Innovation

Publicis Investing €300 Million In AI Over 3 Years

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2024

Advertising giant Publicis recently announced it has laid out a strategy in becoming the industry’s first "AI-powered Intelligent System." In a presentation by Arthur Sadoun, global CEO; Carla Serrano, global CSO, Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient; Dave Penski, CEO of Publicis Media & Sam Levine Archer, Chief Solutions Architect Publicis North America, it was discussed that Publicis is making 3 strategic bets: putting data and technology at the center with the acquisition of Sapient and Epsilon, implementing a country model, and building a single operational backbone.

Kyndryl Launches New Security Edge Services With Cisco

By Annie Baker ● Jan 29, 2024

Kyndryl - the world's largest technology infrastructure services provider - announced two new security edge services developed jointly with Cisco to help customers improve their security controls and proactively address and respond to cyber incidents.

Vista Equity Partners Completes $4 Billion EngageSmart Acquisition

By Dan Anderson ● Jan 28, 2024

EngageSmart (a leading provider of vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments solutions) has announced the completion of its acquisition by an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners (a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses) for $23 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $4 billion.

Ares Management: Automated Industrial Robotics Launched To Capitalize On Manufacturing Demand

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2024

Ares Management announced the launch of Automated Industrial Robotics, a newly formed industrial automation company designed to capitalize on increasing global demand for manufacturing automation solutions. And an Ares Private Equity fund has invested substantial equity capital to support AIR’s acquisition and organic growth strategy.

University Of Texas At San Antonio Launches College In AI, Cyber, Computing, And Data Science

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2024

The University of Texas at San Antonio announced a pioneering initiative to reshape its academic landscape by launching a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, computing, data science, and related disciplines.

Wealth Partners Capital Group And HGGC Form Strategic Partnership With True North Advisors

By Noah Long ● Jan 25, 2024

True North Advisors, LLC - a Texas-based registered investment adviser (RIA) - announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG), a financial services holding company, and HGGC, a firm focused on partnership investing.

Klarna Launches Klarna Plus In The US

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2024

Klarna – an AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant - announced its entry into the subscription service model with the launch of Klarna Plus (issued by WebBank), which is now available to eligible US consumers through the Klarna app for a monthly fee of $7.99.

Netflix Becoming Home For WWE ‘Raw’ In 2025 In A $5+ Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2024

Why Deloitte Is Buying The Assets Of Giant Machines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2024

Deloitte announced that it had acquired substantially all of the assets of Giant Machines, a digital product company based in New York City. The Giant Machines business focuses on strategizing, designing, and engineering innovative digital products, and will help bolster Deloitte Digital and Deloitte Engineering capabilities to offer clients a robust suite of services to deliver strategic and scaled engineering solutions.

Howard University Partners With Quantasy To Help Students Manage Mental Wellness

By Noah Long ● Jan 22, 2024

Quantasy has announced a partnership between Howard University and True Voice, the app known for its commitment to mindfulness and holistic well-being. Mental health is a major challenge for college students so that Howard will offer exclusive access to the wellness app. Howard University is the first academic institution to use True Voice to help create a culture of mindfulness that can be implemented daily.

KKR: Digital Global Education Platform Launched For Advisors And Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2024

KKR - a leading global investment firm - recently unveiled "KKR Alternatives Unlocked," a digital platform designed to empower financial advisors and their clients to understand the alternative investing landscape better.

IBM Buying Application Modernization Capabilities From Advanced

By Annie Baker ● Jan 22, 2024

IBM has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire application modernization capabilities from Advanced, which brings a combination of talent, tools, and knowledge to enhance IBM Consulting’s mainframe application and data modernization services. This planned acquisition will further enable IBM to support clients’ mainframe application modernization journeys, marking another critical step forward in IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy.

DJI: 3D Modeling Editing Software DJI Modify Launched

By Noah Long ● Jan 22, 2024

DJI - a leader in civil drones and creative camera technology - recently introduced DJI Modify, the company's first intelligent 3D model editing software. And this complementary solution pairs seamlessly with DJI's enterprise drones and 3D modeling and mapping software DJI Terra, forming a comprehensive solution for aerial surveying, modeling, and model editing, to meet the operational needs for surveying, transportation, and emergency response such as firefighting.

JetSetGo Signs LOI With Horizon Aircraft To Buy Up To $500 Million Of Cavorite X7 Aircraft

By Noah Long ● Jan 22, 2024

Horizon Aircraft - a leading hybrid electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer - recently announced that it has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with JetSetGo, a regional air operator servicing multiple mission profiles.

Cognizant Launches Innovation Assistant In Partnership With Microsoft

By Dan Anderson ● Jan 21, 2024

Cognizant has announced a collaboration with Microsoft on the launch of the Innovation Assistant, a generative AI-powered tool built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, which will augment Cognizant's internal innovation program Bluebolt.

