Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6352973228112
Is Acorns profitable?
While specific profitability information isn't provided, Acorns has shown strong revenue growth. The company's revenue increased from $44 million in 2019 to $71 million in 2020, a 61% growth. Acorns was projected to generate $309 million in revenue by 2023. However, it's important to note that rapid growth and high revenue don't necessarily equate to profitability, especially for fintech startups focusing on user acquisition and product development.
How much is Acorns worth?
As of its last funding round in March 2022, Acorns had a post-money valuation of $1.8 billion. It's important to note that this valuation is for a private company and may differ from a potential public market cap. Valuations can fluctuate based on market conditions, company performance, and investor sentiment. Acorns had previously planned a $2.2 billion SPAC merger but called it off due to market conditions, indicating the volatility of private company valuations.
https://www.linqto.com/how-to-invest/how-to-invest-in-acorns-2024/
Partha Seetala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os5by3jKUvc
TelecomTV’s Guy Daniels previews the programmes for this year’s AI-Native Telco Summit – back for a second year. Find out what topics are being covered and who we have as guest speakers. Get an early look at the three panel discussions, with selected highlights. Don’t forget to take part in our poll and to send in your questions for the live Q&A shows – we have one per day, during which our panellists will return to answer as many of your questions as they can. If you haven’t yet done so, please register now – it’s free to view for all members of our community.
Featuring:
Aaron Boasman-Patel, Vice President Innovation, TM Forum
Alex Jinsung Choi, Principal Fellow, Research Institute of Advanced Technology, SoftBank Corp., Chair of the AI-RAN Alliance
Antonio Guzmán, Director of Discovery and Innovation, Telefónica Digital Innovation
Beth Cohen, SDN Network Product Strategy, Verizon Business Group
Danielle Rios, Acting CEO, Totogi
Manish Singh, CTO, Telecom Systems Business, Dell Technologies
Martin Halstead, Senior Distinguished Technologist, Aruba Telco Solutions, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Michael Clegg, Vice President and General Manager for 5G and Edge, Supermicro
Patrick Kelly, Founder and Principal Analyst, Appledore Research
Paul Miller, Chief Technology Officer, Wind River
Rahul Atri, President, OSS Business Unit, Rakuten Symphony
Scott Cadzow, Chair of ETSI TC Securing Artificial Intelligence (SAI)
Shujaur Mufti, Senior Manager, Global Partners Solution Architecture Telecom, Media, & Entertainment, Red Hat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_HyR-S_EQY
September 23, 2024
Has cloud native now entered the mainstream within telcos? Are we now seeing significant uptake in cloud-native infra and cloud-native function (CNF) workloads, and have internal software teams reorganised around cloud-native principles? This panel explores the growth of cloud-native technologies and addresses key challenges, such as expertise gaps, operational complexities and vendor software maturity, while highlighting success stories in cloud-native telco deployments. We also look to the future to see how developments within the cloud-native, open-source community may impact telcos in the coming years.
Featuring:
Amajit Gupta, Group CEO & MD, Lightstorm
Balaji Subramaniam, Director of Product Line Management, Blue Planet, a division of Ciena
Juan Carlos Garcia, Senior Technology and Innovation Advisor, Independent
Mark Longwell, Director, Telco and Edge Alliances, Hybrid Platforms Business Unit, Red Hat
Partha Seetala, President, Cloud Business Unit, Rakuten Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5nLru49GFM
- Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts also partner to bring Buddycom to companies across the Rakuten Ecosystem through the “Rakuten Mobile Buddycom Set” package.
Tokyo, October 15, 2024 – Rakuten Group, Inc. and Science Arts, Inc. today announced that they have signed a capital and business alliance agreement to deepen their collaborations across a range of initiatives, and strengthen technological and business synergies.
In addition, Rakuten Mobile, Inc. and Science Arts have entered into a business alliance agreement to drive sales for a package deal that combines Rakuten Mobile’s Rakuten Saikyo Plan Business for enterprise customers with Science Arts' communication platform "Buddycom."
