Industry news

Amazon is launching a new cloud-based generative AI service called Bedrock. The tech giant also announced new EC2 cloud instances geared towards model training and AI applications, and a free tier to its CodeWhisperer service.

Read more on Computing here.

Aviva announces the commitment of a further £150m to its corporate venture capital fund, Aviva Ventures. The fund will focus on delivering returns through investments into early stage businesses that bring Aviva new opportunities and insights into emerging technology and customer trends.

Digital transformation means there’s never been a greater need for STEM-qualified people in supply chain – getting more women into such roles will be key.

Some progress is being made on attracting women into STEM roles in computer science, engineering, economics, and physics, yet these areas remain disproportionately male.

Read more on Supply Chain here.

In order to better enable companies to outsource effectively, French company Webhelp has developed a program, dubbed “The Nest,” which is designed to support start-ups and scale-ups around the globe to scale up their teams internationally and improve their customer experience operations

Read more on Jerusalem Post here.

CGI has earned a Solutions Partner for Microsoft Cloud designation, completing all six Solutions Partner requirements within the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program.

The designation demonstrates CGI's extensive Microsoft-focused cloud capabilities and builds on the company's long-term success in delivering innovative cloud projects for clients across industries.

Read more on Yahoo Finance here.

Eversheds Sutherland (International) is pleased to announce that it has made 29 partner promotions in its offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia with effect from 1 May 2023. 55% of Eversheds Sutherland’s new partners are female.

Read more on Eversheds Sutherland here.

UK outsourcer and government contractor Capita said Friday that it has launched an investigation into an IT failure that resulted in staff being unable to access key systems, causing disruptions to services for local authorities and some businesses.

Capita employees have been unable to access their IT systems since the early hours of Friday, sparking fears of a possible cyberattack targeting the company.

With £6.5 billion worth of public sector contracts, Capita is among the UK government's largest suppliers.

Read more on Computing here.

International law firms including DLA Piper, Herbert Smith Freehills and Baker McKenzie are looking at opening offices in India after the country changed its rules to widen overseas access to a huge market.

The Bar Council of India announced in March that foreign legal firms would be allowed to set up in the country for the first time and advise clients on the international elements of mergers and acquisitions or appear as arbitrators, among other things.

Read more on Financial Times here.

Italy has become the first Western country to block generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. The Italian data-protection authority said there were privacy concerns relating to the model.

Last week OpenAI confirmed it has suffered a data breach caused by a bug in an open-source library which results in users being shown chat data belonging to others and also exposed payment-related information belonging to 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus subscribers.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

As of March 2023, DLA Piper’s Bucharest office recruits Alina Antonie as Counsel in the Competition team. In her new position, she will support the department’s growing efforts to assist clients in dealing with their legal needs, always adding a human touch.

Alina is a highly experienced competition lawyer, with over 20 years of experience in different industries, strong knowledge and understanding of various sectors.

Read more on Romanian Lawyers Week here.