
UK's Bytes Tech plunges 27% after profit warning
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Shares of UK's Bytes Technology plunged over 27% on Wednesday after the IT firm said its operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2026 would be marginally lower due to delayed customer payments and longer-than-expected readjustments from internal restructuring.Trading in the first few months of the year was hurt by macroeconomic pressures, leading to deferred customer decisions, particularly among corporates, the firm said in an update to the exchanges ahead of its annual general meeting.The stock fell as much as 27.43% to 369 pence, the lowest since April 2023, before paring some losses to trade down 23% at 391.4 pence by 08:00 GMT. Bytes , which provides software, cloud, and AI services , is moving from a generalist sales model to specialised, customer segment-focused teams - a shift that has taken longer than expected, it said.Also weighing on its performance in the first half are changes to Microsoft 's enterprise agreement program, which the company had disclosed earlier, where certain transactional incentives have been reduced.The impact of the changes are weighted more to the first half due to high levels of renewals in March and April, Bytes said.The firm posted an operating profit of 35.6 million pounds ($48.8 million) for the first half of fiscal 2025. On Wednesday, it said it expects gross profit for the first half of fiscal 2026 to be flat.In May, it had said it was "well positioned" to deliver another year of double-digit gross profit growth and high single-digit operating profit growth in financial year 2025-26."Investors will be slightly taken aback by the more cautious AGM statement, which now flags flat year over year trends versus May guidance for double-digit gross profit growth," Jefferies analysts said in a note.

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Business Standard
21 minutes ago
- Business Standard
AI agents are here: What they are capable of and where things can go wrong
We are entering the third phase of generative AI. First came the chatbots, followed by the assistants. Now we are beginning to see agents: systems that aspire to greater autonomy and can work in 'teams' or use tools to accomplish complex tasks. The latest hot product is OpenAI's ChatGPT agent. This combines two pre-existing products (Operator and Deep Research) into a single more powerful system which, according to the developer, 'thinks and acts'. These new systems represent a step up from earlier AI tools. Knowing how they work and what they can do – as well as their drawbacks and risks – is rapidly becoming essential. From chatbots to agents ChatGPT launched the chatbot era in November 2022, but despite its huge popularity the conversational interface limited what could be done with the technology. Enter the AI assistant, or copilot. These are systems built on top of the same large language models that power generative AI chatbots, only now designed to carry out tasks with human instruction and supervision. Agents are another step up. They are intended to pursue goals (rather than just complete tasks) with varying degrees of autonomy, supported by more advanced capabilities such as reasoning and memory. Multiple AI agent systems may be able to work together, communicating with each other to plan, schedule, decide and coordinate to solve complex problems. Agents are also 'tool users' as they can also call on software tools for specialised tasks – things such as web browsers, spreadsheets, payment systems and more. A year of rapid development Agentic AI has felt imminent since late last year. A big moment came last October, when Anthropic gave its Claude chatbot the ability to interact with a computer in much the same way a human does. This system could search multiple data sources, find relevant information and submit online forms. Other AI developers were quick to follow. OpenAI released a web browsing agent named Operator, Microsoft announced Copilot agents, and we saw the launch of Google's Vertex AI and Meta's Llama agents. Earlier this year, the Chinese startup Monica demonstrated its Manus AI agent buying real estate and converting lecture recordings into summary notes. Another Chinese startup, Genspark, released a search engine agent that returns a single-page overview (similar to what Google does now) with embedded links to online tasks such as finding the best shopping deals. Another startup, Cluely, offers a somewhat unhinged 'cheat at anything' agent that has gained attention but is yet to deliver meaningful results. Not all agents are made for general-purpose activity. Some are specialised for particular areas. Coding and software engineering are at the vanguard here, with Microsoft's Copilot coding agent and OpenAI's Codex among the frontrunners. These agents can independently write, evaluate and commit code, while also assessing human-written code for errors and performance lags. Search, summarisation and more One core strength of generative AI models is search and summarisation. Agents can use this to carry out research tasks that might take a human expert days to complete. OpenAI's Deep Research tackles complex tasks using multi-step online research. Google's AI 'co-scientist' is a more sophisticated multi-agent system that aims to help scientists generate new ideas and research proposals. Agents can do more – and get more wrong Despite the hype, AI agents come loaded with caveats. Both Anthropic and OpenAI, for example, prescribe active human supervision to minimise errors and risks. OpenAI also says its ChatGPT agent is 'high risk' due to potential for assisting in the creation of biological and chemical weapons. However, the company has not published the data behind this claim so it is difficult to judge. But the kind of risks agents may pose in real-world situations are shown by Anthropic's Project Vend. Vend assigned an AI agent to run a staff vending machine as a small business – and the project disintegrated into hilarious yet shocking hallucinations and a fridge full of tungsten cubes instead of food. In another cautionary tale, a coding agent deleted a developer's entire database, later saying it had 'panicked'. Agents in the office Nevertheless, agents are already finding practical applications. In 2024, Telstra heavily deployed Microsoft copilot subscriptions. The company says AI-generated meeting summaries and content drafts save staff an average of 1–2 hours per week. Many large enterprises are pursuing similar strategies. 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Learn about agents – and build your own Despite these ongoing concerns, we can expect AI agents will become more capable and more present in our workplaces and daily lives. It's not a bad idea to start using (and perhaps building) agents yourself, and understanding their strengths, risks and limitations. For the average user, agents are most accessible through Microsoft copilot studio. This comes with inbuilt safeguards, governance and an agent store for common tasks. For the more ambitious, you can build your own AI agent with just five lines of code using the Langchain framework.
