📈 How are companies using AI?
➜ Meta’s Llama Grows Footprint in Enterprise. In a recent statement, Mark Zuckerberg reassures investors about the business adoption of Llama AI models. He reveals that Llama is mostly used for business functions like customer service, document review, and computer code generation at banks such as Goldman Sachs or the Japanese Nomura Holdings. Other examples include the telecom giant AT&T, food delivery service DoorDash, and Accenture. The mostly free-of-charge Llama models have been downloaded almost 350 million times since Meta began releasing them publicly last year.
Reuters
➜Wells Fargo Turns to AI-Driven Estate Management. The bank’s Estate Care Center, established in 2018, streamlines the complex procedures families face when managing the finances of deceased relatives. It manages $32 billion in transfers each year. With the company’s strategic investment in AI, the bank observed increased asset retention and new account openings, with some family members transferring their accounts to the bank after receiving assistance during bereavement. Their NPS score skyrocketed!
PYMNTS
➜ Singapore’s Local Bank Uses AI to Get Ahead. UOB is possibly Singapore’s first local bank to use AI and big data analytics to allocate capital in its corporate banking division. No more subjective judgment – the best way to balance risk-weighted assets and revenue growth is to trust artificial intelligence. UOB’s portfolio optimisation tool turned out so good, the bank plans to take it to other markets in South-east Asia.
The Business Times
➜ ANZ Creates 'AI Immersion Centre' for Executives. ANZ has partnered with Microsoft to create a center where 3,000 executives will have the opportunity to cultivate AI-literate leaders, who will then be able to support their teams in adopting tools as they become available. By purchasing 3,000 Copilots for Microsoft 365 licenses, the goal is to “embrace generative AI across all lines of our business”. Why? “To improve how we serve and protect our customers, process work, and meet regulatory standards,” – says ANZ’s group Executive of Technology Gerard Florian.
Finextra
➜ Three is Not a Crowd. Hyper-personalized, AI-driven digital banking experiences? Yes, please. Three fintech firms – ieDigital, Connect FSS and ABAKA – have joined forces and capabilities to launch ‘Fintilect’ in a move to help financial services institutions worldwide up their game. “Today’s customers expect to be understood as individuals, with their specific life goals, ambitions and aspirations fully considered,” – explains Rami Cassis, CEO of Fintilect. Will the new entity be successful at teaching banks this 360 degree customer view? Keen on hearing more!
The Fintech Times
➜ New AI Agents in Town. Bland AI, the platform automating phone calls for the enterprise using hyper-realistic AI agents, emerged from stealth with a $16M Series A funding led by Scale Venture Partners. The platform’s key areas of interest are: system integrations, knowledge retrieval from documents, voice cloning, multi-language support, and the ability to transfer to a human when necessary. Isaiah Granet, CEO and Co-Founder of Bland AI says that their primary mission is “to fix the way businesses handle their phone communications”. I’m hoping for something much more approachable than Matrix’s Agent Smith.
Business Wire
➜ Google Rolls out Safeguards Before the US Presidential Election. Google applies safeguards to Search AI Overviews, YouTube AI-generated summaries for Live Chat, Gems, and image generation in Gemini. As part of the restrictions, these AI products will not respond to election-related topics. The company also announced that Google Search is getting a feature that will help people across the country find information about registering to vote; at the same time YouTube will help them find credible information about election candidates and their political parties. Better safe than sorry.
TechCrunch
