Amazon, Microsoft Must Face Tougher UK Antitrust Probe, CMA Says
The Competition and Markets Authority said that concerns over market dominance and lack of consumer choice at Microsoft and Amazon Web Services Inc. should be investigated under its Strategic Market Status rules.
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Geek Wire
22 minutes ago
- Geek Wire
After 48 years at UW, Ed Lazowska reflects on computer science, education, AI, and what's next
Computer science professor Ed Lazowska recently retired from his longtime University of Washington role. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Don't worry, we haven't seen the last of Ed Lazowska. After nearly a half-century in computer science at the University of Washington — yes, he arrived in the Seattle region before Microsoft did — the longtime champion of the UW's Allen School just retired from the university, fulfilling a promise to his family to log off from his official duties when he reached 75. But he's not completely shutting things down. The veteran computer science professor and distributed systems researcher — who has spent decades at the intersection of Seattle tech, education, and civic life — will continue to be involved in a variety of projects in the community. That includes teaching a popular UW entrepreneurship course with Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs, chairing PSL's advisory board, and serving on the board of the Allen Institute for AI as it navigates the open-source AI frontier. 'My goal in retirement is to feel less responsible,' he explained. The idea is to 'decrease the extent to which I think that every little problem is my problem,' he said. 'I will continue to focus on the big problems — and there are plenty of those to keep me busy.' We sat down with Lazowska for this week's GeekWire Podcast — asking the prolific emailer and diligent bicycle commuter to reflect on his career, the evolution of the industry, the growth of the Seattle region, and the future of education in the age of artificial intelligence. Yes, Lazowska agrees, coding is dead, at least to the extent that it represents 'the translation of somebody else's design into something executable.' However, he said, 'Design is not dead, working in teams is not dead, figuring out what problems need to be solved — and what the right approach is to tackling those problems — is not dead, and understanding how humans are going to use and be influenced by digital technology is not dead.' That means universities need to focus less on churning out coders and more on preparing students to think critically, work collaboratively, and adapt to constant change — which has been the Allen School's approach all along. 'This is a field that's always changed faster than any other field, except maybe for modern biology,' he said. 'It's a field in which educating students for lifelong learning is more important than any other field. It's also tougher than it's ever been. Ed Lazowska fires a t-shirt gun at the 2017 inauguration of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, as the Microsoft co-founder acknowledges the crowd. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) As the field expands and grows more complex, Lazowska worries that students — especially at the graduate level — are becoming so specialized that they miss opportunities for the kind of cross-pollination that sparks breakthroughs. One indication: computer science students are less likely to attend talks by experts in adjacent fields. 'The really interesting stuff always takes place at those interstitial spaces,' he said. The late Steve Jobs was the perhaps the most iconic example of that, in the way that he blended technology and the liberal arts for many of the product breakthroughs that put Apple at the forefront of tech. As it happens, Lazowska helped Jobs' alma mater, Oregon's Reed College, set up a computer science program when demand for the major rose following Jobs' death, from students looking to follow in his footsteps. 'They didn't understand that what he learned at Reed was dope and calligraphy,' Lazowska said. Driving the increased specialization by today's computer science students, he said, is a growing need for students to develop advanced expertise by drilling down into specific areas. That will only become more true as entry-level work increasingly gets consumed by artificial intelligence. 'The résumés that get you your first job today are the résumés that would have gotten you promoted to your second job 10 years ago,' he said. His experience with students also makes him optimistic. Teams in the entrepreneurship class, Lazowska said, often set out to build systems or solve problems that seem wildly unrealistic at the start. After a few weeks, reality sets in — but then, more often than not, they find a way to deliver something beyond what anyone expected. 'The great thing about students is they don't know what they can't do,' he said. 