Edward Jones plans to provide a variety of private investment options through a deal with CAIS, which provides technology designed to unlock alternative investments for advisors and their clients. The service will be offered starting on May 5 through a business line called Edward Jones Generations, which is open to investors with $10 million or more in assets, but will eventually be extended to more of the firm’s clientele. Russ Tipper, principal and head of products at Edward Jones, said it’s too early to say what the criteria for investing in alternatives will eventually be set at. Rather than choosing a fixed investable asset threshold for all accounts, Edward Jones is more likely to look at every client’s portfolio individually and decide if alts have a place. “We’re going to make sure it’s an appropriate portion of a client’s portfolio, which could be as little as zero to as high as 20% depending on the objective they’re trying to solve for.” Edward Jones has roughly 9 million clients but doesn’t say how many have more than $10 million in investable assets.
LendingClub is buying AI-powered spending intelligence platform Cushion that ingests users’ bank transactions and purchase data to help them track their bills, make on-time payments, manage subscriptions, build credit, and monitor BNPL loans
LendingClub announced the acquisition of intellectual property and select talent behind Cushion, an AI-powered spending intelligence platform, providing a natural complement to LendingClub’s suite of mobile financial products and experiences. Cushion’s AI-powered technology ingests users’ bank transactions and purchase information to help them track their bills, make on-time payments, manage subscriptions, build credit, and monitor BNPL loans. Scott Sanborn, CEO of LendingClub said, “Cushion’s technology complements our DebtIQ experience to provide our members with the tools and information they need to take control of their debt and spending. With credit card balances and interest rates at historic highs and consumers seeking ways to keep more of what they earn, the need for our solution has never been greater.” Adopting Cushion’s technology will eventually allow LendingClub to provide much-needed visibility into a consumer’s financial obligations beyond traditional credit monitoring. It builds on LendingClub’s acquisition of Tally in Q4 2024, which will simplify credit card management, help users optimize payments, reduce interest, and improve credit health.
Google’s ad network has begun showing advertising within the flow of conversations with chatbots operated by AI startups
Google’s ad network has begun showing advertising within the flow of conversations with chatbots — part of Alphabet Inc.’s efforts to keep its edge in digital advertising as generative artificial intelligence takes off. Earlier this year, Google’s AdSense for Search network, which traditionally shows ads within the search results of other websites, expanded to include conversations with chatbots operated by AI startups. Google made the move after conducting tests last year and earlier this year with a handful of startups, including AI search apps iAsk and Liner, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Showing ads alongside its own search results is the heart of Google’s business, bolstered by a business that serves up advertising across much of the web. That empire has come under threat as new entrants like OpenAI and Perplexity AI seek to siphon off the search giant’s audience with products aiming to help users find what they are looking for more quickly. Generative AI startups are increasingly exploring advertising-based business models to offset the high costs of answering users’ questions with artificial intelligence. For example, before inviting users to ask follow-up questions, iAsk shows ads below its AI-generated responses. In addition to Google, startups such as Koah Labs have begun allowing brands to serve ads to the chatbot audience. AI search startup Perplexity, one of the most prominent players using AI to reshape internet services, establishes relationships directly with brands that want to buy ads on the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. Perplexity allows brands to sponsor follow-up questions to users’ queries.
Modern Treasury’s AI agent for enterprise payment operations only takes action when it’s approved to do so, doesn’t let third-party model providers train on company data, is auditable by design and delivers verifiable results
Modern Treasury, the payment operations platform for businesses, introduced Modern Treasury AI to deliver the first AI Platform purpose-built for the unique demands of enterprise payments. Built on the company’s Payment Ops infrastructure, Modern Treasury AI blends a context-aware agent with a powerful, real-time workspace. Together, they set a new standard in how businesses manage payment operations, transitioning from manual, reactive processes to proactive, intelligent workflows. The AI Agent is the first enterprise-grade Agent that understands payments, is auditable by design and delivers verifiable, rapid results built on existing connectivity and a deep understanding of how enterprise payment systems and workflows work. When combined with the Workspace, a canvas for payment teams and the AI Agent to operate in, they create a new model for how companies manage payment workflows, streamlining operations from insight to execution to issue resolution. Key features include: AI That Respects Rules and Roles: The AI Agent only takes action when it’s approved to do so and will never let third-party model providers train on your data. Purpose-Built Intelligence; and Seamless Execution.
