Nvidia briefly dethroned Apple as the world’s most valuable company on Friday, after a record rise in shares powered by voracious demand for its new supercomputer AI chips.
Nvidia’s stock market value briefly hit $3.53 trillion in intraday trading, while Apple’s was $3.52 trillion, according to data from LSEG. Nvidia ended the session with a market cap of $3.47 trillion, while Apple held steady.
In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company, before being overtaken by Microsoft and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been flat for months. Microsoft’s market value was $3.20 trillion.
Nvidia’s stock market value briefly reached $3.53 trillion. CEO Jensen Huang, above. Reuters
Shares of Nvidia are up about 18% so far in October, with a string of gains coming after OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced a $6.6 billion funding round. Nvidia provides chips used to train so-called foundational models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4.
“More companies are now embracing artificial intelligence in their everyday tasks and demand remains strong for Nvidia chips,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“It’s certainly in a sweet spot, and as long as we avoid a major economic downturn in the United States, there’s a sense that companies will continue to invest heavily in AI capabilities, creating a healthy headwind for Nvidia. “
Shares of Nvidia hit a record high on Tuesday, building on a rally from last week when TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, posted a forecast 54% jump in quarterly profit driven by growth in demand for chips used in AI.
The market caps of Apple, Microsoft and Tim Cook’s Nvidia have been flat for months. ZUMAPRESS.com
The next big test will be when Nvidia reports its third-quarter results in November. Nvidia in August forecast third-quarter revenue of $32.5 billion, plus or minus 2%, compared with the current average analyst expectation of $32.90 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said in an Oct. 10 note that he remains “very bullish” on the company long-term, but the recent growth “raises the earnings bar somewhat.”
After a meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Moore noted that production growth of its next-generation Blackwell chips appeared to be “pretty strong” and are booked for 12 months. Shares came under pressure in August after Nvidia confirmed reports that production of Blackwell chips was delayed until the fourth quarter.
Shares of Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft have a big influence on the value-rich tech sector as well as the broader US stock market, with the trio accounting for about a fifth of the S&P 500 index’s weight.
The next big test will be when Nvidia reports its third-quarter results in November. Reuters
Frenzy over AI prospects, expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates sharply and, more recently, an upbeat start to the earnings season pushed the benchmark S&P 500 to an all-time high last week.
Nvidia’s massive earnings have helped boost the stock’s appeal to options traders, and the company’s options are among the most traded on any given day in recent months, according to data from options analytics provider Trade Alert.
Shares are up nearly 190% so far this year after a boom in generative AI prompted the company to issue a series of breakout predictions.
“The question is whether the revenue stream will last for a long time and be driven by investor emotion rather than any ability to prove or disprove the thesis that AI is overrated,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments. a family investment office in New Vernon, NJ.
“I think Nvidia knows that roughly, their number is likely to be quite extraordinary.”
Tech behemoth OpenAI has touted its AI-powered transcription tool Whisper as having “human-level robustness and accuracy.”
But Whisper has one major flaw: It’s prone to creating chunks of text or even entire sentences, according to interviews with more than a dozen software engineers, developers and academic researchers. Those experts said some of the made-up lyrics – known in the industry as hallucinations – could include racial slurs, violent rhetoric and even imagined medical treatments.
Experts said such fictions are problematic because Whisper is being used in a host of industries around the world to translate and transcribe interviews, generate text in popular consumer technologies and create captions for videos.
Tech behemoth OpenAI has touted its AI-powered transcription tool Whisper as having “human-level robustness and accuracy.” AP
More troubling, they said, is a rush by medical centers to use Whisper-based tools to transcribe patient consultations with doctors, despite OpenAI’s warnings that the tool should not be used in “high-risk areas.”
The full extent of the problem is hard to discern, but researchers and engineers said they often encounter Whisper’s hallucinations in their work. A University of Michigan researcher conducting a study of public meetings, for example, said he found hallucinations in 8 out of every 10 audio transcriptions he inspected before he began trying to improve the model.
A machine learning engineer said he initially detected hallucinations in about half of the 100-plus hours of Whisper transcripts he analyzed. A third developer said he found hallucinations in nearly every one of the 26,000 transcripts he created with Whisper.
The problems persist even on short, well-recorded audio samples. A recent study by computer scientists found 187 hallucinations in more than 13,000 clear audio fragments they examined.
