Original author: Rob Price

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Original author: Sam Shead

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David Becker/Getty Images

US lawmakers are trying to regulate the internet of things. By 2020, more than 20 billion devices will be connected to the internet — but right now, it's incredibly insecure. Hundreds of thousands of webcams and other smart-home devices were recently hijacked by hackers, knocking Twitter and PayPal offline.

The internet of things is a massive security nightmare. US lawmakers are finally starting to try and fix that.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is introducing legislation that seeks to address vulnerabilities in computing devices embedded in everyday objects — known in the tech industry as the "internet of things" — which experts have long warned poses a significant threat to global cyber security.

The new bill would require vendors that provide internet-connected equipment to the U.S. government to ensure their products are patchable, and conform to industry security standards. It would also prohibit vendors from supplying devices that have unchangeable passwords or possess known security vulnerabilities.

Republicans Cory Gardner and Steve Daines and Democrats Mark Warner and Ron Wyden are sponsoring the legislation, which was drafted with input from technology experts at the Atlantic Council and Harvard University. A Senate aide who helped write the bill said that companion legislation in the House was expected soon.

"We're trying to take the lightest touch possible," Warner told Reuters in an interview. He added that the legislation was intended to remedy an "obvious market failure" that has left device manufacturers with little incentive to build with security in mind.

The legislation would allow federal agencies to ask the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for permission to buy some non-compliant devices if other controls, such as network segmentation, are in place. It would also expand legal protections for cyber researchers working in "good faith" to hack equipment to find vulnerabilities so manufacturers can patch previously unknown flaws.

As such, it's limited: It only applies to vendors supplying the US federal government. But it's a start.

The internet of things revolution is coming — and we need to be ready

Security researchers have long said that the ballooning array of online devices including cars, household appliances, speakers and medical equipment are not adequately protected from hackers who might attempt to steal personal information or launch sophisticated cyber attacks.

Between 20 billion and 30 billion devices are expected to be connected to the internet by 2020, researchers estimate, with a large percentage of them insecure.

As F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen previously told Business Insider, in the future it will be near-impossible to avoid the internet of things. He said:

"In five years time you go and buy a toaster, it — regardless of the toaster you buy, even if there’s no IoT features — it’s still gonna be an IoT toaster. It's still gonna call home to the manufacturer. And the reason this is gonna happen is it's gonna be so goddamn cheap to put in one chip to have it call home, that they're all going to do it, even if the benefits are very small.

"And the benefits will be analytics like 'ok, how many toasters do we have in use, how quickly do people take them into use when they buy them, how much do they toast, what kind of bread do they toast, how often do our toasters catch fire, where in London do we have our customers, do we have more on the East or West or South side? We have less customers on the South side, lets advertise more on the South side.' Things like that."

In other words, you won't even know that you're buying internet-connected products — so you won't be able to avoid it. And this is what makes the security debate so important.

But even though security for the internet of things has been a known problem for years, some manufacturers say they are not well equipped to produce cyber secure devices.

Hundreds of thousands of insecure webcams, digital records and other everyday devices were hijacked by hackers last October to support a major attack on internet infrastructure that temporarily knocked some web services offline, including Twitter, PayPal and Spotify.

The new legislation includes "reasonable security recommendations" that would be important to improve protection of federal government networks, said Ray O'Farrell, chief technology officer at cloud computing firm VMware. 

Original author: Reuters and Rob Price

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Original author: Leon Siciliano

Venture capitalists across Europe are "baffled" and "bewildered" by the size and frequency of the tech investments being made by Japanese tech giant SoftBank.

SoftBank shocked VCs worldwide last October when it announced plans to raise a $100 billion (£75 billion) "SoftBank Vision Fund" — a tech fund larger than any other on the planet.

Mark Tluszcz, the CEO of Mangrove Capital Partners, who made $200 million (£140 million) from a $2 million (£1.4 million) early investment into Skype, told Business Insider: "Most investors are thinking this is insane. This is crazy."

So far, SoftBank has raised $93 billion (£70 billion) from an eclectic mix of investors — including Apple, Qualcomm, Larry Ellison (the billionaire founder of Oracle), and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — and it appears to be investing the money at a phenomenal pace.

The investment thesis behind the fund was explained by Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, when it was announced.

