Latest news with #Googles
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Breaking Up Google Could Be a Disaster for Open Internet
I am no fan of Google. But forcing the company to sell off Chrome - which is exactly what the government aims to do in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit - threatens to break the open Internet far more than it protects it. A key component to the governments case pertains to Googles Chrome browser and argues that allowing its continued ownership of Chrome creates a monopoly. Lets look at a few alternatives: Microsofts Edge, Brave, and Opera. What do all of these have in common? Theyre all built on whats called Chromium, which is an open-source version of Chrome - with Googles components (see: spyware) stripped out. From there, developers are free to build whatever code theyd like to, such as Edges built-in Copilot and Braves native ad-blocking. Google is under no obligation to provide its open-source Chromium foundation for competitors to use, much less continue to invest in and improve. Forcing Google to sell Chrome would risk upending this ecosystem. It should be little surprise that none other than OpenAI has expressed interest in purchasing Chrome if it is spun off. The irony of selling off the browser from Google under the guise of breaking up monopolies only to hand it to the largest AI platform - which is currently smoking Google in the field - was apparently lost on the government. So what? Wouldnt people be free to just switch to a non-Chromium browser? While this is an option, its becoming less and less realistic. Edge, Brave, and the like are fast, and they feel like using Chrome because theyre built on the same source code. There are only two mainstream alternatives out there away from this foundation, and both have their own issues. There is Safari, but that only works on Apple software. Alternatively, Mozillas Firefox is the last major browser to run on an engine independent from Chromium. However, it has been steadily declining in terms of performance and was recently embroiled in a PR crisis over privacy concerns. For the vast majority of users seeking a high-quality alternative to Chrome, Chromium is going to be the way to go. A second part of the governments case rests on the fact that Google has struck deals with different companies to make themselves the default search engine, including in Firefox. I have always found the case that making a search engine set as the default to be "monopolistic" to be extremely weak - Edge sets Bing as the default, which many users change immediately. However, this initially trivial complaint could have disastrous consequences for competition. Google has long paid Mozilla - among many other companies - to be the default search engine in Firefox, which has become their largest revenue source in recent years. The companys CFO testified last week that without the Google search deal, Firefox could be "doomed." Such a ruling could plausibly put an end to the last alternative to Chromium across platforms. Because, you know, monopolies. As is so often the case with government intervention, they spot what they perceive to be "bad behavior" and attempt to remedy it with alternatives that are often worse than the problem they set out to fix. The real-world fallout from this case could be quality alternatives to Chrome such as Edge and Brave losing access to the open-source bedrock theyre built on, and the complete collapse of Firefox itself. You need not be a fan of Google to recognize the potentially disastrous consequences this could have for the Internet as we know it. Kyle Moran is a political commentator with Young Voices, specializing in international affairs and national security. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island, and his work has been published widely from RealClearPolitics to the Washington Examiner.
Business Insider
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I'm a chief technologist at Morgan Stanley. Here's what comp-sci students need to know to succeed on Wall Street.
Over the past few years, banks have become technology giants in their own right with big budgets, a focus on research and developing patents, and a constant demand for tools and products that will keep customers happy. Wall Street has become a technologist destination that rivals the Googles and the Amazons of the world. An example of that trend is Hina Shamsi, the chief technology officer for the divisions that serve Morgan Stanley's wealth management and institutional businesses. Shamsi, who also sits on the technology operating committee that drives tech and strategy across the firm, tells us about her career path and what she believes people should know about a career in technology at a bank. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shamsi, who's based in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity. I'm of South Asian descent. I grew up in Kuwait and Pakistan in a very conservative environment with very forward-thinking parents. I was the first in my family to leave home and go to North America for higher education. If you had asked me years ago: Did I see myself on Wall Street as a chief technology officer? I would have said no. I went to school at the University of Texas at Austin. I got a degree in mathematics and then a master's in operations research with a focus on computer science. Think about operations research as the mother of the modern-day AI used in solving large-scale problems. There were a couple of industries where this was being done, like the defense industry, airlines, and, to some extent, healthcare. I always knew that I wanted to solve really big, hairy mathematical problems. A friend in the airline industry told me his work was very much related to my academic background. I took a call from his company, Sabre. It's headquartered near Dallas and is very big in creating systems that help airlines plan out and optimize schedules, routes, and other decisions. I took the job and fell in love with the industry. I spent almost 17 years in it before I got my first call from a financial services firm. See more stories from BI's Path to Wall Street series here, including what firms young people want to work for today, data showing where the average banker went to school, and what i t's really like to work for a hedge fund. What attracted me to finance was the enormous opportunity it presented for innovation and transformation. This is a very dynamic industry, and it continues to mature. There's never a dull moment. As a technology leader, you get an opportunity to work on wide-ranging emerging tech, like machine learning and artificial intelligence — you name it. But you also get to solve some of the most challenging business problems, as evidenced by our work rolling out our first two generative-AI products for financial advisors, in partnership with OpenAI. Learning the business