But Whisper has one major flaw: It’s prone to creating chunks of text or even entire sentences, according to interviews with more than a dozen software engineers, developers and academic researchers. AP
This trend would lead to tens of thousands of erroneous transcriptions over millions of records, the researchers said.
Such mistakes can have “really serious consequences,” especially in hospital settings, said Alondra Nelson, who led the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the Biden administration until last year.
“No one wants a misdiagnosis,” said Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. “There has to be a higher bar.”
Experts said such fabrications are problematic because Whisper is being used in a host of industries around the world to generate text in popular consumer technologies and create captions for videos. AP
Whisper is also used to create closed captions for the deaf and hard of hearing – a population at particular risk for erroneous transcriptions.
That’s because deaf and hard-of-hearing people have no way of identifying fiction is “hidden among all this other text,” said Christian Vogler, who is deaf and directs Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program.
OpenAI sought to address the problem
The proliferation of such hallucinations has led experts, advocates and former OpenAI employees to call for the federal government to consider AI regulations. At the very least, they said, OpenAI should address the flaw.
“This seems solvable if the company is willing to prioritize it,” said William Saunders, a San Francisco-based research engineer who left OpenAI in February over concerns with the company’s direction. “It’s problematic if you set this up and people are sure what it can do and integrate it into all these other systems.”
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company is constantly studying how to reduce hallucinations and praised the researchers’ findings, adding that OpenAI incorporates feedback into model updates.
While most developers assume transcription tools misspell words or make other mistakes, engineers and researchers said they’ve never seen another AI-powered transcription tool hallucinate as much as Whisper.
Whisper hallucinations
The tool is integrated into several versions of OpenAI’s flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, and is an integrated offering on Oracle and Microsoft’s cloud computing platforms, which serve thousands of companies worldwide. It is also used to transcribe and translate text in many languages.
Professors Allison Koenecke, from Cornell University, and Mona Sloane from the University of Virginia, examined thousands of short snippets they received from TalkBank. AP
In the last month alone, a recent version of Whisper was downloaded over 4.2 million times by the open source artificial intelligence platform HuggingFace. Sanchit Gandhi, a machine learning engineer there, said Whisper is the most popular open-source speech recognition model and is integrated into everything from call centers to voice assistants.
Professors Allison Koenecke of Cornell University and Mona Sloane of the University of Virginia examined thousands of short excerpts they obtained from TalkBank, a research repository hosted at Carnegie Mellon University. They determined that nearly 40% of hallucinations were harmful or distressing because the speaker could be misinterpreted or misinterpreted.
In one example they discovered, a speaker said: “He, the boy, was going to take the umbrella, I’m not sure exactly.”
The research determined that nearly 40% of hallucinations were harmful or disturbing because the speaker could be misinterpreted or misinterpreted. AP
But the transcription software added: “He took a large part of a cross, a small, small part … I’m sure he didn’t have a terror knife, so he killed a number of people.”
A speaker on another recording described “two more girls and a lady”. Whisper made up additional comments on race, adding “two other girls and a lady, um, who were black.”
In a third transcript, Whisper invented a non-existent drug called “hyperactivated antibiotics”.
Researchers aren’t sure why Whisper and similar tools hallucinate, but software developers said the hallucinations tend to occur between pauses, background sounds or music playing.
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OpenAI recommended in its online findings against using Whisper in “decision-making contexts, where flaws in accuracy can lead to pronounced flaws in results.”
Transcription of appointments with the doctor
That warning hasn’t stopped hospitals or medical centers from using speech-to-text models, including Whisper, to transcribe what’s said during doctor visits to free up medical providers to spend less time taking notes or written reports.
Over 30,000 clinicians and 40 health systems, including the Mankato Clinic in Minnesota and Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, have begun using a Whisper-based tool built by Nabla, which has offices in France and the US.
That tool was well-suited to medical language to transcribe and summarize patient interactions, said Nabla’s chief technology officer, Martin Raison.
Company officials said they are aware that Whisper can hallucinate and are mitigating the problem.
It’s impossible to compare Nabla’s AI-generated transcript to the original recording because Nabla’s tool deletes the original audio for “data security reasons,” Raison said.
Nabla said the tool has been used to transcribe about 7 million medical visits.