"With the establishment of the SoftBank Vision Fund, we will be able to step up investments in technology companies globally," said Son, who is Japan's richest man. "Over the next decade, the SoftBank Vision Fund will be the biggest investor in the technology sector. We will further accelerate the information revolution by contributing to its development."

SoftBank has recently been declaring huge, multimillion pound tech investments and acquisitions almost every day.

 It paid £24 billion for UK chip designer ARM last July, then invested $502 million (£379 million) into London startup Improbable in May. Improbable creates virtual worlds that can run highly complex simulations. Elsewhere SoftBank reportedly took a $4 billion (£3 billion) stake in chip maker Nvidia the same month, and backed an indoor farming company called Plenty in a $200 million (£151 million) funding round in July.

Only two investments (Plenty and AI startup Brain Corp) have officially come out of the SoftBank Vision Fund but a SoftBank spokesperson said many others are expected to "draw on" the Vision Fund after they've passed certain internal approvals.

SoftBank's investments have taken many VCs by surprise

Improbable COO Peter Lipka, CEO Herman Narula, and CTO Rob Whithead. (left-right) Improbable

Tluszcz, who is based in Luxembourg and welcomes the fund himself as an early stage investor, said that some of the world's best known VC funds are concerned they'll be priced out of new startup funding rounds, adding that they won't have the same levels of capital to back the best startups over a sustained period of time. That essentially means they'll be left with a less valuable stake in the company when it exits.

"Now they're no longer the big boys on the block and they're going to have to adjust themselves," said Tluszcz. "It's going to drive up prices and they're moaning about it."

Two other London-based VCs, who spoke to Business Insider on the condition that we kept them anonymous, said they were "bewildered" and "baffled" by the SoftBank fund respectively. "I don't think it is a venture fund as much as a buyout fund for tech, but then they did Improbable," one said.

For fast-growing startups, SoftBank is offering them a new way to grow far faster than would have been previously possible. They can now jump from doing a Series A round to effectively raising a Series D or E round, Tluszcz said.

Deliveroo and Slack are rumoured to be SoftBank's next targets

There are a number of other large SoftBank investments in the pipeline, with reports suggesting food delivery service Deliveroo and enterprise messaging platform Slack are next.

GV general partner Tom Hulme. Flickr/PICNIC Network

Tom Hulme, a general partner at GV, formerly Google Ventures, added: "To their credit, they seem to be placing some very specific large bets and investing in public companies as well, which is very interesting."

"I think strategically ARM is a very interesting investment. We've tracked Improbable for a long time and think the idea of simulation-as-a-service is a really interesting investment. So it's going to be fun to watch it because the approach is so different to what the market is used to. I'm optimistic and excited to see how it plays out. I think net-net it will be a good thing for the ecosystem."

Matt Clifford, the CEO of company builder Entrepreneur First, also welcomed SoftBank's efforts. "I think it's positive and exciting to have investors with conviction in frontier technology and with very deep pockets," he said. "It's never been cheaper to start a company — but it's not got any less expensive to scale one. So ambitious startups do need access to large amounts of capital if they're to become independent tech giants rather than be bought by one.

"In that sense, I hope the Vision Fund's presence in the global tech ecosystem helps remove any artificial limits on how ambitious founders can be."

SoftBank declined to comment. 

Original author: Sam Shead

10 things in tech you need to know, August 2 - Business Insider

Original author: Rob Price

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Oxford. Oxford

LONDON — Oxford University, the centuries-old British education institution, is branching out into fintech.

The university's Saïd Business School announced on Wednesday that it will launch an online short course in fintech — financial technology for the uninitiated — that is designed to help prepare business executives for a future where more and more financial services functions are based around tech.

"Oxford Saïd has a commitment to preparing global executives for the challenges of both today and tomorrow," Peter Tufano, the Peter Moores Dean and Professor of Finance at the school, told Business Insider over email.

"Our faculty have been active in fintech research and teaching, up to and including starting fintech companies, so have a significant expertise to draw upon to help students in their journey."

Oxford has launched the programme in conjunction with educational technology firm GetSmarter, which was recently acquired by fellow ed-tech business 2U for $103 million (£78 million).

The course will run for 10 weeks, costing £2,500, and aims to teach people a broad range of skills relevant to fintech. The university's business school has run an in-person fintech programme in London in the past, Tufano noted.

The course will take "a systems approach to understanding fintech disruption across an array of dimensions:
money, markets, marketplaces, and infrastructure," Tufano told BI.