Like the very large-scale systems I worked on in airlines, fintech is a very complex environment. There are high-scale, high-availability transactional systems. So my technology experience lent itself really nicely to financial services. But I didn't know about the business. I had to learn it. I read every material that was available to me in the bank's enormous amount of training content. But I think you can only go so far reading on your own. I sat down with business leaders to really probe what's top of mind for them, the problems they are thinking about: What are your top three? You always want to have a pulse on what your industry is thinking about. The second thing I did, which I really encourage people to do, is not just talking to senior people. Sometimes you get the best information by talking to people who are on the ground working on problems day in and day out. Whether you're sitting with the financial advisor and just watching them take a call, or you're sitting on the trading floor at an equity desk watching a trader use technology — there's no better way to know how good or bad your technology is until you observe it being used. Even today, I take the time to sit with a financial advisor and ask them what their pain points are, what they like, and what they don't like. You'll be surprised how much you learn from putting yourself in their shoes. Encouraging 'healthy debate' between tech and business leaders Today, technologists have a bigger role in shaping the business through its products and the strategy itself, not just the gone are the days when requirements came through over the wall and we were told, "Go develop this." I can't underscore enough how important it is for us to be involved in the business-case development. The company leaders understand the business well, but they don't understand the art of the possible; they don't understand technology well. I describe it this way: The heads of the lines of business know the "what" and the "why," but they don't understand the "how." That is where the technology comes in. Sometimes, business needs and technical realities don't align. It's a healthy debate, and it's critical to the creative process. Business leaders have ideas and expectations that are sometimes, quite frankly, unreasonable because their role is to push and look at it from the customer's perspective. Then you also see technologists creating tech just for the sake of tech. When you bring those two together, that debate is really good for the creative process. We encourage that because we want diverse ideas, so that when we produce something, it's been thought through well. Advice for new grads The single most important thing a computer science student today can do to prepare for working in tech on Wall Street is to think more broadly about their role, not just as a technologist but also as a business technologist. What makes you stand out — and we interview thousands of candidates every year — is the niche skills, like expertise on cloud, as well as any experience with AI and machine learning. Those are the skills we're looking for. Once you have the technical skills, the next step is to focus on learning the business through tangible experiences, like internships, as early as possible. Develop the skills you learned academically, and apply them to business-specific environments with the security and data privacy guardrails. Complement the business mindset with the technical knowledge, and that's where you maximize the value.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Edward Jones resubmits ILC charter application
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Five years after it first sought an industrial bank charter, Edward Jones is trying again. The firm last week submitted an application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions to establish Edward Jones Bank, saying that an industrial bank would 'enable Edward Jones to serve more clients, more completely.' The firm had applied for the same type of license, from the same entities, in 2020. The investment company withdrew that application in 2022, however, citing the 'environment' at the time. Edward Jones wouldn't be the first nonbank to resubmit an application for an industrial loan company charter since President Donald Trump retook office. GM Financial re-applied in January after initially applying in December 2020 – and gaining conditional approval from the Utah regulator last June. But it pulled the application from FDIC consideration later that month 'to address feedback' from the regulator, GM Financial said. It's been largely expected that the Trump administration will generally ease financial regulation. Indeed, the FDIC's new acting chief, Travis Hill, highlighted ILC charters as one way to boost new bank formation, in a speech this month. The FDIC is working to issue a request for information to address issues connected to ILC charter applications, Hill said. 'I continue to believe this would be useful,' Hill said, noting the issue draws 'strong opinions' from 'a wide range of stakeholders across the financial services industry.' Opponents of the charter have argued the ILC designation exempts companies from the definition of a 'bank' under the Bank Holding Company Act, as long as they don't offer demand deposit accounts. That setup allows them to bypass oversight by the Federal Reserve. 'The Rakutens and the Googles of the world shouldn't be able to circumvent the Fed,' Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA, said in 2019, introducing a bill to close that 'loophole.' 'If they're allowed to handle your banking services, they're going to turn into continents,' he said. Trade groups, too, have spoken out against ILCs. Independent Community Bankers of America CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey has said the designation 'violates the longstanding separation of banking and commerce and leaves dangerous gaps in oversight.' Conversely, now-former Sen. Mitt Romney in March 2024 urged action on pending ILC charter applications, arguing the companies would 'provide critical access to credit opportunities within the regulated banking sector. Romney represented Utah, where Edward Jones Bank would be based. Following its new application submission, David Chubak, Edward Jones' head of branch development and U.S. business, said a banking charter would 'simplify our clients' financial lives and reflects our firm's focus on meeting their evolving needs." 'Throughout our 103-year history, Edward Jones has provided a wide range of products, solutions and experiences to our clients," Chubak said in a prepared statement. Edward Jones already offers banking products, such as margin loans, a securities-based line of credit, credit cards and several cash management options. Later this year, its 19,000 advisers will also begin to offer their U.S. clients checking and credit card products through a co-brand partnership with U.S. Bank, announced last August. But an ILC charter would allow Edward Jones to offer even more products, including certificates of deposit and an expanded availability of its securities-based credit line. 