Saunders, the former OpenAI engineer, said the deletion of the original audio can be worrisome if transcripts aren’t double-checked or clinicians can’t access the recording to verify they’re accurate.
“You can’t catch mistakes if you take the truth out of the ground,” he said.
Nabla said no model is perfect and that their model currently requires medical providers to quickly edit and approve transcribed notes, but that could change.
Privacy concerns
Because patients’ appointments with their doctors are confidential, it’s hard to know how the AI-generated transcripts are affecting them.
Koenecke is also the author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool. AP
A California state lawmaker, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, said she took one of her children to the doctor earlier this year and refused to sign a form from the health network that required her permission to share audio of consulting with vendors that included Microsoft Azure. the cloud computing system run by OpenAI’s largest investor. Bauer-Kahan didn’t want such intimate medical conversations shared with tech companies, she said.
“The release was very specific that for-profit companies would be eligible to have this,” said Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat who represents a swath of San Francisco suburbs in the state Assembly. “I was like ‘absolutely not.’”
John Muir Health spokesman Ben Drew said the health system complies with state and federal privacy laws.
High-powered lawyers representing Big Tech clients have co-hosted a series of fundraisers for Kamala Harris’ campaign as the 2024 presidential election approaches — and antitrust watchdogs are crying foul.
Last Thursday, a group of “antitrust lawyers and economists for Harris” held a virtual fundraiser featuring former US Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta. Ticket prices ranged up to $6,600, according to a copy of an invitation obtained by The Post.
Notable co-hosts included Daniel Bitton, a partner at San Francisco-based law firm Axinn, which is defending Google in the Biden-Harris DOJ lawsuit targeting its alleged monopoly over digital advertising.
Other co-chairs included Renata Hesse, who once played down concerns about Google’s monopoly on Internet search; Edith Ramirez, a Democratic former FTC chair who once defended Google-owned YouTube in a children’s privacy lawsuit; and Ethan Glass, who has repped clients like JetBlue against US antitrust complaints.
Kamala Harris’s campaign surrogates have signaled that she will take a more business-friendly stance. ZUMAPRESS.com
“This is a group of ‘Big Law’ lawyers who have represented monopolists against the FTC and the DOJ, and they are brazenly trying to storm the citadel after being shut out during the Biden years,” said a Democrat who focuses on antitrust issues. Post office.
The Post reached out to the campaign of Harris, Bitton, Hesse, Ramirez and Glass for comment, but did not hear back.
Earlier this month, The Post reported on conflict-of-interest concerns that arose after several key members of Google’s legal team co-hosted an Oct. 18 fundraiser for Harris in Washington, D.C. — with tickets costing up to $50,000. dollars.
Karen Dunn, a lead litigator at the white-shoe law firm Paul Weiss who infamously led the preparation of Harris’ last debate against Trump on the same day she gave Google’s opening defense in the digital advertising trial, was listed as co-chair.
Daniel Bitton is part of the team defending Google in the DOJ’s antitrust case targeting its digital advertising business. Axinn
Dunn’s colleagues Jeannie Rhee and Bill Isaacson also attended the event, which featured appearances by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Uber general counsel and Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West and former U.S. Attorney Acting General, Sally Yates.
Just one day later, longtime Amazon general counsel David Zapolsky co-hosted a fundraiser with top Harris campaign surrogate and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by The Post.
In California, Newsom recently vetoed an AI security bill that had been heavily lobbied by tech venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and trade groups representing Google and Meta. After initially opposing the bill, Amazon-backed artificial intelligence firm Anthropic expressed lukewarm support for the bill after securing amendments.
Edith Ramirez is listed as co-chairing a fundraiser for the Harris campaign last Thursday. Getty Images
The offensive is taking place as Big Tech firms face an unprecedented wave of antitrust litigation.
Apple and Google are in the midst of landmark Justice Department antitrust cases, while Amazon and Facebook are currently being sued by the Federal Trade Commission. AI leaders such as chip supplier Nvidia and OpenAI also have the attention of regulators.
“It should be deeply troubling to anyone, Republican or Democrat, who cares about reining in Big Tech monopolies that (the Harris campaign) continues to hold fundraisers with lawyers for Google and other big tech companies,” the executive said. of public affairs Garrett Ventry.
