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KEY POINTS • OpenAI’s ChatGPT can now “see, hear and speak,” the company said. • The update to the chatbot will roll out to paying users in the next two weeks, OpenAI said. • OpenAI’s big feature push comes alongside ever-rising stakes of the AI arms race among chatbot leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Anthropic. "OpenAI’s ChatGPT can now “see, hear and speak,” or, at least, understand spoken words, respond with a synthetic voice and process images, the company announced M(https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt-can-now-see-hear-and-speak)onday. The update to the chatbot — OpenAI’s biggest since the introduction of GPT-4 (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/openai-announces-gpt-4-says-beats-90percent-of-humans-on-sat.html)— allows users to opt into voice conversations on ChatGPT’s mobile app and choose from five different synthetic voices for the bot to respond with. Users will also be able to share images with ChatGPT and highlight areas of focus or analysis (think: “What kinds of clouds are these?”). The changes will be rolling out to paying users in the next two weeks, OpenAI said. While voice functionality will be limited to the iOS and Android apps, the image processing capabilities will be available on all platforms. The big feature push comes alongside ever-rising stakes of the artificial intelligence arms race among chatbot leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft,(https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/MSFT/) Google (https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOG/)and Anthropic. In an effort to encourage consumers to adopt generative AI into their daily lives, tech giants are racing to launch not only new chatbot apps,(https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/anthropic-an-openai-rival-opens-claude-2-ai-chatbot-to-the-public.html) but also new features, especially this summer. Google has announced a slew of updates to its Bard chatbot, and Microsoft added visual search to Bing. " Full Article Below https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/25/chatgpt-speak-listen-process-images-openai.html

May 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hello Alice, the fintech platform connecting 1.5 million small businesses to capital and resources is pleased to announce the dismissal of the lawsuit brought against it by America First Legal. The suit, which attempted to undermine Hello Alice's commitment to provide equitable access to capital and support for underrepresented entrepreneurs, has been dismissed by a federal judge in Ohio. The resolution in the case marks a significant win for the broader small business community. The judge in the case declared, "Plaintiffs fail to allege any injury in fact that would support their standing to seek either retrospective or prospective relief." In short, the judge found that the lawsuit did not allege a harm that could be remedied by the courts. The Court then stated that it "enters judgment in favor of all defendants." "This resolution marks a pivotal moment not only for our company but for the broader small business community in the United States," said Elizabeth Gore, co-founder and President of Hello Alice. "Facing a labor shortage, heightened interest rates, and inflation, this country needs its small business owners, and they, in return, need the capital and resources that programs like Hello Alice provide. We are thrilled for the judgment in favor of Hello Alice, as this represents one less threat to our nation's small business community and economy." "We are pleased by the resolution of this case. It beats back a meritless lawsuit and makes clear that the federal courts will not hear weak challenges such as these," said Neal Katyal, lead counsel from Hogan Lovells representing Hello Alice in the case. "The dismissal of this case is significant because the lawsuit would make it more difficult for diverse small businesses to compete in today's economy. The court ruled that this lawsuit is now over. The plaintiffs can try to appeal, but we are tremendously confident in our legal position, and are ready and willing to fight not just for Hello Alice, but the broader business community and ready to set an even broader precedent in the Court of Appeals." read full story: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-win-for-hello-alice-in-lawsuit-marking-a-significant-boost-for-the-small-business-community-302155566.html

However, "Business loan approval rates rose at Institutional Investors and Alternative Lenders." Alternative Lenders "Among non-bank lenders, approval rates of alternative lenders were up slightly from 27.8% in January to 27.9% in February." Read more below 👇 https://www.biz2credit.com/small-business-lending-index/february-2023

