Alternative finance lender Oakam is trying to help the unbanked November 30, 2018 Payday loan companies get a bad rap. And it’s easy to see why, considering the predatory businesses practices and extortionate interest rates charged by lenders like Wonga, which collapsed into administration this year. High-interest, short-term loans were back in the news this week, with the announcement that the fintech startup Monzo is considering offering such [...]
AI means more jobs, not less November 30, 2018 The future of work is at the heart of every major socio-economic-political debate. In fact, reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggest that robots are set to replace 66m jobs in the coming years. All these discussions are rooted in the topic of the nature and distribution of work. Many are excited and [...]
Softbank sets indicative IPO price at £10.34 per share to value firm at nearly £50bn November 30, 2018 Softbank intends to sell shares for ¥1500 (£10.34) a piece in its initial public offering (IPO) next month, in the country’s biggest ever listing. The company didn’t give a price range, instead plumping for a single preliminary figure for the 2.41 trillion yen (£16.44bn) IPO, Reuters reported, showing the company is confident that demand will [...]
UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch charged in US over Autonomy deal November 30, 2018 Prominent UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been charged by US authorities with fraud over the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard in 2011. The US Department of Justice filed charges against Lynch yesterday in a San Francisco court. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and include 14 [...]
Qualcomm unveils $100m AI startup fund as tech companies race to invest in sector November 29, 2018 US telecoms firm Qualcomm has launched a $100m (£78.3m) fund to invest in AI startups in a bid to promote new technology for self-driving cars and robots. The Qualcomm Ventures AI Fund will focus on firms that are developing “on-device AI”, as the telecoms company looks to spread the use of the new technology on [...]
Volkswagen is planning a new US plant for electric cars as it takes the fight to Tesla November 29, 2018 German car manufacturer Volkswagen is marking out spots for a future electric vehicle factory in North America, as major car firms gear up to face rival firm Tesla's impact on the market. The newly-appointed chief executive of Volkswagen's US arm said the firm is planning a new plant to build a car that has yet to [...]
Software giant Adobe invests £63.5m in UK as creative sector booms November 29, 2018 Adobe will invest £63.5m in its UK operations and increase its workforce by over 20 per cent over the next three years, the company said today. The investment is the latest British expansion by the US-based software company, which has grown its UK workforce by 30 per cent in the last two years. The Department for [...]
Elon Musk abandons second LA hyperloop tunnel, opting for another instead November 29, 2018 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has ducked out of plans to build a second high-speed passenger train tunnel in Los Angeles, after litigation forced his firm The Boring Company to back down from the project. Musk had plans to build the 2.7 mile-long Sepulveda tunnel on the western side of LA, however has since ditched development after [...]
No snowflakes here – time to get ready for the New Working Order November 29, 2018 Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to understanding the next generation that will shape our futures. United Nations data shows us that Generation Z – those born after 2000 – will account for 32 per cent of the global population in 2019, and when combined with millennials, over 50 per cent of the global [...]
Instagram has become a scammer’s paradise November 29, 2018 Today, like every day, £87,000 will be lost to online scams, with social media platforms used as a key access point. Fraudulent activity is particularly prolific on Instagram, where scammers use the unregulated landscape and image-oriented design to pose as traders and con people out of thousands of pounds. Instagram’s success has been built around [...]
