Good morning. Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of the smart scheduling app Genee reflects a drive to add artificial intelligence to all of its digital experiences. The deal, announced Monday, could let Microsoft enhance its virtual assistant Cortana, to better compete with Alphabet Inc.’s Google Now and Apple Inc.’s Siri, as CIO Journal’s Angus Loten reports. With Genee, Cortana could automatically set up business meetings by interpreting keywords in email. Though AI gets much attention these days, many CIOs don’t have a clear idea about how to use the technology or maximize its value.
Microsoft is expanding its AI expertise partly through acquisition, recently buying Wand Labs, a smart messaging app, and SwiftKey, a tool that predicts what users want to type next. The Genee deal furthers “our ambition to bring intelligence to every digital experience,” wrote Rajesh Jha, vice president of Microsoft’s Outlook and Office 365 business, in a blog post about the acquisition. Terms were not disclosed. Genee last year raised $1.45 million in funding.
Wide-scale adoption of AI by business could change how people live and work, with doctors getting help with diagnoses, factories making goods on auto-pilot and retailers and service providers matching products to consumers, as discussed in this CIO Explainer about AI. Nasdaq Inc. is testing AI to identify and stop rogue traders through algorithms that flag unusual behavior after watching and learning how individuals behave at work. Such “holistic surveillance” raises ethics and privacy questions that CIOs must consider before experimenting with AI that approximates – and perhaps someday surpasses — human reasoning. What AI dilemmas do you foresee? Tell us.
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
- Police secure the street near a shopping mall (the Olympia Einkaufzentrum (OEZ) ) in Munich on July 22, 2016 following shootings in a suspected terror attack. / AFP PHOTO / STRSTR/AFP/Getty Images
- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Germany reconsiders strict privacy laws after attacks. Security proposals from German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière would allow for more video surveillance in public spaces and more monitoring of internet activity, writes The WSJ’s Zeke Turner. One proposal would mandate telecommunications and internet data stored for up to 10 weeks. Opponents say such surveillance would curtail rights without stopping crime, while giving the state more power. The proposals come after four terrorist attacks this year.
Auto parts suppliers to develop self-driving system. Delphi Automotive PLC and Mobileye NV are joining forces to build an autonomous driving system that can be plugged into vehicles beginning in 2019. The pair now supply sensors and software to carmakers but have struggled as those customers put plans in place to develop their own such gear, reports The Journal’s Mike Colias. In January, the two plan to demonstrate a system that can navigate tough road conditions, such as entering a roundabout and merging onto highways.
Five years in, Apple’s Tim Cook still faces questions. Replacing Steve Jobs, the iconic and iconoclast founder of Apple Inc. was never going to be easy, but Mr. Cook – handpicked by Mr. Jobs – likely never will escape the question of whether Apple’s best days are behind it, writes The Journal’s Steven Russolillo. Apple stock has more than doubled under Mr. Cook and it has outperformed the S&P 500. The company recently sold its billionth iPhone and the device accounts for two-thirds of its revenue. But iPhone sales are slowing, the iPad has slumped and the Apple Watch is no blockbuster. Investors now wonder whether there’s any more revolution left in the company.
Lyft denies it’s for sale. Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. has reportedly talked to several companies recently about partnerships but John Zimmer, Lyft’s president, disputed talk that the company is seeking to be acquired, according to Business Insider. The No. 2 firm in the ride-hailing business behind Uber Technologies Inc. hired Qatalyst Partners LP, a mergers and acquisitions banker, as The WSJ reported in June. Uber hired Morgan Stanley and other bankers to do a leveraged loan of up to $2 billion at about the same time, The WSJ said.
Kimberly-Clark uses software to find ‘dead wood.’ The consumer products company, in a bid to create a high-performance workforce, is crunching data with Workday Inc. human resources software to evaluate and track employees’ work. Kimberly-Clark Corp. is part of a movement to constant staff improvement. Some companies have eliminated annual performance reviews, including Adobe Systems Inc. and General Electric Co., writes The WSJ’s Lauren Weber. Since 2009, Kimberly-Clark has laid off about 2,900 mostly salaried workers world-wide. Before, low-performers “could and would hide in the weeds,” says Rick Herbert, a sales director who retired from Kimberly-Clark in 2014.
Android upgrade can open two apps at once. Side-by-side window support means users of devices running the so-called Nougat upgrade to the Android operating system can use two applications at the same time on one screen, writes Wired News. That’s handy for people who want to, say, check their calendars while watching videos. Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit started rolling out Nougat Monday on Nexus devices.
INTERNET OF THINGS
The Internet of Things isn’t things, but services. Smartphones, water pitchers, thermostats and all sorts of devices are outfitted with sensors but the real game is in helping consumers set up a network of smart equipment, writes The Journal’s Christopher Mims. Cable giant Comcast Corp. said in June it will acquire a unit of Icontrol Networks Inc. that helps set up smart homes. “When internet-connected devices are considered a service, consumers don’t have to worry about integrating gadgets,” he says.
EVERYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW
The $43 billion ChemChina-Sygenta deal, which is China’s most ambitious foreign takeover deal yet, cleared review by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investments security panel but faces scrutiny from the European Union. (WSJ)
Volatility in oil prices means crude can shift from bull to bear market on any given day, signaling that while traders want to push up prices, the overabundance of supply can’t support it. (WSJ)
The U.S. Federal Reserve braces for changes in how it sets monetary policy as growth in economic output stays stuck at a slow pace. (WSJ)
Scientists are shrinking animals and making them see-through to better study their anatomy to understand both normal function and the diseases that ail them. (WSJ)
Angus Loten contributed to this article. The Morning Download comes from the editors of CIO Journal and cues up the most important news in business technology every weekday morning. Send us your tips, compliments and complaints. You can get The Morning Download emailed to you by clicking http://on.wsj.com/TheMorningDownloadSignup.