'What we have to do in education is not beat that out of them.' Lazowska has served in a variety of national roles — including co-authoring influential National Academies studies on computing and innovation, advising federal research programs, and helping shape national technology policy. Ed Lazowska accepts the award for Geek of the Year at the 2017 GeekWire Awards. (File Photo / Kevin Lisota) But he has made an especially deep impact in Washington state and the Seattle region, including roles as a leader, board member or advisor to a variety of organizations over the years, including the Technology Alliance, Washington Technology Industry Association, and the UW eScience Institute, which he co-founded. He recalled the 1990s-era trip by Seattle leaders to the Bay Area, led by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce to study how Silicon Valley approached innovation. In seeing first-hand the formula that led to the Bay Area's dominance, they realized that Seattle's comparably modest progress had been largely accidental. 'Our secret to success was Bill Boeing moved here, and Bill Gates and Paul Allen grew up here, and it's a nice place to live, and we haven't screwed it up too badly,' Lazowska said. 'This was not a strategy.' The Technology Alliance emerged from that recognition, with early leadership from Bill Gates Sr., Susannah Malarkey, Tom Alberg and others who wanted to create a more intentional approach to building the region's tech prowess. Most of all, Lazowska sees himself as a teacher. Early in his career, he recalled, he would check 'researcher' on the cards tucked into magazines that asked for readers' occupations. It took a couple years before he started indicating that he was an educator — which he had come to understand as his true role at the UW. 'I realized that that's why I was there,' he said. 'I can send people out that change the world.' Subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Audio editing by Curt Milton.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gold and bitcoin are both vying to be safe havens for investors. Why gold is winning so far this year.
Gold futures scored another record high Friday — with the precious metal extending its lead over bitcoin this year and, despite some volatility, reinforcing its status as the go-to safe haven in uncertain times. While both assets have rallied in 2025 and repeatedly notched fresh highs, gold has pulled ahead even after paring gains Friday afternoon. Gold futures GC00 rose earlier in the day after the U.S. ruled that 1-kilogram and 100-ounce gold bars would be subject to tariffs, but trimmed gains after reports said the Trump administration planned to clarify that imported gold bars would be exempt. Trade Desk's stock sees its worst drop ever, and analysts wonder if Amazon is to blame I plan to work until 80. Can I contribute to my IRA while taking RMDs? Still, gold's edge this year may reflect a broader trend where elevated geopolitical tensions and tariff concerns have given traditional risk-off assets an extra edge over newer alternatives. Crypto bulls have long pitched bitcoin BTCUSD as 'digital gold,' arguing it could eventually play a similar role. But for now, analysts say gold's legacy as a crisis hedge is prevailing. Invest in Gold Priority Gold: Up to $15k in Free Silver + Zero Account Fees on Qualifying Purchase American Hartford Gold: #1 Precious Metals Dealer in the Nation Thor Metals Group: Best Overall Gold IRA 'Gold has certainly benefited from safe-haven flows more so than cryptocurrencies like bitcoin' this year, said Rob Haworth, senior investment-strategy director at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group. He noted in a phone interview that bitcoin still tends to move in lockstep with risk assets, limiting its appeal during times of uncertainty. In particular, gold has seen strong support from global central-bank purchases, which have accelerated in response to geopolitical tensions, tariffs and other macroeconomic uncertainties this year, according to Konstantin Anissimov, chief executive at 'I think the overall theme is uncertainty. And when there is uncertainty, sovereigns flee to what they know best — an asset that has weathered the storms of millennia rather than just decades or centuries,' Anissimov said in a phone interview. In contrast with gold, no major government has adopted bitcoin as a reserve asset, though Anissimov sees strong long-term potential for it to serve as a store of value. