Tag: Business

Microsoft Invests in OpenAI

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Microsoft announced on January 23 that they were making a “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment” in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. In 2019, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI, and described their agreement from this past Monday as the third stage of the partnership between these two companies. News of the investment came on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement that they plan to lay off 10,000 employees as part of a larger cost-cutting measure.

This partnership authorizes the usage of OpenAI’s tools in Microsoft products, which gives Microsoft an edge over Google. According to OpenAI, the investment enables them to continue developing AI, and Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform will continue operating as an exclusive provider for OpenAI.

According to Microsoft, by incorporating the technology behind ChatGPT into their Bing search engine, they will revolutionize internet searches. Anton Korinek, AI researcher and professor of economics at the University of Virginia explains,

“[ChatGPT] allows consumers to interact with their computer in a much more natural and conversational form than traditional search.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said,

“We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform. In this next phase of our partnership, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models and toolchain with Azure to build and run their applications.”

Residential Conversion of Financial District Bldg

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25 Water Street, an iconic financial district building, is getting a residential facelift.
With a $535.8 million loan arranged by Newmark for GFP Real Estate, Metro Loft Management, and Rockwood Capital, the 1.1 million-square-foot office building will be bought and redeveloped in the largest ever office-to-residential conversion in the United States.

The renovation of the 22-story building is being redone to include some 1,300 residential units of varying size (studios to four-bedrooms). Amenities in the building will include a basketball court, steam room/sauna, indoor and outdoor pools, and other sporting/fitness equipment. There will also be a sky lounge, a rooftop garden terrace, and spaces for entertaining and coworking.

The property was built in 1969 and showcases views of lower Manhattan and New York Harbor from each floor. It sits on a double-wide street corridor with the widest exposure facing Water Street.

Female-secured Patents Could Boost Economy by $1 trillion

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Small businesses and startup entrepreneurs are known to rely on funding from government agencies like the Small Business Administration; minority-owned businesses might turn to the Minority Business Development Agency. Kathi Vidal is pushing to have entrepreneurs consider applying for patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office alongside their application(s) for funding.

Vidal, who is currently serving as USPTO director, is an experienced intellectual property lawyer. A primary platform of her work in the USPTO, since her appointment by President Biden in April 2022, has been the diversification of those applying for and receiving patents. To date, only 13% of U.S. patents have been issued to women. When offered free legal guidance for the patent-application process, women-led filings increased by 41%. Vidal believes that the inclusion of women in the patenting system at equal rates as men could boost the U.S. economy by as much as $1 trillion.

According to Vidal, legal support is not the only barrier to female inclusion. The patenting system is inherently confusing and excluding. While the government views rejections as an opportunity for re-application, most applicants don’t understand. Vidal is introducing a cover letter to patent decisions, assigning an examiner who will be available for consultations and be the human face of an otherwise amorphous and overwhelming process.

Patents are a tangible way of supporting the economy and expanding business competition, particularly in growing fields like artificial intelligence and technologies. Similarly, Vidal explains that patents facilitate partnership and cooperation. Without patents, companies are resistant to sharing their ideas.

Remote Workers Resign to a Renters Crisis

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Pandemic restrictions are lifting and most bosses and companies are accepting that remote work is here to stay. And as employees continue to enjoy the benefits of working from home, they are also looking for homes to work in. The rental market is fierce these days, with prime interest in Florida and across the Northeast region of the U.S.

A review of recent real estate data released in June by RentCafe, a subdivision of Yardi real estate software, indicates that Miami-Dade County, with its 20+ miles of beaches, had the most competitive rental market during the first third of 2022. Orlando and other parts of Southwest Florida are also in the top-ten list of cities, as are Harrisburg, Pa., North and Central Jersey, Grand Rapids, Mich., Rochester, N.Y., and Milwaukee.

What these cities all have in common is their excellent school systems, tranquil lifestyles, and family-friendly communities. The demand for rental properties is driven by high housing prices that have not budged in years and climbing mortgage rates prompting buyers to delay their purchase and seek a rental lease. While some cities are accommodating the increased demand, like Miami-Dade County where additional units were released to the rental market, other cities are not as quick to meet the need: Harrisburg, PA did not add any new apartments in the last four-month period, causing most tenants to renew their leases instead of moving out.

Leveraging Quant Funds to Navigate the Volatile Economy

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When market forces become unstable, investors often have a hard time thinking rationally and considering the bigger picture. The very real possibility of significant money loss spooks many investors to make rash and impulsive decisions.

But quant funds offer a more appealing and lucrative solution. As they rely on strategies based on algorithmic or systematically programmed information. The various investment strategies are backed by numerous trading signals—which themselves center on economic data points, security cost trends, real-time business news, and other measurables. This kind of consistent and hands-off research, along with the inclusion of updated models, allows quant funds to uniformly perform.

