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    Latest

    John Wylie’s PE push has its first payday.

    John Wylie closes in on maiden private equity exit; snares Accel-KKR

    Tanarra is being advised by Greenhill & Co and expects to close the deal in the coming fortnight.

    • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
    Joe Collins the co-founder and executive chairman of Camms, bootstrapped the risk and compliance software business until 2019.

    Ellerston Capital-backed software start-up sells for more than $US100m

    The purchase of Camms, a risk and compliance software developer, delivers a payday for the little-known Collins family from Adelaide and its big finance backers.

    • Updated
    • Tess Bennett
    • Exclusive
    • AI

    EY looks to Microsoft as consultants seek AI sales edge

    EY is giving all staff access to Microsoft’s new AI sales assistant in an effort to win tech-related advisory and software installation contracts. 

    • Tess Bennett

    Say something bad about Canva? It can claw back staff shares

    Documents seen by the Australian Financial Review show how Canva shares give the start-up leverage over former staff in a widely used industry practice.

    • Nick Bonyhady

    Government’s $189.5m quantum computing VC investment revealed

    Previously secret details behind the mammoth investment in US-based quantum computing firm PsiQuantum have been uncovered, including the government’s equity investment.

    • Paul Smith

    Proptech Archistar rules off raise; NAB, Skip, PEXA top up

    Archistar has now raised $40 million since it was founded in 2018.  

    • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

    Opinion & Analysis

    Why Cannon-Brookes, Farquhar are down $15b in just two months

    Concerns about Atlassian’s cloud growth rate have triggered a share sell-off, which has wiped a combined $15.4 billion off the valuations of its co-founders.

    Yolanda Redrup

    Rich List co-editor

    Yolanda Redrup

    Better late than now: how Apple’s AI could have stayed in longer

    It tells you something when even Apple, the company that rose to greatness on the back of lateness, has to come out with a product that isn’t quite ready.

    John Davidson

    Columnist

    John Davidson

    Even Apple cannot explain why we need AI in our lives

    A souped-up Siri and personalised emojis are coming, but there is little sense that Apple has edited down the possibilities of generative AI to prioritise the truly useful.

    Richard Waters

    Contributor

    Why the growing ‘slop’ on your social feeds is dangerous

    Like the other type of slop, AI-assisted search comes together quickly, but not necessarily in a way critical thinkers can stomach.

    Benjamin Hoffman

    Contributor

    Technology reviews

    Can a gadget prolong your life? These headphones might

    The Shokz OpenSwim Pro won’t just help you stay fit and healthy in the pool or on the streets – they’ll also help you stay in one piece.

    • John Davidson

    Nice headphones, Sonos. Shame about the app

    Sonos has overhauled its app to add headphones to its legendary multi-room audio system. It shouldn’t have.

    • John Davidson
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    More From Today

    Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are still bullish on Atlassian’s outlook

    Why Cannon-Brookes, Farquhar are down $15b in just two months

    Concerns about Atlassian’s cloud growth rate have triggered a share sell-off, which has wiped a combined $15.4 billion off the valuations of its co-founders.

    • Yolanda Redrup

    This Month

    AI-powered sales platforms can empower salespeople “to deliver on the productivity promise”, says LinkedIn’s Alana Brittain.

    How AI is helping bridge the sales productivity gap

    Generative artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly is empowering sales teams to unlock productivity by spending less time shuffling paperwork and more time on tasks that require the human touch.

    Sponsored 

    by LinkedIn

    Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, shows off Apple AI at last week’s WWDC.

    Better late than now: how Apple’s AI could have stayed in longer

    It tells you something when even Apple, the company that rose to greatness on the back of lateness, has to come out with a product that isn’t quite ready.

    • John Davidson
    Waymo cars are ubiquitous on the streets of San Francisco, a city with sedate traffic and a large technology industry.

    ‘Grandkids won’t learn to drive’: New driverless car push in Australia

    Despite the spinning sensors and eerily self-turning steering wheel, self-driving vehicles quickly felt normal in our testing on the streets of San Francisco.

    • Nick Bonyhady
    Airtrunk founder Robin Khuda has fans far and wide, including the loan markets.

    AirTrunk rolls out $7 billion staple debt package to bidders

    AirTrunk’s key lenders have waived their rights to exit the debt stack upon a new owner’s arrival. Instead, they are underwriting a staple debt package to underpin bidders’ financing requirements.

    • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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    Daniel Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO, Iren said the comapny always planned to lock up land and computing power before it was needed.

    How this Aussie bitcoin miner is cashing in on the Nvidia AI boom

    Analysts say Australian-born, US-listed bitcoin miner Iren is sitting on valuable land and energy assets.

    • Tess Bennett
    Linkby co-founders Andrew Chak, Chris Wirasinha and Adrian Fagerland have raised $4 million in Series A funding.

    This ex-Young Rich Lister built a top media company, now he’s trying tech

    Chris Wirasinha co-founded Pedestrian almost 20 years ago and bootstrapped the company until it was acquired by Nine. With Linkby, he’s taking a different path.

    • Yolanda Redrup
    From left, Sleeping Duck co-founders Winston Wijeyeratne and Selvam Sinnappan.

    Sleeping Duck wins court battle with biggest investor

    Venture capitalist Adir Shiffman had alleged the mattress retailer had sidelined him from the business. The Supreme Court of Victoria threw out the case.

    • Tess Bennett
    AirTrunk founder Robin Khuda has four bidders in the bag for the $15 billion-plus data centre business.

    GIP throws hat in the ring for $15b-plus AirTrunk; lobs NBIO

    With GIP’s arrival, sell-side advisers Macquarie Capital and Goldman Sachs have four bidding groups to corral towards the finishing line.

    • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
    Apple CEO Tim Cook at its Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, last week.

    Even Apple cannot explain why we need AI in our lives

    A souped-up Siri and personalised emojis are coming, but there is little sense that Apple has edited down the possibilities of generative AI to prioritise the truly useful.

    • Richard Waters
    Apple’s new iPad calculator.

    What Apple Intelligence means for you

    Though the “where” and “when” of Apple’s new AI system are still a mystery, we do know a lot about the “who”, “what” and “why”.

    • John Davidson
    Google Australia and New Zealand MD Melanie Silva discusses the impact of her company’s AI experiments on media at the AFR’s AI Summit.

    Why publishers fear Google AI search will kill their websites

    News organisations are heading into another battle with tech giants, with growing fears the race to beat each other with AI summaries will result in more content stolen.

    • Paul Smith
    Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have butted heads on climate targets.

    Social media ban on kids faces big technical hurdles: experts

    Australia has bipartisan support for a 16-year-old limit for using social media, as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton argued about who was first to demand it.

    • Paul Smith

    Government Services Summit - Final release registration

    The Australian Financial Review Government Services Summit promises stimulating and forward-looking discussions on service transformation and digital leadership across all levels of government.

    Storypark’s app is used by more than 300,000 educators and parents.

    Edtech Storypark invites bidders to take a peek at its books; taps RBC

    Sources said Storypark makes about $10 million annual recurring revenue but has aggressive expansion plans across the Atlantic which could see it book up to $50 million in annual sales.

    • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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    Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht at the Morgan Stanley conference.

    Canva co-founder calls for ‘wartime’ approach to staff performance

    Cliff Obrecht says companies that let poor performance slide are forced to do big lay-offs, something the graphic design group headed for an IPO has avoided.

    • Nick Bonyhady
    Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, shows off Apple AI.

    Why the growing ‘slop’ on your social feeds is dangerous

    Like the other type of slop, AI-assisted search comes together quickly, but not necessarily in a way critical thinkers can stomach.

    • Benjamin Hoffman
    Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia (left) and Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens. The two companies announced a ground-breaking collaboration to develop an “industrial metaverse” at CES 2024.

    The real power – and potential – of industrial AI

    The nation could face an opportunity cost of $35.7 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) per year should it fail “to introduce AI systems to world standards in key industries”.

    Sponsored 

    by Siemens Australia

    After the column ran, Microsoft gave Bing a lobotomy, neutralising the chatbot’s outbursts and installing new guardrails to prevent more unhinged behaviour.

    AI could end India’s dominance in tech outsourcing

    This is not the first time an industry in the country has faced an existential challenge, although the last time was 300 years ago.

    • Andy Mukherjee
    Laura Deeming

    Cryogenic start-up focuses on thawing the frozen waiting for a cure

    A former child prodigy is working on ways to ensure that bodies can be revived when the time is right.

    • Ashlee Vance