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to establish a federal bitcoin reserve, though few details have emerged since. Anissimov also noted that corporations have been increasingly adding the cryptocurrency to their treasuries. The most actively traded gold futures contract settled at a record high of $3,491.30 on Friday before pulling back to $3,451.60 in electronic trade. The contract is up 30.8% year to date, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Bitcoin slipped 0.7% on Friday to around $116,511, about 5.4% below its record high of $123,165.67 set on July 14. The cryptocurrency is up 24.6% year to date. Both have outpaced U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 SPX up 8.6% this year to date after ending Friday just a fraction shy of a record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA is up just 3.8% so far this year, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP has rallied 11%, ending at a record high Friday. In exchange-traded funds, shares of the VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX gained 0.2% Friday, for a 71% yearly gain, while the popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD was virtually unchanged on the session but up 29% so far in 2025, according to FactSet. From a technical standpoint, short-term momentum has turned negative for bitcoin while it remains positive for gold, suggesting potential for further gains in the coming week, analysts at Currency Research Associates wrote in a report on Friday. In the longer term, Peter Eberle, president and chief investment officer at Castle Funds, said he thinks bitcoin has more upside than gold as institutional adoption grows. 'The capital flows from institutions to bitcoin are only at the beginning. Between regulatory clarity and a friendlier administration, we are in the earliest phase of institutional adoption,' Eberle said. 'I have a great mortgage rate': I need $80K to buy my husband out of our home. Do I raid my $180K Roth IRA? 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Nine MPs in Birmingham and Black Country make money renting out homes - is yours one of them
Smethwick's Labour MP Gurinder Singh Josan is the second biggest housing landlord in Parliament, co-owning eight homes in Birmingham and Sandwell that are rented out. The MP co-owns three of the properties with relatives and is a co-owner in five others, with each of the homes bringing in rental income of at least £10,000 a year. Birmingham Perry Barr Independent MP Ayoub Khan co-owns three properties in Birmingham. READ MORE: Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali resigns after 'ejecting tenants and hiking rent' Light has been shone on the housing interests of sitting MPs following the resignation of Labour's homelessness minister Rushnara Ali after she was found to have evicted tenants from her London property, and then later re-listed the property with a higher rent. Campaigners have said it undermines the government's credibility in its efforts to reform the rental sector. In Birmingham and the Black Country, there is desperate concern particularly about the rocketing number of HMOs and exempt properties, with thousands of former family homes converted into units housing six or more individuals so landlords can max out their rental income. Thousands of children are currently living in B&Bs and temporary housing because of a shortage of family homes, while thousands more families are on council waiting lists because they can't meet private rents. Josan, elected last year, has a housing portfolio equal to former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Cons. They both boast eight rental properties. Only one MP, Jas Athwal, MP for Ilford South, has more - he rents out 15 residential and three commercial properties in London. Of all Westminster MPs, one in eight declared a rental income from property in the last year, according to a recent Guardian analysis. The official register of interests, which shows any additional earnings and interests held by MPs, reveals that Josan owns five properties in Sandwell and Birmingham, and also co-owns with relatives another three properties in Sandwell. We have reached out to Josan to ask him if any of the properties are either HMOs or are leased as exempt supported accommodation - we had not received a response at the time of publication. But we can also reveal that several other MPs in Birmingham and the Black Country are in the private rentals business. Tahir Ali, Labour MP for Hall Green and Moseley, owns a rental property that he declares makes a rental income of more than £10,000 a year. It is a single property in Birmingham, according to the register. Saqib Bhatti, Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East, declares ownership of a property in Walsall that he has a 25% share in, and a second property in Walsall. Al Carns, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, declares a property in Aberdeen that he co-owns with his spouse that generates rental income to him. Sarah Coombes, Labour MP for West Bromwich, declares a flat she rents out in London. Warinder Juss, Labour MP for Wolverhampton West, declares owning two rental properties - a flat and a house - in Wolverhampton. Ayoub Khan, Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, declares his co-ownership of three properties, all in Birmingham. He says one is co-owned by him and his company; and two others are 'co-owned with a family member'. Sonia Kumar, Labour MP for Dudley, also declares a single property, in Birmingham, that she rents out. Wendy Morton, Conservative MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, does not own rental housing but does declare receiving rental income from small industrial units on a business park in North Yorkshire owned by a company DM Electronics.
