Daily Archives: June 28, 2023

When you build software, storing, analyzing, and processing data can become challenging as your business scale. Fortunately, introducing cloud computing has helped enterprises and businesses tackle this scaling problem. Especially for IT infrastructure, cloud computing has been pivotal in empowering companies with remote capabilities.

Cloud computing offers internet computing services, allowing companies to access apps and databases remotely from any device. It reduces businesses reliance on the on premise IT infrastructure, which requires high investment and resources.

Further, cloud computing allows businesses to scale on demand and reduce costs by a pay-as-you-go model. Therefore, you do not need to pay for idle resources and spend only on what resources you use. Such benefits have encouraged businesses to invest heavily in cloud computing, boosting the market, which may reach $600 billion by the end of 2023.

However, is it just cost efficiency that is driving cloud-computing adoption?

Cloud computing provides many benefits beyond scalability and cost efficiency, making it a compelling investment for businesses. We will focus on the benefits of cloud computing and discuss how it is revolutionizing the IT infrastructure.

Cloud computing uses remote infrastructure hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data. It allows businesses to access data from any location and device using a secure network.

Some key characteristics of cloud computing are

The concept of cloud computing has come a long way since its inception. It presents new possibilities for businesses of every scale and sector. Some advantages of cloud computing are,

Cloud computing is transforming business operations in many ways, such as

Cloud services enable businesses to be flexible regarding resource allocation and data access. For example, an e-commerce business can leverage cloud services to cope with peak traffic during holiday sales. At the same time, cloud services allow these businesses to terminate instances and save costs if their load is lower.

It also allows companies remote data access, improving employees flexibility. Therefore, there are better collaborations, increased productivity, and ROI.

With cloud computing, you do not buy, install, and maintain expensive IT infrastructure. It offers a pricing structure where you pay only for instances you use. This leads to cost optimization and reduces any overhead expense.

Using cloud-computing services, you can optimize resource allocation and improve utilization. Cloud computing services provide access to a vast pool of resources, including higher processing power, storage, and memory. Most cloud services come with automated resource allocation features making it easy for businesses to manage resources.

Cloud computing enables accessible information sharing between employees, improving consistency and collaboration. Especially if specific employees in an organization are, working remotely and others are employed on-site, cloud computing enables remote access to data improving real-time collaborations and productivity.

Businesses can applications from any location with an internet connection thanks to cloud computing. This technology provides flexibility and improves security and reliability with backup, recovery, and encryption services.

For example, you can leverage cloud services and secure your data through encryption. Many certificate authorities offer SSL certificates to secure your data on the cloud like Comodo SSL, Sectigo SSL, GeoTrust SSL certificate. Therefore, you can install an SSL certificate to secure the communication between a cloud server and a web browser to prevent cyber-attacks while accessing information remotely.

Cloud computing is a transformative technology reshaping IT infrastructure for enterprises, small businesses, and startups. By adopting cloud computing, you can reduce costs, improve reliability, enhance security, simplify maintenance, and access cutting-edge technologies.

Cloud computing eliminates the need for buying and maintaining expensive IT infrastructure. Traditional on premise data centers require higher investments in hardware and software to manage resources. Cloud services reduce overhead expenditure through resource management features and a pay-as-you-go model.

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According to research, the difference between the costs of operation on cloud versus on premise infrastructure is almost 200%. Therefore, there is no denying that cloud-based infrastructure is cost-efficient compared to on premise infrastructure.

Cloud service providers often deploy their services across several data centers with copies of user data and apps. This redundancy enables faster disaster recovery for businesses and ensures that outage or failure does not affect user experience.

Cloud computing services have automatic failover systems that switch to backup if any primary system fails. Apart from the failover systems and backups, cloud devices also offer service-level agreements ensuring the high availability of resources.

Cloud services offer several security features, including support for encryptions, identity and data access management (IAM). For encryption, you can find SSL certificates at low price from online stores like CheapSSLShop and many others. Further, you can configure IAM and deploy role-based data access (RBAC) policies for enhanced security.

Cloud computing also ensures your systems are secure against key cybersecurity threats like DDOS, XSS, and MITM.

With cloud computing, you can easily access the latest versions of your favorite software and applications without the hassle of manual installations or updates. They take care of everything for you, so you always have the latest and safest software available. It saves you time! Therefore, you can focus on what you do the best, without worrying about the technical details.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from cloud computing with access to a high-level IT infrastructure without the hefty price tag.

Cloud computing allows SMEs to access sophisticated software and services which is otherwise too expensive for such companies. SMEs automate several business tasks using cloud-based tools and software, which include CRM, ERP, and more.

