It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Board exodus at London fintech WorldFirst
Simon Hunt Fri, 23 June 2023 Founded in London in 2004, WorldFirst was acquired by Jack Ma’s Ant Group in 2019 in a deal thought to be worth more than $700 million (£550 million). (AFP via Getty Images)
London fintech WorldFirst has seen a mass board exodus as billionaire Jack Ma tightens his grip on the management of the payments company, the Standard has learnt.
A suite of senior leaders have left the firm over the past year, including CEO Jeff Parker, finance director Stephen Gregson and managing director Danny Howe.
Senior members of the company’s risk and legal team have also left, including its head of risk, chief information security officer, and group general counsel and compliance officer.
Staff at the fintech’s parent company, Ant Financial, as well as its sister company, Chinese payments platform Alipay, have been among those brought in to replace the departing execs and managers.
Founded in London in 2004, WorldFirst was acquired by Jack Ma’s Ant Group in 2019 in a deal thought to be worth more than $700 million (£550 million).
The company processes billions of pounds of international payments and reported revenues of £47 million in 2021.
Before Ant Financial acquired WorldFirst, it made a bid to acquire US-based rival MoneyGram as part of Ant’s international expansion plans. But in 2018 the planned $1.2 billion deal was rejected by the committee on foreign investment in the United States (CFIUS) over national security concerns.
Jack Ma, who co-founded Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba in 1999, is the fifth richest person in China and the 63rd richest in the world with a fortune of $23.9 billion (£18.8 billion), according to Forbes.
WorldFirst did not return calls or respond to an emailed request for comment.
The company’s move to shift management away from London comes at a turbulent period for the capital’s fintech sector amid a spate of layoffs, falling valuations and dwindling investment.
UK fintech investment fell 56% to $17.39 billion in 2022, according to a study by KPMG, while global fintech layoffs since the start of last year have topped 24,000, according to layoffs.fyi.
Last month, founder of mortgage platform LendInvest, Christian Faes said he was leaving London to start his next fintech venture in the US because “The UK has been a very tough place to build a business the last five to six years.”
“We had the endless distraction of Brexit, Boris and the Liz Truss debacle and it’s hard to see it getting better any time soon,” he added.
How will AI change the world of scamming? | The Crypto Mile
Cybercriminals will leverage artificial intelligence to enhance the malicious bots used in hacks to create "sophisticated actors that can effectively impersonate family members to fraudulently extract value," a leading VC founder has claimed.
In the latest episode of The Crypto Mile, Yahoo Finance UK chatted with Jamie Burke, founder of Outlier Ventures, the world's leading Web3 accelerator by the volume of investments.
Burke discussed the evolution and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it could be a particularly effective tool for cybercriminals.
"If we just look at the statistics of it, in a hack you need to catch out just one person in a hundred thousand, this requires lots of attempts, so malicious actors are going to be levelling up their level of sophistication of their bots into more intelligent actors, using artificial intelligence," Burke warned.
He highlighted the growing concern about rogue AI bots being used for malicious purposes, altering the landscape of the internet, or as he referred to it "The Agent-verse".
“The majority of traffic on the web are bots, and a growing proportion are malicious bots. Hackers generally aren't manually doing things, the art of the hack is automated as much as possible,” Burke said.
As these malicious bots level up their sophistication, the line between human and AI might become almost indistinguishable.
An AI-powered bot could mimic a real person to such an extent that they could participate in a video call without arousing suspicion.
The implications of such technology are far-reaching. It could open up new avenues for scams and fraud, with cybercriminals exploiting the capabilities of AI to trick unsuspecting individuals or corporations into sharing sensitive information or transferring funds.
Burke said: "Instead of receiving an email saying 'can you transfer some money', a person could get a zoom call booked in their diary, from a digital replication that looks like a friend, sounds like them, and says the same things that they would say, and it tricks the recipient by saying that they're stuck for money and can they please get some wired over."
In this scenario, proof of personhood systems would become critical to verify the real identities of individuals in digital interactions.
Burke said this could trigger a virtual arms race with different AI platforms – commercial, malicious, and governmental – battling for influence over internet users.
"In this AI war you're going to have platforms that will have their own AI, and will largely be there to help serve you in return for something, but you will also have malicious AI trying to exploit gaps in your interactions with friends and colleague to try and extract value," Burke said.
He said it could become vital to ensure that people have a "sovereign agent" that serves their interests and helps them navigate an increasingly complex online environment.
These agents would act as a person's representative in virtual environments, defending them against potential threats and securing their presence in the digital world.
