monaco gate tetiana bersheda :Rybolovlev

https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Monacogate-la-riposte-de-Tetiana-Bersheda-1369328

orcl buffet

ai china usa failing to deliver

China’s once-hot artificial intelligence sector is in a funk: spurned by investors, failing to deliver on cutting-edge technology and struggling to generate returns. It is a far cry from last year, when Beijing issued plans to lead the world in AI by 2030, venture capital investors were pumping up valuations and China’s big tech groups peppered their earnings callsliberallywiththeirAIambitions. Disillusionment with the progress of AI is not unique to China. In the US,IBM laid off engineers at its flagship AI IBM Watson in the summer. Earlier Gary Marcus, a psychology professor at New York University and longtime sceptic, lamented that “six decades into the history of AI, our bots do little more than play music, sweep floors and bid on advertisements”. But in China, where the hype — and funding — went into overdrive last year, the reversal has cut more deeply. China last year overtook the US in terms of private sector investment, pulling in just shy of $5bn, but the $1.6bn invested in the first six months of this year is less than one-third of US levels, according to ABIResearch. “[We’re] at a juncture where the generic use cases have been addressed,” said Lian Jye Su, principle analyst at the consultancy. “And building generic general purpose chatbots is much easier than specific algorithms for industries like banking, construction, or mining because you need industry knowledge andbuy-infromtheindustry.” That inflection point has combined withashortageofcomputingcapacityto power algorithms and machine learning. What is left is familiar ground for techinvestors:inflatedvaluations,overhyped pitches and threadbare monetisationmodels. “We feel it’s a little bit over-invested,” said Nisa Leung, managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners, a big investor in China tech. “Many companies are unable to ramp up their monetisation or they are over-promising their ability.” Venture capital appetite has waned as valuations have soared, a trend boosted bythedryingupofrenminbifunding. “If you had five engineers fromBaidu or Google starting with nothing — that company today may be valued at $60m to $80m. Nine months ago it would have been $110m,” said Kai-Fu Lee, who headed Google’s operations in China at and now runs Sinovation Ventures, a venturecapitalfirm. He anticipated further falls: “It probablyshouldbebelow$50m.” For ZhenFund, an early stage investor, the high point for machine learning and other AI investments was around 2012-15. “I don’t see too many innovative new AI start-ups at the moment,” said Anna Fang, chief executive and partner. While many see industry specific applications as the next big leap forward, there are still opportunities in what Wei Zhou, who led the investments in China tech at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers before setting up China Creation Ventures, called “good enough”technology. “US investors always want to invest in cutting edge technology, so for them they are always thinking of advanced AI,” he said. “But for us, we are looking for these kinds of ‘good enough’ AI to makeadifference.” As a case in point he cited a recent investment in an online English learning company that falls short of one-onone conversations with students but customises sufficient scenarios depending on the student’s response — wrong answer, correct answer — to make the userfeeltheyhavearealteacher. “It’snotmagical,”hesaid,butitbrings the cost of tuition own to under $1, he said. Such applications have the advantage of addressing China-specific problems, such as a dearth of Englishlanguage teachers, without requiring cutting edge technology or significant computingpower. Thelatterisperhapsthebiggestgapin China’s AI arsenal, and explains this year’s move by the big Chinese tech companies into hardware. Baidu, Huawei andAlibaba are among those working on building their own AI chipsets, and the ecommerce group is also spearheading a drive into quantum computing. Alibaba wants to have its first AI chips on the market next year, although there is some scepticism about the ability of Chinese companies to accelerate developmentinthefield. For now, the chips driving much of China’s AI are from US manufacturers such as Qualcomm or Nvidia, and the softwareisalsolargelyfromoverseas. “The simple fact is most of the large players in China use the US platforms and software tools such as TensorFlow,” wrote UBS analysts in a recent report, drawing an analogy to mobile phones, where popular Chinese apps sit atop AppleandGoogleoperatingsystems. China has been made starkly aware of this weakness. A US ban, since rescinded, on selling parts to handset maker ZTE as punishment for ignoring penalties meted out for sanction-busting sales to Iran, was a wake-up call for many China tech players. Building the chips and computing capacity also sits with Beijing’s aims, outlined in the Made in China 2025 industrial policy, to enhanceselfsufficiency. But there are large hurdles that China’s AI sector has yet to jump. Industries need to work together with tech companies to develop specialised AI, while tech companies need to increase their processing power and start-ups to bemorerealistic,saidMrSu. Even then, he warned: “It will be slower. Returns on investment will be lower.Itwilltakealongertimetorecoup investments.”

