The Daily Upside

Artificial Intelligence

Amazon Pumps Billions into AI Firm Just as Chat-GPT Alexa-fies Itself

(Photo by Amazon Press Center)

Amazon — along with every other Zuckerberg, Musk, and Harry — is trying to get ahead in the generative AI race.

2 min read
Consumer

McDonald’s Franchisees Served Service Fee Hike for First Time in Decades

(Photo Credit: Visual Karsa/Unsplash)

McDonald’s has had a tenuous relationship with its franchise operators as of late. A new round of royalty fee hikes isn’t likely to help.

2 min read
Banking

Solaris Can’t Raise Funds Fast Enough

(Photo Credit: Alexander Grey/Unsplash)

Solaris was once a rising star in the fintech world. Now its sweating to raise 100 million euros to fund a major client project.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Google is Adding Empathy to it’s Smart Speakers

Photo by BENCE BOROS on Unsplash

Google’s patent follows several updates from major tech companies aiming to understand emotions and context through speech recognition.

3 min read

Policy & Power

Congress Has Just a Week to Avoid a Government Shutdown

(Photo Credit: Harold Mendoza/Unsplash)

A government shutdown may be coming. It would be catastrophic. Here’s what it would it look like if it really goes down.

2 min read
Patent Drop

JPMorgan Chase Brings Quantum to Wall Street

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.

JPMorgan Chase may be looking past the current AI craze for optimization, setting it’s sights on quantum computing.

2 min read
Media & Entertainment

The Secret Life of Streaming: How Viewership Secrecy is Re-Shaping Hollywood

(Image credit: Kim Shattuck/Flickr)

If Hollywood studios want to settle the current dual strike, they may have to get much more open about just how popular their shows are.

5 min read
Patent Drop

Baidu Could Add Blockchain to its Cloud

Photo by Simone Brunozzi under CC BY-SA 2.0

Since it can’t work with crypto, Baidu may be looking for another way to utilize blockchain: data security.

2 min read

OP-ED | Power Corridor

A Mountain of Public Money Awaits U.S. Presidential Candidates

Photo by Edoardo Cuoghi and Alexander Grey on Unsplash

The Presidential Campaign Fund’s Hidden Impact on Elections and Beyond.

6 min read
Media & Entertainment

Rupert Murdoch Steps Back from Fox, News Corp

(Photo by Hudson Institute under CC BY 2.0)

Unfortunately for the Lachlan Murdoch there is not much by way of peace in the kingdom, and indications are this may be a short reigns.

2 min read
Technology

Elon Musk’s Tweet About Neuralink’s Test Monkeys Could Spell Trouble

(Photo by Nicholas Chester-Adams on Unsplash)

The Securities and Exchange Commission may have to double the size of its staff just to keep an eye on Elon Musk’s tweets.

2 min read
Real Estate

The Tight Housing Market Is Getting Even Tighter

(Photo by Ian MacDonald on Unsplash)

Low supply, high prices, and the climbing costs of borrowing have created one of the least affordable US housing markets in decades.

2 min read

Patent Drop

Oracle’s Patent Could Break AI’s Black Box

Håkan Dahlström under CC BY 2.0

The data services company wants to patent a way for neural networks to explain themselves. The tech signals a vital need for AI adoption.

2 min read
Patent Drop

EBay May Make Deliveries Via Drone and Bus

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.

eBay wants to use drones for deliveries, but without wasting their batteries.

3 min read
Technology

Uber Threatens European Pullout Over Driver Classification

(Photo by Viktor Avdeev on Unsplash)

The EU is poised to pass legislation that would classify Uber drivers as employees, rather than contracted workers.

1 min read
Geopolitics

G7 Plans Russian Diamond Crackdown, Industry Says ‘Not so Fast’

(Photo by Akhilesh Sharma on Unsplash)

A G7 plan to crack down on sanctioned Russian diamonds has run into resistance from some of the industry’s biggest players.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Amazon Wants to Keep the Cloud Healthy

Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash

Cloud services make Amazon tons of its revenue. Keeping those networks spic and span is a high priority, according to its new patent.

2 min read
Inflation & Prices

Pesky Oil Prices Are Messing With Fed’s Ability to Stick the Landing

(Photo by Federal Reserve Board of Governors under Public Domain Mark 1.0)

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has met his match in the ongoing fight against inflation: skyrocketing oil costs.

2 min read
OP-ED | Power Corridor

Congress Flirts With Government Shutdown Sept. 30

Photo by Elijah Mears on Unsplash

Congress is threatening to shut down the government at midnight on September 30th.

2 min read
Power Corridor

Fed Likely to Hold Steady on Rates, But Forecasts Key

Photo by Federal Reserve Board of Governors under Public Domain Mark 1.0

The Federal Reserve prepares to share its projections. Economists predict a ‘ho-hum’ meeting, but 2024 election year looms.

3 min read

Advisor Upside

Financial advisor news, market insights, and practice management essentials.

Microsoft Patents Signal Demand for Explainable AI

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

1 min read
Quantum Computing Race Isn’t Run ‘In a Vacuum’

Photo by Galina Nelyubova via Unsplash

2 min read
How Shadow IT Concocts Cybersecurity Nightmares

Photo by Matheus Bertelli via Pexels

2 min read

Sign Up for The Daily Upside to Unlock This Article

Sharp news & analysis on finance, economics, and investing.