"While we touch on current topics such as bitcoin or AI, we also delve into the structure of financial systems themselves to put the current wave of technology-driven disruption in a broader, rigorous, and fundamentally grounded context.

"You can’t really understand the future directions that robo-advising or quantum computing will take the global financial system without appreciating the current state, the array of regulatory, business and technology architectures in place, and what’s motivating the changes we are starting to see play out."

Over 60 different leaders in the fintech space are included in the course in some capacity, with major names like US US online lender Prosper Marketplace, currency exchange platform Ripple, and UK clearing bank, ClearBank, featuring.

The course — which launches on October 9 — will be online-only initially but Tufano said that it could be integrated into traditional courses at the Saïd Business School in future.

"Programme content is always changing and we are certainly reviewing the possibility of integrating this content into other programmes," Tufano said, noting that Oxford's current MBA students will have the option to take part in the course.

Original author: Will Martin

Basta says companies like TransferWise will take years to catch up to their valuations. TransferWise

LONDON — The founder of a boutique, tech-focused merchant bank says Europe's fintech market is over-valued and consolidation will be necessary to justify the companies' price tags.

Victor Basta, cofounder and CEO of London-based Magister Advisors, wrote in a blog post shared with Business Insider ahead of publication: "Many fintech companies are valued too highly in financing rounds, and need years of performance for their ‘cash value’ to catch up to the financing round valuations.

"Whether it's TransferWise, Zopa, Revolut or a myriad of others, financing valuations have raced ahead of these companies’ value based on revenue and profits."

TransferWise was reportedly valued at $1.1 billion in its funding round last year. It said earlier this year that it is on track for revenues of £100 million in 2017 and should make its first ever operating profit. Revolut was reportedly valued at £300 million in a recent $66 million funding round. Its first year of full accounts show it lost £7.1 million on £2.3 million of revenue.

Basta told Business Insider over email: "TransferWise, Revolut etc. are not bad companies at all, it's the valuations that are going to force a long time horizon to make a return and that is far better done by strategic investors going forward."

Basta blames what he sees as the over-valuing of European fintech businesses for a lack of exits in the market: European stock market investors are not as tolerant of loss-making "story" stocks as US counterparts; and banks, who are likely buyers of fintech companies, can't afford the valuations given the losses.

He predicts that "many fintech companies will fail to raise still-larger rounds, and inevitably consolidation will begin to happen."

Basta told Business Insider over email: "Consolidation is definitely coming, not because the companies are over-valued, but because to deliver on their valuations they’ll have to become broader digital financial services companies (it’ll be hard to be an FX player worth $10 billion, for example).

"A quick broadening of products is now required again to deliver against the valuation, which inevitably forces many to think how they can do this."

Victor Basta, founder of Magiser Advisors. Magister Advisors

Basta pointed to TransferWise's recent launch of a multi-currency business account and plans for a debit card. The company began as simply an international money transfer service.

Basta said over email: "I would not be surprised to see a group of high-valued fintechs merge or combine to broaden quickly to ‘validate’ their valuation."

But he adds in his blog: "The issue is that much of this exit activity will happen at prices far below what investors are putting on well-known fintechs today."

Basta says industry consolidation "will be a great next stage for the European fintech industry," but adds that it could inevitably be "less attractive for investors who have ‘paid up’ so far to get into the best early stage fin-tech firms."

"Those investors often have paid a big price unrelated to revenue and profits, and are facing many more years to get to a less attractive exit than they expected," he writes.

Basta writes: "It takes decades not years to build a valuable fintech company – in our view many fintech’s require 10+ years to integrate into the existing financial system, broaden offerings, and build an enduring customer base.

"Working with money requires more trust, and more regulation, than selling little black dresses. It's just a fact that some VCs have chosen to ignore."

Magister Advisors has worked on deals worth over $2.5 billion since 2011, including the sale of several startups to Apple, Amazon's acquisition of LoveFilm, and fintech company Nutmeg's fundraising earlier this year. 

Original author: Oscar Williams-Grut

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"????> UBS Chief Operating Officer Axel Lehmann says AI will "fundamentally change the banking business" Benefits of blockchain to banking industry "still have to be proven," Lehmann says Automation will lead to the "elimination" of certain functions

UBS

LONDON – Of all the challenges faced by leaders of large investment banks, the growth of the financial technology industry, or fintech, is unique.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, fintech startups have boomed, making quick ground on a banking industry struggling to cope with new financial rules and legacy tech systems.