Top regulators appointed by the Biden-Harris administration, including FTC Chairman Lina Khan and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, have faced backlash from Silicon Valley bigwigs for leading a crackdown on prominent firms active in the sectors. of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.
Renata Hesse once downplayed concerns about Google’s monopoly on Internet search. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
In July, billionaire Reid Hoffman sparked outrage among progressives when he accused Khan of waging “war on American business” and openly called on Harris to fire him if elected. Other Democratic attorneys, including Mark Cuban, have called for Gensler to be forced out.
The backlash has contributed to a surprising shift in Silicon Valley support for Trump — most notably in the form of Elon Musk, who recently declared himself a “dark MAGA” and contributed millions to his campaign.
Harris’ campaign has made clear efforts to secure Silicon Valley, a longtime source of support and large donations for Democrats.
Harris’ top replacements such as Cuban and West have stated publicly and behind closed doors that she would take a more friendly stance toward corporate interests if elected.
Karen Dunn (center) and other Google lawyers organized a fundraiser for Kamala Harris earlier this month. Reuters
Cuban, asked by The Post if he had any idea how a Harris administration would handle Big Tech’s antitrust issues, replied, “I don’t.”
Last week, the Washington Post reported that West and former Treasury official Brian Nelson have told groups of tech executives that they are in “listening mode” during private outreach meetings on Harris’ behalf.
Andreesen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz, who previously expressed support for Trump, reversed course last month by pledging a “significant” donation to Harris. Horowitz said he “had several conversations with Vice President Harris and her team about their potential technology policies, and I’m encouraged by my confidence in her.”
Kamala Harris has yet to take a firm stance on how she will approach Big Tech’s antitrust issues. Getty Images
In September, Harris released an economic policy outline that provided arguably the most substantive picture of the policies she would pursue in office.
The 82-page document said a Harris administration would “encourage innovative technologies like artificial intelligence and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors” — but referred to the word “antitrust only once.”
Some antitrust watchdogs previously warned that corporate-friendly advisers in Harris’ orbit could lobby behind the scenes for leniency toward Google — potentially in the form of a “slap on the wrist” rather than a full divestment sought by the feds.
In August, the DOJ won a landmark victory after Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google was a “monopolist” with an illegal stranglehold on the Internet search market. He is expected to decide on remedies by next summer – and the feds have floated a forced sale of Google’s Android software or the Chrome browser as possible fixes.
Meanwhile, closing arguments in the DOJ’s digital advertising antitrust case are expected to conclude in November. Google chief Sundar Pichai has admitted that he expects the company to be involved in antitrust litigation and appeals for “many years”.
Bald-faced liars are also more likely to be adulterers.
Are you bald with a big nose in your 40s? You’re more likely to cheat on your partner, according to an AI-generated profile of what a typical philanderer looks like.
“We shed light on the physical traits associated with those who are prone to cheating,” said Rosie Maskel, a senior marketing executive at online casino MrQ, which conducted the scandalous study, Kennedy News reported.
What the typical male cheater looks like, according to an AI-generated description based on a study by online casino MrQ. Kennedy News and Media
The digital betting site reportedly surveyed 2,000 Britons – many of whom had been cheated on in the boudoir – to find out what attributes cheaters had in common.
They then fed the results to an AI-powered image generator to create a “photo-fit” description of the average fraudster.
The artist’s description of AI showed a man in his 40s with blue-gray eyes, sparse or no hair, and frown lines. Throw in small lips and bigger schnoz, and you’ve got the poster child for someone who sleeps next to their spouse, according to the study.
Their female counterpart, according to the illustration, was in her early fifties and had dark hair with a small nose and medium-sized nostrils.
Both the male and female scammers were described as having a thin build and “staring eyes”.
“Our research showed that just under half (41%) [of people] are familiar with this painful betrayal, so it may be that many identify with the characteristics in these images,” said Maskel.
According to the study, the typical female cheater is a dark-haired woman in her 50s. “We’ve shed light on the physical traits associated with those who are prone to cheating,” said Rosie Maskel, a senior marketing executive at online casino MrQ, which conducted the scandalous study. Kennedy News and Media
However, perhaps the profile of the male cheater was more accurate given the larger sample size.
The study found that men are far more likely to cheat than women, with 35% of men admitting to having cheated at least once compared to just 24% of women.
