It is easy to view the US government’s latest legal challenge to the power of Big Tech as a case of too little, too late. Years of almost negligent disregard from the trustbusters has allowed a handful of companies to entrench themselves in the booming digital markets. But as another lawsuit from Washington lands, there…
Read more
HCA Healthcare is making capital spending a priority, even as tough economic conditions are putting pressure on its bottom line. The Nashville, Tennessee-based for-profit system estimates $4.3 billion in capital spending in 2023, excluding acquisitions—a slight decrease from the close to $4.4 billion it spent in 2022. Last year’s spending came in higher than expected…
Read more
“Just one word . . . plastics” is the career advice offered by the family friend Mr McGuire to a bemused Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, in the 1967 movie The Graduate. A modern-day Mr McGuire might well advocate coding as the route to decently paid job security. Or he might have done before the tech industry axed…
Read more
Paradigm, a clinical trial technology company, has launched out of stealth with $203 million in Series A funding. Paradigm will use the money to build a clinical research platform for provider and biopharmaceutical customers. The company has also acquired Deep Lens, a clinical trial patient recruitment company focused on oncology, for an undisclosed price. Paradigm…
Read more
University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine on Thursday joined a growing list of elite schools to end their participation in U.S. News & World Report’s medical school rankings. In a letter to U.S. News, Dr. Mark Anderson, Pritzker’s dean, cited concerns about methodology and equity, asking U.S. News to convene stakeholders—including medical school applicants, current medical students…
Read more
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is moving to ease restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and other groups that traditionally face higher risks of HIV. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced draft guidelines that would do away with the current three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who have sex with…
Read more
A flat above a fried chicken shop in Notting Hill is an odd place to be at the heart of what has been called “one of the most important legal questions” of the 21st century. It is the registered office of Stability AI, an artificial intelligence group that is upsetting artists around the world. Stability…
Read more
Salesforce appointed three new directors to its board on Friday as the software giant seeks to fend off criticism from activist investors and turn round a business being hit hard by the broader tech downturn. The San Francisco-based group has appointed Arnold Donald, former chief executive of cruise operator Carnival Corporation, Sachin Mehra, chief financial…
Read more
The advent of human-sounding robots really exposes robot-sounding humans. No machine could sound as devoid of human feeling as the Amazon memo sent at the start of the year entitled: “Update from CEO Andy Jassy on role eliminations”. After taking a sideswipe at “one of our teammates [who] leaked this information externally”, Jassy failed to…
Read more
Blockades often rely on the co-operation of allies. The US has every reason to want Japan and the Netherlands to join its ban on exporting advanced semiconductor machinery to China. But governments are reluctant to undermine their tech champions. Expect close scrutiny of the fine print once an agreement is concluded. The Netherlands is expected…
Read more