Unlike challenges such as Brexit, low global growth, and interest rates, fintech's impact is hard to predict and quantify for banks.

It has the potential to totally disrupt established business models or boost productivity and profitability. Or perhaps do both at the same time.

While no lender wants to become the next Nokia or Kodak, crushed by an innovation they failed to properly understand, it's not always clear how an organization with 100,000 employees should deal with the threats and opportunities posed by fintech.

Business Insider chatted with Axel Lehmann, chief operating officer of Swiss bank UBS, to ask how the organisation is coming to terms with fast-changing world of fintech.

Ben Moshinsky: Where are the main threats and opportunities to UBS from the fintech boom?

Axel Lehmann: True change is really coming from outside the industry. That is the key challenge we face as of today. The whole fintech discussion has changed, we have moved on from discussing whether a revolution is taking place, and how the banks will become redundant, to a place where most banks are looking at collaborative efforts with other firms. This is why most of what we do in terms of technological development we do in partnership with fintech companies.

I don’t want to get blindsided. It’s less the technology, as such, providing a transformative element in the banking industry. It’s really alternative business models that have the potential to shake up everything and eat into our cake.

It is also full of opportunities. We, the banks, are operating from a position of strength from a customer perspective especially in terms of the amount of customer interaction, the know-how we can provide, and the services we can offer. You can’t create any of this overnight.

And secondly, we have a legacy infrastructure which can be regarded as a liability, but it’s also an asset. When the Trump election got through, for example, volatility was high. We have an infrastructure that can scale up in line with volatility, and that’s something you need to have.

So, in this regard, I’m personally optimistic. It’s easier, when you look to consumer industries, for example, Uber or WhatsApp, to disrupt a lightly regulated sector. But when you look at where we as banks are, you get into the highly regulated space immediately, when you talk about balance sheet and liquidity, and this makes this industry less easy to disrupt.

But no doubt, we still do have to be mindful that we’re not losing out on some of that less regulated space, particularly at the point of customer interaction.

BM: What's the most exciting technology on your radar?

AL: I truly believe that whole question of robotics and artificial intelligence over a time horizon of four to eight years will fundamentally change the banking business. As banks, we understand that our business is all about data. These technologies have the potential to really fundamentally change the way we operate in terms of getting smarter with the customer, understanding what kind of products we should offer and so on. That is definitely exciting.

BM: How will that affect headcount in big banks? Will bankers need new skills?

AL: I think it’s always that question, that people understandably want to ask, about possible headcount reductions. We were here 50 years ago when UBS was the first to roll out an ATM in Europe. The press was then speculating about how that would eliminate all the tellers and the branch network. Now history shows that this hasn’t really happened. In reality branch staff started to have different forms of customer service opportunities and I think the same will happen now more broadly in banking.

The jobs and the job profiles will completely change. Technology, and it’s my deep conviction, will support and complement the human capabilities. Of course, if I’m a retail customer with $10,000 to invest I might decide to do it all via a machine, but if I have seven figures I will need somebody to help me, to provide expert advice, and so the vital role of the relationship advisor definitely won’t disappear. Banking will stay a people's business.

So I don’t want to speculate if we have more or less people. We’ll have different jobs and the skill levels of those people will be different. Of course, there will likely be eliminations of some process functions. The more you implement robotics and automation, that will in part substitute processes that humans are doing today. However, I do think that probably what will happen is we will then see a significant increase in productivity and efficiency.

BM: How big a profitability driver will that be?

AL: This productivity will help drive profitability or absorb any additional costs that you have, in terms of further technological development or regulatory developments. It will be reinvested in other ways, either to enhance the franchise or deal with further regulation.

BM: How does a bank, like UBS with tens of thousands of employees, interact with a fintech startup of just a few people? What kind of cultural changes need to happen

AL: Dealing with fintechs is a cultural shift that needs to take place and you want to have the local people to innovate. At UBS we have a systematic process on how we expose ourselves to fintech companies. For example, we have a series of initiatives that we’re driving, such as our Future of Finance Challenge. This competition, which is happening at the moment, provides a forum for start-ups and growing companies to come and present their ideas to compete for support from UBS to accelerate their ideas. That’s the type of work we’re doing. We really want to take advantage of some of those fast-moving and smaller boats with great ideas and great software that we can scale up and use in our organisation.

