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GOVERNMENT RACES TO REASSURE US THAT BANKING SYSTEM IS SAFE

Depositors withdrew savings and investors broadly sold off bank shares this week as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system was secure after two bank failures fed fears that more financial institutions could fall.

IS MY MONEY SAFE? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BANK FAILURES

\"They were the gold standard, it almost seemed weird if you were in tech and didn't have a Silicon Valley Bank account, Stefan Kalb, CEO of Seattle startup Shelf Engine, said during an interview as he started the process of transferring millions of dollars to other banks. The Biden administration's move guaranteeing all Silicon Valley Bank's deposits above the insured limit of $250,000 per account resulted in a \"palpable sigh of relief\" in Israel, where its booming tech sector is \"connected with an umbilical cord to Silicon Valley,\" said Jon Medved, founder of the Israeli venture capital crowdfunding platform OurCrowd. But the gratitude for the deposit guarantees that will allow thousands of tech startups to continue to pay their workers and other bills was mixed with moments of reflection among entrepreneurs and venture capital partners rattled by Silicon Valley Bank's downfall. The crisis \"has forced every company to reassess their banking arrangements and the companies that they work with,\" said Rajeeb Dey, CEO of London-based startup Learnerbly, a platform for workplace learning. Entrepreneurs who had deposited all their startups' money in Silicon Valley Bank are now realizing it makes more sense to spread their funds across several institutions, with the biggest banks considered safer harbors. Kalb started off Monday by opening an account at the largest bank in the U.S., JP Morgan Chase, which has about $2.4 trillion in deposits. That's 13 times more than the deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest in the U.S. Bank of America is getting some of the money that Electric Era had deposited at Silicon Valley Bank, and the Seattle startup's CEO, Quincy Lee, expects having no difficulty finding other candidates to keep the rest of his company's money as part of its diversification plan. \"Any bank is happy to take a startup's money, Lee said. Even so, there are fears it will be more difficult to finance the inherently risky ideas underlying tech startups that became a specialty of Silicon Valley Bank since its founding over a poker game in 1983, just as the advent of the personal computer and faster microprocessors unleashed more innovation. Silicon Valley quickly established itself as the \"go-to\" spot for venture capitalists looking for financial partners more open to unconventional business proposals than its bigger, more established peers who still didn't have a good grasp of technology. \"They understood startups, they understood venture capital,\" said Leah Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Sublime Systems, a company in Somerville, Massachusetts, commercializing a process to make low-carbon cement. \"They were woven into the fabric of the startup community that I'm part of, so banking with SVB was a no brainer!\" Venture capitalists set up their accounts at Silicon Valley Bank just as the tech industry started its boom and then advised the entrepreneurs that they funded to do the same. That cozy relationship came to an end when the bank disclosed a $1.8 billion loss on low-yielding bonds that were purchased before interest rates began to spike last year, raising alarms among its financially savvy customer base who used the fruits of technology to spread warnings that turned into a calamitous run on deposits. Bob Ackerman, founder and managing director of venture funder AllegisCyber Capital, likened last week's flood of withdrawal demands from Silicon Valley Bank to a self-inflicted wound by \"a circular firing squad\" intent on \"shooting your best friend.\" Many of Silicon Valley Bank's roughly 8,500 employees now find themselves hanging in limbo, too, even though government regulators now overseeing the operations have told them they will be offered jobs at 1.5 times their salaries for 45 days, said Rob McMillan, who had worked there for 32 years. \"We don't know who's going to pay us when, McMillan said. \"I think we all missed a paycheck. We don't know if we have benefits. Even though all of Silicon Valley Bank's depositors are being made whole, its demise is expected to leave a void in the technology sector that may be difficult to fill. In an essay that he posted on his LinkedIn page, prominent venture capitalist Michael Moritz compared Silicon Valley Bank to a \"cherished local market where people behind the counters know the names of their customers, have a ready smile but still charge the going price when they sell a cut of meat!\" Silicon Valley Bank is fading away at a time when startups were already having a tougher go at raising money, with a downturn in technology stock values and a steady rise in interest rates causing venture capitalists to retrench. The bank often helped fill the financial gaps with one of its specialties - loans known as \"venture debt\" because it was woven into the funding provided by its venture capitalist customers. \"There's going to be a lot of great ideas, a lot of great teams that don't get funding because the barriers to entry are too high or because there are not enough people who are willing to invest, said William Lin, an investor in the cybersecurity startup Symmetry Systems and a venture partner at ForgePoint, a venture capital firm. With Silicon Valley Bank gone and venture cap pulling in their reins, Lin expects there will be fewer startups getting money to pursue ideas in the same fields of technology. If that happens, he foresees a winnowing of competition that will eventually make the biggest tech companies even stronger than they already are. \"There's a real day of reckoning coming in the startup world,\" predicted Amit Yoran, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Tenable. That may be true, but entrepreneurs like Lee and Kalb already feel like they had been through an emotional wringer after spending the weekend worrying that all their hard work would go down a drain if they couldn't get their money out of Silicon Valley Bank. \"It was like being stuck inside a doomsday loop,\" Lee said. Even as he focuses on growing Shelf Engine's business of helping grocers managing their food orders, he vowed not to forget \"a very hard lesson.\" \"I obviously now know banks aren't as safe as I used to think they were,\" he said.

