Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

The artificial intelligence boom is real — but there’s more to the AI trade than chips alone, according to a credit investor.”This is a super-duper micro cycle that will outlast many investing careers,” said Scott Goodwin, the cofounder and managing partner of Diameter Capital Partners, a quote he attributed to his partner Jonathan Lewinsohn.AI represents what Diameter Capital sees as a long-running, disruptive cycle — but buying the most obvious winners isn’t the only way to play it, he said on the “Goldman Sachs Exchanges” podcast published on Friday.Diameter Capital, which manages approximately $25 billion in assets, has focused on…

Martha Stewart, 84, says her go-to workout routine hasn’t changed much over the years.”The amount of weights and things that I use are pretty much the same as they’ve always been, so I’m strong,” she said.She also drinks green juice every morning, made with fresh vegetables from her garden.Fitness trends come and go, but at 84, Martha Stewart remains loyal to the workout routine she has followed for years.”I’ve worked out ever since I can remember,” Stewart told Women’s Health in an interview published on Friday. Even outside the gym, she makes it a point to stay active.”I walk a…

The world’s largest technology companies are scrambling to manage a growing crisis affecting thousands of their employees on work visas, as new social media screening requirements trigger delays at US embassies and consulates worldwide.Google, Apple, Microsoft, and ServiceNow have all sent advisories to visa-holding employees in recent days, warning them against international travel and describing appointment delays stretching up to a year.The memos, sent by immigration law firms representing these companies or by their internal legal teams, paint a picture of mounting uncertainty for foreign workers who form a critical part of the tech industry’s workforce.The warnings come as American…

Schools are facing a growing problem of students using artificial intelligence to transform innocent images of classmates into sexually explicit deepfakes. The fallout from the spread of the manipulated photos and videos can create a nightmare for the victims. The challenge for schools was highlighted this fall when AI-generated nude images swept through a Louisiana middle school. Two boys ultimately were charged, but not before one of the victims was expelled for starting a fight with a boy she accused of creating the images of her and her friends.“While the ability to alter images has been available for decades, the…

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — The teasing was relentless. Nude images of a 13-year-old girl and her friends, generated by artificial intelligence, were circulating on social media and had become the talk of a Louisiana middle school. The girls begged for help, first from a school guidance counselor and then from a sheriff’s deputy assigned to their school. But the images were shared on Snapchat, an app that deletes messages seconds after they’re viewed, and the adults couldn’t find them. The principal had doubts they even existed.Among the kids, the pictures were still spreading. When the 13-year-old girl stepped onto the…

If there’s one lesson iRobot founder Colin Angle took from the company’s bankruptcy, it’s never to underestimate competitors.On December 14, iRobot, maker of the popular robotic vacuum Roomba, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will be acquired by its primary contract manufacturer, Chinese company Picea Robotics.Angle said one of his biggest takeaways as iRobot enters its next phase is that even market leaders must remain alert to competition from China.”It’s certainly the advent of this new type of competitor, the Chinese fast follower, who had access to the Chinese marketplace, which iRobot effectively did not,” he said on the…

When a power outage hit San Francisco on Saturday, local drivers had to navigate more than just darkened roads and inactive stoplights.Footage shared on social media shows some Waymo robotaxis stalled in traffic, clogging roadways and causing disruptions. One video on X showed at least five Waymos crowding an intersection, forcing human drivers to maneuver around them.A Waymo spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has suspended its services in the area because of the power outage.”Our teams are working diligently and in close coordination with city officials, and we are hopeful to bring our services back online soon. We…

Melanin Bee curves her spine like a stretching cat as she lets out a maniacal, forced laugh.The quick-fire pattern of manufactured giggles —“oh, hoo hoo hoo, eeh, ha ha ha”— soon ripples into genuine laughter, and she giddily kicks her feet.She’s practicing what she calls Laughasté, a hilarious yoga routine she created that is a descendant of “laughter clubs” that emerged in India in the 1990s. It feels awkward at first, but you fake it till you make it, she said.“It’s about allowing yourself to be OK with being awkward,” said Bee, a Los Angeles comedian and speaker. “Then you’re…

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Some 130 schoolchildren and staff abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month by gunmen have been released, police said Sunday.Gunmen seized at least 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state when they attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Papiri community on Nov. 21.Fifty escaped in the hours that followed and 100 schoolchildren were freed earlier this month. Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement that “the remaining batch of the abducted students” has now been released.“A total number of 130 victims including the staff have been released,” Abiodun…

Waymo suspended its robotaxi service in San Francisco on Saturday evening after a massive blackout appeared to leave many of its vehicles stalled on city streets. Numerous photos and videos posted to social media captured Waymo robotaxis stalled at roads and intersections as human drivers either passed them by or were stuck behind them. Waymo said on Saturday that it had temporarily suspended service in the city due to the blackout. Spokesperson Suzanne Philion provided a similar statement to TechCrunch on Sunday morning. “We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the widespread…