Latest news with #Kantor
Euronews
3 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
French start-up H Company releases new AI agents 'cheaper' than rivals
French artificial intelligence (AI) start-up H Company, which launched last year and raised hundreds of millions of euros in investment before it had even released its first product, brought out three new AI agents on Tuesday. 'We are all in on the agentic race, that's our path. We are even potentially ahead with really good results in computer use technologies,' Charles Kantor, the company's CEO and co-founder, told Euronews Next. Agentic AI models, or AI agents, do not just process information but also try to plan and complete tasks and solve problems. However, Kantor said that humans would 'always be at the centre' of their AI models, so that if the agent wrote an email, it would just be a draft and only the human would be able to send the message. The three models that H has released are called Runner H, Tester H, and Surfer H. H said that the three products reflect the company's vision for a 'trusted, action-oriented AI that delivers task execution beyond traditional chatbots'. It claims that it achieves a 92.2 per cent success rate, while reducing costs by up to 5.5 times against competitors such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Runner H allows users to automate workflows and streamline tasks. Kantor said it was 'a more advanced version of Manus,' he said, referring to the Chinese AI agent. It is aimed at consumer use. Surfer H allows you to surf the web and navigate browser environments, and the company claims the model achieved a 92.2 per cent task completion accuracy on the WebVoyager benchmark at $0.13 (€0.11) per task. This is much cheaper than competitors, such as OpenAI's Operator agent, which costs $200 (€175) per month for its Pro subscription plan. 'It's really like almost an agent acting on your behalf, using planning to visual capabilities to recognise interfaces, clicking, scrolling, acting, fetching information, and so on,' Kantor said. Tester H is the final new model, which is built more for enterprise use with one of the big things it can do being software testing. But it can also do things such as smart email replies. You can ask the agent to read your recent emails, and it can draft template answers. But the agent will not hit send; only the human can do this. H said that the three products reflect the company's vision for a 'trusted, action-oriented AI that delivers task execution beyond traditional chatbots'. All the models are trained on synthetic data, which means it uses artificially generated data designed to mimic real-world data, allowing the company to meet Europe's GDPR rules on data protection. According to Kantor, he personally uses H's AI models for the interconnection between tools such as emails and documents to prepare information, such as for billing or drafting emails. But he also uses it for preparing company content that is then reviewed, such as for ads and markets. 'When you start to review the work of an agent, you start to feel the productivity,' he said. H Company created a buzz when it launched last year. Kantor was a university professor at Stanford while the start-up's other co-founders came from DeepMind. Meanwhile, investment came from LVMH's CEO Bernard Arnault, Iliad founder Xavier Niel, Amazon, Samsung, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, among others. But just several months after launch, three of the co-founders - Daan Wierstra, Karl Tuyls, and Julien Perolat - quit due to 'operational differences,' the company said in a LinkedIn post. For Kantor, the situation surrounding their departure is 'in the past'. 'We had this kind of strategic disalignment, but now they are ambassadors of the company, and H's vision is really clear,' he said. 'We want to be at the state of the art in terms of action models and the agentic space, and we want this technology to benefit humanity'. The company now has around 70 employees in Paris and in the United Kingdom and has a big research and engineering department. 'It's kind of the concerto of age. You need to be able to really orchestrate in the right manner: Product, research, and engineering synergies to build category-defining AI,' he said. For Kantor, agentic AI is the next phase of AI, which will be vital to physical AI, which NVIDIA spoke of at length two weeks ago. 'We're gonna see a lot of companies thriving worldwide, but also in France, in robotics. I think Agent AI is gonna be the heart, the gist, I may say, of many fields,' Kantor said, referring to computer games, simulated worlds, and robotics. 'The software part of robotics is gonna be based on agentics, superintelligence. The opportunities are numerous'.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Georgia Tech WBB sends strong message by hiring top assistant