Similarly, SMEs can leverage cloud services to quickly scale their operations without spending a fortune on IT infrastructure.

SMEs often have limited budgets, so the economics of scale is essential for them. This is where cloud computing services help SMEs overcome budget constraints by providing access to advanced tools and resource optimizations.

Apart from the resource optimizations, the cost of operations is also lower because SMEs need to pay only for the cloud infrastructure and resources they use.

Cloud computing services offer access to advanced technologies inaccessible for SMEs on their budget. Especially innovations like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and machine learning algorithms are not easy to access for SMEs.

However, cloud services have made it possible for SMEs to not only access such innovations but also integrate them into their existing systems.

Like every other technology, cloud computing has challenges and concerns. Right from concerns of security to vendor lock-ins and reliability issues, you need to consider multiple factors to overcome them.

Confidentiality of user data and privacy issues are common even in cloud-based applications. Businesses must comply with critical data protection regulations like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and others.

Therefore, choosing a cloud service provider needs security features and policies that help your business comply with critical data regulations. Cloud computing services must ensure user data is secure and no data leaks.

Many cloud computing services like AWS, GCP, and others come with several in-built features, which are operational only in specific environments.

Further, these tools and features may not be compatible with other third-party services, and this is where vendor lock-ins only tie businesses to specific services. Therefore, choosing cloud-computing services that offer higher interoperability with third-party services and tools is crucial.

Cloud computing services do ensure high availability, but they are not foolproof. For example, on June 13, 2023, AWS systems faced a massive failure due to issues in the subsystem responsible for capacity management for AWS Lambda.

Similarly, any cloud computing system can face failure, so it is crucial to ensure that you choose a service that offers SLAs for higher availability.

Impact of cloud computing has been massive on different industries and businesses across domains. Here are some of the essential examples of how companies use cloud computing.

SimScale is a simulation tool for engineers created by five co-founders who were students with a small budget. They launched it on Amazon Web Services and were the first simulation product. AWS helped them save money on hardware, personnel, and IT maintenance. Despite limited resources, technology can help people and businesses achieve their goals.

DriveTime, a used car and finance company in Tempe, Arizona, improved customer experience and reduced downtime by moving its legacy systems to Microsoft Azure. The cloud platforms services, including Azure SQL Database and Azure DevOps, helped cut infrastructure expenses by 50%, improve application performance by 40%, and enhance security and compliance measures.

Many industries have been adopting cloud-computing services, and the impact has been significant. For example, Minna Bank, Japans first fully cloud-based digital bank, uses the AWS cloud platform for services like EC2, S3, RDS, DynamoDB, Kinesis, and SageMaker.

AWS enabled Minna Bank to launch fast, adjust to demand, and offer advanced features like biometric authentication and voice banking.

Similarly, educational institutions and media companies are also using cloud-based infrastructure. For example, Sanoma, a European education and media company, adopted a multi-cloud approach integrating AWS and GCP to boost innovation and expansion.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies improved efficiency, reliability, and performance.

Cloud computing eliminates the need for startups to invest high amounts of money in hardware and IT infrastructure. Startups can use cloud computing to launch their products faster and securely across platforms.

It also ensures that startups deliver enhanced user experience by providing higher availability of systems. One of the most famous examples of a startup using cloud computing successfully is Amperity.

A Seattle-based startup leverages artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and cloud computing to create comprehensive 360-degree customer profiles. Companies can use this data for their business operations to enhance sales and CRM.

Cloud computings future will emphasize edge computing, IoT integration, AI, and machine learning for better decision-making and automation. Hybrid and multi-cloud environments, serverless computing, and containerization will provide greater flexibility and scalability. Exciting times are ahead for cloud computings evolution.

Edge computing helps process data close to the source like IoT devices. This can reduce the latency of data transmission, improve real-time processing and enhance the entire experience of using IoT systems.

Advancements in edge computing architectures will enable IoT systems with advanced autonomous decision-making functionalities.

Cloud services provide higher computational power required for AI and ML deployments. With further advancements in cloud computing power, scaling AI-based applications and use cases will be easier.

A recent example is Open AIs ChatGPT, which uses Microsoft Azure services for its generative capabilities. Similarly, in the future, cloud-based infrastructure will be key for AI-based applications.

Hybrid cloud combines public and private cloud services to offer enhanced flexibility. In the future, businesses will use multiple cloud providers for better risk management. There will be tools to manage applications across different cloud environments, improving businesses scalability.

Multi-cloud environments will boost cloud computing use cases as it offers businesses an opportunity to leverage multiple features at the same time.