Burke said AI could become an autonomous actor influencing decisions and actions and ensuring our security and integrity in the "Agent-verse" will become an increasingly pressing challenge.
Google’s DeepMind unveils AI robot that can teach itself without supervision
Anthony Cuthbertson Fri, 23 June 2023 DeepMind described its AI robot RoboCat as a ‘self-improving robotic agent’ (DeepMind)
Google’s AI division DeepMind has unveiled a self-improving robot agent capable of teaching itself new tasks without human supervision.
DeepMind claims that its RoboCat AI model is the first in the world to be able to learn and solve a variety of problems using various real-world robots like robotic arms.
Data generated from the robot’s actions allows the AI to improve its technique, which can then be transferred to other robotic systems.
The London-based company, which Google acquired in 2014, said the technology marks significant progress towards building general-purpose robots that can perform everyday tasks.
“RoboCat learns much faster than other state-of-the-art models,” DeepMind researchers wrote in a blog post detailing its latest artificial intelligence.
“It can pick up a new task with as few as 100 demonstrations because it draws from a large and diverse dataset. This capability will help accelerate robotics research, as it reduces the need for human-supervised training, and is an important step towards creating a general-purpose robot.”
RoboCat was inspired by DeepMind’s AI model Gato, which learns by analysing text, images and events.
Researchers trained RoboCat by showing demonstrations of a human-controlled robot arm performing tasks, such as fitting shapes through holes and picking up pieces of fruit.
RoboCat was then left to train by itself, steadily improving as it performed the task an average of 10,000 times without supervision.
The AI-powered robot trained itself to perform 253 tasks during DeepMind’s experiments, across four different types of robots. It was also able to adapt its self-improvement training to transition from a two-fingered to a three-fingered robot arm.
Further development could see the AI learn previously unseen tasks, the researchers claimed.
“RoboCat has a virtuous cycle of training: the more new tasks it learns, the better it gets at learning additional new tasks,” the blog post stated.
“These improvements were due to RoboCat’s growing breadth of experience, similar to how people develop a more diverse range of skills as they deepen their learning in a given domain.”
The research follows a growing trend of self-teaching robotic systems, which hold the promise of realising the long-envisioned sci-fi trope of domesticated robots.
The team demonstrated a robot that was able to open drawers and pick up knives in order to chop fruit, with each household task taking just 25 minutes to learn.
Harvard’s new computer science teacher is a chatbot
Anthony Cuthbertson Fri, 23 June 2023 Students enrolled in Harvard University’s Introduction to Computer Science will be encouraged to use the CS50 bot from Fall Semester 2023 (iStock/ Getty Images)
Harvard University plans to use an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT as an instructor on its flagship coding course.
Students enrolled on the Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science (CS50) programme will be encouraged to use the artificial intelligence tool when classes begin in September.
The AI teacher will likely be based on OpenAI’s GPT 3.5 or GPT 4 models, according to course instructors.
“Our own hope is that, through AI, we can eventually approximate a 1:1 teacher:student ratio for every student in CS50, as by providing them with software-based tools that, 24/7, can support their learning at a pace and in a style that works best for them individually,” CS50 professor David Malan told The Harvard Crimson.
“Providing support that’s tailored to students’ specific questions has long been a challenge at scale via edX and OpenCourseWare more generally, with so many students online, so these features will benefit students both on campus and off.”
The AI teaching bot will offer feedback to students, helping to find bugs in their code or give feedback on their work, Professor Malan said.
Its arrival comes amid a huge surge in popularity of AI tools, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT becoming the fastest growing app of all time since its launch in November 2022.
The chatbot reached 100 million active users within two months of being unveiled, with users enticed by its ability to perform a range of tasks – from writing poetry and essays, to generating computer code.
Artificial Intelligence The Courts (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press)
Other AI tools that have since launched to compete with ChatGPT include Google’s Bard, which features similar capabilities to its rival.
A recent update for Bard has allowed it to not just write code but also execute it by itself, which Google claims allows it to figure out problems on a far deeper level than current generative AI systems.
Accuracy and AI “hallucinations” remain a significant issue with such technology, with Google warning that Bard “won’t always be right” despite the upgrade.
Professor Malan said students would be warned of the pitfalls of the AI, saying they should “always think critically” when presented with information.
“But the tools will only get better through feedback from students and teachers alike,” he said. “So they, too, will be very much part of the process.”