LOUISE LUCAS — SHENZHEN Pinduoduo, theTencent-backed ecommerce company that reached a peak valuation of $33bn after listing in July, has been accused of inflating revenues and falsely trimming losses in a scathing attack by the Texas-based activist fundBlueOrca. Shanghai-based Pinduoduo (PDD) is one of 30-odd Chinese tech companies that headed to the public markets this year. A wave of enthusiasm for the sector boosted valuations but a subsequent souring means that virtually all are now belowtheirlistingprices. Shares in Pinduoduo, which were pricedat$19initsUSinitialpublicoffering, closed on Wednesday slightly above that level. In a 42-page report, Blue Orca alleged Pinduoduo, founded by exGoogle engineer Colin Huang, made net losses last year that were 65 per cent greater than the amount disclosed to US investors. “PDD notes the Blue Orca report, which contains a series of incorrect suppositions,” said the company. “PDD is announcing its quarterly results on Tuesday 20 November and we will addresstheissuesraisedatthattime.” BlueOrcaisashort-sellerthatnotesin its report that “we will make money if thepriceofPDDstockdeclines”. “I have heard Pinduoduo was cooking its numbers before they were listed,” said one Hong Kong-based analyst. “I findthisclaimtobeincredible,asyou’ve got Tencent, Sequoia, and some of the world’s best minds looking at it, so I’m sure they’ve conducted due diligence for rudimentary stuff, such as revenue recognition.” The group’s shares rose 11.7 per cent inNasdaqtradingonWednesday. The company has been hit by a probe and a lawsuit in recent months. In August, China’s market regulator announced aninvestigationinto reports of counterfeit goods sold on the site. The same month diaper brand Daddy’s Choice alleged in a court filing in New York that products sold on the site infringeditsintellectualproperty. A class-action lawsuit filed in New York accused the group’s listing prospectus of containing false and misleading statements, including a failure to stopmerchantssellingfakegoods. Blue Orca, whose probe into Samsonite earlier this year ousted the chief executive of the luggage maker, alleged discrepancies between Pinduoduo’s regulatoryfilingsintheUSandChina. Numbers reported to China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce often conflict with US regulatory filings, partly — say analysts — due to company efforts to downplay earnings for tax reasons. But SAIC filings have also been used to shine a light on inflated numbers — of everything from earnings to staff—at US-listed Chinese companies that have subsequently seen theirsharepricestumble. Blue Orca also alleges the ecommerce company used an undisclosed company related to the chairman to hire staff — and that its headcount, as stated on the website, is 4.3 times that stated in its filings to the Securities Exchange Commission. Additional reporting by Emma Dunkley in HongKong

Die verhassten Weltbürger

https://www.zeit.de/2018/47/akademiker-weltbuerger-populismus-feindbild-afd
Der ehemalige SPDVorsitzende Sigmar Gabriel hat vor einigen Monaten seine Partei davor gewarnt, einer »postmodernen Globalisierung« anheimzufallen und Themen wie Klima- und Datenschutz oder die Ehe für alle in den Vordergrund zu rücken: »Wer die Arbeiter des Rust Belt verliert, dem werden die Hipster in Kalifornien auch nicht mehr helfen.« Intellektuelle der AufstehenBewegung um Sahra Wagenknecht haben den gesinnungsethisch verfeinerten Globalisten genauso im Blick wie Gesundheitsminister Jens Spahn, der in der ZEIT problematisiert hat, dass in manchen Berliner Cafés die Bedienungen vorzugsweise englisch sprechen. Die jetsettenden, »elitären Hipster« hätten sich von der Normalbevölkerung abgespalten. Vor wenigen Wochen hat auch der AfD-Vorsitzende Alexander Gauland eine »urbane Elite« ausgemacht, die sozial unter sich bleibe, aber eine kulturelle Buntheit propagiere. Die Wähler der AfD rekrutierten sich hingegen aus dem alten wirtschaftlichen Mittelstand, »der nicht einfach seine Unternehmen nach Indien verlagern kann«, und aus dem Prekariat, wo Heimat, die durch Einwanderer bedroht werde, noch »ein Wert an sich« sei. Die parteiübergreifende Neigung zu derartigen Beobachtungen ist leicht erklärbar. Man kann von rechts Identitätsverluste beklagen, von links globale Ausbeutungsmechanismen. Die Kritik am Kosmopoliten ist querfrontfähig: Rechte Überfremdungsängste und linke Globalisierungskritik reichen sich nicht erst heute freudig die Hand. Der DDR-Philosoph Ernst Hoffmann hatte 1949 in dem seinerzeit lebhaft diskutierten Artikel Die Stellung des Marxismus zum bürgerlichen Kosmopolitismus Weltbürgern vorgeworfen, völlig gleichgültig gegenüber ihrer »Heimat« zu sein. Die Weltanschauung des Kosmopoliten bestehe in der »zynischen Verachtung aller moralischen Bindungen und Verpflichtungen gegenüber seiner Nation«, in der »Verschacherung« und dem »Verrat seines Volkes«. Der westliche Kosmopolitismus arbeite gegen jede »nationale Eigenart« an, er feiere den »entwurzelten, artlosen, abstrakten, also unmenschlichen Menschen, entweder in der Gestalt des Weltbörsenjobbers oder in der Form der unterschiedslosen grauen Masse heimatloser Lohnsklaven«. Hier war bereits ein Zusammenhang zwischen international tätigen Konzernen, ortsungebundenen Freelancern und armen Arbeitsmigranten angedeutet, den Globalisierungsgewinnern und Globalisierungsverlierern, die durch ihre Mobilität an der Erosion des Bestehenden mitwirkten. 

