Author: Colin Henderson

Progress in era of productivity
AI

How chip giant Intel spurned OpenAI and fell behind the times

Colin Henderson

Max A. CherneyAugust 7, 20243:23 PM EDTUpdated an hour ago SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 7 (Reuters) – For U.S. chip giant Intel, the darling of the computer age before it fell on harder times in the AI era, things might have been quite different. About seven years ago, the company had the chance to buy a stake in OpenAI, then a fledgling non-profit research organization working in a little-known field called generative artificial intelligence, four people with direct knowledge of those discussions told Reuters. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Over several months in 2017 and 2018, executives at the two companies … Continue reading How chip giant Intel spurned OpenAI and fell behind the times

AI

Generative AI – what kind of support can it offer and provide in a defense context

Colin Henderson

“Hello, and welcome to RUSI Journal Radio. I am Emma De Angelis, editor of the RUSI Journal, and I’m joined today by Ed Mortimer, deputy editor. Hello, everyone. Today, we are joined by Major Patrick Hinton, who serves in the British Army’s Royal Artillery and has experience working with ground-based air defense systems and remotely piloted air systems. He was the chief of the General Staff’s visiting fellow in the Military Sciences Research Group at RUSI until the end of August, 2023. And his research interests include the integration of remote and autonomous systems into land forces, as well as … Continue reading Generative AI – what kind of support can it offer and provide in a defense context

Cybersecurity

Minimizing Your Company’s Attack Surface Is Key to Cyber Protection

Colin Henderson

Enterprise network security is evolving from traditional models to zero trust architectures, impacting operational efficiency and cyber resilience. By Rob Sloan, Vice President of Cybersecurity Advocacy, Zscaler Businesses face growing risks from rapidly expanding digital footprints that increase the likelihood of cyberattacks. The fix requires a strategic shift away from legacy technologies to a zero trust solution that eliminates attack surface and brings additional benefits beyond data security. A company’s attack surface is every point where an unauthorized person could potentially access a system. It includes websites, firewalls and VPNs, cloud-based applications, email, every internet-facing application, every employee device, weak … Continue reading Minimizing Your Company’s Attack Surface Is Key to Cyber Protection

AI

Amazon, Microsoft Keep Data Center Spending Spree Going

Colin Henderson

Amazon, Microsoft Keep Data Center Spending Spree Going Edward LudlowAugust 6, 2024 at 7:05 AM EDT Major technology companies are spending billions of dollars in capital expenditure and most of it is going for the same thing. But first… Three things you need to know today: • Palantir reports strong results, saying AI has “transformed” the business• Dell is cutting sales jobs in a shakeup that creates a new AI-focused unit• AI chip startup Groq scores a $2.8 billion valuation in its funding round The party is far from over While fears of a US economic slowdown pummeled global stock markets on Monday, hitting … Continue reading Amazon, Microsoft Keep Data Center Spending Spree Going

Economy

Black Swan hedging

Colin Henderson

Our markets team has put together a list of what bankers say you should — and shouldn’t — do when markets crash. One thing traders did yesterday was rush to insure their portfolios against an extreme market crash. In an echo of the chaotic period at the start of the pandemic, a defensive strategy often known as Black-Swan hedging was suddenly in vogue, with the Cambria Tail Risk ETF, an actively managed exchange-traded tail-risk fund, jumping 4.5% for its best day since March 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-08-06/five-things-you-need-to-know-to-start-your-day-americas?cmpid=BBD080624_MKT&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=240806&utm_campaign=markets Continue reading Black Swan hedging

Economy

Caterpillar Profit Beats Estimates, Boosted by Stronger Pricing

Colin Henderson

Caterpillar Inc. reported second-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations, helped by stronger pricing that helped offset a drop in sales.  Caterpillar, one of the world’s biggest producers of heavy machinery, is seen as a bellwether for industrial activity as a key supplier to industries from construction and mining to energy and transportation.  Caterpillar Profit Beats Estimates, Boosted by Stronger Pricing http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-06/caterpillar-profit-beats-estimates-boosted-by-stronger-pricing Continue reading Caterpillar Profit Beats Estimates, Boosted by Stronger Pricing

AI

Was it Warren Buffett, the Bank of Japan or the AI bubble bursting? 

Colin Henderson

Monday saw a historic stock market selloff that started in Tokyo and spread westward fast and hard, sending some 95% of all listed corporate shares down. Technology stocks, the market’s darlings, fell noticeably hard.  One culprit was Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which nearly halved its holdings of Apple Inc. over the weekend in a $75.5 billion stock unloading. This was likely for tax reasons. (Buffett said Apple is an “even better” business than Coca-Cola, an old favorite.) But the move revealed how reliant the global tech industry is on the iPhone maker. Shares of Apple’s major suppliers dropped drastically on Monday. Taiwan’s stock index had … Continue reading Was it Warren Buffett, the Bank of Japan or the AI bubble bursting? 

AI

How EU AI Act May Accelerate Compliance Regime for U.S. Enterprises

Colin Henderson

The regulation’s risk-based hierarchy may affect organizations in the United States whose products and services affect EU citizens Pending formal adoption by the European Parliament in April following a provisional agreement in late 2023, the final EU AI Act is expected to apply to any provider, deployer, or distributor of AI whose services or products reach the EU market. “These are broad-reaching requirements that are expected to apply to providers and users of AI systems outside the EU if the output of the AI system affects people located in the EU,” says Tim Davis, a principal with Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory at … Continue reading How EU AI Act May Accelerate Compliance Regime for U.S. Enterprises

Geopolitics

America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

Colin Henderson

And They’re Already Here By Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt September/October 2024 Published on August 5, 2024 On the battlefields of Ukraine, the future of war is quickly becoming its present. Thousands of drones fill the skies. These drones and their operators are using artificial intelligence systems to avoid obstacles and identify potential targets. AI models are also helping Ukraine predict where to strike. Thanks to these systems, Ukrainian soldiers are taking out tanks and downing planes with devastating effectiveness. Russian units find themselves under constant observation, and their communications lines are prone to enemy disruption—as are Ukraine’s. Both states are racing … Continue reading America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

Economy

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day: Americas (Bloomberg)

Colin Henderson

By Morwenna Coniam August 5, 2024 at 6:37 AM EDT Good morning. Global stocks are falling with US futures in the red as a tech-led selloff accelerates. Meanwhile, concerns about the US economy are fueling speculation as to when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. And Mars is considering making a major deal in the snack industry. Here’s what traders are talking about. — Morwenna Coniam. Want to receive this newsletter in Spanish? Sign up to get the Five Things: Spanish Edition newsletter. Stocks slump The global stock-market decline picked up speed on Monday, with losses cascading across tech shares and the … Continue reading Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day: Americas (Bloomberg)