Women are more likely to stay with their adulterous soul mates after catching them astray. More than a fifth (22%) stayed with their unfaithful partner for at least two more years, while only one in ten (13%) of scorned boys did the same.
Meanwhile, a whopping 2% of people married their boss after discovering they were sleeping around.
As the description of the typical unfaithful man attests, the drama of adultery does not subside in middle age.
Those aged 45-54 are among the most likely to have cheated at least once. More than one in three (35%) admitted to cheating on their partners, while 54% of 45-54 year olds revealed that they had either been the victim or perpetrator of infidelity.
Coincidentally, the study found that cheating generally peaks around the fall, so lovebirds should stay alert now — especially if their other half possesses the aforementioned physical characteristics.
Of course, the odds of scoring an extramarital booty are more than skin deep, according to the marketing executive.
“Obviously, it’s important to note that these are based on statistical analysis and will not apply to all individuals,” Maskel said. “People’s behavior is determined by their decisions and actions, not by how they look.”
Professional “honey trapper” Madeline Smith recently discovered some tell-tale behaviors that could indicate a man is having sex on the side, including hiding phones, neglecting to include photos of his significant other on social media and using Snapchat.
Ford’s chief executive revealed that he drives a $30,000 electric sedan made in China — and was ripped off by critics, who called it a “slap in the face” for the Detroit-based automaker’s employees.
Farley, who has been Ford’s CEO since October 2020, said he drives a Xiaomi SU7, an electric sedan that retails for $30,000 that he had specially flown in from Shanghai. Launched in December 2023, the SU7 is the first EV sold by Xiaomi, the world’s second largest smartphone vendor.
Farley told The Fully Charged Podcast that he has no plans to abandon the car.
“I don’t like to talk about the competition that much, but I run Xiaomi,” Farley told podcast host Robert Llewellyn.
Ford CEO Jim Farley strutted around his car – a Chinese-made electric vehicle that he had flown in specially from Shanghai. Dominick Sokotoff / ShutterstockFarley said he drives a Xiaomi SU7, an electric sedan that retails in China for $30,000. Images Ramon Costa/SOPA / Shutterstock
“We’ve flown one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been running it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”
Farley wrote on his X social media account: “I try to run everything we compete against. I’ve done it my whole career.”
I try to run everything we compete with. I’ve done it my whole career. Specs can tell part of a story, but you have to get behind the wheel to really understand and beat the competition.
“Specs can tell part of a story, but you have to get behind the wheel to really understand and beat the competition.”
Jason Isaac, who heads the US Energy Institute, attacked Farley.
“Jim Farley’s recent admission that he drives an electric vehicle made in China is a slap in the face to thousands of hardworking employees at Ford Motor Company,” Isaac told National Review.
“At a time when Ford is receiving billions of dollars in subsidies from American taxpayers to support domestic EV production, it is deeply troubling that the company’s chief executive would choose a Chinese product over an American vehicle that his company makes,” it added. he.
Xiaomi, an electronics company that also makes smartphones, is considered a “juggernaut,” according to Farley. Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
The Post has sought comment from Ford.
The Xiaomi SU7 was launched to great fanfare in China, but the vehicle is not available for purchase in the US because the federal government has imposed a 100% tariff on electric vehicles made in China – making them prohibitively expensive for to be imported.
Xiaomi’s vehicle also does not meet regulatory safety standards required of all cars, while its charging specifications make it incompatible with the US system.
The Beijing-based company, which Farley referred to as the “Apple of China” and said to have a market capitalization of between $82 billion and $83 billion, has been unable to break into the U.S. market due to various restrictions placed on Chinese technology.
Farley gushed about Xiaomi, calling it an “industry juggernaut” and a “consumer brand that’s much stronger than the car companies.”
In 2021, the Biden administration removed Xiaomi from a government blacklist of companies feared to have ties to the Chinese military.
Farley chose to buy an EV made in China, despite the fact that Ford also makes battery cars like the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck. Dominick Sokotoff / Shutterstock
The Biden administration and Congress have tried to prevent American companies from investing in Chinese firms that allegedly help the country’s military gain a technological edge over American forces.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has stated in the past that he opposes tariffs on electric vehicles made in China – although he has also said that without trade barriers, Chinese automakers would “destroy” their global rivals.
