OAKLAND, Calif., June 30 (Reuters) – AI chatbot company Replika, which offers customers bespoke avatars that talk and listen to them, says it receives a handful of messages almost every day from users who believe their online friend is sentient.
GoCardless, the global leader in direct bank payments, has announced its plans to acquire Nordigen, the freemium open banking data provider, as it builds on its vision to become the world’s bank payment network. GoCardless will incorporate Nordigen’s next-generation open banking connectivity — offering the widest coverage in Europe, connecting to more than 2,300 banks in 31 countries — into its account-to-account network. Continue reading
Unacast, a global location data and analytics firm, today announced a partnership with London-based BT Group, one of the largest multinational telecommunications firms. Through the partnership with Unacast, BT seeks to set a new gold standard for human mobility insights in the United Kingdom. Continue reading
In a potentially game-changing development for the cannabis industry, the German government has confirmed its plans to legalise the sale of recreational cannabis in the coming months. Continue reading
Over half (53%) of social housing residents surveyed say they have used credit or a buy-now-pay-later service to cover an essential household cost such as a food shop or a bill in the last 12 months, according to the latest output from the Resident Voice Index™ (RVI) initiative. The survey of over 5,200 social housing residents on the impact of the cost of living crisis also reveals that nearly seven in 10 respondents (68%) worry all or most of the time about meeting normal monthly living expenses. Continue reading
To commemorate MSME Day 2022 on June 27, Alibaba.com and AliResearch Institute, Alibaba Group’s research arm, published the report “Challenges, Responses, and Transformation of MSMEs in the Post-Pandemic Era”. The report takes a multi-focal look at how Micro- Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) fared through the pandemic to provide a better understanding of what action businesses took in order to survive, revealing key findings that include: Continue reading
One of the UK’s leading supercar hire companies has just launched a cryptocurrency payment system to rent the world’s most impressive prestige and supercars. Continue reading
iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (“iClick” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ICLK), a leading enterprise and marketing cloud platform in China that empowers worldwide brands with full-stack consumer lifecycle solutions, today announced the launch of Arohar, its proprietary live streaming enhancement mobile application that integrates AI, AR and interactive 3D avatars to bring a brand new metaverse-based live streaming experience to users. iClick’s flagship product, Arohar, for KOL promotion in overseas markets represents a new SaaS paradigm for live streaming. Continue reading
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) today announced the recipients of its 32nd annual Courage in Journalism Awards, which honor women journalists who show remarkable persistence and bravery within news media. This year’s honorees are Lynsey Addario, a veteran United States photojournalist currently working with The New York Times; Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian freelance journalist; and, Cerise Castle, a United States investigative journalist. Imprisoned Chinese columnist Xueqin (Sophia) Huang was awarded the Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award, which is given annually to a journalist who is unjustly jailed, detained, or imprisoned. Continue reading
Executives are confident they can maintain their culture in a long-term hybrid work environment, but at the same time remain concerned about negative impacts the pandemic has had on employee experience, according to a new study released today by Genpact (NYSE: G), a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation. Continue reading