BM: Is competition for those boats fierce? How do you make sure you invest enough time and money?

AL: UBS has a CHF2.1 billion net saving target, but nevertheless our IT spend is at a record level of more than 10% of revenues. We do not sacrifice mid-term and longer term development to make numbers for a quarter. Secondly, if you look to our overall positioning it is quite unique, and that gives me confidence. We’re the global leader in wealth management, which is one of the key areas to invest in digital. Every dollar we invest there, hopefully wisely, is helping us strengthen that franchise.

And then you look to the investment bank, where the key strength is advisory, FX, and in cash equities. In these businesses the electronic trading platforms are market leading and we’re making sure we focus on those segments where we have real competitive advantage. We are in Switzerland the number one universal bank, and here too we want to solidify our position as the number one digital bank.

BM: What do you think about the use of blockchain in finance

AL: Personally I would argue that other industries are probably better suited to a faster deployment of blockchain than finance, which is highly complicated. The devil is really in the detail. In our industry, you might see some private applications of blockchain technology, but I think the benefits are still to be proven. All the regulatory and legal contract certainty you need to have is still a while out, which will have a five to 10-year path. So a lot needs to happen in this regard.

BM: What do you make of the cryptocurrency boom, particularly in ICOs? Is it a bubble?

AL: I think cryptocurrency is a phenomenon but the jury is still out. Is it cash or is it an asset class? And the same goes for ICOs too.

You know you always look closely at these things, like P2P lending for example, that occur in this space. But you always need to go through a credit cycle to really fully understand what something like this is. Even in banking, when the banks were struggling to get through the crisis, there were thousands of other very smart people that tried to manage credit risk and got it wrong. I’m not sure other alternative forms would’ve come through the crisis in much better shape.

We see these new forms of market interactions, and the sun is shining. But when a storm breaks out there will be a cleansing and a cleaning, so I’m somewhat relaxed about that. Of course, we always have to monitor what’s ongoing, but I would not give too dramatic economic opportunities to those ventures at this point in time.

BM: Fintech is moving fast, can the regulators keep up? Where are the risks?

AL: We have to be mindful going forward. Regulation shouldn’t stifle innovation. The banks should welcome when regulators like the PRA in the UK or the MAS in Singapore open up to fin tech and allow companies to better explore potential changes in the business model. The one request we would have is a level playing field.

Increasingly regulation will have to shift to a more functional regulatory approach. At the moment, if I’m a bank I’m regulated like a bank. If I’m an insurance company, I’m regulated like an insurance company. However some of these lending platforms are partially unregulated although to the customer it looks the same as a regulated offering. To avoid regulatory arbitrage regulators will have to move to a more functional perspective.

Original author: Ben Moshinsky

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday defended his company’s decision to stop offering special apps that let Chinese users circumvent the country’s internet restrictions.

The recent removal of some VPN apps from Apple’s App Store in China has prompted criticism, with some accusing Apple of bowing to pressure from Beijing and placing its business interests above its values.

VPN, or virtual private network, apps allow users to connect directly and securely to the internet, bypassing the filters that the Chinese government uses to block certain sites (including Google, YouTube, and Facebook).

Apple's anti-VPN moveseemed at odds with the image it has sought to create for itself as a champion of freedom and privacy. In 2016, the company famously battled with the US FBI, refusing to help law-enforcement officials unlock an iPhone that belonged to one of the suspects in the December 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people.

Is there a double-standard?

Not at all, said Cook.

Cook was asked about Apple’s VPN move in China during the post-earnings conference call on Tuesday. He said that Apple was simply responding to stepped-up enforcement of Chinese regulations that require anyone operating a VPN to have a license from the government. He noted that the App Store still offered “hundreds” of VPN apps from developers based outside of China and that Apple's philosophy always involves "engaging" with governments it doesn't agree with.

Here’s why Cook said Apple's actions in China are not inconsistent with its values or its policies in the US:

"Some folks have tried to link it to the US situation last year. They’re very different. In the case of the US, the law in the US supported us. It was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there. Like we would if the US changed the law here, we would have to abide by it in both cases. That doesn’t mean that we don’t state our point of view in the appropriate way. We always do that."

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Original author: Alexei Oreskovic

* Amazon hiring for new team in San Diego, and looking for leader of new cloud services effort

* Amazon also starting "autonomous robot" program

* New efforts highlight Amazon's growing ambitions

Amazon is forming a couple of new teams to bolster its cloud and logistics businesses, according to new job listings seen by Business Insider. 

