Some US school districts are adopting Sonny, an AI “wellbeing companion,” to provide mental health support to students when there aren't enough counselors
Is a human-AI texting service the future of mental-health care for students? — Teens around the country are confiding … Bluesky: @daniloc.xyz , @kiwired , and @radiobeartime.com . LinkedIn: Ana Bran...
Apple removes Advanced Data Protection for iCloud in the UK after the government ordered it to build a backdoor, something the company says it will never do
Better no security than a false sense of one. Ari Cohn / @aricohn.com : Apple's UK user data is now more vulnerable. It's not Apple's fault; they're PROTECTING users by not giving a false sense of se...
The UK National Audit Office says the government was operating at least 228 “legacy” computer systems as of March 2024, increasing the risk of a disruptive hack
Depends what you mean by ‘legacy’, though - Windows 2000 was, well, 25 years ago. [embedded post] Mark O'Neill / @radiobeartime.com : The words “at least” are doing a hell of a lot of work there. [e...
PitchBook: the number of VCs investing in US startups fell from a peak of 8,315 in 2021 to 6,175 in 2024; 9 firms raised 50%+ of the $71B raised by VCs in 2024
Risk-averse financial institutions concentrate money on biggest Silicon Valley VCs in trend that threatens smaller groups Bluesky: @radiobeartime.com Bluesky: Mark O'Neill / @radiobeartime.com : There...
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia says generative AI tools have helped it lower frauds by 30% and reduce call center customer wait times by 40% in 2024
“The technology helped lower frauds by 30% and its AI messaging app trimmed call center customer wait times by 40% this year.” — AI Cuts Scam Losses, Speeds Up Home Loans at Top Australia Bank — w...
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia says generative AI tools have helped it lower frauds by 30% and reduce call center customer wait times by 40% in 2024
- Customer scam losses at Commonwealth Bank cut in half — CEO Matt Comyn says many more AI use cases in development Bluesky: @msbrumfield.bsky.social , @radiobeartime.com , @mfulk.bsky.social , and @...
The European Court of Justice rules against Apple over a record €13B Irish tax bill, confirming a 2016 decision; filing: Apple will incur a ~$10B charge in Q4
https://www.bbc.com/... “The EU Commission accused Ireland of giving Apple illegal tax advantages eight years ago but the Irish government has consistently argued against the need for the tax to be p...
Sources: some US banks that lent Elon Musk $13B to buy Twitter are preparing to book losses on the loans this quarter, as investors shy away from risky debt
Reuters : Tweets: @astaniscia86 , @marxculture , @helvetius66 , and @underoak Tweets: Giulio S. / @astaniscia86 : $10 billion worth of loans secured by Twitter's assets might have to be written down ...
Google plans to auto-delete visits to abortion clinics, domestic violence shelters, weight loss centers, and other sensitive places from users' location history
but don't relax just yet David Lumb / CNET : Google Will Auto-Delete Your Location Data After Visits to Abortion Clinics Chris Smith / BGR : Google will auto-delete abortion clinic visits from locatio...