Rakuten, Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts also signed a basic agreement to jointly develop solutions that enhance business operation efficiencies for Rakuten’s partner companies by integrating Rakuten's AI technology and solution suite with Buddycom.
Mickey Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten Group, commented, "With this new alliance, we look forward to deepening our collaboration with Science Arts across the Rakuten Ecosystem, spanning mobile, digital transformation and beyond. By combining the power of Rakuten's AI technology and solution suite with Buddycom, we aim to significantly improve operational and marketing efficiency for our partner companies, driving growth and maximizing corporate value."
Hidekazu Hiraoka, President and CEO, Science Arts, commented, "We are delighted to strengthen our collaborative relationship with Rakuten and Rakuten Mobile to create new value together. Integrating Rakuten's AI technology with Buddycom will enhance service features and convenience, enabling us to deliver the future of digital transformation to frontline workers and promote brighter and happier workplaces."
About the Business Alliance and Basic Agreement
Beginning in January 2024, Rakuten Mobile began offering Buddycom as a solution for corporate clients, and from April 2024, the company introduced the Rakuten Mobile Buddycom Set for accommodation facilities registered with Rakuten Travel, promoting digital transformation and operational efficiencies for frontline workers in the service industry and beyond. In the future, based on their business alliance, Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts will expand sales for the Rakuten Mobile Buddycom Set to Rakuten Ichiba and partner companies from across the Rakuten Ecosystem, further driving digital transformation and operational efficiencies by providing customized packages designed to meet the needs of different markets.
In addition, under the basic agreement, Rakuten will leverage its AI technologies and suite of solutions in collaboration with Science Arts to further enhance Buddycom, making it even more user-friendly and intuitive as a voice solution that addresses the needs of frontline workers. This joint development aims to improve operational efficiency for Rakuten’s partner companies.
The three companies will continue to explore ways to provide additional value by utilizing data assets and AI to enhance corporate customers’ operational efficiency.
About the Capital Alliance
Rakuten's plans for investment in Science Arts are as follows.
Investment method: Subscription of new shares via third-party allotment
Number of shares subscribed: 819,000 shares
Investment amount: 434,070,000 yen
Investment ratio (voting rights basis): 10.17%
Payment date: October 31, 2024 (planned)
https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/...20241015_01_lang_en
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
While the rollout of O-RAN has experienced a multitude of delays, we expect large-scale rollouts of O-RAN to take shape in 2025 and 2026, culminating in the deployment of over two million O-RAN-compliant base stations in 2029. This acceleration of O-RAN rollouts will be driven by key operators such as AT&T and Vodafone, all of whom have signed significant deals for O-RAN infrastructure development or begun significant O-RAN RFQs.
As the above infographic illustrates, ten countries have begun deployment or seen commercial launches of O-RAN services, including Canada, Peru, India, Japan, Romania, the UK, and the US. An additional five are also currently field testing O-RAN, including Brazil, Spain, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
https://www.juniperresearch.com/resources/...ead-of-open-ran-in-2024/
In der dynamischen Welt der Connected TV (CTV)-Werbung ist das Verständnis der Marktdynamik und -nuancen entscheidend. Unser neuester Bericht, „The New Frontier of Advertising: Navigating the European Connected TV Market“, der gemeinsam mit Google Ad Manager erstellt wurde, taucht tief in die europäische CTV-Werbelandschaft ein.
https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/de-de/...europaeischen-ctv-markt/
October 2024, Japan Report
Rakuten Mobile wins both 5G speed awards, but au retains Download Speed Experience
Once again, Rakuten Mobile users enjoy the fastest 5G speeds in Japan. The operator wins the 5G Download Speed award outright with a score of 176.5Mbps, beating au by 21Mbps. Rakuten Mobile also defends the 5G Upload Speed award outright with a score of 27Mbps. While Rakuten Mobile remains the sole winner of Upload Speed Experience, au holds Download Speed Experience in a firm grip, with average download speeds clocking in at 54.7Mbps.