Ford Reducing F-150 Lightning Production In Favor Of Gas Vehicles

By Noah Long ● Jan 21, 2024

Ford has reiterated plans to shift production to favor two gas vehicles over the Ford F-150 Lightning. Last month, Ford revealed it planned to reduce the F-150 Lightning production by approximately half. Late last week, Ford said that 1,400 workers would be impacted by this change, which is set to occur on April 1.

How Gmail Is Now Making It Easier To Unsubscribe From Emails

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2024

Google has added a new feature to Gmail that makes it easier to unsubscribe from emails on mobile devices and the web versions of Gmail. This is done by moving the "Report spam & unsubscribe" button by creating separate "Report spam" and “Unsubscribe.”

Meta Plans To Buy 350,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs By The End Of The Year

By Annie Baker ● Jan 21, 2024

According to an Instagram post from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company plans to buy a substantial amount of Nvidia hardware by the end of 2024 to support its AI initiatives. Zuckerberg discussed a goal to ramp up an open-source artificial general intelligence platform that would be able to support productivity, wearables, and digital assistants.

AGF Management Buying Majority Interest In Kensington Capital Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2024

AGF Management Limited’s (AGF) private markets business signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority interest in Kensington Capital Partners Limited - one of Canada’s leading alternative investment firms, as part of AGF’s strategic imperative to grow its private markets business.

Diamond-Amazon Deal: What Could Happen To The MLB, NBA, And NHL Games

By Annie Baker ● Jan 19, 2024

Earlier this week, regional sports operator Diamond Sports Group and Amazon announced a major partnership. Diamond represents 37 teams in the MLB, NHL, and NBA. If the deal is approved in court, local games would be added to Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service and it would enable Diamond Sports Group to emerge from bankruptcy.

How Zillow Is Empowering Renters Through A New Credit-Building Payment Reporting Service

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2024

Zillow has announced a new feature that enables renters who pay their rent on Zillow to have their on-time payments reported to a major national credit bureau at no cost. This is a first for any online rental marketplace, providing a unique opportunity for renters to build credit through regular rent payments at no additional cost.

Cyversity: New Leadership And Board Revealed To Bring Better Diversity In Cybersecurity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2024

Cyversity - a 501(c)3 non-profit association dedicated to achieve the consistent representation of women, underrepresented communities, and all veterans in the cybersecurity industry through programs designed for diversifying, educating, and empowering - announced new executive leadership and its newly elected board of directors for the 2024-2026 term effective January 1, 2024.

How John Deere And SpaceX Are Collaborating To Help Farmers With Connectivity Challenges

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2024

Deere & Company recently announced it has agreed with SpaceX to provide cutting-edge satellite communications (SATCOM) service to farmers. Leveraging the industry-leading Starlink network, this solution will allow farmers facing rural connectivity challenges to leverage precision agriculture technologies fully.

Gates Foundation: $8.6 Billion Budget For 2024 Announced

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 17, 2024

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced its largest annual budget to date as it works toward a healthier and more prosperous world. These are the details.

Northvolt: $5 Billion Raised For Circular Gigafactory

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 17, 2024

Northvolt recently announced the signing of a $5 billion non-recourse project financing to enable the expansion of Northvolt Ett in northern Sweden. This deal represents the largest green loan raised in Europe to date.

Why Snyk Is Buying Helio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 17, 2024

Snyk - a leader in developer security - announced the acquisition of Helios, an industry pioneer capturing application runtime data, to further enhance Snyk’s cloud-to-code risk visibility. This acquisition marks a milestone in Snyk’s Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) journey, accelerating the evolution of Snyk AppRisk and allowing enterprise security teams to more effectively manage their global application security programs at scale.

Mars: $237 Million Nature’s Bakery Facility To Be Built In Salt Lake City

By Annie Baker ● Jan 17, 2024

Mars announced the establishment of a 339,000 sq. ft. baking facility by Nature's Bakery in Salt Lake City. And Nature's Bakery projects to add over 190 jobs to its Utah location and invest $237 million in its Utah facility.

Synopsys Buying Ansys In A $35 Billion Deal: Details

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2024

Synopsys and Ansys announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Synopsys will acquire Ansys. These are the details.

Microsoft Launches Copilot Pro For $20 Per User Per Month

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2024

Microsoft announced that it recently achieved over 5 billion chats and over 5 billion images with its Copilot AI companion platform. Microsoft recently announced the introduction of Copilot Pro, which is a new premium subscription for individuals that offers a higher tier of service for AI capabilities, brings Copilot AI capabilities to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers, and new capabilities like the ability to create Copilot GPTs.

Intuition Robotics: ElliQ 3 AI Companion Launches To Improve Lifestyles For Seniors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2024