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European regulation is making ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting a mandatory requirement, providing a significant boost for startups like Paris-based Apiday. This company’s platform is designed to assist private equity funds and blue-chip companies in tracking and managing their sustainability practices. Asset management firms, particularly those in Europe, have become a primary focus for Apiday. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) means that it’s not just impact funds that need to closely monitor sustainability metrics; a wide range of firms are now paying attention to ESG reporting. This marks a significant change from when Apiday was founded in 2021.…
Cloudflare, the well-known cloud service provider, has unveiled a new, free tool aimed at preventing bots from scraping websites hosted on its platform for data to train AI models. Some AI vendors, including Google, OpenAI, and Apple, provide website owners the option to block their data-scraping bots by modifying their site’s robots.txt file. This file instructs bots on which pages they can access on a website. However, as Cloudflare points out in a blog post announcing the new tool, not all AI scrapers respect these directives. “Customers don’t want AI bots visiting their websites, especially those that do so dishonestly,”…
In the aftermath of Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote, where the company introduced Apple Intelligence and confirmed a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri, Senior Vice President Craig Federighi revealed plans to work with additional third-party AI models. During a post-keynote discussion, Federighi mentioned that Apple is exploring a partnership with Google’s Gemini. “We’re looking forward to doing integrations with other models, including Google Gemini, for instance, in the future,” Federighi stated. He added that while there is no specific announcement at this time, this direction aligns with Apple’s broader strategy. Later this year, OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be the…
Security experts have disclosed that cybercriminals have stolen a substantial amount of data from numerous customers using Snowflake’s cloud storage services. Mandiant, an incident response firm, is collaborating with Snowflake to investigate these data breaches, which have affected around 165 customers. This revelation marks the first public disclosure of the number of Snowflake customers impacted since the hacks began in April. Snowflake had previously stated that only a “limited number” of its clients were affected. Snowflake, a major cloud data provider, serves over 9,800 corporate customers, including healthcare organizations, retail giants, and leading tech companies that rely on its platform…
Elon Musk has announced that he may ban iPhones from all his companies due to the newly announced OpenAI integrations by Apple at WWDC 2024. In a series of posts on X, the Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI CEO expressed concerns, stating that if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, Apple devices would be prohibited in his businesses. Visitors with Apple devices would need to check them in at the door, where they would be stored in a Faraday cage. Musk’s posts appear to misunderstand or cast doubt on the nature of Apple’s relationship with OpenAI. Both companies have stated…
Wix, renowned for its web design tools, is introducing a generative AI feature that allows users to create and edit iOS or Android apps simply by describing their desired features in plain English. This new capability, launching in Wix’s app builder tool this week, uses a chatbot-like interface to understand the goals, intent, and aesthetic preferences of the user. Based on this information, Wix’s AI generates an app that can be customized further with first- and third-party integrations, widgets, and connectors. The move towards generative AI-powered app creation follows the launch of Wix’s AI website generator last July, which produces…
The upcoming weeks could prove crucial for Worldcoin, the contentious eyeball-scanning cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman. Currently, Worldcoin’s operations are largely halted across the European Union due to a slew of privacy complaints from countries including France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. As of now, Germany remains the only EU country where Worldcoin continues to scan eyeballs, primarily because its developer, Tools for Humanity (TfH), has a local office there. This situation may change soon, pending the outcome of an investigation by Bavaria’s data protection authority. A spokesperson for the authority indicated that a decision is expected by mid-July.…
TikTok has confirmed that its security team is addressing an issue that allowed hackers to target several high-profile celebrity and brand accounts on its platform. Among the affected accounts were those belonging to Paris Hilton, CNN, and Sony. While TikTok did not disclose specific details about the nature of the attack or the mitigation techniques employed, the company assured that measures have been taken to stop the attack and prevent future occurrences. The malicious attack, initially reported by Semafor and Forbes, involved malware transmitted through TikTok’s direct messages, potentially affecting account owners’ access to their profiles. The hackers’ motives were…
French startup Ledger, renowned for its secure cryptocurrency hardware wallets, has started shipping its new high-end wallets nearly 18 months after announcing the Ledger Stax devices. The latest wallet features an E-Ink display, designed in collaboration with Tony Fadell, one of the key designers behind the iPod. E-Ink technology, commonly used in e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle or the Rakuten Kobo, is chosen for its excellent visibility in daylight and low power consumption. After fulfilling all pre-orders, Ledger will list the Ledger Stax on its website once additional stock becomes available. The delay in the hardware wallet’s release is…
Accurate weather forecasts are essential for industries like agriculture and crucial for mitigating the impact of inclement weather events or natural disasters. However, achieving precise forecasts is notoriously challenging. Recognizing this, the founders of WeatherXM have dedicated the past 12 years to enhancing weather forecast accuracy. In 2012, Manolis Nikiforakis, Stratos Theodorou, and Nikos Tsiligaridis launched an app enabling community members to provide local weather updates. They then transitioned to consulting for enterprise customers, such as the Athens airport, operating in weather-sensitive sectors. Now, they are developing WeatherXM, a network of community-monitored weather stations that collect and share local weather…