After a decade of success at UConn, Ben Kantor has joined the Georgia Tech women's basketball program as an assistant coach under head coach Karen Blair. Kantor arrives in Atlanta fresh off helping UConn win the 2025 National Championship and brings a resume packed with experience at the highest level. Advertisement During his two years as a full-time assistant coach, UConn made back-to-back Final Fours, went undefeated in Big East play, and captured four conference titles. Over 10 seasons with the Huskies, Kantor contributed to two national championships and eight Final Four appearances. Blair expressed excitement over Kantor's arrival and detailed their longtime professional relationship. They have a shared vision for success at Georgia Tech. 'Adding a coach with Ben's national championship and Final Four experience is a game-changer, Blair said. Related: Ex-NBA and Georgia Tech standout sues Fulton County after release from prison Kantor's coaching journey began in support roles, including video coordinator stints at SMU, Memphis, and later UConn. He was also a temporary assistant during UConn's 2020-21 season impacted by COVID-19. His early career included assistant roles at Colgate and Houston Baptist. Advertisement Kantor, a University of Illinois graduate and former women's team practice player, expressed gratitude for the opportunity, highlighting the chance to reunite with Blair. 'We've talked about this day for over 15 years,' he said. 'To finally work together again and help bring her championship vision to life is both humbling and exciting.' Kantor's addition gives Georgia Tech a coach with proven success and a clear commitment to excellence.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Lewis County crash claims life of driver
TOWN OF TURIN, N.Y. (WWTI) – A Monday afternoon crash in Lewis County has claimed the life of one person. According to the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, a 1988 Ford dump truck operated by 49-year-old David Kantor was traveling eastbound of Lyman Road. Authorities said that Lyman failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. New York State budget tweaks Foundation Aid formula The dump truck then struck a parked trailer and an excavator located on the Gomer Hill Road. Kantor was transported to a nearby landing zone and where airlifted to SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. However, he later died as a result of his injuries. The investigation is currently ongoing to Sheriff's officials. The New York State Collision Reconstruction Unit and Commercial Vehicle Unit, Lyons Falls Ambulance, Turin Fire Department, Town of Turin Highway Department and Groff's Towing all assisted on the scene. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Durbin to keep pushing card bill
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Sen. Dick Durbin is retiring, but that doesn't mean he's done with credit card reform efforts. The Illinois Democrat announced last week that he wouldn't seek re-election next year and his four-decade congressional career will end in January 2027. Still, he plans to use some of his dwindling days in the Senate to continue a crusade for the Credit Card Competition Act. A spokesperson for his office confirmed that intent by email on Thursday. That's the piece of legislation that would force bank card issuers to ensure that credit card processing systems always make a network other than Visa and Mastercard available to retailers, restaurants and other merchants. It would be no small change, given that Visa and Mastercard handle about 87% of all transactions when consumers swipe their cards, according to industry research firm Nilson Report. (That's all cards, but they dominate the market for credit cards alone too.) The idea behind the legislation is that it would create an opening for more competitors to challenge the duopoly, ultimately cutting card processing costs. Durbin, 80, has pushed the bill in the past two congressional sessions, with backing from Kansas Republican Roger Marshall. But so far this year, the legislation hasn't resurfaced, despite Durbin's promises it will. Durbin is waiting for the right moment, says Doug Kantor, who serves as general counsel for the National Association of Convenience stores and who has been a major proponent of the proposal since it landed in 2022. Durbin's camp is keeping an eye out for a larger bill that would be a suitable vehicle for carrying the legislation across the finish line, Kantor said in an interview last week. The lack of movement this year has probably been a result of the chambers being preoccupied with other major issues like the budget, he said. The Merchants Payments Coalition, which includes the National Retail Federation and the National Restaurant Association, among others, has also encouraged the legislation. 'There is a broad and growing recognition that the credit card companies don't do business the right way, and this bill may be one piece of addressing that,' Kantor said. But things aren't so clear across the aisle. Marshall's office has steadfastly not responded to requests for comment on the reintroduction of the legislation in recent weeks, despite his very vocal support last year. On the House side, Arkansas Republican French Hill, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, doesn't see the bill going anywhere because Congress shouldn't be in the position of refereeing between retailers and banks, he said recently. 'This isn't the way to resolve it,' Hill said during an event hosted this month by the media outlet Punchbowl News. The lack of Republican interest may have something to do with other financial services priorities being floated by newly elected President Donald Trump, like his fascination with cryptocurrencies. That may be propelling a Republican congressional focus on pursuing stablecoin legislation. In addition, interest groups on the other side of the fight, in particular the Electronic Payments Coalition and Bank Policy Institute, have not let up this year in skewering the CCCA proposal with press releases, statements and event appearances. 