Techflier

Chandini Jain, CEO of Auquan. Auquan Auquan was founded in 2018 by Chandini Jain, a former analyst and derivatives trader. It launched an AI product in late 2023 that can automate research work usually done by analysts. It has since inked deals with UBS, Blue Owl Capital, and T. Rowe Price. The wave of fintechs building autonomous agents for finance firms designed to do the work of a junior analyst or banker is swelling. One such startup, Auquan, uses generative AI to automate the time-consuming but ubiquitous task of gathering and processing data and putting that information into a written template, like a due diligence report, an investment committee memo, or a pitch book. Demand for this kind of technology is heating up in the finance industry , which is often bogged down with manual processes around data management, processing, and analysis. Since launching in October 2023, Auquan has brought in close to $2 million in annual recurring revenue and secured UBS, T. Rowe Pri...

Trump speaking at the White House on Thursday following the crash. Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images Trump suggested on Thursday that diversity initiatives at the FAA led to a plane crash near DC. The president said he was offering a series of "very strong opinions and ideas" on what happened. He also criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance offered heated criticism on Thursday for diversity initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration following a deadly plane crash near Washington, DC. After calling for a moment of silence, Trump spent the bulk of his remarks in the White House briefing room laying out a series of diversity initiatives within the FAA that he suggested could have contributed to the crash , which took place in Wednesday evening. At the same time, Trump repeatedly acknowledged that he did not have direct evidence of a causal link between those initiatives and the crash....

Waymo plans to start testing autonomous vehicles in 10 new cities this year, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego, according to The Verge. However, this doesn’t mean the company will launch commercial operations in any of these cities — or even test them in autonomous mode. Waymo told The Verge it will send less […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/eGi3xvR via IFTTT

Starbucks is testing a new way of preparing orders that customers place through its mobile app. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images Starbucks is testing a new algorithm to help fill mobile orders. The algorithm prevents mobile orders from hitting Starbucks baristas all at once. The orders have overwhelmed stores and lengthened wait times, employees have said. Starbucks wants to make sure customers aren't caught up in counter chaos at busy times. The coffee chain has been struggling with how to serve walk-in customers as well as those who've ordered on the app without staff getting overwhelmed and consumers having to wait around. It says it's experimenting with a new algorithm in a few stores that "smooths out those rushes of mobile orders" that some baristas have complained about. Starbucks will also start to separate mobile and for-here orders using risers and shelves at the pick up counter, and is developing an option that would allow customers to s...

The author and her wife took a trip with their moms and love it. Courtesy of the author I traveled with my spouse, my mother, and my mother-in-law. We flew from Delaware to San Francisco; it was the best vacation ever. The trip was special because our moms were there with us. Many people think vacationing with one's mother-in-law sounds like a nightmare. Then add your own mother into the mix, and it's usually a recipe for disaster. However, flying across the country, from Delaware to San Francisco , with my spouse, mother-in-law, and mother was the best vacation I've ever taken, and it had little to do with the Golden Gate City. Don't get me wrong, San Francisco was amazing, and the trip down the coast was breathtaking. But the oohing and ahhing from the backseat as our mothers took it all in made the trip so special. I had time to explore alone with my mom Two of my favorite moments from our vacation were visiting Alcatraz Island and driving down (litera...

An aerial view of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp on December 19, 2019 in Oswiecim, Poland. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images It has been 80 years since the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration complex. First established in 1940, Auschwitz had a concentration camp, large gas chambers, and crematoria. More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including nearly one million Jews. It was the greatest tragedy of the Holocaust. In just five years, over one million people were murdered at Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camp. Auschwitz was established in 1940 and located in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city the Germans annexed. Between 1940 and 1945, it grew to include three main camp centers and a slew of subcamps — each of which were used for forced labor, torture, and mass killing. An estimated 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz during its five-year operation, and approximately 1.1 mill...