SILICON VALLEY BANK'S DEMISE DISRUPTS THE DISRUPTORS IN TECH

Silicon Valley Bank's collapse rattled the technology industry that had been the bank's backbone, leaving shell-shocked entrepreneurs thankful for the government reprieve that saved their money while they mourned the loss of a place that served as a chummy club of innovation.

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AUDIENCE FOR 95TH OSCARS REBOUNDS SLIGHTLY TO 18.7 MILLION

Whether it was the lingering drama of The Slap or the prominence of blockbusters in the best picture race, a bigger audience was lured back to the Oscars this year.

DON'T LEAVE GLOBAL SOUTH OUT OF GREEN TECH GROWTH, UN WARNS

The majority of developing nations are set to miss out on the economic benefits of booming green technologies, slowing progress toward their climate goals and widening the inequality gap between rich and poor countries, a United Nations report warned Thursday.

EU MOVES ON CLEAN TECHNOLOGY: SUBSIDIES UP, FREE MARKET DOWN

The European Union presented plans to fundamentally revamp its policies on promoting green technologies and dealing with critical raw materials, imposing limits on imports from countries like China while unleashing subsidies and other financial incentives to ramp up home production.

VIRGIN ORBIT PAUSING ALL WORK, REPORTEDLY FURLOUGHS STAFF

Virgin Orbit said Thursday it is pausing all operations amid reports that the company is furloughing almost all its staff as part of a bid to seek a funding lifeline.

BAIDU UNVEILS CHATGPT-RIVAL ERNIE BOT; 650 COMPANIES SIGN UP

Chinese search giant Baidu unveiled its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie Bot, presenting its rival to the Microsoft-backed ChatGPT in a prerecorded video presentation Thursday that appeared to disappoint investors.

Why TikTok is Being Banned on Gov't Phones in US and Beyond

The United States is ratcheting up national security concerns about TikTok, mandating that all federal employees delete the Chinese-owned social media app from government-issued mobile phones. Other Western governments are pursuing similar bans, citing espionage fears.

2023 BMW iX Vs 2023 Rivian R1S

Buying an electric vehicle used to mean choosing from battery range, performance, utility or luxury.

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS REACHED A RECORD HIGH IN 2022

Communities around the world emitted more carbon dioxide in 2022 than in any other year on records dating to 1900, a result of air travel rebounding from the pandemic and more cities turning to coal as a low-cost source of power.

BIDEN EXPECTED TO TIGHTEN RULES ON US INVESTMENT IN CHINA

The Biden administration is close to tightening rules on some overseas investments by U.S. companies in an effort to limit China’s ability to acquire technologies that could improve its military prowess, according to a U.S. official familiar with the deliberations.

