Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman on Tuesday said the U.S. banking system remained on solid footing in the first public speech from a policymaker after the high-profile failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Why it matters: Bowman made short remarks acknowledging the fallout from those bank closures, which forced the Fed and other regulators to step in with emergency measures, during a speech that focused on innovation in the banking system.
OpenAI on Tuesday released GPT-4, a more powerful update of its text generator engine that will power its own AI products as well as those from Microsoft and other companies.
Why it matters: The world is already enamored with ChatGPT, which is based on an earlier version. Improvements could go a long way to addressing criticisms of the hot new chatbot-powering tool about its errors and other shortcomings.
Driving the news: As one bank failed and another closed, bitcoin and other crypto got a boost, market experts tell Axios — all linking the weekend banking crisis to changing expectations.
Major cybersecurity companies and startups appear to have contained their risk from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank over the weekend.
Driving the news: Several cybersecurity companies, including big names like CrowdStrike, relied on SVB for some of their financial needs before the bank's unexpected failure late last week — leaving leadership teams and investors in limbo until regulators stepped in Sunday night.
Ransomware gangs are starting to go public with the sensitive information they steal to ensure victims pay up.
Driving the news: In the last week alone, ransomware criminals have threatened to leak private photos from breast cancer patients' files and published a video showcasing the data they could access while digging through Minneapolis Public Schools' systems.
As it opens up to self-publishers, the Epic Games Store will not allow pornographic video games, one of the store’s few content prohibitions alongside hateful content and fraudulent games.
Why it matters: The ban on adult content, common for many major online gaming storefronts, is another point of distinction between Epic’s marketplace and Valve’s Steam service, which allows some types of sexual games and sees them chart well.
Silicon Valley Bank's share sale announcement last Wednesday night caused concern at Founders Fund, a large venture capital firm that did most of its own banking with SVB, Axios has learned.
Behind the scenes: By Thursday morning, Founders Fund's top operations executives were on the phone, quickly deciding to move firm capital to a number of bigger banks. Firm founder Peter Thiel was not part of the conversation.
Beta Technologies, an electric aviation company that has an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in flight testing, announced sales of a less futuristic battery-powered model on Tuesday.
Driving the news: The company is pursuing certification of an electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, or eCTOL, which uses airport runways, while simultaneously working on eVTOL technology.
Meta is laying off 10,000 people and cutting 5,000 open roles as part of a larger plan to flatten the company's management structure, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday.
Why it matters: It's the second round of layoffs to hit the tech giant in the past few months. In November, Meta cut 13% of its staff — or more than 11,000 people.
In what has become a race to incorporate generative AI across their products, Microsoft and Google are both announcing efforts this week that will allow businesses to harness the technology in conjunction with their proprietary data.
Why it matters: While competition is often good for customers, some worry that peer pressure is prompting companies to rush deployment of an unproven technology replete with risks and unknowns.
A recent lawsuit in Texas against women who helped a friend access abortion medication is renewing calls for tech giants to make end-to-end encryption the default on their messaging services.
Driving the news: A Texas man recently filed a civil lawsuit against three women who he alleges helped his ex-wife obtain abortion-inducing medication and terminate her pregnancy, according to the Texas Tribune.
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