Anthropic secures $100m boost from SK Telecom for new AI venture August 14, 2023 Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence startup founded by ex-OpenAI luminaries, is set to receive $100m (£78.7m) in backing from South Korean telecoms company SK Telecom (SKT). The cash injection will fund the creation of a multilingual large language model (LLM), jointly developed by Anthropic and SKT, according to an announcement made by the telecoms giant [...]
Amazon rolling out generative AI feature targetting product reviews August 14, 2023 Amazon is rolling out a new generative AI feature that summarises product reviews for customers. The feature, which the company began testing earlier this year, is designed to help shoppers determine at a glance what other customers have said about a product before they spend time reading through individual reviews. It will pick out common themes [...]
SoftBank aiming to buy back Arm stake ahead of high-stakes New York IPO August 14, 2023 SoftBank is reportedly in talks to buy back the remaining 25 per cent stake in Cambridge-based chip designer Arm its own investment unit established in 2017. In a strategic move ahead of Arm’s impending float in New York, Japanese tech company SoftBank is looking to regain Vision Fund’s quarter stake in order to fully own [...]
Glantus: Another listed tech firm set to go private as KKR-Accel vehicle completes raid August 14, 2023 London-listed software outfit Glantus is set to go private after receiving a £17.8m offer from the KKR-Accel-backed Basware. The boards of directors of both companies have reached an agreement on the deal, which values Glantus at around £17.8m and implies a total enterprise value of £29.5m. Under the proposed deal, Glantus shareholders will receive £0.3342 [...]
Leica Q3 review: The best travel camera ever made August 12, 2023 How I agonised as I ummed and ahhed over how to say this. Worrying whether to pull my punches, or give it to you straight? But enough of this torture. Let’s just cut to the chase. This camera is a masterpiece. Come on, a Leica with autofocus! You’ve got to get breathless. Believe me, there [...]
Executives ‘sleepwalking into cyber catastrophe’, warns cybersecurity boss August 10, 2023 The cyberattack on the Electoral Commission should “serve as a wake-up call to executives”, the boss of a cybersecurity firm has warned. Suid Adeyanju, chief executive of British cybersecurity company Riversafe, said an underestimation of the threat of cyberattacks meant executives were “sleepwalking into a cyber catastrophe”. His comments came after the Electoral Commission revealed [...]
Amazon eyes anchor investor role ahead of Arm IPO August 9, 2023 Amazon is reportedly in discussions to become an anchor investor in Arm as the chip designer gears up to go public. The technology giant is joining the likes of Alphabet, which owns google, and semiconductor companies Nvidia and Intel in the queue to become a major investor in Cambridge-based Arm, according to Reuters. Arm plays [...]
John Lewis hires Google Cloud to supercharge digital revamp in £100m deal August 9, 2023 John Lewis is trying to get back on its feet by partnering with Google to drive its digital revamp, and shift away from high-street reliance. Valued at £100m, the partnership aims to improve the efficiency of John Lewis and Waitrose employees, enabling them to provide a better customer experience. Struggling high street favourite John Lewis [...]
Tribunal upholds £84m CMA fine for firm that hiked drug prices August 8, 2023 The companies behind a drug whose price was hiked from £20 to £248 per pack in just eight years will be fined a combined £84 million after a tribunal upheld the competition watchdog’s decision. The Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday had endorsed “all the main elements” of the Competition and Markets Authority’s decision, the CMA [...]
Nanoco nears commercial production after $150m Samsung settlement August 8, 2023 Manchester-based Nanoco has said it is closer to commercial production than any other time in its history as it uses the proceeds of a legal battle with Samsung “to generate further value from its IP.” Nanoco makes cadmium-free quantum dots, a vital part of a host of anticipated technological development. In a trading update published [...]