Facebook and Instagram block news over payment to publishers law
Gareth Corfield Fri, 23 June 2023 Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook and Instagram have blocked news from being shared in Canada after a new law was passed forcing Big Tech companies to pay publishers for using their content.
Canada’s new Online News Act means social media and search giants such as Facebook parent Meta, Google, TikTok and others will have to pay publishers for reproducing news stories or snippets from them.
The law, which received royal assent on Thursday, is the latest move by countries which believe Big Tech’s near-monopoly on online advertising harms news publishers and starves the public of important information.
Justin Trudeau said earlier this month that Meta’s promised ban on news content being shared across Facebook and Instagram was “a real problem”.
Its Canadian press office issued a statement, saying: “We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada.
Pablo Rodriguez, Canada’s heritage minister, said the new law “levels the playing field by putting the power of Big Tech in check and ensuring that even our smallest news business can benefit through this regime and receive fair compensation for their work”.
News publishers worldwide have long accused the likes of Google and Meta of unfairly profiting from their content by displaying it on their websites while keeping the lion’s share of advertising revenues to themselves.
Google recorded sales of $258bn (£202bn) during 2022, while Meta made revenues of $117bn over the same period.
Mr Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, said earlier this month: “The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem”, predicting: “It’s not going to work.”
An initial ban on news sharing by Facebook in Australia crumbled after the Australian government made key concessions.
Ministers promised not to enforce a legal bargaining code if Facebook voluntarily signed content licensing deals with a large enough number of publishers.
Rod Sims, the architect of Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, has said the resulting cash-for-content deals were worth more than A$200m (£105m) to the country’s A$2.5bn newspaper industry.
Independent blames Facebook for drop in audience numbers amid falling profits
James Warrington Fri, 23 June 2023 Lord Lebedev part-owns The Independent - JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
The Left-leaning title, which is part-owned by Lord Lebedev, suffered a 6pc fall in global page views last year.
In its latest accounts, the Independent said Facebook’s decision last summer to de-prioritise posts from publishers had a “detrimental impact on article views”.
It also blamed the declining audience on a slower US news cycle after attracting more readers the previous year thanks to coverage of Donald Trump, the US election, the Capital riots and Black Lives Matter.
In the UK, monthly article views dropped by 4.4pc owing to declining interest in topics such as Covid, Brexit and Boris Johnson. This was partially offset by the Russia-Ukraine war, Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee and her death.
The Independent shut down its print edition in 2016 and shifted to an online and app-only model. Its pre-tax profits tumbled by two thirds from £5.5m to just £1.9m in the year to October 2022.
Bosses blamed this on higher investment in its international expansion, as well as its reporting and documentary production from Ukraine.
However, revenues rose 12pc to a record £46.3m, marking the sixth year of profitable growth since the newspaper went digital-only.
Despite the fall in page views, the digital title also hit the milestone of five million registered readers.
It is also looking to expand in areas such as TV, radio and e-commerce in an effort to diversify its revenues.
John Paton, chairman of Independent Digital News Media, said:
“We regard Facebook as an important distribution channel for our journalism, but we also see the importance on diversifying our revenue streams.
“This is the sixth consecutive year of profit, and we have achieved record revenue with 12pc growth as a result of our focus on investing deeper in the areas of international expansion, eCommerce and TV.”
The title has faced a tougher time since the end of its financial year as the digital advertising market went into decline.
While its editorial team in the US has expanded, the company cut around 30 roles in the UK at the end of last year.
The Independent was sold to the Lebedev family in 2010, initially owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev before ownership was transferred to his son, Lord Lebedev.
The newspaper has also faced scrutiny over its links to Saudi Arabia after it sold a 30pc stake to offshore companies fronted by a Saudi businessman in 2018.
Justin Byam Shaw, a British media entrepreneur, also holds a significant stake in the business, with the remainder made up by minor shareholders.
American TikTok user data stored in China, video app admits
Gareth Corfield Fri, 23 June 2023 TikTok China
TikTok has admitted that some of its US users’ data is stored in China, despite previously suggesting it was all on servers within America.
The Chinese-owned company, which is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media apps, admitted in a letter on Thursday that “certain creator data” is stored in China.
TikTok said in a letter that it defined creators as users “who enter into a commercial relationship” with it such as influencers who make paid content for the video streaming app.
Those people’s contracts and “related documents” are held outside the US, the company said in a letter to two US senators.
Information on creators such as tax forms and social security numbers are stored in China, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday, citing internal sources.
A company spokesman said: “TikTok has not been asked for this data by the Chinese government or the [Chinese Communist Party]. TikTok has not provided such data to the Chinese government or CCP, nor would TikTok do so.”
