Category: AI

AI, Progress

Nature stress test: Assessing exposure of five African banking systems

Colin Henderson

July 16, 2024 | Report By Charlie Dixon and Jason EisShare PrintDownload Nature-related risks are impacting Africa’s natural ecosystems and economy. An enabling environment could accelerate action from Africa’s private financial sector to manage risks and opportunities. DOWNLOADS Full Report (50 pages) Africa is both heavily dependent on nature and experiencing rapid nature loss. Some 62 percent of African GDP is moderately or highly dependent on the services that nature provides and 70 percent of communities in sub-Saharan Africa depend on forests and woodlands for their livelihoods.1 In parallel, momentum is building in the African financial sector in response. This new joint report by McKinsey Sustainability … Continue reading Nature stress test: Assessing exposure of five African banking systems

AI

Microsoft Profit Jumps 10%, but Cloud Computing Grows Less Than Expected

Colin Henderson

The tech giant’s revenue also grew 15 percent, but Wall Street is watching whether its investment in A.I. is paying off for its cloud computing business. July 30, 2024 By Karen Weise Karen Weise has covered Microsoft since 2018. Microsoft closed its first full fiscal year of aggressive artificial intelligence investment with a mixed bag of results for people worried about how much big tech companies are spending on A.I. Sales from April through June hit $64.7 billion, up 15 percent from the same period last year, the company reported on Tuesday. Profit rose 10 percent, to $22 billion. The results … Continue reading Microsoft Profit Jumps 10%, but Cloud Computing Grows Less Than Expected

AI

Apple says its AI models were trained on Google’s custom chips

Colin Henderson

Kif Leswing Apple said on Monday that the artificial intelligence models underpinning Apple Intelligence, its AI system, were pretrained on processors designed by Google, a sign that Big Tech companies are looking for alternatives to Nvidia when it comes to the training of cutting-edge AI. Apple’s choice of Google’s homegrown Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) for training was detailed in a technical paper just published by the company. Separately, Apple released a preview version of Apple Intelligence for some devices on Monday. Nvidia’s pricey graphics processing units (GPUs) dominate the market for high-end AI training chips, and have been in such high demand over the past couple years that they’ve been difficult … Continue reading Apple says its AI models were trained on Google’s custom chips

AI

Apple releases iOS 18.1 developer beta with the first ‘Apple Intelligence’ iPhone features

Colin Henderson

 / New AI features from Apple are available to test on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac in early developer previews. By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.  Jul 29, 2024 at 1:32 PM EDT Some of the Apple Intelligence features previewed during WWDC 2024.Image: Apple Apple has just released the developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, giving users access to the company’s first set of AI features.  Some of the Apple Intelligence features arriving with the beta include Siri … Continue reading Apple releases iOS 18.1 developer beta with the first ‘Apple Intelligence’ iPhone features

AI

Executives see an opportunity to free their staff from manual and repetitive tasks and make better forecasts and predictions

Colin Henderson

OK Computer Blooomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-07-28/ai-s-promise-is-being-put-into-practice-by-cfos?cmpid=cfo-briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=240728&utm_campaign=cfo-briefing Artificial intelligence has been a driving force of technology and markets, especially since the emergence of ChatGPT more than a year ago. Lately, though, investors have questioned whether AI’s promise will actually pay off anytime soon, causing a pullback of the rally that drove tech shares to records this year.  Ask any CFO about working with AI, and the common refrain is that it’s early days. But most also acknowledge that the fast-growing technology will shape the future. And so many are already testing or using it – in their finance teams, or across the business more broadly. … Continue reading Executives see an opportunity to free their staff from manual and repetitive tasks and make better forecasts and predictions

AI

UK experienced a £6mn spike in cash withdrawals from ATMs on Friday last week

Colin Henderson

on.ft.com/4fjGKbI The UK experienced a £6mn spike in cash withdrawals from ATMs on Friday last week when the global cyber outage disrupted digital payments, exposing the vulnerabilities of the transition to becoming a cashless society. The inconvenience of being unable to use card or contactless payments may well have caused you to gnash your teeth. However, this problem is experienced daily by millions of UK adults who use cash. Last year there was an unexpected 66 per cent increase in the number of people mainly using cash for everyday spending; the first rise in four years. These figures were revealed by banking … Continue reading UK experienced a £6mn spike in cash withdrawals from ATMs on Friday last week

AI

Open banking is coming, heralding big changes in how Canadians bank

Colin Henderson

My take on Open Banking Citation FP —————————————– The Canadian Press – Ian Bickis – Published – Mar 11, 2024  Framework to give Canadians more control over their financial data and boost competition TORONTO — A long-promised revolution in banking is headed to Canada, but you might not notice when it arrives. Change is in the works that will give Canadian consumers and businesses significantly more control over their financial data, including who they share it with, in what’s known as open banking. The federal government has promised framework legislation in next month’s budget to bring the system to Canada after years of … Continue reading Open banking is coming, heralding big changes in how Canadians bank

AI

Open banking needs better risk controls to ensure fintechs keep your money safe

Colin Henderson

John Turley-Ewart: The challenge isn’t only about protecting customer data; it’s about safeguarding people’s savings Open Banking Risk Open Banking is a solid and appropriate method for consumers to manage their risks, and maximise deposit returns. However as the US Synapse example below in yesterday’s Financial Post the risks at scale are significant and consumers must be diligent in moving to another FI to achieve returns. The consumer facing methodology is arcane and difficult to navigate when validating regulatory protections. I also note that Turkey-Ewart has somewhat fallen to trap of mixing Open Banking with advertising. Open Banking is intended … Continue reading Open banking needs better risk controls to ensure fintechs keep your money safe

AI

THE EVOLVING IMF

Colin Henderson

Over the past 30 years the IMF has adapted to global shocks and evolving member needs Source IMF I respect the IMF and their comprehensive view of the world since WW2. This latest is a useful summary of recent banking and financial crises. >Dear Colleague, >The IMF has always adapted to the evolving needs of its member countries, and the pace of change has accelerated in the past 30 years, the IMF’s Atish Rex Ghosh and Andrew Stanley write in F&D magazine’s Picture This series. In response to financial crises, the IMF not only stepped-up lending but also enhanced its crisis prevention and resolution tool kits, … Continue reading THE EVOLVING IMF