The online retail giant is launching a new group in San Diego focused on creating software to help manage the distribution of products across Amazon's network of warehouses. 

The job listing for Amazon's Supply Chain Optimization Technology group seeks an unspecified number of engineers. 

"This will be a highly innovative team that is building brand new, mission critical software for millions of customers," Amazon said in the job listing, noting that it is willing to relocate new hires to San Diego.

A separate recent job listing seeks a "leader and a founding member" of a new team to expand Amazon's Web Services Marketplace. 

AWS Marketplace is an online store that sells software that runs on Amazon's cloud services. The new team will "extend the types of software that can be purchased through the Marketplace," according to the listing. 

This project appears to be in the early stages, as the founding member will help craft the team's vision and have a large influence on the greater AWS marketplace strategy, according to a job listing.

The new teams reflect Amazon's rapid expansion and new priorities, as it focuses more on cloud computing — the company's most profitable division — and as expands the types of products it sells in the real world, particularly with its pending $13.7 billion acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods.

Amazon’s Supply Chain Optimization is an existing part of Amazon's operations. The group develops technology such as forward-looking algorithms that anticipate which items will be in high demand during a certain time period, as well as how to distribute these items geographically. The goal is to get products to customers as quickly and efficiently as possible.

A worker collects orders at Amazon's fulfillment center in Rugeley, central England in 2012.REUTERS/Phil Noble

Amazon is also starting a new autonomous robot program in its worldwide operations group. While this may raise speculative eyebrows, it's the least surprising of all three job openings. Amazon is known for using robotics in its warehouses, and even runs a separate website for its Amazon Robotics program — known as Kiva Systems until its acquisition by Amazon for $775 million in 2012. 

While mysterious job openings shed some light on what the $479 billion company has in the works, it's not rare for Amazon to launch new services. 

In Q2 earnings, CEO Jeff Bezos said that that company hired 30,000 new employees and launched over 400 significant AWS features and services over the quarter.

Amazon employees 382,400 people, according to its Q2 earnings. That's a 42% increase from the year before. 

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

Visit Markets Insider for constantly updated market quotes for individual stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies traded around the world. Go Now!

Original author: Becky Peterson

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AP

Last week, President Donald Trump said Apple and its CEO Tim Cook had personally promised to build three "big beautiful plants" in the United States.

Apple has been silent about Trump's remarks, declining to comment to Business Insider and scores of other newspapers and outlets that have asked.

On Tuesday, during Apple's earning call, Cook was asked point blank about what the President said about him, and the three "big, beautiful plants."

Cook dodged the direct question. 

Here's the exchange: 

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich: Government question, first of all: The president suggested that you may build three big beautiful plants. Wonder if you'd comment on if that's a possibility, either directly or indirectly. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Sure, starting with the US. Let me just take this question from a "what are we doing to increase jobs" [standpoint], which I think is probably where it's rooted. We've created 2 million jobs in the U.S. we're incredibly proud of that. We do view we have a responsibility in the US to increase economic activity, including increasing jobs. Because Apple could have only been created here. So as we look at that 2 million, there are three main categories of that, to further build on that momentum.

The first category is app development. About three quarters of the 2 million are app developers, and we are doing an enormous amount of things to deliver curriculum to K-12 with Swift Playgrounds, in the K-6 area, other curriculum as you proceed beyond grade 6. Just a couple of months ago, we announced a new curriculum that's focused on community schools, community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, for kids that did not have coding in their elementary and high school years. And so we're excited about that because we think it could increase the diversity of the developer community and the quantity. And we think that this area in general and all the things we do for the developer community will be the largest contribution Apple can make because this is the fastest growing job segment in the country and we think will be for quite some time.

If you look at the second area, we have purchased about $50 billion worth of goods and services from US-based suppliers. Some significant proportion of those are manufacturing-related, and so we've asked ourselves what we can do to increase this. And you may have seen at the beginning of the quarter, April I believe, we announced an advanced manufacturing fund, that we're initially placing $1 billion in, and we've already deployed $200 million of that. The first recipient is Corning, in Kentucky, and they'll be using that money to expand the plant to make very innovative glass. We purchased that glass and essentially export it to the world with iPhones and iPads. We think there's more of these we can do, there are probably several plants that can benefit from having some investment to grow or expand or even maybe set up shop in the US for the first time.