Serverless computing, also known as Function-as-a-Service (FaaS), allows organizations to write code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. In the future, serverless architectures will empower companies to scale their offerings on-demand without spending more on infrastructure.

Containerization will continue to be a key trend in cloud computing. Containers are a lightweight and portable approach to package applications. It makes deployment and application management consistent across platforms. Containerization also offers process isolation, which makes error detection easier.

Cloud computing has become synonymous with flexibility, reduced costs, and higher processing capabilities. However, like any other technology, it has challenges and concerns you must consider before moving to the cloud.

However, there is no denying that future trends in cloud computing services, like the use of containers, IoT, AI, and ML, will dominate how businesses will operate. One aspect of cloud computing which is most significant is its customizations. You can customize it according to your project requirements and improve customer experience.

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The Power of Cloud Computing: Revolutionizing Business and IT ... - Tech Critter

Washington The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed comments on cloud computing in response to a request from the Federal Trade Commission. Cloud computing has enabled interoperability for digital products and services and allowed customers to access information across multiple devices for lower costs. The demand for cloud computing services continues to grow and the cloud provides yet another way for customers to access artificial intelligence and machine learning.

In its filing, CCIA provides comments on the competitive dynamics of IT services and cloud computing, R&D investment, security and privacy considerations in cloud computing. It also notes, To analyze cloud computing and other IT services, it is essential to understand the scale of the potential benefits of cloud services to consumers, innovation, and the U.S. economy, and to distinguish between legitimate and unfair practices. It is fundamental to differentiate between justified and unjustified limitations to an open and interoperable IT services ecosystem.

CCIA has supported sound competition principles in the tech industry for more than 50 years.

Cloud computing is transforming numerous industries from healthcare to defense. We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments as antitrust authorities and regulators seek a greater understanding of the competitive dynamics and relevant competition, innovation, security, and data privacy considerations of cloud computing services as well as their interaction with other business models.

CCIA is an international, not-for-profit trade association representing a broad cross section of communications and technology firms. For more than 50 years, CCIA has promoted open markets, open systems, and open networks. CCIA members employ more than 1.6 million workers, invest more than $100 billion in research and development, and contribute trillions of dollars in productivity to the global economy. For more, please visit: https://ccianet.org.

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FTC Collecting Comments On Cloud Computing, CCIA Offers Input ... - Computer and Communications Industry Association

Insurance companies worldwide provide a range of coverage options, including health, property, life, auto, and business insurance. And despite collecting substantial premiums from customers each year, these companies remain exposed to various risks.

Insurance companies face risks due to several factors, including:

Swift climatic changes pose challenges for insurance providers in accurately assessing risks and determining premiums. Likewise, the continuous emergence of new technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and drones, can create policy gaps that even governments may struggle to address, thereby limiting the ability of insurance organizations to perform thorough risk assessments.

Consequently, it becomes crucial for insurance companies to carefully evaluate the risks associated with their subscribers and appropriately determine coverage and premiums accordingly.

Traditionally, insurance companies have relied on historical data and subjective expert judgments to perform risk assessments. However, this method is time-consuming, prone to errors, and limited in its applicability to certain geographical areas or sections of society, making accurate risk assessment difficult.

Customer experience is another challenge that insurance providers need to address. Due to technological developments and diversified customer expectations, customers must be provided personalized services and recommendations about insurance plans. Moreover, significant improvements are also needed in processing claims because the conventional paper-based settings in most insurance organizations make the processes slow. Therefore, insurance providers must embrace digital transformation to offer better and enhanced customer experience.

By combining artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing technologies, insurance providers can mitigate the challenges they face and transform the insurance landscape. AI and the cloud can be leveraged to handle the complexities of risk assessment and management tasks while enhancing the customer experience.

Insurance companies can utilize AI, machine learning, and cloud computing techniques to store, process, and analyze large volumes of data from diverse sources, enabling them to discover patterns and make data-driven decisions. This scalability and flexibility allow insurance providers to scale resources as needed, optimizing performance and cost efficiency.

AI can be utilized for risk assessment and underwriting processes, improving the accuracy and efficiency of the insurance industry. By leveraging AI-based techniques, insurers can enhance their ability to determine coverage terms, decide premiums, and assess risks.

AI systems have the capability to analyze vast amounts of data, including historical claims information, customer profiles, market trends, and external sources, in order to identify patterns and correlations.

This data-driven approach reduces the likelihood of human errors and enables insurance providers to make more informed decisions about risk assessments and premium calculations. Additionally, AI streamlines repetitive tasks such as data entry, processing, and verification, making them easier to manage and process.

