France has been hit by another infrastructure attack during the Olympics, a court rules that border guards need a warrant to look at your phone, and JP Morgan gets incredibly aggressive with adoption of AI in the financial services industry.
All this and more on the “AI will have a huge impact – and you can take that to the bank” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.
France has experienced a second major infrastructure attack in just days, raising additional security concerns around the Paris Olympic Games. Overnight on July 29, fiber optic cables were cut in several regions across France in what appears to be a coordinated act of sabotage.
Nicolas Guillaume, CEO of internet service provider Netalis, reported the incident on social media, describing it as “a new major sabotage of long distance cables.” The attack impacted major French telecommunications providers affecting six regions.
Notably, or thankfully for Olympic fans, Orange, the telecom provider for the Paris Games, was not affected by this attack.
This incident follows recent arson attacks that disrupted France’s high-speed rail networks just before the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin suggested far-left activists might be responsible, though he provided no specific evidence.
Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, strongly condemned these “cowardly and irresponsible acts,” confirming damage to fiber optic, telephone, and mobile phone lines.
As France hosts the Olympics, these attacks underscore the significant security challenges facing the country and highlight the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to coordinated sabotage efforts.
Sources include: Axios
A federal district court in New York has ruled that U.S. border agents must obtain a warrant before searching electronic devices of Americans and international travelers at border crossings. This decision, made on July 24, challenges the long-standing practice of warrantless searches at ports of entry.
The ruling stems from a criminal case involving Kurbonali Sultanov, a U.S. citizen whose phone was searched at JFK Airport in 2022. The judge cited concerns about both Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and First Amendment protections for freedom of speech, religion, and association.
Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute, praised the ruling, saying it “makes clear that border agents need a warrant before they can access what the Supreme Court has called ‘a window into a person’s life.'”
While the court ruled the search of Sultanov’s phone unconstitutional, the court took a rational approach and allowed the evidence, which is reported to include material abusive to children, to stand, citing the government’s good faith at the time of the search. One of those rare occurences where both law and justice were served.
This decision affects the U.S. Eastern District of New York, including major airports like JFK. It’s unclear if federal prosecutors will appeal.
The ruling could have far-reaching implications for border searches, which affected over 41,700 travelers in 2023 according to CBP data. As similar cases emerge in other jurisdictions, this issue may eventually reach the Supreme Court, unless lawmakers act to close the border search loophole legislatively.
Sources include: Tech Crunch
JPMorgan Chase is making waves in the financial sector with its aggressive AI-first strategy, setting itself apart from traditional investment banks. The US banking giant has recently announced the launch of an in-house generative AI tool for its employees, essentially creating its own version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
This new AI assistant is designed to perform tasks typically handled by human employees, potentially revolutionizing how work is done within the bank. The move highlights JPMorgan’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge AI technology into its operations, aiming to boost efficiency and productivity.
However, this bold step into AI territory comes with its own set of challenges. As with any implementation of generative AI in a highly regulated industry like banking, there are concerns about data privacy, security, and the potential for AI-generated errors or biases.
JPMorgan’s initiative underscores the growing trend of major corporations developing their own AI tools rather than relying solely on third-party solutions. This approach allows for greater customization and control over the AI’s capabilities and the data it accesses.
As JPMorgan continues to push the boundaries of AI adoption in banking, it’s likely to face both opportunities and hurdles. The financial industry will be watching closely to see how this AI-first strategy plays out and whether it will set a new standard for technological innovation in banking.
While JP Morgan is pushing the limits on AI, it’s competition is not sitting still
Goldman Sachs is rolling out its GS AI Platform, a generative AI tool for code generation, to thousands of developers across the company.
Bank of America has invested in its own AI assistant named Erica, which helps customers with various banking tasks and financial advice.
Morgan Stanley is leveraging OpenAI’s technology to create an internal chatbot for its wealth management division.
Wells Fargo is exploring AI applications in fraud detection and customer service, including a virtual assistant named Fargo.
Citigroup, that has projected that as many as 67% of banking jobs would be impacted by AI with 54% automated and a further 12 to 13% augmented – has partnered with Google Cloud to develop AI-powered solutions for various banking operations and customer service.
There is no doubt that AI will have an enormous impact on financial services in the coming years.
Sources include: Analytics India
And that’s our show for today. You can find show notes at our news site technewsday.com or .ca take your pick.
Hashtag Trending is on summer hours but we will have a Thursday show and our weekend edition will be released early on Friday.
Thanks for listening. I’m your host Jim Love, have a Terrific Tuesday.