https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2024/10/japan/...etwork-experience
Inside Track Episode 3: Partha Seetala, President, Cloud Business Unit
October 15, 2024
In Episode 3 of Inside Track, Partha Seetala, President of Rakuten Symphony’s Cloud Business Unit explains why AI education is essential in order to ensure long-term job security. When combined with domain expertise, it can create “magic”, he said. Seetala also discussed ways that the Cloud BU will incorporate AI into its products in the near future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu0B6Ibkebo
The Japanese E-Commerce Payment market is expected to reach US$ 253.04 Billion in 2023 to US$ 759.54 Billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 12.99 % from 2024 to 2032. Japan's e-commerce platforms are rapidly expanding, government activities supporting digital payments are encouraging, and consumers' growing demand for cashless transactions are the main drivers of this robust growth.
The need for e-commerce payment solutions has grown dramatically in Japan due to the country's e-commerce industry's explosive rise. There is an increasing need for safe, practical, and effective payment options as more people shop online. Digital payment methods such as online banking and mobile wallets provide a smooth and convenient transaction experience that suits the tastes of tech-savvy customers.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...merce-payment-market-090300025.html
Moderation
Zeitpunkt: 18.10.24 11:32
Aktion: Löschung des Beitrages
Kommentar: Moderation auf Wunsch des Verfassers
Zeitpunkt: 18.10.24 11:32
Aktion: Löschung des Beitrages
Kommentar: Moderation auf Wunsch des Verfassers
28.49+0.27(+0.96%)
At close: October 17 at 4:00 PM EDT
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ASTS/
Rakuten owning 31,020,155 shares of AST SpaceMobile
31,020,155 shares has a value of $884 million
11 hours ago
Rakuten Chief AI & Data officer Ting Cai outlined the company’s latest developments in AI and shared his vision for the future of the technology in front of a packed business conference audience at Rakuten Optimism 2024.
AI and Omotenashi: Designing AI that proactively drives value
Cai opened the presentation by referencing a 2016 blog post where Rakuten Group Founder and CEO Mickey Mikitani stated, “I think we can all benefit from looking at how to use AI to deliver on the promise of omotenashi – the concept of achieving the height of possibilities in customer satisfaction, including the very anticipation of their wants and needs.”
This, Cai explained, is the core of Rakuten’s approach to AI. “We want to leverage AI to deliver the ultimate hospitality to our customers. Not only to meet their needs, but to anticipate what they want.”
Cai pointed to the recently released Stanford AI Index as a validation point for the opportunities in generative AI. The report estimates that global investment in generative AI grew to more than $25 billion in 2023, eight times the amount in 2022. Industry momentum is strong and growing stronger, and Rakuten is seizing the opportunities by leveraging Rakuten’s unique data, ubiquitous channels and operational excellence to utilize AI to augment human creativity.
Relentlessly pursuing innovation. Relentlessly pursuing safety.
He added that while Silicon Valley founders are known for encouraging a “move fast and break things” mentality, Rakuten takes a different approach – one that equally values a rapid pace of innovation and development, and an unwavering commitment to safety and trust.
This approach is deeply rooted in Rakuten’s AI Code of Ethics, a playbook that that sets guidelines on how the company can design, develop, test and deploy AI in ways that permit rapid innovation and experimentation, without ever compromising user trust or safety.
Cai then outlined the Rakuten AI Foundation and explained how by focusing on the fundamentals, like Rakuten’s unique data assets, powerful deep learning capabilities, and generative AI innovations, the company is well-positioned to scale AI to every part of the business. “We use our deep learning foundation to truly understand customer intent and personalize our services to their needs,” said Cai.
Cai dove deep into the underlying technology that’s powering Rakuten’s AI charge, starting with the concept of “embedding.” Embedding captures the meaning of words in mathematical terms, clustering similar entities together in the vector space, to help understand what a user means, not just what they say.
During the presentation, he cited an example where a customer comes to the Rakuten Ichiba online marketplace searching for an umbrella that provides “sun protection.” Embedding within the system will understand that this term is similar in meaning to “UV protection.” This association enhances the customer’s search, better matches them with relevant products and is now used with hundreds of millions of products across the Rakuten Ecosystem.