'Our clients' financial needs are increasingly complex. An affiliated bank would allow us to better meet those needs in order to achieve clients' long-term financial goals," said Alison Carnie, principal and head of the banking business unit at Edward Jones. If the charter is approved, veteran banker Andrea Moss will serve as Edward Jones Bank's CEO, and the bank will be headquartered in Salt Lake City. Moss is CEO of Nelnet Bank. Nelnet, a student loan servicer, became the first company in several years – along with fintech Square (now Block) – to gain an ILC charter, when it did so in 2020. At last count, 14 companies have submitted applications since 2017. In 2020, under former Chair Jelena McWilliams – for whom Hill served as a policy adviser – the FDIC issued a final rule requiring ILC parent companies to enter into a written agreement with the agency pledging to maintain the industrial bank's capital and liquidity 'at levels that the FDIC deems necessary for [their] safe and sound operation.' Recommended Reading 4 BMO bankers fired, 2 resign after bullying probe: report Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
01-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Joshua Van thrilled Burmese flag finally cleared for UFC 313 fight
When Joshua Van set out on a journey for MMA greatness, one of the most important things he wanted to achieve was to put Myanmar on the map. Now, in a sense, he's done just that. While he's long carried the Burmese flag in spirit, Van (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will make the walk with his native flag – a first in UFC history. The promotion recently notified the rising UFC flyweight contender of the decision to allow the flag after it was not allowed for his first six appearances. 'The emailed me yesterday and I was full of joy,' Van told MMA Junkie on Friday. 'I showed all my coaches and all my friends that I get to bring my flag. It was a very special day for me.' Persistence paid off. Van isn't totally sure why the flag was not allowed to begin with, but he'd steadily stayed on the organization, asking for permission – and at UFC 313 on March 8, the yellow, green, and red flag with a big white star in the middle will be draped over his shoulders at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 'Ever since my first fight in the UFC, I bring my flag each fight week, asking them if I can bring it out and stuff like that,' Van said. 'I think my first fight nobody was allowed to bring their flags. So that was understandable. Then my second fight and my third fight, I kept asking them. I think it was the commission or something, they didn't know if Myanmar was a country or not. That's what they told me. I was pulling out Googles and sh*t to show them that Myanmar is a country. The UFC team worked on getting my flag, especially after my last fight, the win, where I wore the mouth guard. That played a big part.' Van, 23, moved from Myanmar to Texas when he was 12. His assimilation into American society wasn't easy, but fighting helped him. While he's all the way across the world from where he was born, Van has long been a proud representative of the small Southeast Asian country located by China, Laos, and Thailand. Since 2021, Myanmar has been in amidst a civil war after a military coup. The tumultuous political climate has lead to both admiration and disapproval in Van's social media DMs. 'A lot of people feel that flag don't represent us, but at the end of the day, we are our own country and that is our flag,' Van said. 'I'm just happy to represent our country. … Most people are happy for our country, but some people are going through it feel some type of way because of what we're going through. But at the end of the day, it's better people know about us.' While Van's day-to-day focus is preparing for upcoming foe Rei Tsuruya (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), eventually returning to Myanmar for the first time since he left is the ultimate dream. 'That's the goal. That's the dream,' Van said. 'I want to go back and give back to my country.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 313.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Google Downplays DeepSeek's AI Threat, Defends Leadership in AI Development
Googles artificial intelligence division is not concerned about competition from Chinese AI developer DeepSeek, according to internal reassurances by its leadership, CNBC reports. Google DeepMind's CEO, Demis Hassabis, advised staff members that DeepSeek's assertions on its artificial intelligence models were hyperbole and that the company's stated training fees were much less than its real development spending. He also said DeepSeek could have depended on Western AI models and utilized more technology than revealed. Hassabis insisted that Google's AI models outperform DeepSeek's and are more efficient, therefore bolstering Google's leadership in the sector. Notwithstanding the criticism, Hassabis said DeepSeek was among the most sophisticated artificial intelligence companies coming out of China. He pointed to possible security and geopolitical issues raised by the company's fast developments. The publication of DeepSeek's R1 AI model in January immediately had effects on the market, leading to a sell-off of technology companies. After DeepSeek's statement on Jan. 27, Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) lost $ Pry billion in market value. The Chinese company's emphasis on creating artificial intelligence at less expensive rates without human oversight challenges American technology firms which have historically made significant AI hardware and research investments. Major American technology companies, including Alphabet (GOOG, Financials), Amazon (AMZN, Financials), Meta (META, Financials), and Microsoft (MSFT, Financials), intend to boost expenditure on AI infrastructure in 2025 in reaction. Google officials also answered staff questions on changes to the company's AI Principles. The corporation dropped a previous vow not to utilize artificial intelligence for spying or military purposes. The change in policy began last year, according to Google's head of global affairs, Kent Walker, who cited the necessity of a more flexible approach to AI ethics over Google's strong bans in 2018. Walker cited historical limitations like Google's earlier choice not to extend Project Maven, an AI-powered U.S. military contract. He pointed out that throughout the previous seven years, artificial intelligence technology has changed dramatically and calls for revised laws to represent fresh advancements in the sector. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