AI enables the evaluation of risks through real-time data analysis and predictive modeling. It can analyze streaming data from various sources, including sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, social networks, and weather data. This data analysis empowers AI predictive models to identify high-risk areas or policyholders, enabling insurance providers to take proactive measures.

For example, in the property insurance domain, AI can analyze geographical data and historical claims patterns to identify areas prone to disasters or with a higher risk of fire. Subsequently, insurance companies can make informed decisions regarding premiums and coverage based on these insights.

Insurance fraud poses a significant concern for insurance companies as it leads to substantial financial losses annually. However, AI techniques can play a crucial role in mitigating this issue. By utilizing AI, anomalies in claim patterns can be detected, allowing for the identification of suspicious claims.

Furthermore, natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including advanced large language models (LLM), have proven effective in understanding the context of claim descriptions.

Cloud computing, similar to its impact on other business domains, holds significant potential to revolutionize the insurance industry. It offers several benefits that we discuss below.

Cloud computing plays a crucial role in enabling insurance providers to evaluate risks effectively and enhance the customer experience, thanks to its inherent characteristics of scalability and flexibility. The cloud computing model allows insurance companies to scale their computing resources in response to fluctuating demands.

During times when insurance renewal and claim processing are at their peak, insurance companies can easily acquire additional computing resources.

With cloud computing, insurance providers are no longer required to establish expensive and complex computing infrastructure. Instead, they can reduce upfront costs by leveraging the services provided by cloud providers. This eliminates the need for extensive infrastructure development and maintenance.

Furthermore, the cloud enables insurance companies to quickly deploy new applications, services, and updates. This agility allows insurers to conduct effective testing and launch innovative initiatives in risk management, personalized customer experiences, and process automation.

Cloud computing offers insurance providers exceptional data processing capabilities, allowing them to efficiently process vast volumes of data in real time.Insurance companies can leverage the cloud to store and manage massive amounts of insurance data, including past claims data, customer information, market data, and more.

Cloud-based platforms facilitate effective collaboration among various stakeholders within the insurance ecosystem. By leveraging the cloud, insurance companies and other stakeholders can exchange information efficiently, leading to streamlined workflows and improved operational efficiency.

Cloud computing and AI together can offer the following benefits for insurance providers.

Cloud platforms play a crucial role in providing the necessary resources for training and deploying complex AI and machine learning models. Insurance companies can leverage cloud service providers to procure high-end resources and scale them up or down based on demand.Moreover, cloud storage and data lakes offered by cloud platforms enable insurance providers to securely store and access large volumes of data.

In addition, cloud platforms offer collaboration tools that facilitate teamwork and cooperation in AI model development. Cloud-based version control mechanisms effectively manage changes and updates to the AI models. This, in turn, promotes collaboration among team members and results in increased productivity.

Large insurance organizations have embraced the utilization of AI and cloud computing platforms to streamline their routine operations.

Lemonade, a five-star AI-driven insurance company, successfully sold all five of its products in the market in 2022. It automated various processes, such as registration and claims management, resulting in improved operational efficiency. The company used Chatbot AI Jim, which employs NLP to analyze large volumes of data, enhancing customer interactions and service delivery.This customer-centric approach helped attract more customers and contribute to the companys overall profitability.

Consequently, due to its satisfactory customer service, the organization attracts more customers and eventually increases its profits.

To ensure uninterrupted customer services and handle complex business operations, Lemonade relies on the robust infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Allstate is another example of an insurance organization that has undergone a remarkable customer experience transformation by leveraging Microsofts Azure AI platform. By employing AI-based virtual assistants, the company has revolutionized its claim-processing capabilities and can now provide personalized service recommendations to its customers.

Additionally, through the implementation of predictive analytics, the company has enhanced its risk assessment practices. As a result, Allstate has successfully improved its customer services while optimizing its operational efficiency.

In the same way, numerous other insurance companies, including Progressive, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, and Farmers Insurance, have embraced AI and cloud computing services to augment their risk assessment capabilities and elevate the overall customer experience.

These organizations employ AI techniques and cloud platforms to streamline claims processing, analyze vast volumes of data for accurate pricing and underwriting decisions, and optimize their operations.

Despite the potential of using AI and cloud technology to transform the entire landscape of the insurance industry, certain challenges and concerns should be addressed for widespread adoption by other insurance providers.

In conclusion, the integration of AI and cloud platforms holds tremendous potential for enhancing risk management and improving the customer experience in the insurance sector.

AI can help insurance companies assess risks, make decisions, and detect fraudulent activities timely. Similarly, due to its elasticity and flexibility, cloud computing enables insurance providers to store their data and scale up and down dynamically per the requirements.

