Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse has reignited debates about whether the US government is doing enough to regulate financial institutions – but another debate is brewing. Here’s an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on March 12: “Was there regulatory failure? Perhaps. SVB was regulated like a bank but looked more like a money-market fund. Then there’s this: In its proxy statement, SVB notes that besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women they also have “1 Black,” “1 LGBTQ+” and “2 Veterans.” I’m not
After days of turmoil, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) customers are now able to access their money held in the bank. What happened to SVB? It took just 24 hours for US tech’s favorite bank to fall from grace. SVB served nearly half of US VC-backed tech startups and investors, according to the FT. But interest rates rose, bond values shrank, and with the tech industry slowdown, deposit withdrawals rose too. In a crude oversimplification: companies and investors pulled their money out of SVB amid economic uncertainty. To meet depositor demands for
Priyanjali Gupta, a fourth-year computer science student specializing in data science at the Vellore Institute of Technology, went viral on LinkedIn after using AI to translate American sign language (ASL). Gupta got the idea from her mom, who pushed her to put her engineering degree to good use. “She taunted me,” she told Interesting Engineering. “But it made me contemplate what I could do with my knowledge and skillset.” “The dataset is made manually by running the Image Collection Python file that collects images from your webcam for or all the mentioned below signs
Whether we’re talking about ChatGPT, AI lawyers or the chatbot that lets you chat with Tupac in real time – generative AI is taking the world by storm. But these systems are also reproducing many of the same biases we see in the real world – from sexist performance reviews to racist images. Leading AI ethicist Dr Timnit Gebru, known for her groundbreaking research on the risks of large language models, was forced forced out of her position as the co-head of Google’s AI ethics team after raising issues of
The SANS Institute has partnered with Google to launch the SANS Cloud Diversity Academy (SCDA) as the White House releases it long-anticipated National Cybersecurity Strategy. SANS is the world’s largest provider of cybersecurity training and certifications. Now, through the SCDA, it is empowering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), women, and other underrepresented groups to launch their cybersecurity careers in a matter of months. The Academy will provide training in SANS courses and associated GIAC certifications and hands-on labs, focusing on cloud security. “As more businesses adopt cloud technology,
Brooklyn-based climate tech company BlocPower has raised $150 million to drive its mission of making America’s buildings greener. The round included over $24 million of Series B corporate equity led by VoLo Earth Ventures and $130 million of debt financing led by Goldman Sachs. Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Credit Suisse, Builders Vision, and New York State Ventures were among the investors. Making buildings greener 10% of all US greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels in homes and buildings for heating and cooking. Traditional heating and cooking appliances that run
Ernst & Young (EY) Metaverse Lab has announced that it will showcase Ancestral Archives, an interactive AI-enabled art installation created by artist-in-residence Josie Williams to spotlight the work of historic Black leaders. The EY Metaverse Lab program brings together artists and engineers to explore some of the world’s most challenging issues. For example, Williams is a creative and ‘afro-futurist’ working to combat bias and social injustice. Developed in collaboration with EY Metaverse Lab and NEW INC, the metaverse art installation will leverage Williams’ digital experience to showcase how AI and the metaverse can
Black-owned startup Robin AI has raised $10.5 million to transform the legal industry with its AI-driven contract editor. What is Robin AI? Robin AI is the brainchild of former Clifford Chance lawyer Richard Robinson and former machine learning research scientist James Clough. The startup trained its machine learning model on data from 4.5 million legal documents with input from in-house lawyers to create a ‘lawyer bot’ that can draft and edit legal contracts. On average, users can draft and negotiate contracts up to 80% faster, saving up to 75% on
Four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry has partnered with AI platform Simplicity to help increase the quality of life for city-dwellers across the country. Simplicity is an AI-driven platform offering a one-stop shop for everything happening in a city. Through cutting-edge technology, Simplicity aims to simplify government services, streamline communication, and enhance cities’ relationships with local communities. The platform is already in operation in over 30 major cities across the US, from New York City to Austin and Los Angeles to Cleveland and more. Curry’s involvement with Simplicity is a natural extension of
In an ideal world, the development of AI will come with no added biases. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. As many organizations look to find a solution to AI bias, reports suggest bringing more Black women into data science will help eliminate this issue – but is it true? Diversifying data science If the developers behind AI systems look, sound, and share the same life experiences, how can we expect to have a tool reflective of society? Novelist Chimamanda Adichie touched upon this when highlighting the dangers of “a single