Last Thursday, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the federal supervisors of banks, issued 11 pages of warnings on what could go wrong when federally-insured banks get in bed with uninsured and untested financial technology companies. These financial technology companies are lovingly called Fintechs on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley where big money can be made by venture capitalists who bring the sexy-sounding Fintech startup as an IPO (Initial Public Offering) to investors on Wall Street. The Wall Street firm, in return, gets a nice payday in underwriting fees and a law firm also gets paid as counsel to the underwriters. Federal banking regulators have been in a frenzied scramble to deal with the growing fallout of disastrous marriages between Fintech and federally-insured banks. You might recall that after news broke that the fraudster crypto exchange, FTX, was using Silvergate Bank for deposits, there was turmoil at Silvergate, forcing it into eventual voluntary liquidation. (See Disgraced Silvergate Bank Hints It May Not Be Able to Cover All of Its Deposits; Fed Slaps It with a Cease and Desist Consent Order.) Then there is the mess with the Fintech payment app, Zelle. Things are so bad with that app that the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had to hold a hearing on May 21. The Chair of that Subcommittee, Richard Blumenthal, opened the hearing with this: “The banks of America have a dirty little secret. It’s called Zelle. And it’s not just Zelle, it’s other P2P paid platforms—apps that people use to transfer money among their bank accounts. In the case of Zelle, it is nearly instantaneous. It’s almost always irreversible. And it is owned by banks. “In fact, Zelle is the largest peer-to-peer payment app. It’s actually operated by Early Warning Services, which in turn is owned and operated by the seven largest banks. And Zelle is often integrated into consumers’ existing online bank accounts and mobile apps. “Zelle markets itself as ‘A fast and easy way to send and receive money.’ But, as this Committee has found, a fast and easy way to lose money is often what happens on Zelle. And that is probably a more accurate catchphrase for Zelle and for other P2P platforms as well. What distinguishes Zelle is speed, permanence, and bank ownership, and that’s really the reason why we are focusing on Zelle, but the other platforms deserve attention as well. In fact, it’s less well known than other payment apps like Cash App and Venmo, but Zelle is by far the largest—several times its nearest competitor, and it is approximately three times larger than its nearest rival. “Zelle transfers are nearly instant and irreversible, and by the time a consumer knows they’ve been scammed, usually it’s too late to do anything about it—at least according to Zelle and according to the banks that own, control, and in effect operate Zelle. “Just three banks, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo handled 73% of all Zelle transactions in 2023….” Read the rest of the story: Bank Regulators Issue Warnings on Fintech and Banking as Disasters Pile Up,https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/07/federal-bank-regulators-issue-warnings-on-fintech-and-banking-as-disasters-pile-up/

Small business lending fraud experienced a significant surge in 2023, with a 13.6% increase compared to the previous year, according to the 2024 Small Business Lending Fraud study by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The study, which surveyed 135 lenders, paints a concerning picture of the current state of fraud in the SMB lending sector. One of the most striking findings is that 64% of respondents expect fraud to continue growing over the next 12 months. This projection highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the industry in combating fraudulent activities. Read the rest of the story https://www.funderintel.com/post/13-6-surge-in-small-business-lending-scams

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A 24-year-old man from Miami pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Connecticut federal court for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme targeting Zelle users. According to court documents, Kader Gahmaal Biwaki Edmond confessed that he and his accomplices exploited Zelle users by sending fake text messages, pretending to be from their bank, to trick them into transferring money into the fraudsters' account. In these common scams, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) states, the victim is contacted through a deceptive text message appearing to be from their bank, they are asked if they authorized a Zelle transaction. When the victim denies it, they are told a bank representative will contact them. Then someone pretending to be from the bank informs the victim of an unauthorized transaction and asks for their help to fix it, authorities state. The fraudsters then link their phone number or email to a bank account via Zelle that isn't theirs. The victim is then told to 'reverse' the fake transaction by sending a Zelle payment thinking it's going to their account when in reality, the payment goes to the fraudsters' account. https://www.cbs12.com/news/local/florida-man-pleads-guilty-to-defrauding-zelle-users-crime-fraud-zelle-xashapp-venmo-money-mule-scam-money-connecticut-new-haven-mmiami-florida-5-21-2024

An interesting find over the weekend, a service that supposedly helps you repair your credit using AI. Here is what the website says: "No Need to Hire a Credit Repair Company! Don’t waste your time and money hiring a credit repair company to send generic disputes the 3 credit bureaus can legally reject. SmartDisputer© helps you create far more effective disputes than any credit repair company. Because you send them yourself, the credit bureaus won't reject them. Easily create effective disputes for all 3 credit bureaus and improve your credit score with SmartDisputer©." Our A.I. powered SmartDisputer© software is FREE! Only pay for a SmartCredit 3 credit bureau subscription-$29.99- and postage for your dispute letters." Thoughts? https://www.smartdisputer.com/