As quant funds are market-neutral, they can yield dependable and improved returns, with appropriate risk adjustments, without being tied to the market. Furthermore, quant funds offset long and short positions. With an emphasis on utilizing stock prices relative performance by having comparable investments in both long and short stocks, it is possible to deliver on critical qualities of risk, like instability and drawdowns.

Rising interest rates also favor quant fund strategies. The higher interest rates usually generate higher volatility and more price disruptions across stocks and industries, thereby increasing opportunities and returns.

Uber and Flywheel Riding Toward a New Partnership

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Flywheel Technologies and Uber are putting the final touches on a partnership agreement to fully transform transportation in San Francisco.

While the cooperation is similar to an agreement Uber penned with taxi companies in New York City, it is a noteworthy shift from years of ferocious battling between the two transportation groups. Uber, which is headquartered in San Francisco, was once sued by a local taxi company in federal court for rapacious pricing schemes. Some taxi drivers have expressed concern that the partnership would mean lower earnings and make it harder for taxi riders to afford a drive. Uber and other companies that rely on gig workers (i.e. Lyft and DoorDash) supported California’s Proposition 22. The bill gave the workers limited benefits but also made it impossible for them to be considered full employees of these companies. The measure passed in 2020, even though most voters opposed it; a judge dismissed it in 2021. This partnership expands Uber’s driver pool substantially. The app’s driver base shrunk rapidly during the height of the pandemic, and many drivers voiced discontent with their low earnings. Rising gas prices have also pushed many drivers away. According to the Municipal Transportation Agency, taxi drivers will benefit too, by leveraging Uber’s ridership toward the city’s taxis.

The agreement, part of Uber’s long-term strategy to increase taxi representation on its app, will allow Uber passengers in San Francisco to hail a cab virtually. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors still has to approve the pilot, and Jeffrey Tumlin, the city’s director of transportation needs to authorize it, but the partnership is slated to begin as early as May 2022.

Google Buys Mandiant

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Global tech giant Google has announced its acquisition of Mandiant, the cybersecurity company. In a $5.4 billion deal, Google will expand its services to provide businesses with strategic planning assistance for and in response to cyberattacks.

Google Mandiant

The purchase comes as Google tries to distinguish itself and its cloud computing platforms from those offered by Amazon and Microsoft.

Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry.

Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud

Based in Virginia, Mandiant has over 2,300 employees, making it Google’s second-biggest purchase ever. The biggest was Google’s 2011 buy of Motorola for $12.5 billion.

Something’s Brewing at Starbucks

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Employees at four Starbucks stores in New York City have petitioned to unionize through the National Labor Relations Board. This development follows months of efforts to unionize at three Buffalo Starbucks locations, two of which have already successfully established unions. The NYC Starbucks employees have requested to hold a vote on March 3.

In letters to Starbucks president and CEO Kevin Johnson, workers from the four stores expressed concerns about deteriorating work conditions during the pandemic and unfair salaries. The employees have received support from more than 70 New York elected officials, including City Council members and U.S. representatives, according to the New York Times. A signed letter read: “New York City is a union town and union-busting has no place here. We believe that these organizing efforts will ultimately lead to a stronger and more sustainable future for Starbucks, the workers, and our city and state.”

Although Starbucks has claimed not to be anti-union, just last week the company fired seven Memphis employees who tried for form a union claiming they had violated company policies. A few years earlier, two Philadelphia workers trying to unionize were also fired.

Mid-America’s Economy is Strong, if Slowing

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Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a premier economic barometer for the region of states between Minnesota and Oklahoma, shows a recent slight drop. Nevertheless, it remained above neutral growth for the 20th consecutive month. Employment in the region dropped to 43.6, its weakest since June 2020, the third consecutive decline in the monthly index.

“Creighton’s monthly survey results indicate the region is adding manufacturing activity at a positive pace, but with much weaker job numbers for the month. In terms of supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks for the first half of 2022, approximately one-third of supply managers expect delays to worsen with only 12% anticipating improvements. Despite healthy growth over the past year, compared to its pre-pandemic level, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data indicate that the region has lost 16,000 manufacturing jobs, or 1.1%,”

Dr. Ernie Goss, the study director

Barbie and Balmain Pair Up for Couture NFT Project

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Barbie, the quintessential American toy by Mattel, announced a partnership with French fashion powerhouse Balmain.

This collaboration is surprising on many levels. First, there is no actual doll involved. Second, the collection is a mix of real fashion and NFTs.

The collection includes 50 adult garments inspired by the iconic Barbie doll. Avatars of diverse racial backgrounds model the clothes, and three NFTs of unique looks are being sold at auction.  Barbie is extending its efforts into the realm of virtual collectibles as each NFT includes a doll-sized physical design. The entire collection and the NFT designs are unisex: there is no more Barbie and Ken, just high-end fashion for all.

Mattel also has a partnership with Gucci to create Hot Wheels Collectibles.