'We're taking this extremely seriously,' EPC Executive Chairman Richard Hunt said at the Punchbowl News event, contending the bill is a favor for big box retailers that would undercut card rewards and security. Hunt lamented Durbin's success 15 years ago in passing his namesake amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which ushered in limitations for fees in processing debit card transactions. Congressional Republicans are still seeking to blunt the impact of that law. A pack of House Republicans, including Hill, last month wrote to the Federal Reserve to reverse course on a planned reduction of the debit fee cap prescribed by that law. For the long-time Democratic Senate whip, Republican control of both chambers and the White House has not only weakened Durbin's power, it has seemingly reset the agenda. Some congressional colleagues have moved on to new card industry legislation that aims to protect consumers from high credit card interest rates. Part of Durbin's decision to retire may have been influenced by younger peers eager to take on leadership. He may find he has to leave his card reform agenda for them, if they're interested. Recommended Reading Republicans pressure Fed on debit card fees
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Motion to rekindle efforts to make Manchester school district a city dept. fails
The latest effort to ask Manchester voters if they support making the school district a department of the city — a topic debated on and off for decades — lasted less than an hour this week. Following a three-hour-plus public hearing Tuesday night on Mayor Jay Ruais's proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget, Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor made a motion under new business to ask the city clerk's office to draft language for a ballot question for aldermen to review next month ahead of placing it on the November election ballot. Kantor recently announced her candidacy for mayor, running against Ruais. Asked what prompted her to make the motion, Kantor cited 'problems with the school board.' 'Their excessive spending,' Kantor said. 'I believe that we wouldn't be in this situation with cuts if we didn't go through with the Beech Street (school project), taking away a park. We've discussed it several times before, about the school district becoming the school department.' Similar efforts have fallen short over the past 20 years. In April 2017, Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur proposed putting a question on the municipal election ballot that year that, if passed, would have put aldermen in charge of school finances. The motion initially passed, but a few weeks later aldermen voted to reconsider, ultimately rejecting Levasseur's original motion. Levasseur said the school district would have better supervision and oversight as a city department. More than 20 years ago, the school district filed a petition to determine whether it was a city department. According to Judge Joseph Nadeau's ruling, the 'school district functions as a substantially independent governmental entity' and was not a city department and not under the control of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. In 2001, voters passed by 4,000 votes a city charter amendment changing the school district to a city department. That amendment was later struck down by the courts, which ruled that it violated state law. The Legislature changed the law in 2003, but attempts to hold another charter vote have foundered — as in 2011, when aldermen voted against scheduling a required public hearing that would put the issue back before voters. On Tuesday, Levasseur voiced support for Kantor's latest attempt. He said changing the school district to a department would give the mayor, 'whoever the mayor is,' the ability to have line item control over the school budget. 'So when they say they're going to cut, wherever they're going to cut, the mayor can transfer money from certain line items to move money around,' Levasseur said. 'At this point, the mayor has no authority whatsoever, basically just one person on the school board.' Levasseur said the school board wouldn't change at all. Members would still be elected and vote on items like curriculum, the budget and policy. 'It makes them just another department of the city, but it gives more authority to the mayor,' Levasseur said. 'I think it would make the mayor more accountable to the taxpayers of the city. I think they get off now with they're 'just one vote out of 15.' And I don't think that's the way it should be.' 'I support the idea of this,' Ruais said. 'I would want clarification that we can do it, and I think it should go through the normal process of consideration. To me, it's a big change, I think this should be thoughtfully done through committee.' Alderman Tony Sapienza cautioned his fellow board members about making the change, given the outrage some expressed over school spending during the public hearing earlier in the evening. 'We need to be careful, we couldn't blame them (the school board) anymore if we do this,' Sapienza said. Kantor's motion failed on an 8-6, with Pat Long, Sapienza, Christine Fajardo, Dan Goonan, Jim Burkush, Bill Barry, Dan O'Neill and Chris Morgan opposed (Morgan said he needed more time to learn about the process).