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How AI and Cloud Computing Are Revolutionizing the Insurance ... - Techopedia

The final day of HPE Discover ended with a clear message of unification and innovation, primarily focusing on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.s GreenLake cloud platform.

SiliconANGLE Medias livestreaming studio theCUBEs industry analysts Dave Vellante(pictured, right) and Rob Strechay(left) presented a comprehensive final analysis of this weeks event, including an assessment of the significance of GreenLake in HPEs business model. While HPE boasts a strong server and compute business, GreenLake, powered by Aruba Central intellectual property, is currently the crown jewel of the companys portfolio.

HPE used the event to announce large language modelsas a service, a major offering under GreenLake.

HPE is using its supercomputer mojo [from] acquisitionsof Cray and SGI to really try to differentiate and move up the stack a little bit with a cloud-basedoffering, Vellante said.

During theCUBEs exclusive coverage of HPE Discover, Vellante and Strechay discussed how HPE aims to differentiate itself with its cloud-based offering and its emphasis on edge-centric, cloud-enabled, data-driven solutions. (* Disclosure below.)

HPE is simplifying its messaging and consolidating within GreenLake. The emphasis on services as a service, which are readily consumable rather than customizable, signifies a shift toward the cloud operating model. This move is an indication that HPE is adapting to a new era where consumers want an actual application, not just a blueprint, according to Strechay. LLMs as a service is not merely an infrastructure as a service; its designed to be a platform as a service, targeting specific use cases and workloads that require high-performance computing.

Theyre very strong in the knitting of infrastructure, the software they got from Cray and from the acquisitions of SGI, Strechay said. Theyre bringing that know-how of building all of these massive supercomputersthat theyve been building for governments and corporations for years to bear on this LLM space, which has been really key.

Sustainability was another significant theme during HPE Discover. HPE Chief ExecutiveAntonio Neri highlighted the companys efforts in working toward a true science-based net-zero posture. The companys sustainability commitments, unlike many companies greenwashing efforts, are science-certified, meaning theyre independently verified by a third-party scientific community.

One of the key moments of the event was when Neri shared the stage with Matt Wood from Amazon Web Services Inc. Wood, representing AWS viewpoint, said that in the fullness of time, all workloads will move to the cloud. In response, Neri reaffirmed his belief in the hybrid model, which is the core of HPEs strategy.

An intriguing development involved Equinix, with both Dell Technologies Inc. and HPE moving to prepopulate GreenLake inside Equinix. This strategy effectively reduces latency and eliminates the need for companies to build their own data centers and infrastructure, according to theCUBE analysts.

On the open-source front, HPE is doing significant business with Microsoft in the hybrid area. The Azure Stack from Microsoft has not been talked about much, but Azure Arc, its hybrid platform, has seen significant traction.

HPE has also been acquiring small software firms to support its cloud operating model, and according to Strechay, Its a very determined and specific way bringing back software that its really not trying to do everything and be generic software, but how do they support that cloud operating model.

Heres the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLEs and theCUBEs coverage of HPE Discover:

(* Disclosure: This is an unsponsored editorial segment. However, theCUBE is a paid media partner for HPE Discover. HPE, Intel Corp. and other sponsors of theCUBEs event coverage have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

THANK YOU

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HPE Discover final analysis: Navigating the cloud computing ... - SiliconANGLE News

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Investors are interested in growth which is why cloud computing stocks will continue to make sense for the long term. Grand View Research expects the cloud computing market to grow at an annual rate of 14.1% between 2023 and 2030.

That growth far exceeds growth in the overall economy and will entice investment capital en masse. In short, investors can reasonably expect that a dollar invested in cloud computing stocks today will be worth much more in the future.

To be honest, the best buy-and-hold forever cloud computing stocks are likely the three largest tech names. Ive only included one below. Lets explore it and two others that offer strong potential returns in the near future.

Source: Peteri / Shutterstock.com

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a clear buy-and-hold stock for investors seeking long-term value and returns.

A lot has happened to the company over the past few years, most of which has accelerated what was already strong growth.

The pandemic gave Microsoft a massive boost. It accelerated tech firms in a way that was massively beneficial. Lockdowns sped the evolution of tech at a pace that wouldnt have been possible in the absence of a pandemic. Profits increased in turn and Microsoft boomed.

More recently, AI again helped Microsoft get ahead again. Its OpenAI investment has already paid off. Share prices have surged in 2023 because of it.

Microsoft is also a cloud computing giant. Microsofts intelligent cloud revenues reached $22.1 billion in the second quarter. That represented a 17% increase YoY and more than 40% of overall sales.

Azure and other cloud service revenue increased by 27% during the period. The overall thrust is that Microsoft is a cloud computing stock that is much more than cloud computing alone and is highly likely to continue growing even though its already massive.

Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock

Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) provides a data cloud platform that allows users to access its data cloud consisting of multiple public clouds.

It wasnt built using legacy big data technology like other clouds. Instead, it was designed for native use within the cloud. Firms simply sign up and access the data Snowflake houses without any hardware and very little software.

Snowflake is very large and is growing at a phenomenal rate. Revenues grew by 48% during the most recent quarter on a year-over-year basis to $624 million.

There arent any other cloud firms at that scale that offer growth at that rate. Thats the hook for Snowflake. It is a growth stock and it comes with attendant problems growth stocks have. Net losses eclipsed $226 million during the first quarter. Theyre increasing, not shrinking.

Further, SNOW stock is particularly sensitive to interest rates. Share prices collapsed in 2022 but the long-term narrative still favors the company given its scale and growth. Any narrowing of losses will certainly send prices higher also.

Source: monticello / Shutterstock.com

Digital Ocean (NYSE:DOCN) is a sleeper stock in the cloud computing sector.

It doesnt get anywhere near the attention that the big three cloud providers do. The reason is simple: The big three serve large enterprise customers while Digital Ocean serves their small and medium enterprise counterparts.

Large enterprises account for a greater percentage of IT investment overall. Thats not a positive for Digital Ocean. Yet, small businesses make up most of the worlds economy.

Theyre also lagging relative to large firms in terms of digital transformation. Thats where Digital Oceans opportunity lies. It has a tremendous opportunity in front if it. It can sell, sell, sell to SMEs and bring them into the digital age.

A lot of investors believe in DOCN stock for precisely that reason which partially explains why it is oversold currently. Investors should wait for prices to fall some and pick up shares that are likely to grow for some tie to come.

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks. Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing.

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3 Millionaire-Maker Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy And Hold Forever - InvestorPlace

Hello and welcome back to the June 2023 issue of Citizen Tech, InformationWeeks monthly global policy roundup. This month were looking mostly at artificial intelligence, and lawmakers inability to legislate it, but also a number of aggressive actions by SEC and FTC, divergent tech visions at the European Commission, crypto-financing of war, cloud computing as the front of a new cold war, and more.

Any Citizen Tech readers who watch baseball might have seen the dapper figure of Rishi Sunak, prime minister of the United Kingdom, at the Washington Nationals stadium for the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Mr. Rishi didnt throw the traditional first pitch: hes a cricket player, and the sight of the windup for a slow bowl is enough to give a baseball player a stroke.) Sunak was in Washington to bang the drum for Britain, in his own words, and meet with CEOs of Americas leading companies.

The main reason for Sunaks visit, of course, was a visit to the White House, where apart from the war in Ukraine and other diplomatic questions, the PM and the president discussed tech. AI was a principle concern, according to POLITICO, who underlined Sunaks challenge as a kind of regulatory balance. Mimicking the EUs posture on AI -- that is, considering it a danger to be controlled rather than a resource to be exploited -- is unattractive to a PM like Sunak, who wants to invite as much investment and make as much use of Brexit as he can. On the other hand, the United States unwillingness to confront AI as a threat makes the British nervous: Sunaks government has, notably, categorized AI as a human rights question, according to Reuters. Thats hardly a mark of confidence.

(Perhaps its not fair to say that the US has not confronted the challenges of AI. But even Bidens boasts of a proposed AI Bill of Rights are pretty weak tea compared with the major legislation slowly taking form across the Atlantic.)

For now, Sunak is tacking west rather than east, toward Washington rather than Brussels. At the Nationals game mentioned above, Sunak met with the CEO of Denver-based Palantir, Alex Karp. Palantir will likely get a $610 million contract from the Sunak government to implement a complicated AI regimen in the British National Health Service; the company has also announced that its European headquarters will be in London.

But Sunak is tacking, not driving a straight westbound course, and as such he must satisfy the anti-AI side as well. POLITICO reported that he is interested in establishing guidelines, and perhaps a summit of G7 countries to discuss the subject. The CEOs of OpenAI and Google DeepMind have found themselves called to Downing Street for private talks.

One of the open questions, however, is whether Britain can hold its own as an international arbiter of AI regulation. If the EU manages the push through an AI regulatory framework of GDPRs scope, Sunak might find his ambitions scuppered. On the other hand, if he acts fast, he might be able to beat Brussels to the punch. Washington, in the meantime, seems perfectly willing to cede this responsibility to Brussels or Westminster.