Fears over Chinese government access to data have arisen because of the country’s national security laws, which allow any Chinese company to be forced to spy on its customers at the request of local authorities.
US senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal said in a statement: “We are extremely concerned that TikTok is storing Americans’ personal, private data within the reach of the Chinese government.
“TikTok’s response makes it crystal clear that Americans’ data is still exposed to Beijing’s draconian and pervasive spying regimes – despite the claims of TikTok’s misleading public relations campaign.”
Western governments fear that data gathered by TikTok from their citizens’ devices can be sifted through at will by Chinese agents looking for valuable targets to spy on.
Similarly, foreign affairs committee chairman Alicia Kearns, who is subject to Chinese sanctions for speaking out about the country’s human rights abuses, has warned that TikTok could let Beijing “capitalise on our vulnerabilities”.
TikTok has repeatedly insisted it is not working with Beijing.
The unprecedented ban, which is currently set to come into force next year, breaches Americans’ rights to freedom of speech, according to TikTok’s legal filings. TikTok said recent bans were based on “misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions”.
Five influencers have also sued, saying Governor Greg Gianforte’s prohibition on TikTok is an unlawful “prior restraint on expression that violates the First Amendment” of the US constitution.
UK Hunt to unveil pension reforms next month
Adam Mawardi Fri, 23 June 2023 The Chancellor is expected to outline the highly anticipated pension reforms at the annual Mansion House speech in the City of London next month
Jeremy Hunt is poised to reveal broad plans to overhaul the UK’s pensions regime to unlock billions of pounds of investment into high growth British companies.
The Chancellor is expected to outline the highly anticipated pension reforms at the annual Mansion House speech in the City of London next month, the Financial Times reported.
The proposals include new rules to encourage UK pension schemes to invest in lucrative, but potentially riskier British assets, such as equities, early stage companies and infrastructure. The announcement is also expected to contain proposals to consolidate the fragmented UK pensions regime, following the likes of Australia and Canada.
The final version of his plans will be set out in his Autumn Statement later this year.
It comes as Mr Hunt faces mounting pressure to overhaul the pensions industry amid criticism over-cautious funds are costing retirees thousands of pounds by not taking enough risk.
While his reforms are designed to give savers more choices over their investments, the Chancellor is not proposing to control what investments pension funds make.
The Treasury said: “We have the opportunity to boost returns for British pensioners by increasing investment in the UK’s highest growth sectors. This will also unlock billions for our most cutting-edge businesses and ensure they can access the finance they need to scale up and list in the UK.”
UK
STARMER'S LABOUR ARE RED TORIES Starmer indicates he will not raise income tax for top earners
PA Political Staff Fri, 23 June 2023
Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants “to lower taxes” as he indicated income tax for top earners will not be raised under a Labour government.
The Labour leader also vowed to keep Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, who drew some criticism after a shock interest rate hike, in post until 2028.
The party has backed away from tax rises since Sir Keir pledged to increase income tax for the top 5% of earners during his 2020 leadership bid.
Asked about that promise, Sir Keir told the Telegraph: “Obviously, in principle, I want to lower taxes, so that’s the driving principle.
“As for the exact numbers, obviously we may have to wait until closer to the election. There are two, possibly three fiscal events until the next election, and we need to see what the [Office for National Statistics] numbers make of the financial situation.
“But in principle, I want lower taxation. We’re not looking to the lever of taxation, we’re looking to the lever of growth.”
Sir Keir has stated his ambition to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 group of advanced economies if his party gains power at the next election, expected next year.
He also promised to respect the “really fundamental” independence of the Bank of England. Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey started his term in 2020 (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Asked whether he wanted to see Mr Bailey’s eight-year-term end early, he said: “No, no, no. We respect the independence.”
He also told the newspaper that a Labour government would “codify” in law the convention that MPs must approve military interventions, meaning all future military action would need to be approved in the House of Commons.
“Obviously there are going to be urgent situations where that might not be possible [and] I don’t know what we need, whether we need legislation is another matter. But the codification of the practice I think is important,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Labour leader was said to have had a brush with the law while selling ice-creams as part of a student summer holiday business venture that proved not to be legal.
Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, had his “ice-creams confiscated” by police while touting for trade on beaches in the French Riviera during his university years, according to a friend.
John Murray, a university friend of Sir Keir, said the pair, along with other acquaintances, travelled to the south of France as students after seeing an advertisement claiming they could earn hundreds of pounds per day selling cold refreshments on the French Riviera.
