Weekend Business News Roundup February 24, 2024
Capital One is buying Discover for $35 billion. Here's what to know and what comes next
Capital One announced Monday that it is acquiring the credit card company Discover in an all-stock deal valued at $35.3 billion. Combined, the two companies would form the largest credit card company in the U.S. by loan volume, according to Bloomberg. - Bruce Gil Read More
Google's AI was making really historically inaccurate pictures and now it's on ice
Google said Thursday that it was pausing its AI model’s ability to generate images of people after users pointed out that its Gemini AI was making historically inaccurate images of people, such as racially diverse Nazi-era German soldiers. - Britney Nguyen Read More
Discover stock is surging because Capital One wants to buy it
The stock price for Discover Financial Services was up almost 14% Tuesday afternoon after news that the credit card company would be acquired by Capital One. - Britney Nguyen Read More
Walmart stock just hit an all-time high and the retail giant is buying its own TV company
Walmart stock reached a record high during premarket trading on Tuesday. That came as the company reported strong fourth-quarter earnings and announced an agreement to buy the TV maker Vizio. - Bruce Gil Read More
American Airlines is raising fees for checking bags
Luggage tags are about to come with a higher price tag at one airline. American Airlines is changing its checked bag fees for domestic and international flights for the first time since 2018, the company announced Tuesday (Feb. 20). - Britney Nguyen Read More
An Amazon executive on the company's place in the AI race
When it comes to generative AI, the companies that come to mind are Google, Meta, and OpenAI. But don’t count Amazon out of the AI race.
One of Amazon’s biggest focuses is in cloud computing, where the company’s Amazon Web Services is a market leader. The online tech and retail giant has also built in-house chips to power the cloud and has partnered with OpenAI rival Anthropic on infrastructure that enables large-scale AI modeling. - Michelle Cheng Read More
Holiday Inn parent IHG is giving $1 billion back to investors because hotels are popular again
Holiday Inn’s parent company InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) did very well last year — so well that its revenue per room (a measure of success in the hotel world) was up 11% from 2019. - Laura Bratton Read More
OpenAI can't trademark GPT, feds say
Ever since OpenAI debuted its ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, effectively piquing the world’s interest in the technology and setting off an AI arms race, the company has been trying to prevent other businesses from using the acronym “GPT.” This month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said the answer was “no” (again). - Jody Serrano / Gizmodo Read More
Who is Sam Altman? The evolution of OpenAI's CEO
Before leading OpenAI, Sam Altman was the president of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has launched companies including Airbnb, Instacart, and Dropbox. - Michelle Cheng Read More
A Virgin Atlantic flight hit supersonic speed because of super strong winds
In a magical time called the 20th century, there were supersonic passenger jets that could fly rich people from New York to London in less than three hours. These days, numerous startups are promising to replicate that feat, but it turns out that if you want to fly faster than the speed of sound you just need to book your flight on a particularly windy day. - Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik Read More