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Business Standard
21 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Brave and AdGuard join Signal in blocking Microsoft's Recall feature
Microsoft's controversial Recall feature in Windows 11 that takes automatic screenshots on Copilot Plus PCs is facing growing criticism from privacy-focused app developers. According to a report by The Verge, both Brave and AdGuard have now joined messaging app Signal in blocking the Windows AI-powered feature. Following the lead of messaging app Signal, both Brave and AdGuard have now taken steps to block the AI-powered tool from accessing user content, citing serious privacy risks. AdGuard, an ad-blocking and privacy tool, shared its reasoning in a recent blog post, calling Recall a privacy concern. The post stated, 'The very idea of background screen captures is unsettling. At any given moment, the system could snap a screenshot of a private chat window, an online form where you're entering your credit card, or simply something personal you didn't want saved.' Brave web browser also confirmed that it will block Recall by default on Windows 11 and newer systems. 'Starting in version 1.81 for Windows users, Brave browser will block Microsoft Recall from automatically taking screenshots of your browsing activity,' said the company in a blog post. They further stated that it will disable it by default for Windows 11+ users, but they will also provide an option to turn it back on for users who want Recall. Brave also noted that they were partly inspired by Signal's blocking of Recall. Signal Desktop now includes a 'Screen security' setting to block screenshots on Windows, aimed at protecting chats from Microsoft's Recall feature. Messaging app Signal began blocking Recall in May using a Digital Rights Management (DRM) flag that prevents screenshots and accessibility tools from capturing its content. The messaging app also criticised Microsoft for not offering fine-tuned settings to let developers manage how Recall interacts with their apps. 'Microsoft has launched Recall without granular settings for app developers that would enable Signal to easily protect privacy, which is a glaring omission that limits our choices,' Signal noted. However, Brave was able to restrict Recall without blocking all screenshot and accessibility functions. Microsoft allows browsers to selectively disable Recall, and Brave hopes this level of control is extended to all types of applications. 'While it's heartening that Microsoft recognises that Web browsers are especially privacy-sensitive applications, we hope they offer the same granular ability to turn off Recall to all privacy-minded application developers,' Brave said.


New Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
CM Naidu exhorts Telugu diaspora to invest in AP's development
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu urged the Telugu diaspora to invest in the development of their homeland, emphasising their responsibility to thrive in their Karmabhumi (land of work) while giving back to their Janmabhumi (birthplace). On the first day of his five-day visit, Naidu addressed the Telugu diaspora at One World International School after receiving an enthusiastic welcome from attendees hailing from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The event, which opened with 'Maa Telugu Thalli Ki' (State Anthem), reflected Telugu pride and showcased Andhra Pradesh's global aspirations. Naidu praised the success of Telugus in over 120 countries and cited Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as an example of their global leadership. He noted that Telugus in some countries have higher per capita incomes than locals. Urging the estimated 40,000 Telugus in Singapore to support Andhra Pradesh's growth, Naidu reminded them that their achievements were built on the foundation of the State's public education and infrastructure. Reflecting on the strained ties with Singapore during the previous YSRCP government, he expressed regret over the disruption of the Amaravati capital project, which had originally benefited from Singapore's expertise in township development. Naidu said that his current visit aims to rebuild trust and restore ties with Singapore's government and businesses. He committed to ensuring stability and consistency in future engagements.