Incredibly, Sunak wasnt the only Hindu head of government to visit Biden this month. Overshadowing his visit was the arrival of the ever-controversial Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, a country whose trade with the US has doubled over the past 10 years, according to Reuters. Biden spared no horses welcoming him, between gala dinners and invitations to joint sessions of Congress. The unstated theme, which all parties denied, was the two countries common rival, China. (Its not about China, we heard over and over. One is reminded of Margaret Thatchers comparison of being a powerful country to being a lady: if you have to go around telling people) But Bidens post-COVID anxieties about supply chains are another key motivator. India is a useful friend.

But tech was another important theme, and the White House secured the august Kennedy Center as a venue for Modi to speak to various American tech barons, from OpenAIs Sam Altman to Apples Tim Cook. Modi proposed an innovation handshake to them, which amounts to a cutting back of regulatory guidelines for deals between the two countries. Micron technology has already announced plans for a semiconductor plant in India; General Electric will be partnering with Hindustan Aeronautics in the near future.

Several confidential sources told the New York Times this month that the White House was considering, with the aid of American cloud providers like Microsoft, new ways to strike at Chinese cloud computing services like Alibaba and Huawei. Strike at might be too aggressive a description, but the air of hostility is palpable, and in any event, we dont know quite what kind of new regulations are being discussed. Will this consist largely of lawsuits, like the failed suit against ByteDance? Or will new laws keep American infrastructure unattached to Chinese-owned 5G networks and Chinese cloud storage? The problem, of course, is that Chinas command economy allows for much more generous subsidies than the White House can feasibly offer domestic companies to tempt them away from cheap Chinese infrastructure. In that sense, and for all the Chinese foreign minister complained to Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Beijing about interference, this is not a fair fight. In the background, of course, looms Taiwan, producer of the worlds semiconductors, possible site of a war that America can neither fight nor stay out of.

The Biden administration might be passive in the AI sector, but it recently flexed its muscles in the cryptocurrency sector. One June 5, the SEC announced that it was charging the worlds biggest crypto trading platform, Binance, with a number of crimes: selectively allowing American investors special access, while claiming otherwise; running unregistered securities exchanges; and misleading investors. Binances founder, Changpeng Zhao, has also been charged.

According to one document flagged in discovery, Binances chief compliance officer said: [W]e are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro. Pretty damning under ordinary circumstances; much worse coming from the CCO.

For most of the month, Zhao and his colleagues scurried about between meetings with counsel and calls with the SEC, trying desperately to keep their assets from being frozen. On Sunday June 18, as CNN Business reported, the beleaguered cryptobros succeeded. According to the terms of the deal, Binance will repatriate American holdings and cede control of them.

The question on which this trial will hinge is whether cryptocurrency assets count as securities. The SEC faces exactly the same problem it faced last year, during its initial skirmishes with crypto platform Coinbase: it has no solid definition of what a security is, or at least a definition that keeps abreast of cryptocurrency. This will be SEC chair Gary Genslers most formidable obstacle going forward. Its not, however, his only problem. As Jessica Nix reports at Forbes, the cryptophobic Gensler has devoted enemies in Congress; and a rather lurid article in the in the New York Post has insinuated that Genslers 2022 meeting with disgraced crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried breached the agencys ethical protocol. No other news outlet has pursued this story, but it may weigh the scales in Binances favor, if only indirectly.

The FTC has been busy in court this month, with one case against Microsoft and the other against Amazon.

Microsoft had had its eyes on Activision Blizzard, the Santa Monica-based video game producer behind popular titles such as Overwatch and World of Warcraft, for some time, and tried to acquire the company for just under $69 billion, as the Verge reported. This acquisition of one tech behemoth by another raised eyebrows in the major antitrust offices of the world. In a strange reversal of the usual trend, the European Commission decided not to pursue the case, while the Khan FTC demanded an injunction. Even stranger, the UKs Competition and Markets Authority has sided with the FTC.

This isnt the first time the FTC has pursued a video game-Big Tech merger, which underscores how important gaming is to the world economy; its also not a certain victory, as the case is ongoing. But its another sign of Lina Khans indefatigably aggressive posture. In this case, it seems to be working -- or so the Times thinks.

On the 21st, FTC brought another suit against Amazon, not on antitrust grounds but on more familiar territory for 200 million of you: they claimed Amazon had coerced or manipulated users -- duped them, in FTCs own words -- into signing up for an Amazon Prime subscription, as the New York Times reported. Allegedly, Amazon had intentionally made it difficult for users to shop without buying a Prime subscription, through a number of subtle means including the manipulation of color on a given page. This would be a violation of that great pillar of GDPR, informed consent. Amazon had just shaken hands with the FTC over a previous lawsuit, one alleging that the voice-activated Alexa service had made illegal use of childrens data. Khan is proving herself the Marshal Murat of tech regulation: when in doubt, she charges, and then she charges again.