The world’s largest electric vehicle maker is BYD, the Chinese automaker that counts Warren Buffett among its investors.
Chinese car companies were “the most competitive” and “will have significant success outside of China, depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers,” Musk told investors in January.
Google parent Alphabet topped third-quarter earnings and revenue on Tuesday, helped by a 35% AI-driven increase in its cloud business, as well as a rise in its digital advertising revenue.
Alphabet shares, which closed up 1.8% on Tuesday, rose 4.4% in after-hours trading. Shares are up nearly 22% this year, in line with the broader market.
CEO Sundar Pichai said AI investments were “paying off” through usage and sales in its Search and Cloud businesses.
CEO Sundar Pichai said investments in AI were “paying off.” AFP via Getty Images
Perceived as slow to catch up with Big Tech rival Microsoft in the AI race, Google has improved its Gemini AI chatbot and made more improvements to its AI search offering. The company is continuing to spend heavily on AI.
Its new chief financial officer, Anat Ashkenazi, making her first call with analysts, said Alphabet’s capital spending in 2025 would be higher than this year.
In the third quarter, Alphabet’s equity rose 62% to $13 billion. The fourth quarter is expected to be similar, she said.
Revenue from Google’s cloud platform rose to $11.35 billion, beating analysts’ estimate of $10.86 billion.
It was the fastest pace of growth in eight quarters, thanks to enterprises doubling their cloud spending, which is key to powering artificial intelligence technologies.
“I think it was an impressive quarter because the fact that Google Cloud was able to more than offset the decline in Search speaks to both the growing importance of cloud revenue and the fact that the company continues to diversify its revenue base, ” said Bob O’Donnell. president of TECHnalysis Research.
Revenue rose 15% to $88.27 billion, beating analysts’ estimates. AP
Google has rolled out AI Summaries ads, which use generative AI to aggregate content from a variety of sources and display concise results for search queries.
Analysts said users find the company’s new AI tools more effective than before — a significant improvement from earlier this year when the feature drew heavy criticism for showing incorrect answers, including a pizza recipe that listed glue as an ingredient.
According to LSEG, Alphabet beat earnings expectations with earnings of $2.12 per share, compared to an average market estimate of $1.85.
In the third quarter, Alphabet’s capital spending rose 62% to $13 billion. The fourth quarter is expected to be similar. Getty Images
Digital ad sales — the largest share of Alphabet’s total revenue — rose to $65.85 billion from $59.65 billion. That includes YouTube ad sales that rose 12% to $8.92 billion but slowed from the second quarter.
Google’s dominant position in the digital ad market has helped attract marketing dollars, even as TikTok and Amazon make inroads with marketers. Quarterly results also got a boost from increased political spending ahead of the presidential election and the 2024 Paris Olympics that ended in August.
Social media company Snap, which also depends on advertising, posted good news for shareholders, topping Wall Street’s targets for quarterly revenue and user growth, sending shares up 6% in after-hours trading. of work.
Alphabet’s total revenue rose 15% to $88.27 billion in the July-September period, while analysts on average were expecting $86.30 billion, according to LSEG data.
A union representing Google employees is demanding that the tech giant lift what it called an “illegal gag order” barring them from discussing landmark antitrust cases that could upend the company’s business.
On August 5, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google is a “monopolist” with an illegal stranglehold on the Internet search market.
That same day, Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, instructed employees not to comment on the case inside or outside the workplace.
Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, told employees not to comment on the case. Getty Images
The Alphabet Workers Union alleges Walker violated a federal labor law with “overly board directive” in an effort to “increase workers’ say” in antitrust battles, according to a copy of the Aug. 15 filing obtained by The Post.
“Our employer continues to demonstrate a blatant disregard for federal labor law and our right to discuss working conditions with co-workers – up to and including proposed settlements of federal antitrust actions that could affect many of our jobs in Google,” said Parul Koul, one. Google software engineer and president of the Alphabet Workers Union.
Mehta is expected to decide on legal remedies to address Google’s search monopoly by next summer.
The Justice Department recently indicated it could seek a breakup of Google through a forced divestment of parts of its business, such as its Chrome web browser.
Google disputed the union’s complaint.
“We respect the rights of Google employees to speak out about their terms and conditions of employment,” Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels said in a statement. “As is standard practice, we are simply asking that employees not speak about ongoing litigation on behalf of Google without prior approval.”