Mr Murray told Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast their experience did not live up to the billing, spending their time “almost as beach bums” and making about “four francs a day” from their small business.
During their stay in the picturesque region, he said the friends discovered the trade was “not legal”, meaning they were forced to dodge French authorities while selling their cold wares.
Mr Murray said: “The place was overrun with other beach sellers, because they’d all been suckered into thinking they’d earn hundreds of pounds a day.
“Then we found out it was actually not legal, so we spent our time kind of avoiding being arrested.
“To be honest, I did get arrested. But all that happened was you had your ice creams confiscated, got a receipt, then had to walk back to the beach without your flip flops.”
When asked if Sir Keir had also been detained, Mr Murray said: “I can’t say… I think he probably had his ice-creams confiscated.”
A Labour spokeswoman said: “We are happy to make clear that no arrests were made, or even names taken, and that the only loss of liberty occurred to some cut-price ice-creams.”
Activists call on central banks to limit investments in new fossil fuel projects
Rebecca Speare-Cole, PA sustainability reporter Fri, 23 June 2023
Protesters are calling on central banks to limit the flow of money going into new fossil fuel projects.
Frontline activists and climate groups from around the world are staging a coordinated action in the lead up to the Bank of International Settlement’s (BIS) annual general meeting in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday.
At least 400 protesters, including Greta Thunberg, are expected to march through the Swiss city on Saturday, ahead of the meeting which will be attended by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
Activists gather for the Peoples’ Forum for Climate Justice and Financial Regulation (Klima-Allianz Schweiz)
Meanwhile, artistic works will be on show in the city as a tribute to 20 environment defenders from around the world who have been killed over their work to protect nature, including British journalist Dom Phillips.
Tim Ratcliffe, 42, from Stoke-on-Trent – who has joined the action with the UK Climate Bailout protest group, told the PA news agency: “The broad message is ‘End fossil finance’.
“It’s within the responsibility of the central banks and financial regulation to ensure financial stability. Activists gather for the Peoples’ Forum for Climate Justice and Financial Regulation (Klima-Allianz Schweiz)
“But there’s no financial stability in a world that’s suffering from climate emergency and climate breakdown.
“So we’re calling on them to stop the flows of finance to new fossil fuel projects and stop the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.”
Mr Ratcliffe said there is “not enough capacity or movement strength” to fight every new fossil fuel project.
“That is why it comes down to lobbying more systematically, looking at what levers can be pulled and what’s the role of the supervisors, the regulators, the central banks and the core institutions … in the financial sector,” he added.
Around 200 of the climate campaigners have also been gathering for plenary sessions and discussions in Basel this week as part the “Peoples’ Forum for Climate Justice and Financial Regulation”.
They include grassroots activists, policy workers in NGOs and community representatives who are resisting oil and gas projects on the ground in their home countries like Colombia, Argentina, Senegal and Mozambique. Climate activists Fernanda Herrera, from Argentina, speaks at the Peoples’ Forum for Climate Justice and Financial Regulation (Klima-Allianz Schweiz)
Among them is Aryanne de Campo, 25, from the Centre for Energy, Ecology and Development in the Philippines, who is campaigning to protect the Verde Island Passage – a marine corridor in the country teeming with biodiversity.
It comes after a tanker carrying 800,000 litres of industrial oil capsized close to the strait earlier this year.
Fears of further spills and disruption to local fishing have been prompted by Shell’s plans to build a liquid natural gas import terminal in nearby Batangas City, which is being financed by HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered.
Ms de Campo told PA: “Communities have lived and flourished on the Verde Island Passage for centuries but the actions of oil and gas companies, and the banks that finance them, have undermined their livelihood, harmed their health and polluted the precious habitats that exist there. Artists prepare works in tribute to environmental defenders who have been killed over their work (Klima-Allianz Schweiz)
“I am coming to Basel to tell the banks and the world that some things are too precious to be bought.”
A spokesperson for the BIS said representatives met with the People’s Forum for Climate Justice and Financial Regulation on Tuesday and acknowledged their concerns.
They said: “While direct policy action to address climate change is a matter for legislators and governments and the BIS has no direct role to influence climate change, its members are taking a range of actions within their mandates to mitigate financial stability risks and raise awareness of the need to manage the transition in an orderly way.”
They added that BIS decisions on setting standards have “no legal force but members are expected to implement them”, and that it works to “mitigate risks to the global banking system, including from climate change, to ensure financial stability”.