CrowdStrike to combine network telemetry from ExtraHop with first- and third-party data from SIEM to offer SOC teams real-time visibility into unauthorized AI service usage across endpoints, networks, cloud and on-premises infrastructure
CrowdStrike and ExtraHop announced an expanded partnership to help enterprises detect and contain shadow AI risks. By ingesting network intelligence from ExtraHop into CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM, the new integration gives SOC teams real-time visibility into unauthorized AI service usage and the ability to automate response actions – protecting sensitive data without slowing innovation. CrowdStrike and ExtraHop are giving SOC teams unified visibility and control over AI service usage across endpoints, networks, cloud environments, and on-premises infrastructure. By integrating deep network telemetry from ExtraHop with first- and third-party data from Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and automated remediation from Falcon Fusion SOAR, security teams can identify unauthorized AI models and agents, visualize usage patterns and automate containment actions to reduce the risk of sensitive. “Shadow AI has quickly emerged as a major security blind spot, often going undetected by legacy tools and exposing sensitive data,” said Daniel Bernard, chief business officer, CrowdStrike. “Together with ExtraHop, we’re delivering AI-native security and real-time network intelligence that empowers security teams to detect, stop and control unauthorized AI. This integration helps organizations embrace AI innovation without losing visibility, control or protection of sensitive data.”
The OpenID Foundation is to demo a secure, privacy-preserving identity that supports cross-platform credential exchange, privacy-first architecture, and enterprise-grade security
The OpenID Foundation is bringing together governments, standards bodies, technology vendors, end-user organizations and technical experts for a demonstration that “proves” a secure, privacy-preserving identity is “ready for prime time.” OpenID believes the single biggest barrier to seamless user experiences is interoperability, but in its upcoming showcase three specifications – the OpenID Verifiable Presentation (OID4VP), the High Assurance Interoperability Protocol (HAIP) and the Digital Credentials API (DC API) – are unified. “It’s a real-world demonstration of cross-platform credential exchange, privacy-first architecture, and enterprise-grade security,” the foundation said. Groups participating in the demo will include the NIST NCCoE, Mattr, Spruce, Animo, and 1Password among 10 teams developing digital wallets and verification solutions. They will work with credentials based on the ISO mDoc format widely utilized by mobile driver’s licenses, and Selective Disclosure JWTs (SD-JWTs). NIST NCCoE’s mDL architecture for opening a bank account, which uses the OID4VP, DC API and HAIP specifications, will also be demonstrated during the event.
Morgan Stanley research shows Apple Intelligence platform has been downloaded and engaged with by 80% of eligible U.S. iPhone owners in the last six months and has an above average NPS of 53
Consumers’ perception of Apple’s AI platform is more favorable than that of investors, Morgan Stanley said in a research note. Morgan Stanley said it found that the Apple Intelligence platform has been downloaded and engaged with by 80% of eligible U.S. iPhone owners in the last six months, has an above average net promoter score of 53, and is characterized by iPhone users as “easy to use, innovative, and something that improves their user experience.” “While much of the public critique of Apple Intelligence is warranted, and investor sentiment and expectations on Apple’s AI platform couldn’t be lower, our survey of iPhone owners paints a more positive picture,” Morgan Stanley said in the note. Since September, the share of iPhone owners who believe it is extremely or very important to have Apple Intelligence support on their next iPhone rose 15 points to reach 42%. Among iPhone owners who are likely to upgrade their device in the next 12 months, the percentage saying that about the AI platform rose 20 points to reach 54%, according to the note. Morgan Stanley also found that consumers are willing to pay more for Apple Intelligence than they were in September. Those who have used the AI platform are now willing to pay an average of $9.11 per month for it, a figure that’s 11% higher than the $8.17 average seen in September, per the note. While we don’t expect Apple to put Apple Intelligence behind a paywall until the platform is more built out, the potential long-term monetization of an Apple Intelligence subscription could reach tens of billions of dollars annually when considering a 1.4B global iPhone installed base, 32% (and growing) of US iPhone owners have an Apple Intelligence support iPhone, and users are willing to pay up to $9.11/month for Apple Intelligence,” Morgan Stanley said in the note.
