Author: knjohn

OpenAI and Google’s latest AI announcements make one thing clear: They’re officially rivals. | Mashable

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At Google I/O earlier this week, generative AI was unsurprisingly a major focal point.

In fact, Google CEO Sundar Pichai pointed out that “AI” was said 122 times, plus two more times by Pichai as he closed out the event.

The tech giant has injected AI features into seemingly all of its products and services, including Search, Workspace, and creative tools for videos, photos, and music. But arguably the biggest news of the day was how Google’s announcements compared to those from OpenAI. Just a day before Google I/O, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o, a “natively multimodal” model that can process visuals and audio in real-time, which ostensibly ramped up the burgeoning rivalry.

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The backbone of America’s economy was just dealt a serious blow | CNN Business

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US consumers could be reaching their breaking point. After dealing with elevated inflation and the highest interest rates in decades, they’re starting to rein in their spending.

Last month, retail sales were unchanged from March, when spending increased by a downwardly revised 0.6%, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

April spending missed the 0.4% increase that economists had projected, according to FactSet. The figures are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation.

By comparison, a year ago, retail sales surged by 3%. Stripping away auto sales, April retail sales were up by 0.2% last month, matching economists’ expectations.

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Uber will now let you book a shuttle to the airport | CNN Business

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Uber wants to make it cheaper to get a ride to the airport, concerts or sporting events.

The rideshare company on Wednesday announced the launch of Uber Shuttle, an offering that will let users book up to five seats in a shuttle from a central location to an event or the airport – for less than the cost of a regular Uber ride. The cost of the shuttle rides won’t be affected by surge pricing, a common affliction when lots of people are looking for rides at the same time.

Riders can book their space on the shuttles, which will hold between 14 and 55 seats, up to a week in advance and will receive a QR code ticket to board. Uber plans to partner with local shuttle companies with commercially licensed drivers to facilitate the offering, but users will be able to rate and tip drivers within the Uber app like with any other ride.

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OpenAI unveils huge upgrade to ChatGPT that makes it more eerily human than ever | Live Science

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A new version of ChatGPT can read facial expressions, mimic human voice patterns and have near real-time conversations, its creators have revealed.

OpenAI demonstrated the upcoming version of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, called GPT-4o, in an apparently real-time presentation on Monday (May 13). The chatbot, which spoke out loud with presenters through a phone, appeared to have an eerie command of human conversation and its subtle emotional cues — switching between robotic and singing voices upon command, adapting to interruptions and visually processing the facial expressions and surroundings of its conversational partners. During the demonstration, the AI voice assistant showcased its skills by completing tasks such as real-time language translation, solving a math equation written on a piece of paper and guiding a blind person around London’s streets.

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Sun launches strongest solar flare of current cycle in monster X8.7-class eruption | Live Science

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The sun has just spat out the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle, which began in 2019, according to a breaking report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.

The monster flare is a category X8.7, making it considerably stronger than the X2.2 flare that erupted from the sun last week — triggering radio blackouts and widespread auroras on Earth that were visible as far south as Mexico.

However, the latest flare is unlikely to result in any geomagnetic storms or aurora activity, as the sunspot group responsible for the blast is located at the very edge of the visible side of the sun, according to NOAA. However, high-frequency radio blackouts are still likely on Earth.

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Challenges Your Tech Startup Will Face | businessnewsdaily.com

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Technology seems to be the industry of choice for many of today’s aspiring business owners. It’s a broad, fast-growing field that attracts investors and venture capitalists and, if you succeed, the payout potential is enormous. While it’s easy to understand the allure, some entrepreneurs fail to consider the unique risks they’ll face in the competitive world of technology. Here are seven challenges you’ll likely come up against, along with tips for how to overcome them.

Challenges your tech startup will face

Many tech startups are familiar with these common challenges, so it’s essential to be prepared to navigate them before starting a business.

1. Tech startups face constant change.

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How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile | businessnewsdaily.com

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The business-oriented social media platform LinkedIn can be an effective tool for professionals and entrepreneurs looking to advance their careers and promote their brands. Whether you’re conducting a job search, looking for partners, or simply trying to attract more business, LinkedIn may offer plenty of opportunities.

However, to gain the benefits of using LinkedIn for business or your career, you need to approach it effectively. That means avoiding overused buzzwords that convey little and serve only to make you blend in with the crowd. If you’re taking to LinkedIn you want to stand out, so avoid these buzzwords to make your profile appear unique and engaging.

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How Paris Became a 15-minute city | Fast Company

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Four years ago, Paris embraced the idea of the 15-minute city—the concept that you should be able to live a short walk or bike ride from work, school, stores, and other aspects of daily life.

Since then, the city has radically changed. There are now 746 miles of protected bike lanes, and more Parisians bike than drive. Empty offices have been redeveloped with housing, coworking spaces, gyms, shops, and other uses under one roof. The mayor recently said that 2025 would be the year of “hyper-proximity,” with even more focus on bringing services to each neighborhood so people don’t have to get in the car every time they need to run an errand.

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Tesla may be floundering—but Ford’s EV sales tell a different story | Fast Company

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Tesla, you may have heard, is going through a rough patch, and the company represents a large enough share of U.S. electric vehicle sales that its problems could lead to a down year for the entire market.

But that hasn’t happened—at least not yet—partly because several other brands’ EV sales have risen to take the sting out of Tesla’s decline.

Ford is looking especially good, with year-to-date sales through April of 28,252 EVs, an increase of 97% from the same period last year. That makes Ford the country’s second-leading EV brand, although Tesla still outsells Ford’s EVs at a rate of about seven to one.

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How to Close a Small Business in 6 Steps | All business

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The reasons to close a business vary. Some entrepreneurs do it out of necessity, knowing that the business has simply run its course. Others may choose to close one business in order to start a new venture and to focus their attention on the new endeavor.

Closing a storefront requires more than simply locking the doors and putting up an “out of business” sign on the door. It’s important to properly file a dissolution and dissolve the business with its state of incorporation. A dissolution is a formal closure of a business with the state. Businesses may be voluntarily or involuntarily dissolved. A voluntary dissolution, for example, is one where a small business owner chooses to dissolve the business and file articles of dissolution to terminate it. Involuntary dissolutions, on the other hand, may occur to businesses in bad standing with the state. If these businesses do not take action to get back into compliance, the state may dissolve the business, and even decide to shutter it for good.

How do you file for a dissolution? Let’s take a look at what it means to properly dissolve a small business.

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