Online misinformation is a tech battle whose fiercest crusaders have been, until now, of the liberal left. But starting this month -- justly or cynically, depending on your point of view -- Republican lawmakers have thrown the accusation of misinformation back at a series of institutions seen as sympathetic to the Democrats. These include universities, like Columbia, as well as the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, and even the Wikipedia Foundation. The Times reports that House Republicans, particularly in the House Judiciary Committee, have launched subpoenas and other, quieter inquiries and legal challenges against American civil society. Will this go very far? Probably not. But expect questions of nongovernmental influence on government, and web neutrality, to crop up in the upcoming election debates. It is, in a way, the right-wing response to left-wing accusation of censorship.

EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton arrived in California this month in a welter, insisting in a meeting with Elon Musk and Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino that Twitter test its compliance with the EUs new Digital Services Act. This new framework is enormous and untested; no one quite no knows what compliance would look like, and Big Tech firms -- especially online platforms with 45 million-plus users -- arent keen to find out.

Breton met with Metas Mark Zuckerberg as well, managing to secure Zuckerbergs agreement to the non-binding AI Pact first proposed at the 2023 G7 summit. Its the best Breton could do, given that the EU wont be ready to approve any AI legislation for two or three years, given the excruciating pace of EU lawmaking. However, of the two lords of California, Zuckerberg seemed the more cooperative. Perhaps its contrition, given Metas billion euro fine last month, or whatever passes for contrition in the C-suites of Big Tech firms; or perhaps its the necessarily political nature of the European Commissions interference with Twitter. Musk, after all, has displayed a certain sympathy for the other side in the ongoing Ukrainian War and a resentment of what he considers political censorship.

Speaking of Breton, heres a bit of Brussels gossip, courtesy of POLITICO. Bretons vision of AI enforcement differs profoundly from his Commission colleague Margrethe Vestagers. Bretons is more punitive; Vestagers more accommodating. The Frenchmans first concern is protecting Europes internal market; the Danes is cementing Europes role as a global regulatory player. Vestager is keen to draft AI legislation with her colleagues in Washington, for instance; Breton shows a certain Gaullist diffidence (one that his president, Emmanuel Macron, occasionally displays in these matters).

This growing competition would just by gossip, and unimportant to most Citizen Tech readers, except that the next generation of AI legislation is being drafted in Brussels, not on Capitol Hill. The repercussions are international.

However different American and European Big Tech stances can be, regulators from both sides of the Atlantic agreed this month that Google had overstepped antitrust rules grossly. Its a question of adtech, the algorithms that decide which ads a given internet user should see on any given page. Google owns a number of services, most notably Google Ads, which offer such algorithms; Google also owns the online marketplaces where these services are traded. In other words, they are buying and selling to themselves, forcing competitors out of the ad market. Or so Commissioner Vestager claimed this month in a statement; worse, she claimed, Google subtly modified its behaviour so as to make [its illegal practices more difficult to detect].

The solution, according to the statement, would be for Google to break up its adtech business, divesting itself of tools like AdX.

Notably, the Commission statement thanked the US Department of Justice:

Our cooperation with the DOJ has been close and fruitful, from the beginning of our respective investigations. There are of course differences between our legal procedures and our legal systems, but we share the same view as to what is good for competition, and ultimately, how to best remedy the issues for the benefit of consumers and citizens.

This case clearly shows the benefits of a very strong transatlantic cooperation.

Can crypto save Ukraine? At POLTICOs Global Tech Day, Ukraines minister for digital transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, claimed that his government had raised some $60 million in crypto donations since February 2022. Cryptocurrency occupies a somewhat depersonalized role in matters of state and war. The pace of technology seems to be moving in the opposite direction to the stable authority of the nation state. Its not a coincidence, for example, that tech regulation should be dictated by a quasi-empire like the EU, or that unregulated blockchain currency should end up filling the coffers of a state at war.

More mundanely, Bornyakov announced the creation of a new technology procurement platform, called Brave1, which allows small-to-medium sized enterprises (SME) to pitch cyber and defense tech solutions directly to Kyiv. This model could well pioneer a new approach to government procurement and SME cultivation; and as the White House continues to examine grant applications for semiconductor manufacturers, the simplicity of the Brave1 model might look very attractive indeed.

From a Gargantuan GDPR Fine to More Hot Water for Meta

From Bank Nightmares to a Spyware Scandal in Greece

From Terrorists on YouTube to the Chips Act and Its Discontents

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June 2023 Global Tech Policy Bulletin: From Rishi on Robots to ... - InformationWeek