Money pours into AI, and other tech stories you may have missed

October 4, 2023 9:00 AM

Artificial intelligence doubles its share of U.S. startup funding, Intuit introduces QuickBooks Money, Google's AI assistant gets very personal, and seven other things that happened in technology this past month and how they'll impact your clients and your firm.

1. AI doubles its share of U.S. startup funding

Andrew Ostrovsky/agsandrew - Fotolia

Joanna Glasner of Crunchbase reported on the significant increase in AI investments in just one year. By comparison, investments in U.S. startups have dropped across sectors. Glasner noted that between 2018 and 2022, AI investments hovered at a certain level, then suddenly spiked this year. The explanation appears to involve the shrinking pool of investment dollars to new ventures — but primarily, it's AI's universal application where companies are seeing an increase in their core competency by educating themselves and incorporating the technology into their operation. (Source: Crunchbase)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: AI is the new hot area — but is it sustainable? My bet is that billions will be wasted in bad investments, but there will be a handful of AI companies that will not only change the world but make enormous profits for their investors and create the next generation of Zuckerbergs, Musks and Andreessens.

2. Intuit introduces QuickBooks Money

QuickBooks owners Intuit announced an "all-in-one payments and banking solution" for their client base. With no monthly fees, this gives small businesses the ability to dispatch invoices while utilizing the same system for their banking needs. By offering this tool, QuickBooks reaches a wider client-base — appealing to those who are seeking an online payments system but are not in need of accounting software. FDIC-insured, clients have the reassurance that their cash flow is both managed and protected. QuickBooks Checking operates like a standard checking account with the added bonus of sending, receiving and tracking payments. (Source: Business Wire)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: I have been predicting for years that banks are going to go into the accounting software business. But here's the reverse: an accounting software company going into the banking business. Kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

3. Google's AI assistant gets very personal

Attendees peer through portholes on the Google Inc. stand on the opening day of the MWC Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain.

Bloomberg/Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomber

Google Bard — Google's "conversational AI tool" — can now read your emails, plan trips, and "double check" answers after receiving a capability upgrade. It can now double check information derived from search queries — a notable change based on inaccuracies that have been reported since Bard's launch in March. The AI has also been integrated with apps like Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Flights and others. Bard Extensions support a scanning function where the AI can read through emails or documents and source information for a trip itinerary or a presentation. Extensions can be activated or switched off by the user. (Source: ARS Technica)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: This is great, but it's only a very first step. Google (and Microsoft) is now using generative AI to look at your data and retrieve responses. It's also doing better searching for external data. Next up: marrying the two and then, ultimately, using AI to perform actions on that data.

4. Introducing Intuit's AI-powered financial assistant

Intuit — parent company of QuickBooks and TurboTax — has announced Intuit Assist, a generative AI-powered financial assistant. Programmed to "fuel financial success" individuals and small businesses will now reap the benefits of Intuit Assist's ability to deliver astute, concrete answers to their financial questions. (Source: Business Wire)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: I wrote recently about the problem I see with Intuit's AI strategy in that — while generally good — it doesn't immediately address certain specific problems that its small-business customers need solved. This assistant is definitely a good first step towards addressing these problems. There's still a lot of work to go, but I'm confident that in the next few years my QuickBooks clients will be getting better and more accurate information to help them run their business thanks to AI.

5. New chat and collaboration features for Microsoft Teams

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

There are several new updates recently added to Microsoft Teams. (Source: Gadgets Now)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: Animated backgrounds make meetings more dynamic as participants can select from "Effects and Avatars" to jazz up their background. Chat messages have an edit feature allowing previously sent messages to be revised. Chats can also be scanned quickly in "compact mode" where "consecutive messages from the same sender are condensed and separated by line breaks." Another feature, "Microsoft Loop," allows users to organize and track important tasks to be completed.

6. Google Chat now plays nice with Slack and Teams

Google's campus in Mountain View, California

Michael Short/Bloomberg

Among recent news and announcements from Google is Google Chat's compatibility with collaboration platforms Slack and Microsoft Teams. Details around this include ongoing collaboration between Google and IT company Mio to achieve synchronization between platforms. Google reps conveyed the importance of interoperability between various chat platforms to avoid glitches that can result in lost messages or time-consuming monitoring of multiple platforms. (Source: Engadget)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: This is good news for customers that are using Slack, Teams and Google Workspace, and I'm always happy to see big tech platforms play nice with each other. I'm not sure why I would want to integrate my Workspace with Slack or Teams, given that I'm getting the features I need from it, but perhaps your business is missing some functionality that can be solved by this integration.

7. Banks are training AI as financial advisors

In the banking industry, chatbots are currently being programmed to interact with customers in an advisory capacity — addressing their financial questions and concerns — with the accuracy and insight of a financial planner. One example: finance company SoFi who has integrated Galileo, an AI customer service system reported to have "an uncanny human touch." (Source: PYMNTS)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: AI will absolutely disrupt the wealth management industry — but in a good way, I believe. Smart financial managers will use chatbots and artificial general intelligence to respond to common questions and execute certain transactions, and while that's being done, they'll have more time to provide a better and more personal human experience to their clients.

8. A 10-minute phone call endangers MGM resorts

A ransomware group known as ALPHV/BlackCat claims to have capitalized on a "social engineering" strategy and engaged with an individual on the MGM staff via LinkedIn — though this is yet to be confirmed. Immediately after the interaction, ransom demands were made but were unsuccessful. All told — again, according to the hackers — the subterfuge took 10 minutes. MGM was also hit with major disruptions to its operations (slot machines and payments systems). ALPHV/BlackCat is known to be very efficient in targeting individuals as a means for extortion (Source: Yahoo News/Engadget)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: Malware is getting smarter, thanks to AI, and things are only going to get worse. But we have the best defense available right at our disposal: common sense and training. All the tools in the world won't defend against our employees not having a process to follow based on training that they receive so they can recognize potentially harmful conversations, requests and attacks through deepfakes and other social engineering malware. Invest in this training and increase awareness.

9. Apple to move to USB-C format for iPhones

Customers shops in an Apple Inc. store in Sydney, Australia.

Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Apple is switching up the charging method for the new iPhone 15. Dating back to 2012, iPhones were charged with lightning ports. Now, as a result of a mandate approved by the European Union, electronic devices will be powered with USB-C chargers to "reduce electronic waste" as stated in a 2022 press release. For longtime customers of the iPhone, it will be both an adjustment and a benefit, as the USB-C can be used for other Apple devices. (Source: Fox Business)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: For God's sake what took you so long?

10. Amazon AI tools to help sellers write product descriptions

Amazon has activated its generative AI tool that will help merchants produce concise and attention-grabbing product descriptions. The company aims to simplify the process of detailing a product while creating engaging and enticing descriptions to "help consumers more confidently make purchase decisions." (Source: TechCrunch)

Why this is important for your firm and clients: In terms of how the process will work: Sellers only need to provide a brief description of their product and "Amazon will generate high-quality content for their review," as explained on their AI page. The new system is undoubtedly an upgrade; however, there are concerns that without some level of scrutiny by humans, mistakes might go unnoticed such as "incorrect product listings" that could potentially create discrepancies for Amazon.