The Verge was the first to report on the complaint.
Google is accused of stifling workers’ discussion of pending antitrust cases against the company. Christopher Sadowski
The labor complaint is the latest sign of discord between Google and its workforce. In April, the tech giant fired dozens of employees who were involved in anti-Israel protests at its offices.
A separate DOJ antitrust case targeting Google’s alleged monopoly over digital ad technology is also underway. Closing arguments in that case are scheduled to begin next month.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has acknowledged that the company will likely be tied up in court for many years as it fights the cases.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said the company will be tied up in court for many years. AP
In a lengthy statement, the Alphabet Workers Union said it is “important that workers are engaged and that our views and interests are taken into account during the decision-making process around antitrust remedies.”
“That hasn’t happened yet,” the union added.
Google has vowed to appeal the judge’s decision and has waived the legal remedies proposed by the DOJ – calling it a “radical” framework that would go “far beyond the specific legal issues in this case”.
Eric Schmidt, the billionaire investor and former CEO of Google, said it’s time for the US military to ditch tanks, artillery and mortars in favor of aerial drones like the ones he’s building to help Ukraine.
“I read somewhere that the US had thousands and thousands of tanks stored somewhere,” he told the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
“Give them to me. Buy a drone instead.”
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks the US military should ditch drones in favor of tanks. Reuters
Schmidt’s comments were reported by Bloomberg News.
Schmidt was ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 51st richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $33.3 billion as of Wednesday.
The former Google boss said the Russia-Ukraine war has shown how “a $5,000 drone can destroy a $5 million tank.”
Earlier this year, Forbes reported that Schmidt is the founder of White Stork, a military startup that is building a “kamikaze drone” that is designed to roam the battlefield before being sent to destroy its target.
“White stork” is also a reference to a species of bird commonly found in Ukraine, where Schmidt has taken an important role in helping the country’s defense efforts to repel Russian invasion.
According to Forbes, the company has developed a mass-produced drone that uses artificial intelligence to zero in on a target even in environments where communications are disrupted by GPS jamming.
In July of last year, Schmidt wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal declaring drones to be “the future of warfare.
Schmidt is the founder of a military startup that is developing “kamikaze drones” to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion. APSchmidt said the US military should hand over its tanks. The image above shows a Ukrainian tank during a training exercise on October 27. AFP via Getty Images
According to Schmidt, Ukrainian forces have “succeeded” because of their drone deployment – this despite the fact that Russia has a 3-to-1 advantage in soldiers as well as air superiority.
While Ukraine has suffered heavy losses, it has “constantly renewed the enemy”.
Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, a time of rapid growth for the California-based technology company.
He later became executive chairman of Google, and in 2015, of its new parent company, Alphabet, before stepping down as chairman in 2018.
A remarkable new device promises to make cancer detection cheaper, faster and more accessible than ever before.
As described in an upcoming issue of Lab on a Chip, researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) say they have developed a system that can detect cancer markers in the blood with greater responsiveness than current diagnostic methods.
Known as a paper-in-polymer-pond (PiPP) device, the new test platform combines paper similar to that found in coffee filters with a plastic frame.
The new test promises to provide accurate results using a single drop of blood. bunyarit – stock.adobe.com
Using a drop of blood from a patient, PiPP targets two cancer markers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is associated with colorectal cancer, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which indicates prostate cancer.
CEA and PSA appear in the blood in the early stages of cancer, making them historically difficult to detect. However, the new device can pick up these markers at low concentrations, making them roughly 10 times more sensitive than test kits on the market.
“Our new biochip device is low-cost—just a few dollars—and sensitive, which will make accurate disease diagnosis accessible to anyone, rich or poor,” lead author XiuJun (James) Li , a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UTEP. said in a statement.
“It’s portable, fast and eliminates the need for specialized instruments,” added Li.
This promising development comes on the heels of a surprising new study that suggests Gen X and millennial Americans are at higher risk of developing 17 cancers compared to older generations.
Known as a paper-in-polymer-pond (PiPP) device, the new test platform combines paper similar to that found in coffee filters with a plastic frame. Lab on a chip
Colorectal cancer, which the PiPP device may be able to detect in its early stages, has steadily increased in adults under 50 since the 1990s. Young people who develop colon cancer tend to be diagnosed at later stages of the devastating disease — and have more aggressive types of tumors — but PiPP’s promise of earlier detection could equate to lifesaving intervention.