In Reid Hoffman’s new book Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future, the LinkedIn co-founder makes the case that AI can extend human agency — giving us more knowledge, better jobs, and improved lives — rather than reducing it. That doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the technology’s potential downsides. In fact, Hoffman (who […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tDMYOXv via IFTTT

The author kept waiting for her daughter to feel the magic of Disney World like she once did. Courtesy of the author Visiting Disney World is one of my core childhood memories. I took my daughter when she was 9 years old, expecting her to love it. I spent so much money, and it still felt like I wasn't doing anything right. Visiting Disney World in Orlando was one of my most magical childhood memories, and I couldn't wait to share the experience with my 9-year-old daughter Ruby. So this past October, after countless hours spent scrolling Disney travel blogs riddled with pop-up ads and thousands of dollars invested in airfare, hotel, and park tickets, we entered the gates of the Magic Kingdom. I knew I had made a mistake within an hour of being at the park. I kept waiting for the magic to happen, hoping that my child would delight in the roaming characters or that we'd collectively gasp at the site of Cinderella's castle . Instead, we weaved through seemingly...

Bill Gates told The Wall Street Journal that the Department of Government Efficiency "could come up with some good things." Mike Lawrence/Getty Images Bill Gates, in a recent Journal interview, said Elon Musk's DOGE could be "a valuable thing." Gates said the federal deficit will "create a financial problem" for the US if it isn't reduced. But the Microsoft cofounder also said it was important to retain vital programs. Bill Gates, in a recent Wall Street Journal interview, said the  Elon Musk -led Department of Government Efficiency could be a "valuable" effort, adding that it's important to reduce the size of the federal budget deficit. "I think the idea that looking at government expenditures on a sort of zero-based budgeting approach could be a valuable thing," he told the newspaper. "I'm amongst the people who think the deficit needs to be brought down because otherwise, it will create a financial prob...

The author is a firefighter in Washington state. Courtesy of Robert French After dropping out of college, I worked for AmeriCorps and then became a firefighter in Washington. I often fight wildfires, which can be grueling; I sometimes have little food and terrible shelter. Although it's a difficult job, I'm glad I can help save people's lives and homes. Last year, I fought wildfires on a fire engine with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. I worked in the Washington Methow Valley district, and whenever there was a wildfire in that area, they sent me and my fellow firefighters out to deal with it. While the conditions are sometimes grueling, I'm glad I could help out communities in some way. I took this job because it's where my expertise was I dropped out of college during the pandemic because I felt that college was not preparing me for real life or developing me into an adult. From there, I joined AmeriCorps and worked a couple of seaso...

Jesse Eisenberg. Nathan Congleton/NBC/Getty Images Jesse Eisenberg has criticized top tech leaders for getting involved in politics. The actor, who once played Mark Zuckerberg, said tech leaders should focus their money and attention elsewhere. Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos were among the tech billionaires who attended Trump's inauguration. Jesse Eisenberg has said that "tech bros" who have involved themselves in politics would be better off "doing good things for the world." The actor, who portrayed Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film " The Social Network ," made the comments during a recent episode of " Real Time With Bill Maher ." Eisenberg was asked by the show's host what he thought of the array of "tech bros" who attended President Donald Trump's inauguration earlier this month. The actor-director responded: "I look at it from a very specific perspective, which is if you're so rich and power...

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Valeriano Di Domenico/World Economic Forum Attendees at the World Economic Forum have given Europe's economy a serious bashing this week. They've blasted the red tape and bemoaned the cultural aversion to taking risks and praising loudly. Here's what Donald Trump, Larry Fink, Steve Schwarzman, Christine Lagarde, and others said. The US economy is the toast of Davos, while Europe has been thrown to the wolves at the elite gathering in the Swiss Alps this week. World leaders, business titans, and policy gurus have hailed America's resilient growth, can-do culture, free-flowing capital, and bright prospects if President Trump succeeds in bolstering investment and cutting regulations. In contrast, they called out widespread pessimism, siloed markets, suffocating regulations, and an aversion to taking risks and shouting out successes in Europe. Here are some of the best commen...

I purchased Virgin Voyages' "A Splash for Your Bash" package on a celebratory cruise with my friend. Emma Kershaw I purchased Virgin Voyages' $250 "A Splash for Your Bash" package to celebrate my 30th birthday. Our drinks at the bottomless brunch were good, but we could've bought them for only $25 per person. We didn't take advantage of many of the package perks, so this add-on wasn't a great value for us. My childhood best friend and I always said we would celebrate our 30th birthdays in style. So, to ring in this milestone year, we decided to go big and book a five-day Mayan Sol cruise with Virgin Voyages . Because this was a big celebration and we hadn't seen each other for a while, I decided to purchase Virgin Voyages' "A Splash for Your Bash" party-planning package as an add-on to our cruise. The package costs $250 per cabin and includes a bottomless brunch, a dinner party with curated drinks and desserts, and ...