In the third area, we have about two-thirds of our employee base in the US despite only about one-third of our revenues being here. We have some things we'll say about that later in the year. So that's what we're doing from a job growth point of view, and we're very very proud of that.

Trump made the comments about the "big beautiful plants" to the Wall Street Journal. Trump gave the interview shortly before Foxconn, Apple's top manufacturing partner, announced a factory in Wisconsin.

Here's what Trump said: 

TRUMP: But one of the things we’re doing that, so Gary and I are working – because I said, you know, Gary, we’re going to have Foxconn come in. We’re going to have a lot of companies that are coming in. Foxconn’s coming in with a big plan. We have Tim Cook I spoke to, and he’s promised me three big plants – big, big, big. I said, you know, Tim, unless –

WSJ: Really? Where?

TRUMP: We’ll have to see. You can call him. But I said, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won’t consider my administration an economic success, OK? And he’s called me and he says, you know, they’re going forward, three big, beautiful plants. You’ll have to call him. I mean, maybe he won’t tell you what he tells me, but I believe he will do that. I really believe it.

Original author: Kif Leswing

Amancio Ortega is the second-richest man in the world.Getty Images / Xurxo Lobato

The mysterious founder of Zara just beat out Jeff Bezos to become the second-richest person in the world. 

Amancio Ortega claimed the No. 2 spot on the list of the world's richest people on Tuesday, Forbes reported. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos — who just last week beat out Bill Gates to briefly claim the title of the richest man in the world — dropped to the No. 3 position.

Bezos' drop is due to Amazon stock fluctuations, as the ecommerce company's stock has fallen nearly 5% since last Thursday. As of Tuesday afternoon, Forbes estimates Ortega's net worth to be $85.5 billion, compared to Bezos' estimated net worth of $84.6 billion.

Despite Ortega's enormous wealth, many people have never heard of him. Ortega is an incredibly private man, is rarely seen in public, and has given just a handful of interviews throughout his incredibly successful career.

That career began when Ortega founded fast-fashion giant Zara with his then-wife Rosalia in 1975. Today, his retail company Inditex SA — which owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear — has 7,385 outposts around the world.

While Ortega is immensely private, we do know a fair amount about him. Here's everything you need to know about the richest man in fashion. 

Ashley Lutz and Mallory Schlossberg contributed reporting to an earlier version of this article.

Original author: Kate Taylor and Will Martin

BI IntelligenceThis is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

Blockchain isn't just for bankers anymore. Most of the buzz around the distributed ledger has focused on its uses in finance, where it originated. But one of the most promising blockchain trends is its growing disruptive presence in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Companies are pioneering innovative new solutions that use blockchain for tasks like tracking goods as they move and change hands in the supply chain, monitoring the location and condition of assets like industrial machinery at remote work sites, or storing medical data, and they are transforming the IoT

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we analyze the developing role of blockchain in the IoT ecosystem. First, we look at how blockchain works, both generally and as part of an IoT solution. We then identify the areas most suited to use blockchain as part of larger IoT projects, specifically looking into the supply chain, asset tracking and monitoring, and health care. Finally, we discuss the challenges companies looking into blockchain solutions for IoT programs will face, and explore what the future holds for blockchain in the IoT.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Blockchain is emerging as a key tool with numerous applications throughout the IoT. Companies are developing innovative solutions that use blockchain to cut costs and improve services.While solutions address a number of potential pain points in the IoT, several challenges exist that could hold back widespread adoption. These issues include blockchain’s complexity, companies’ loss of control, regulation, and hardware requirements.Blockchain is poised to provide a new, powerful tool for companies developing and implementing IoT solutions, offering increased versatility, security, and efficiency.

In full, the report:

Explains how firms are already exploring ways to make use of blockchain in all sorts of IoT projects.Provides an overview of disruption in critical sectors including the supply chain and asset management.Analyzes how blockchain is poised to see rapid expansion as a tool used in IoT solutions that reduce costs, increase efficiency, and remove reliance on cloud-based platforms.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More NowPurchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

Original author: Peter Newman

James Van Der Beek is running a fake Diplo Twitter that's feuding with Denny's. Viceland

Denny's is feuding with a fake Diplo Twitter account run by James Van Der Beek, an actor made famous by his starring role in "Dawson's Creek."

