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Oracle Gives U.S. Government Discount on Cloud and Software
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Oracle Chief Executive Safra Catz. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Good morning. A federal government effort to lock in discounted rates from tech providers notched its latest win with Oracle now offering agencies a 75% discount on its license-based software.
“We’re aiming to bring the leverage of the whole, commanding purchasing power of the federal wallet to these [technology providers] to get the best discounts for the taxpayers,” Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum tells the WSJ's Belle Lin.
Oracle's deal, which includes databases and analytics, as well as a “substantial” discount on its cloud service, follows similar price cuts to government agencies offered by Salesforce, Adobe and Google, among others, and is part of a wave of Silicon Valley companies working to get closer to the Trump administration in defense and other areas.
The General Services Administration said the Oracle agreement is the first of its kind that provides the entire government with a discount on cloud infrastructure. Read the story.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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The Alignment Imperative: Improving Tech Value Through Enhanced Collaboration
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In an era of bold technology transformation, stakeholder alignment can be more important than ever. Four strategies can help technology leaders pave a path toward success. Read More
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An initial image created by Clorox staff with an AI tool from a company called Pencil showed pale chicken wings that didn't look appetizing. At right, the team refined their prompt to make the wings saucier and more enticing. Clorox
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AI is helping Clorox employees at every stage of product R&D, from collecting and summarizing reviews of products, to coming up with new ideas, creating digital prototypes, putting those in front of potential customers, and creating more ads to get people to buy the products. But that's not to say that the company's five-year AI ramp up has not resulted in some misfires, WSJ's Christopher Mims reports.
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“If you go in with the expectation that the AI is as smart or smarter than humans, you’re quickly disappointed by the reality,” says Eric Schwartz, Clorox’s chief marketing officer.
During brainstorms, the AI tried to push the idea of “bleachless bleach,” he adds, which isn’t something that would actually work in real life. It’s a nonstarter, especially at Clorox.
When brainstorming about cat litter, the AI pushed the idea that since you love your pet, you might also love your pet’s poop. It takes a human to realize, “No, that wouldn’t sound good,” he says.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said the search engine’s AI Overviews, a feature that summarizes search results, has grown significantly in usage. Photo: Camille Cohen/AFP/Getty Images
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A new crop of startups are betting on a post-Google Search future, developing tools to help companies sell their goods and services online to consumers who increasingly rely on artificial-intelligence chatbots to gather online information, WSJ reports.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is delaying construction of a second plant in Japan partly because it is pouring funds more quickly into U.S. expansion ahead of potential Trump administration tariffs, people familiar with the plans tell the WSJ. TSMC said early last year that it would build a second plant in southern Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture, part of a $20 billion investment plan in the country.
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The WSJ's Ben Cohen has the story of how a team of D.C. bureaucrats rolled out a revamped online system to make getting a passport easier. Open to the public for less than a year, the service is already handling nearly half of all U.S. passport renewals, according to the State Department.
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Columbia said it seized an unmanned narco-submarine kitted with a Starlink antenna. Authorities tell the AFP that they believe the sub was on a trial run for drone drug trafficking.
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Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards. PHOTO: Jennelle Fong
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Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive of the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards, and a a songwriter and producer in his own right, talked with the WSJ's Anne Steele about how AI will change music. Highlights below, read more here.
WSJ: The music industry has been disrupted time and again, by innovations from player pianos to Napster. How does AI stack up?
Mason: It feels existential. Music people inherently are passionate. We have been working extremely hard to be able to make the art that we make. When something threatens that or changes the way it’s done or made or consumed, it’s stressful. People are feeling, are we replaceable?
WSJ: Do you see generative AI as a tool, or something more?
Mason: It will totally upend the creative process: everything from creating a drum loop or chord progression to making the entire track with lyrics and vocals. The current way is going to be challenged. There’ll be some people that want to hold out, and there’s going to be value to that, differentiating between the new style and the old style of creating.
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Everything Else You Need to Know
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The search for those swept away by punishing flash floods in Central Texas over the holiday weekend took on new urgency Sunday, as the death toll climbed to 81 and nearly a dozen girls from a private summer camp remained missing. (WSJ)
The passage of President Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” has left some hospitals, doctors and patient-advocacy groups issuing strong warnings. Millions of people will lose health-insurance coverage, and struggling hospitals across the country may have to close, lay off staff or shut down some services, they say. (WSJ)
A recent paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that 13 states with abortion bans collectively saw about 146,000 residents leave due to abortion bans in the year after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to the procedure. (WSJ)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Saturday that he created a new political party called the America Party after reigniting a feud with President Trump. (WSJ)
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