#Artificial Intelligence

#Artificial Intelligence

PayPal announced this morning its agreement to acquire Cymbio, a Tel Aviv-based multi-channel orchestration platform founded in 2015. Cymbio automates brand-to-retailer connectivity, managing product data, inventory synchronization, order orchestration, and billing. The platform enables brands to sell across agentic surfaces such as Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ) Copilot and Perplexity, alongside traditional e-commerce channels. The deal builds on an existing relationship PayPal had with Cymbio to support its initial agentic commerce services, and PayPal Ventures invested in the company back in 2022.

If you purchased shares The Walt Disney Company ( NYSE:DIS) around 11 years ago, you might not have a heck of a lot to show for your investment. Undoubtedly, the stock is pretty much going for prices it went for just over a decade ago. And while it's been a real test of investor patience, it's clear that Disney shares have been a trap for many years,

Last year, one of the better performers among the Magnificent 7 was Meta Platforms Inc. ( NASDAQ: META). But its third-quarter earnings report raised investor concerns about the company's massive capital spending on artificial intelligence initiatives. In addition, Meta said it planned to make significant cuts to the budget of its Reality Labs metaverse division in the coming year. The stock is down 18.0% since the quarterly report was released.

As an investor for more than 50 years, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio told Fortune's Kamal Ahmed that, after studying the rises and declines of reserve currencies in major empires over the last 500 years, he sees the same patterns repeating "like a movie." It all boils down to five specific forces that interact-money and debt, domestic politics, world order, nature, and technology, Dalio said. Every issue today sits within the interaction of these forces and their long-term cycles, he said.

The weather is sunny and (relatively) warm in Davos, but there's a definite chill in the air. Maybe it's the heightened security. Maybe it's the long lines already forming. Maybe it's that there are reportedly a lot more people here than there have been in a long time. Whatever the case, everyone seems to be on edge. Multiple attendees told me they were already feeling exhausted, as if we were halfway through the week, even though we're just getting started.

Many of the people most affected by what we talk about here will never come to this conference,

We have entered a new world economy shaped by two fundamental forces: geoeconomic fragmentation and exponential innovation. In this environment, established cooperative and diplomatic frameworks are under pressure, requiring much more dialogue, imagination and entrepreneurship to regain forward momentum. At the same time, technology and innovation are being deployed at unprecedented speed, with companies playing an ever-greater role. These shifts are transforming how businesses operate across geographies.

His answer cut through the noise. "Look," he said, "in the end, there's only one thing that matters, which is trust. We're all in the trust business. That is the business. And the leaders who succeed are the ones who have a reservoir of trust." That idea has stayed with me because it's old wisdom that is increasingly forgotten. We are living through an era obsessed with speed, scale, and technology.

In the past, researchers studying peoples' experiences with addiction relied mostly on clinical observations and self-reported surveys. But only about 5% of people diagnosed with a substance use disorder seek formal treatment. They are only a small sliver of the population who have a substance use disorder-and until recently, there has been no straightforward way to capture the experiences of the other 95%.

Harry frowned. "I'm not seeing the value in it. Can you explain it clearly? Is there any other solution?" Tom leaned in. "This isn't making much sense. You could try this instead. It's simpler." Leina sighed. "Next time you present, put more thought into your reasoning." Meanwhile, Ron trembled with anxiety. He wanted to make a point but ended up rambling. This was his second failed attempt at defending his ideas.

"You might need to have 100 conversations to take on five or six cases," says AlphaLit founder and CEO Anand Upadhye.

Using A.I. for detecting ticket fraud follows the recent trend of A.I. making its way into snow sports. Recently, competition organizations like X Games and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) have experimented with using A.I. to assist with judging contests. Brands are also using A.I. to assist with creating graphics for their skis and snowboards. And it does not look like the A.I. train is slowing down any time soon.

Even more exceptional are when the people in those literal marriages extend their individual tendril-like professional paths toward each other, braiding them into endeavors that become something greater than either could have created alone. The "mine and yours" are rendered indistinguishable from one another. Such is the case with multidisciplinary artist Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg, a UC Berkeley professor of engineering and art practice. The Berkeley-based life and work partners' newest collaboration is "Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time and Technology."

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, , I sat down with prolific inventor Gil Hyatt, exploring his innovative journey and aspirations to leave a lasting legacy. Gil, known for his significant contributions to the field of electrical engineering and microcomputers, shared insightful anecdotes about his early days, his pioneering work in artificial intelligence, and his ambitions to benefit future generations. The Journey of an Inventor The path of Gil Hyatt was seemingly pre-destined.

Reid Hoffman doesn't do much in half measures. He cofounded LinkedIn, of course, and helped bankroll companies including Meta and Airbnb in their startup days. He has also fashioned himself, via books, podcasts, and other public appearances, as something of a public intellectual-a pro-capitalist philosopher who still insists that tech can be a force for good. Most recently, Hoffman has emerged as one of Silicon Valley's most prominent defenders of artificial intelligence.

Nick Fleisher learned that the hard way at McKinsey, where he helped elite law firms roll out tech tools, often with little enthusiasm from the lawyers expected to use them. "It was like pulling teeth," Fleisher said. That work led Fleisher to leave McKinsey and start a company in August. His startup, Sandstone, is aimed squarely at in-house legal teams instead of law firms, and Sequoia Capital is backing the idea.

Charlie Brooker's dystopian anthology series Black Mirror has been making us face the dark side of technology for 15 years now. In 2011, that meant live TV ransoms and capitalist reality shows. But last year, in Season 7, we saw memories brought to life, emotions run on subscription models, and the Hollywood remake machine going very literal. In the age of AI popping up everywhere, Black Mirror isn't going to stop reflecting real life any time soon - but what could possibly be next?

"There's interest across the board," Michael Kemper, MTA chief security officer, told THE CITY. "It's not only coming from the MTA, but from the business world, the AI business world, in working with us."