The Twitter feud — which only gets more confusing the deeper you dig — began on Monday.

Mad Decent, a record label actually run by DJ/producer Diplo, accused Denny's of stealing a potato-centric joke from its Twitter account. 

"[D]enny's tweets have always been annoying but this is the last straw," the record label tweeted.

A Twitter user called Diplo, with the handle @_diplo_,  backed up Mad Decent, telling Denny's to "stay away" from his record label.

However, the Twitter account in question is not, in fact, run by Diplo. It is run by Van Der Beek, the actor who made his name playing Dawson Leery on "Dawson's Creek." 

Van Der Beek is playing Diplo in Viceland's "What Would Diplo Do?," a series that debuts on Thursday. The New York Times called the show a "satirical (and often flat-out mean) look at the life of an irrationally confident E.D.M. star." Apparently, what Diplo would do in this situation, in Van Der Beek's mind, is pick a fight with Denny's. 

Denny's responded by implying Diplo — who they called "Dilpo" — was a potato. 

"[I]t's making me cringe so hard imagining a room of the ad agency guys running this account high fiving eachother over this terrible comeback," Van Der Beek as Diplo tweeted in response. 

Denny's then offered to send "Dilpo" a basket of potatoes.  

It's unclear if the Denny's social media team thinks it is fighting with the actual DJ, realizes it is arguing with Van Der Beek, or if this is all some kind of promotion for the new show. The real Diplo, whose Twitter handle is @diplo, has not tweeted in response to the feud, and Van Der Beek as Diplo is signaling it all might just be a stunt. 

Business Insider has reached out to Denny's and will update this article if things start to make sense at all. 

Original author: Kate Taylor

Apple's iPad business is growing again.

After years of declining sales, the iPad business saw a boost last quarter, according to Apple's Q3 earnings report.

Apple sold 11.4 million iPads in the quarter, up from 9.95 million in the year-ago quarter. (That's 14% growth in unit sales.)

That could be due to the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which launched last month to glowing reviews. Apple also released a new version of the 9.7-inch iPad, which starts at a much lower price, $329. That likely drove a lot of sales.

The iPad is also scheduled to get a major upgrade with iOS 11, which will add more desktop-like features to the iPad.

This chart from BI Intelligence shows iPad sales and sales growth over time:

BI Intelligence

Original author: Steve Kovach

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Travis Kalanick is angling to return as Uber CEO. Reuters/Staff

Uber reportedly addressed rumors that Travis Kalanick will return as CEO of the ride-hailing giant during an Tuesday all-hands meeting.

General counsel Salle Yoo told employees that the company is "looking forward" in its search for CEO — an apparent attempt to quiet rumors that Kalanick will stage a comeback, BuzzFeed News reported.

Uber did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment.

Kalanick has been angling to return to Uber, a plan he has referred to as "Steve Jobs-ing it," according to a report in Recode earlier this week. Jobs, the legendary cofounder of Apple, returned to the company after being fired in 1985.

Five of Uber's major investors demanded Kalanick resign in June following a string of scandals that pointed to a toxic work environment. Kalanick's resignation was the culmination of a four-month investigation that resulted in 20 firings and 215 complaints about Uber's work environment.

Kalanick remains on the company's board of directors. More than 1,000 employees have circulated a petition in support of Kalanick's return.

Uber is narrowing down its list of potential CEO candidates to fewer than six and a decision is expected in September. Meg Whitman, the CEO of HPE, recently took herself out of the running.

Read BuzzFeed's full report here.

Original author: Danielle Muoio

July 31, 2017

The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries was one of two books I read this weekend (the other was Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness).

It was outstanding. I made it the August book club book for my dad and my brother. And then, this morning, I woke up to the following headlines.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who is paying attention. There is now a long history of governments trying to control the Internet. One approach over government is censoring the Internet; another is weaponizing it.

The Red Web covers Russia’s history around the Internet starting during the Cold War with a focus on the last twenty years. While Russia had a slow start, the Internet played a big part in both sides of things – the increasingly free flow of information combined with government control over information.

I believe we are at the very beginning of a new version of this battle. Since the beginning of humans, information – and the control of information – has been one of the key dynamics of power. At least we don’t need to use ravens anymore.  But, depending on which country you are in, they might be a good backup plan.

Also published on Medium.

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Original author: Brad Feld

Original author: Sramana Mitra

Original author: Sramana Mitra