Upwind’s ML cloud platform collects multi-layer telemetry data of the networking stack for real-time detection of threats to APIs, enabling 7X reduction in the mean time to respond
Upwind has added a feature to its cloud application detection and response (CADR) platform, allowing real-time detection of threats to application programming interfaces (APIs). The platform uses machine learning algorithms to collect telemetry data from Layers 3, 4, and 7 of the networking stack, enabling the identification of deviations and anomalous behavior in API traffic. The goal is to reduce the time required to investigate API security incidents by up to 10 times and mean time to response times by up to seven times. In the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI), there is a growing focus on API security. Many organizations are discovering that sensitive data is being shared inadvertently with AI models. Historically, responsibility for securing APIs has been unclear, with many cybersecurity teams assuming that application development teams are securing them as they are developed. However, this can lead to thousands of APIs that cybercriminals can exploit to exfiltrate data or modify business logic. Over the next 12-18 months, organizations plan to increase software security spend on APIs, DevOps toolchains, incident response, open source software, software bill of materials, and software composition analysis tools. Advancements in AI and eBPF technologies could simplify the entire software development lifecycle by streamlining the collection and analysis of telemetry data.
Data governance platform Relyance AI allows organizations to precisely detect bias by examining not just the immediate dataset used to train a model, but by tracing the potential bias to its source
Relyance AI, a data governance platform provider that secured $32.1 million in Series B funding last October, is launching a new solution aimed at solving one of the most pressing challenges in enterprise AI adoption: understanding exactly how data moves through complex systems. The company’s new Data Journeys platform addresses a critical blind spot for organizations implementing AI — tracking not just where data resides, but how and why it’s being used across applications, cloud services, and third-party systems. Data Journeys provides comprehensive view, showing the complete data lifecycle from original collection through every transformation and use case. The system starts with code analysis rather than simply connecting to data repositories, giving it context about why data is being processed in specific ways. Data Journeys delivers value in four critical areas: First, compliance and risk management: The platform enables organizations to prove the integrity of their data practices when facing regulatory scrutiny. Second, precise bias detection: Rather than just examining the immediate dataset used to train a model, companies can trace potential bias to its source. Third, explainability and accountability: For high-stakes AI decisions like loan approvals or medical diagnoses, understanding the complete data provenance becomes essential. Finally, regulatory compliance: The platform provides a “mathematical proof point” that companies are using data appropriately, helping them navigate increasingly complex global regulations. Customers have seen 70-80% time savings in compliance documentation and evidence gathering.
Alacriti’s next-gen ACH solution provides a unified payments infrastructure to process wires and real-time payments through multiple rails while allowing configurable exception handling, posting and settlement
Alacriti has launched its enhanced version of Orbipay Payments Hub for ACH, bringing automation-first design and intelligent processing to the ACH payment lifecycle. By incorporating automation, intelligent routing, and real-time insights, Orbipay Payments Hub for ACH helps financial institutions reduce processing costs, improve transaction accuracy, and enhance customer experiences while maintaining compliance with Nacha operating rules and regulatory standards. This modern ACH processing solution provides seamless integration with the Federal Reserve’s clearing systems, supporting a full range of ACH transactions, including consumer payments, corporate disbursements, bill payments, and Same Day ACH. Designed with advanced automation, configurable exception handling, and embedded compliance tools, Orbipay Payments Hub for ACH helps financial institutions modernize operations and gain full visibility of their ACH performance while keeping their existing core banking systems or without changing their other existing systems. Beyond ACH, Orbipay Payments Hub provides a unified payments infrastructure to process wires and real-time payments through the RTP® network, the FedNow Service, and Visa Direct. By bringing these payment rails together under a single platform, financial institutions can optimize, report, and manage their operations today while preparing for future payment innovations. Key Features and Benefits of Orbipay Payments Hub for ACH: Automated exception handling, Seamless ecosystem integration, Configurable posting and settlement , Advanced fraud prevention and compliance, and Unified reporting and analytics.