“Most companies are using cash to buy back stock and make acquisitions, rather thaninvestin new facilities,”

“Most companies are using cash to buy back stock and make acquisitions, rather thaninvestin new facilities,” said Walter Price, a te

Beijing is tightening controls on domestic press to avoid negative news as growth slows

Unirule, one of China’s few independent economic think-tanks, was forced out of its Beijing headquarters earlier this year. Shen Hong, Unirule’s executive director, was this month prevented from leaving China to participate in a forum at Harvard University. He said immigration officia

1914-18, german dominance in europe , end of status quo

1914-18, german dominance in europe , end of status quo

tally,aboutwesternEuropebutabouta
struggleformasterybetweenGermany
and Russia. Each time German aggression sucked France and Britain into
war. Long before anyone had heard of
Adolf Hitler, the German chancellor
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
wrote in 1914 that his regime’s aim was
“toeliminateforalltimethatwhichhas
been termed the European balance of
power and to lay the foundations for
GermanpredominanceinEurope”.
The German problem received no
solution in the 1919 Versailles treaty.
The new order, inspired by Woodrow
Wilson, was crippled by the US president’sfailuretosecureSenateapproval
for the treaty and US membership of
the League of Nations. The US disengagedfromEuropeanaffairs,withbalefulconsequences.Thankfully,Franklin
DRooseveltandHarryTrumandidnot
make the same mistake in the 1940s.
Unlike Wilson, they knew the val

bruegel icarus science copy

bruegel icarus science copy

Some scientific discoveries
are better not being madeJackie Wullschlager begins her review
of Heaven on Earth by TJ Clark with a
familiar quotation from WH Auden
and reference to Bruegel’s glorious
picture of the fall of Icarus (“Paradise
lost”, Life & Arts, October 27). She
clearly hasn’t yet made her way to the
stupendous, once-in-a-lifetime
exhibition of Pieter Bruegel the Elder
in Vienna, at the Kunsthistorisches
Museum, because, if she had, like me
she would surely have been astonished
by the absence from the exhibition of
the said painting — and then dismayed
to discover that it is no longer
considered to be a Bruegel work.
Forensic art scholarship has
determined that the picture may be
based on an original by Bruegel, but
“Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” is
by a copyist and not his work. Some
scientific discoveries are better not
made: the absence of this picture —
indelibly seared in my mind, thanks to
Auden, and in the minds of many of my
generation, I’m sure, as a quintessential
product of the fevered genius of the
great Flemish master — is about the
only blemish in this otherwise faultless
and extraordinary show.Christopher EnglishHarare, Zimbabwe

benign neglect

benign neglect

Consider the office cubicle. Some people pile their desks with everything
from old newspapers to unwashed
mugs; others are fastidiously tidy. (I
fluctuate.) I’m not saying that people
with messy desks are more productive,
although there’s some evidence that
they are; I’m just saying that if your colleague is a messy-desker then he or she
shouldbeallowedtogetonwithit.
Support for this position comes from
a study conducted by two psychologists,
Alex Haslam and Craig Knight. A few
years ago they set up simple office
spaces in which they asked experimental subjects to spend an hour doing
administrativetasks.
Messrs Haslam and Knight wanted to
understand what made people productive and happy, and they tested four
arrangements in a randomised trial.
One was minimalist: chair, desk, bare
walls. A second was softened with tasteful prints and some greenery. Workers
werehappierthere,andgotmoredone.
The kicker comes with the third and
fourth arrangements. In each case,
workers were invited to rearrange the
pictures and pot-plants as they wished
before settling down to work. But while
some were then left to their labours,
others were second-guessed by an
experimenterwhosteppedinandfound
apretexttorearrangeeverything.
This, unsurprisingly, drove people
mad. “I wanted to hit you,” one participant later admitted. Empowering people to lay out their own space led to happier,moreproductiveworkers.Stripped
of that freedom, everyone’s productivityfellandsomefeltquiteill

But Jane Jacobs
argued in The Death And Life of Great
American Cities that cities desperately
need old buildings and not just glorious
masterpieces but “a good lot of plain,
ordinary, low-value old buildings,
includingsomerundownoldbuildings”.
Her reasoning: cities are always in
need of new experiments and economically marginal activities. “Neighbourhood bars . . . good bookshops . . . studios, galleries . . . hundreds of ordinary
enterprises” all need somewhere cheap.
There’s nothing wrong with new buildings, argued Ms Jacobs, frustratingly for
those who hold her up as a Nimby icon.
But they should not be built everywhere
all at once. Something has to be
neglected and run down, or the city has
nosoilfromwhichnewbudscanshoot.
There is always a balance to be struck.
Every old building was once new. Every
desk needs the occasional wipe. And my
daughter is currently engaged in an
extended programme of supervised
room-tidying. Yet neglect is undervalued. Sometimes we need to learn when
toleavewellalone.