DUTCH GOVERNMENT TO RESTRICT SALES OF PROCESSOR CHIP TECH

The Dutch government announced that it is planning on imposing additional restrictions on the export of machines that make advanced processor chips, joining a U.S. push that aims at limiting China’s access to materials used to make such chips.

WHEN HOLLYWOOD NEEDS A MOVIE VILLAIN, THE TECH BRO ANSWERS

“A toast to the disruptors,” Edward Norton’s tech billionaire says in Rian Johnson’s Oscar-nominated “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”

MICHAEL B. JORDAN DELIVERS A BRAWLER IN 'CREED III'

It must be a daunting prospect to pick up a franchise on the third movie. Add in the pressure of following filmmakers like Ryan Coogler and Steven Caple Jr. in your directorial debut that you’re also starring in and it’s enough to make you wonder what on earth Michael B. Jordan was thinking.

JAPAN DESTROYS NEW ROCKET AT LAUNCH AFTER IGNITION FAILURE

Japan’s space agency intentionally destroyed a new H3 rocket minutes after its launch Tuesday because the ignition failed for the second stage of the country’s first new rocket series in more than two decades.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE CONCERNED YOU MIGHT BE LAID OFF

The job market in the U.S. remains strong overall, but recent high-profile layoffs at technology and media companies and predictions of a recession later this year may have you thinking about job security.

FROM MARKETING TO DESIGN.BRANDS ADOPT AI TOOLS DESPITE RISK

Even if you haven’t tried artificial intelligence tools that can write essays and poems or conjure new images on command, chances are the companies that make your household products are already starting to do so.

FORD TO RAISE PRODUCTION AS US AUTO SALES START TO RECOVER

Ford will increase production of six models this year, half of them electric, as the company and the auto industry start to rebound from sluggish U.S. sales in 2022.

HOW & WHERE TO WATCH OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS ONLINE

Replete with spellbinding multiverses, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” topped the 95th Academy Awards nominations with 11 nods. Elsewhere, stories of friendship and family permeated 2022 cinema and the nominations this year, as did big-budget blockbusters.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2023 ACADEMY AWARDS

Hollywood is gearing up for the 95th Academy Awards, where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in the lead nominee and the film industry will hope to move past “the slap” of last year’s ceremony.

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Elon Musk driving the planet toward renewable energy

APPLE INTRODUCES NEW PASTEL YELLOW COLOR OPTION FOR IPHONE 14

Apple has added a new pastel yellow color option to its iPhone 14 and 14 Plus lineup, which will be available for pre-order starting from March 10.

TESLA PRICE CUTS: FLAGGING DEMAND OR TACTIC TO BOOST SALES?

In explaining why Tesla Inc. keeps cutting prices on its electric vehicles, the auto industry is pretty much divided into two camps.

HOW & WHERE TO WATCH OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS ONLINE

Replete with spellbinding multiverses, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” topped the 95th Academy Awards nominations with 11 nods. Elsewhere, stories of friendship and family permeated 2022 cinema and the nominations this year, as did big-budget blockbusters.

APPLICATIONS FOR US JOBLESS AID RISE BY MOST IN 5 MONTHS

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week jumped by the most in five months, but layoffs remain historically low as the labor market continues to be largely unaffected by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.

CBS SPORTS TO LAUNCH DIGITAL SOCCER CHANNEL NEXT MONTH

CBS Sports will expand its soccer offerings when it launches a free digital channel devoted to the sport on April 11.

CONGRESS MEMBERS WARNED OF SIGNIFICANT HEALTH DATA BREACH

Members of the House and Senate were informed that hackers may have gained access to their sensitive personal data in a breach of a Washington, D.C., health insurance marketplace. Employees of the lawmakers and their families were also affected.

FAA SAYS TECHNOLOGY WILL HELP AVOID SOME DANGEROUS LANDINGS

Federal officials said they have completed outfitting 43 major U.S. airports with technology to warn when incoming planes are aimed at a taxiway instead of a runway.