The Daily Upside

Finance

PwC Slashes 1,800 Jobs in First Mass Cuts Since 2009

Photo by Wirestock via iStock

PricewaterhouseCoopers said it will lay off 1,800 staff members at its US unit next month. It will impact 2.5% of the unit’s employees.

1 min read

Today’s Upside

Recent News

Semiconductors

TSMC Had a Great Q1, But Chip Recovery Looks Sluggish

Photo by Briáxis F. Mendes via CC BY-SA 4.0

Multiple chipmakers have suffered slowdowns across smartphones, personal computers, motor vehicles, and other consumer goods.

1 min read
Electric Vehicles

Tesla’s Stock Has Hit the Skids

Photo by Jakob Härter via CC BY-SA 2.0

Shares are at a 15-month low amid a pile-up of bad news, as analysts call for a course correction, and production woes continue to mount.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Snap Patent Brings Emotion Detection to Workplace Surveillance

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

AI that’s meant to detect emotion is highly controversial.

2 min read
Geopolitics

Superyacht Sales Fall Due to Lack of Russian Oligarch Customers

Photo by Diego F. Parra via Pexels

Bottlenecked supply problems and a dearth of buyers resulted in 2023 sales falling 35% since 2021.

2 min read
Industrials

Boeing Battles Dual Congressional Hearings

Photo by Eric Friedebach via CC BY 2.0

Experts testified in one hearing about whether the company had improved safety and compliance procedures since two major crashes.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Intel Filing Could Diversify Deepfake Detection Models

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

he filing adds to several patents from tech companies that aim to tackle the deepfake problem amid the proliferation of generative AI.

2 min read
M&A

Dealmaking Is Coming Back — With or Without Fed Rate Cuts

Photo by Yusuke Kawasaki via CC BY 2.0

Dealmaking-related revenue at a handful of major investment banks collectively rose 27% year-over-year in the first quarter.

2 min read
Patent Drop

IBM Protects AI From Being Swayed by Bad Data

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Its latest patent puts a magnifying glass to large wells of public data, aiming to make foundational models more robust against attacks.

2 min read
Economics

US Growth to Lap G7 Peers, IMF Predicts

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

The US economy will grow twice as fast as any of its major Western peers this year.

2 min read
Healthcare

UnitedHealth Cyberattack Punched a $872 Million Hole In its Finances

Photo via Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

The figure was enough to push the insurance giant to a loss in Q1, despite its revenue beating expectations.

2 min read
Real Estate

Big Tech Offloads Office Space, Putting Commercial Landlords in Flux

Photo by Kate Sade via Unsplash

Some of the more reliable office building tenants are reversing course by letting leases expire or subleasing space across major cities.

2 min read
Indicators

US Retail Sales Surge as Consumers Shrug Off Inflation, High Interest Rates

Photo by Mostafa Meraji via Unsplash

Sales rose 0.7% month-over-month — about double what many economists had predicted. Year-over-year, that’s a 4% jump.

1 min read
Big Tech

The Metaverse: Coming to a School Near You

Photo by Eren Li via Pexels

The tech titan plans to expand its virtual-reality headset into schools to enable immersive experiences.

2 min read
Banking

Goldman Sachs Leans On ‘Core Strengths’ to Crush Q1 Earnings

Photo by Maryland GovPics via CC BY 2.0

In the first three months of the year, the investment bank scored a 16% jump in revenue and $4.1 billion in net income, a 28% rise.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Adobe’s Latest Patent Aims to Keep AI From Making Mistakes

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

“Real solutions to hallucination are going to be the next step change in AI.”

2 min read
Industrials

Bay Area Airports Battle Over What Gets to Be Called ‘San Francisco’

Photo credit: Supercarwaar/Wikimedia Commons

Oakland’s move to change its airport name to include the San Francisco Bay has irritated its bigger-city neighbors.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Airbus Patent Diagnoses Plane Malfunctions Through Sound

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

As Boeing faces heat, Airbus may be looking at ways to boost production to meet the surge in demand.

2 min read
Inflation & Prices

Rent, Car Insurance Are Keeping Inflation High

Photo by Denys Nevozhai via Unsplash

Our new high-tech vehicles are becoming pricier to repair, and we’re getting in more accidents than ever before.

2 min read
Geopolitics

Crypto, Oil Markets In Flux With Growing Conflict in the Middle East

(Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash)

Both asset classes could continue to swing wildly as the latest aggression in the region reverberates throughout the world.

1 min read
Social Media

Meta Patent Adds AI Voice Assistants Across Devices and Apps

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Its latest patent for a way to perform “concierge-type services” via voice adds to the company’s broader AI ambitions.

3 min read