfaces

At the celebration of Alipay and Ant Group's 20th anniversary, co-founder Jack Ma appeared on stage. This is remarkable because he disappeared from the radar long after criticizing the Chinese regulator. Ma was speaking in Hangzhou, China, at the anniversary event for Ant Group, which he co-founded 20 years ago. 'Today, I'm not here for the last 20 years of Ant, but for the next 20 years of Ant.' According to Chinese news website 36kr, China's most famous entrepreneur spoke about the future of AI. He mentioned that the Internet age has given his generation many opportunities. He sees even more opportunities for the current generation now that the AI ​​age is here. 'AI will change everything, but this does not mean that AI can decide everything', he said, among other things. He...
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Bitpace’s Lightning-Fast Global Settlements
18Nov By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business

Bitpace’s Lightning-Fast Global Settlements

The speed at which transactions are settled is crucial to a business's efficiency and competitiveness. Traditional financial systems often lead to delays, restricting prompt access to funds. Bitpace, a licensed and regulated provider, offers a cutting-edge solution that revolutionises global settlements. Trusted by many, businesses gain the speed and efficiency required to thrive in the international market, ensuring quick access to funds and improved operational agility. The need for speed in global transactions Global transactions are often hampered by slow settlement processes, which can create various challenges for businesses. Let’s explore the specific issues and how they impact business operations: Delayed settlements: Traditional banking systems can take days or even week...
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British Watchdog is Investigating the AI Market
4May By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, Technology, UK

British Watchdog is Investigating the AI Market

The British competition watchdog CMA has launched a broad investigation into the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. The regulator wants to know what impact this fast-growing technology will have on competition in the technology sector and whether more rules are needed to protect consumers. Artificial intelligence develops computer systems that come close to human intelligence. For example, chatbots such as ChatGPT can write texts that appear to have been written by a human. The increasing possibilities offered by AI systems have prompted major technology companies such as Microsoft and Alphabet, the owner of Google, to accelerate investments in the sector. “The potential benefits of this transformative technology must be easily accessible to UK businesses ...
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Lego Builds First Factory in the United States
17Apr By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, Technology, US

Lego Builds First Factory in the United States

Lego wants to build its first factory in the United States, specifically in Virginia in the east. The toy manufacturer intends to increase its market share in this way. It concerns an investment of 1 billion dollars. “If we look at the potential in the US, we still have a long way to go,” US chief operating officer Carsten Rasmussen told Bloomberg news agency. The popularity of colourful building blocks across the ocean is much lower than in Europe. “We are already strong on the east coast and the north, but there is still much potential elsewhere. We think we can succeed in the coming years.” The Danish company competes globally for first place with American toy giants Mattel and Hasbro. Over the past four years, Lego has doubled its turnover in the US, but there is still much r...
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Swiss Coalition Party: UBS/Credit Suisse Merger Bank Too Big
20Mar By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, Europe, News, Switzerland

Swiss Coalition Party: UBS/Credit Suisse Merger Bank Too Big

The merger bank created after UBS's takeover of Credit Suisse is too big for Switzerland. Leader Roger Nordmann of the social-democratic SP said this on Monday. That party is the second largest in the Swiss parliament and is part of the governing coalition. “The new UBS is a huge risk,” said Nordmann. “That bank will soon have over 1500 billion francs in assets and is simply too big for Switzerland.” Moreover, if UBS got into trouble, the Swiss central bank SNB and the Swiss government would not have enough resources to prevent a collapse. The acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS was finalized this weekend. Credit Suisse had been hit by a series of scandals and reported that more and more customers were withdrawing their money from the bank. The financial markets were alread...
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Newspaper: US Prosecutors Investigate Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank
14Mar By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, News, US

Newspaper: US Prosecutors Investigate Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank

US prosecutors have launched an investigation into the bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank. The US regulator for stock exchange trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is also investigating the California bank that was taken over by US authorities last Friday. The Wall Street Journal reports this based on insiders. According to the business newspaper, the investigation is still in an exploratory phase, and it is far from a foregone conclusion that there will be formal accusations against SVB or its directors. Public prosecutors and the regulator often start an investigation when financial services companies run into problems. The investigation at SVB would focus on, among others, directors who sold shares a few days before the bank collapsed.
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