New similarities can be inferred using deep learning. To illustrate this point, Cai showed an example of how prescription glasses are categorized as “accessories” in the store but are also closely related to contact lenses, which are grouped in the “pharmaceuticals” category.
“Such discoveries of new relationships enable us to recommend related products to our users,” added Cai.
Deep learning is used to build applications for recommendations, search and ads in the Rakuten Ecosystem. Semantic search, which leverages deep learning, was launched this year with Rakuten Ichiba and last year with Rakuten Fashion, and the result thus far has been remarkable. Zero hit rate of customers (customers who search for products but cannot find any results), was reduced by almost 98 percent.
Rakuten is now extending this semantic understanding of words to visual search. Like word search, visual search uses transformer technology to break down images into patches and simulate them with words to predict the whole image. The Rakuten Ichiba mobile app uses this to allow customers to find more relevant search results from images they upload.
Improving customer experience with Rakuten AI for Rakuten Rewards
Following Ting on stage was Daniel Kellogg, Director of Analytics at Rakuten Rewards, who demonstrated Rakuten Rewards’ AI-powered solutions to address its most common customer service issue: discrepancies in Cash Back payments. Take for example a situation where a customer who bought a pair of sunglasses received a smaller Cash Back reward than they expected. Before AI, providing personalized answers instantly was costly and hard to deliver at scale. It required a team of highly-trained support staff who had to research the transaction, refer to a rule-based playbook, and then apply human judgement to the situation.
Rakuten Rewards is in the process of introducing an AI-powered workflow to answer inquiries of this nature instantly with messages tailored to the customer’s needs. Kellogg walked through a scenario where a customer did not receive the Cash Back they expected on a transaction. He started by entering the merchant name, date of purchase, expected Cash Back amount and order confirmation evidence in Rakuten Rewards customer service system to generate a claim ID.
From there, Rakuten Rewards’ support system generates an appropriate response based on factors like the customer’s purchase history, location and tone of their correspondence. After the order’s legitimacy has been analyzed and confirmed, “The AI system is intelligent enough to generate a member response and add the Cash Back amount to their Rakuten account,” shares Kellogg.
Kellogg expects this solution to resolve up to 90 percent of Rakuten Rewards’ customer inquiries, enabling its customer service personnel to dedicate their time to less-common issues that require direct human attention to solve.
“It delivers an experience that secures and deepens our customers’ trust and loyalty, while also reducing our operational costs by 90 percent,” he added.
Introducing Rakuten AI Universal Concierge
Cai and Zoey Zhao, a Rakuten AI product manager, unveiled Rakuten AI Universal Concierge – an experimental feature that enhances how customers experience the Rakuten Ecosystem.
Zhao explained that the Rakuten AI concierge provides a simple, unified way to look for products and services. She first demonstrated multimodal search with the Universal Concierge, using the example of a birthday gift search for a pet dog on Rakuten Ichiba. She uploaded a picture of the dog and provided a prompt asking if it had any gift recommendations. The application recognized that the dog was a poodle and provided ideas. Zhao then used her voice to ask the application for additional ideas on suitable raincoats for a dog. The speech from her mobile phone was recognized and resulted in further matching of dog raincoat products, with the application automatically listing suitable products.
This feature will be rolling out to select Rakuten services soon.
“By delivering personalized experiences to our customers, we increase our customer trust, earn their loyalty and deliver more business value to our merchants,” said Cai as he returned to the stage for closing remarks.
While Rakuten AI promises to continue bringing value to customers, Cai was clear that Rakuten AI is more than just that. “I believe Rakuten AI is a culture,” pointing to the culture of AI empowerment that defines Rakuten’s vision. “In the future we envision that AI will be a part of everyone’s lives… empowering people to accomplish more.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/...-strategy-at-rakuten-optimism-2024.html
1 Nutzer wurde vom Verfasser von der Diskussion ausgeschlossen: Scansoft