Virgin Media O2 reports slight bump in revenue after price hikes May 10, 2023 Virgin Media O2 reported a slight increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2023 as a result of price increases and stronger consumer retention. Adjusted quarterly revenue increased by 3.9 per cent on the same period last year to £2.6bn, the company announced today. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter increased by 2 per [...]
Pearson integration of AI appears to excite investors as share price rises May 9, 2023 Educational publisher Pearson is embedding AI across its products as the AI race heats up and the technology encroaches on the edtech sector. The London-based publisher said on Tuesday that projects to embed generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology — meaning tools which can create new content from large data sets — were already “well underway.” [...]
LinkedIn latest tech giant to axe jobs blaming ‘drop in demand’ May 9, 2023 LinkedIn is culling over 700 jobs and closing its local app in China, blaming a slump in consumer demand and turbulent market conditions. In an email to LinkedIn employees, Ryan Roslanksy, LinkedIn chief executive. said the changes would be made in order to shake up the business, which is being hit by slower revenue growth. [...]
AI doing the work of over 200 people at Octopus, chief executive says May 8, 2023 Octopus Energy customers are more satisfied with AI bots answering their emails than humans, the energy provider’s chief executive revealed on Monday. Writing in the Times newspaper, the energy company’s chief executive, Greg Jackson, said the technology was doing the work of 250 people by answering customer emails and had received a 80 per cent [...]
Activision deal: Survey says CMA wrong to block Microsoft tie-up May 8, 2023 A quarter of the public thought the UK competition watchdog was wrong to block Microsoft’s $70b deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, a new poll has found. One in four of the public were opposed to the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to block the deal, while a further 16 percent thought it was [...]
FRC begins hunt for new boss as audit body advertises role with £330k salary (and to be able to work from both London and Birmingham) May 5, 2023 The boss of Britain’s audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will need “credibility, integrity and capability” to enact “organisation change”; they can also expect to be paid £330k plus benefits for doing so. An advert for the next chief executive of the FRC, which will soon become ARGA confirms previous City A.M . reports [...]
Vodafone and CK Hutchinson close to merging UK telecoms businesses May 4, 2023 Vodafone and CK Hutchinson are close to agreeing a merger of their UK telecoms businesses, according to reports. The new company would have an enterprise value of £15bn and would be the UK’s largest mobile provider with 28m customers, the Financial Times reported on Thursda, citing people familiar with the matter. The move to combine [...]
Domino’s takeaway: Pizza chain announces £20m share buyback as UK sales soar May 4, 2023 UK consumers shrugged off inflation and a cost of living crisis to order more pizza, according to UK and Irish-based chain Domino’s. The fast food chain said sales increased to £386.6m across its branches, up 5.6 per cent compared to the same period last year. Quarterly orders at Domino’s Pizza group grew 2.8 per cent [...]
Getting a piece of the Pi: Google DeepMind and LinkedIn cofounders launch AI chatbot May 3, 2023 An artificial intelligence startup founded by the cofounders of LinkedIn and Google DeepMind has launched a new chatbot. The company, Inflection AI, said the chatbot, named Pi, uses AI technology developed in house to hold conversations with users, give feedback and work through “tricky decisions.” “We think of Pi as a digital companion on hand [...]
Dyson pours £100m into new Bristol tech centre as part of £2.75bn investment plan May 3, 2023 Dyson is pouring £100 million into a new technology centre in the UK, in addition to a new site in the Philippines and factory in Singapore, as part of its £2.75bn five-year investment plan. Dyson, which makes vacuum cleaners, fans and hair appliances, said today the new Bristol centre would be home to hundreds of [...]