Prostate cancer is similarly driving the current cancer epidemic, with 10% of new diagnoses in the US occurring in men under 55.
Prostate cancer deaths are expected to increase by 136% from 2022 to 2050 worldwide. As with all cancers, early detection is key – and the new PiPP device could prove to be a game changer.
And the device not only provides early diagnoses, but quick results. Compared to the 16 hours that traditional testing takes, PiPP provides results in just one hour, and those results can be read with a smartphone.
Colorectal cancer, which the PiPP device may be able to detect in its early stages, has steadily increased in adults under 50. AC – stock.adobe.com
Researchers note that developing countries often lack access to cancer screening methods and resources such as laboratory equipment and providers, a limitation that makes early detection difficult and mortality rates higher.
However, the PiPP device – which is affordable, reusable and user-friendly – helps level the playing field for early diagnosis.
Robert Kirken, dean of the College of Science at UTEP, said the innovation “significantly improves point-of-care diagnostics by reducing detection time and the need for costly instrumentation.”
“This makes it ideal for resource-limited settings, which will improve early diagnosis and lead to better cancer outcomes. I look forward to seeing what this innovation leads to,” he added.
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While the potential is promising, it may be several years before the PiPP device is commercially available.
The prototype will be tested for efficacy and safety through clinical trials and will eventually seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration before being made available to healthcare providers.
More than 500 Amazon employees sent a letter Wednesday to the CEO of its AWS unit calling for the cancellation of a full back-to-office policy and refuting his assertion that the rule had broad support and opponents should leave Amazon Web Services.
“We were horrified to hear the clueless explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day office mandate,” the letter begins.
AWS CEO Matt Garman said at an Oct. 17 plenary meeting of the cloud computing unit that nine out of 10 workers he spoke with support the back-to-office policy, which will take effect early next year.
The CEO of Amazon Web Services said earlier this month that nine out of 10 workers he spoke with support the back-to-office policy. AFP via Getty Images
Those comments are “contrary to the experiences of many employees” and “misrepresent the reality of working at Amazon,” according to the letter, which Reuters reviewed after it was sent to Garman.
An Amazon spokesman said the company offers commuter benefits, elder care and subsidized parking rates, among other things, to help with office work.
Garman had said he was “pretty excited about this change” and that, under the current three-day-a-week policy, collaboration was very difficult because people could be in the office on different days.
The company-wide policy, announced in September by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, has been controversial within Amazon, with many calling it wasteful because it adds travel time and costs when telecommuting has been effective. Some say they plan to leave the company. Amazon has implemented the policy by asking many workers to go to regional offices, move to Seattle or “voluntarily resign.”
Garman’s comments do not reflect any independent data, the letter states, and “undermine the confidence of your employees, who not only have personal experience that demonstrates the benefits of remote work, but have seen extensive data that supports that experience.” . €
Requiring five days in the office each week also particularly affects protected classes of workers, such as those with neurodiversity or childcare responsibilities, and “does not support the ‘Strive to be the Earth’s Best Employer’ leadership principle espoused by Amazon.” .according to the letter.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy ordered employees to return to the office five days a week starting next year. Getty Images for the New York Times
Attached to the letter were anonymous stories from a dozen Amazon workers who said adhering to a five-day office policy would be difficult or impossible due to, among other things, family obligations, travel schedules or medical needs.
One said the nearest office is four hours away; another said their spouse would have to quit her job to accommodate a move across the country; and another said they are more efficient working from home.
“I used to be proud of my job and excited about my future here,” said one. “I don’t feel it with this.â€
Attached to the letter were anonymous stories from a dozen Amazon workers who said adhering to a five-day office policy would be difficult or impossible due to, among other things, family obligations, travel schedules or medical needs. AFP via Getty Images
The letter linked to a 2020 blog post in which Garman wrote that AWS had operated effectively early in the pandemic when most workers were remote.
Amazon has taken a stricter approach to back-to-office mandates than many of its tech peers who are implementing two- and three-day policies. The company has said the policy helps workers “invent, collaborate and connect,” and Garman suggested “we didn’t really accomplish anything” under the three-day policy.
