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.”
Nvidia has launched Parakeet-TDT-0.6B-v2, an automatic speech recognition (ASR) model that can transcribe 60 minutes of audio in 1 second with an average “Word Error Rate” of just 6.05%
Nvidia has launched Parakeet-TDT-0.6B-v2, an automatic speech recognition (ASR) model that can, “transcribe 60 minutes of audio in 1 second [mind blown emoji].” This version two is so powerful, it currently tops the Hugging Face Open ASR Leaderboard with an average “Word Error Rate” (times the model incorrectly transcribes a spoken word) of just 6.05% (out of 100). To put that in perspective, it nears proprietary transcription models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o-transcribe (with a WER of 2.46% in English) and ElevenLabs Scribe (3.3%). The model boasts 600 million parameters and leverages a combination of the FastConformer encoder and TDT decoder architectures. It can transcribe an hour of audio in just one second, provided it’s running on Nvidia’s GPU-accelerated hardware. The performance benchmark is measured at an RTFx (Real-Time Factor) of 3386.02 with a batch size of 128, placing it at the top of current ASR benchmarks maintained by Hugging Face. Parakeet-TDT-0.6B-v2 is aimed at developers, researchers, and industry teams building applications such as transcription services, voice assistants, subtitle generators, and conversational AI platforms. The model supports punctuation, capitalization, and detailed word-level timestamping, offering a full transcription package for a wide range of speech-to-text needs. Developers can deploy the model using Nvidia’s NeMo toolkit. The setup process is compatible with Python and PyTorch, and the model can be used directly or fine-tuned for domain-specific tasks. The open-source license (CC-BY-4.0) also allows for commercial use, making it appealing to startups and enterprises alike. Parakeet-TDT-0.6B-v2 is optimized for Nvidia GPU environments, supporting hardware such as the A100, H100, T4, and V100 boards. While high-end GPUs maximize performance, the model can still be loaded on systems with as little as 2GB of RAM, allowing for broader deployment scenarios.
New York state to establish a supervision framework for BNPL- disclosures, dispute resolution, limits on fee, data privacy; requires disclosure when a price was set by an algorithm using personal data
Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new legislation as part of the FY26 Enacted Budget that will protect consumers across New York and fight back against scams or exploitative practices. From simplifying the process of cancelling recurring online subscriptions to cracking down on overdraft fees that target low-income consumers, these new laws will help New Yorkers fight back against unfair corporate practices. The FY26 budget includes legislation requiring businesses to notify consumers of upcoming renewals and price changes as well as provide clear instructions on how to cancel subscriptions. Under this legislation, cancellation processes must be simple, transparent, and fair – ensuring that it is just as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up. With e-commerce sales rising and returns accounting for billions of dollars annually, New Yorkers deserve stronger consumer protections. The FY26 Budget also includes legislation to require online retail sellers to post return and refund policies in a way that is easily accessible for consumers; and a legislation to establish a licensing and supervision framework for BNPL providers. This legislation will introduce safeguards, such as disclosure requirements, dispute resolution standards, limits on all charges and fees, and data privacy protections to ensure consumers are better protected when using these financial products. The FY26 Budget includes first-in-the-nation legislation that requires businesses to disclose clearly to consumers when a price was set by an algorithm using their personal data, subject to certain exceptions.
Boomi and AWS partner to offer a centralized management solution for deploying, monitoring, and governing AI agents across hybrid and multi-cloud environments with built-in support for MCP via a single API
Boomi announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with AWS to help customers build, manage, monitor and govern Gen AI agents across enterprise operations. Additionally, the SCA will aim to help customers accelerate SAP migrations from on-premises to AWS. By integrating Amazon Bedrock with the Boomi Agent Control Tower, a centralized management solution for deploying, monitoring, and governing AI agents across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, customers can easily discover, build, and manage agents executing in their AWS accounts, while also maintaining visibility and control over agents running in other cloud provider or third-party environments. Through a single API, Amazon Bedrock provides a broad set of capabilities to build generative AI applications with security, privacy, and responsible AI in mind, including support for Model Context Protocol (MCP), a new open standard that enables developers to build secure, two-way connections between their data and AI-powered tools. MCP enables agents to effectively interpret and work with ERP data while complying with data governance and security requirements. Steve Lucas, Chairman and CEO at Boomi. “By integrating Amazon Bedrock’s powerful generative AI capabilities with Boomi’s Agent Control Tower, we’re giving organizations unprecedented visibility and control across their entire AI ecosystem while simultaneously accelerating their critical SAP workload migrations to AWS. This partnership enables enterprises to confidently scale their AI initiatives with the security, compliance, and operational excellence their business demands.” Apart from Agent Control Tower, the collaboration will introduce several strategic joint initiatives, including: Enhanced Agent Designer; and New Native AWS Connectors and Boomi for SAP.
UK’s new BNPL rules to require upfront checks to assess borrower’s repayment ability, confer the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman, and shifts the oversight to the FCA bringing BNPL in line with other credit products
After years of wrangling, the UK Government is finally introducing new rules to clamp down on what it describes as the ‘wild west’ of buy now, pay later lending. Under the changes, millions of BNPL shoppers will gain stronger rights and clearer information as the Government reforms the 50-year-old Consumer Credit Act to better reflect modern borowing trends. That means upfront checks to make sure people can repay what they borrow, fairer and faster access to refunds, and the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman — bringing BNPL in line with other credit products. The Government says outdated and confusing rules will be removed, with oversight shifting to the FCA. The legislative shift comes as a report by the FCA showed that one in ten people were unable to pay essential bills while millions more Brits were using buy now pay later products over the last three years. New figures from Money Wellness reveal a 68% increase in the number of people seeking help with BNPL debt in the past year, highlighting the growing strain the sector is placing on household finances. Sebrina McCullough, director of external relations at Money Wellness, says: “We’ve seen a significant rise in people struggling with Buy Now Pay Later debt, often because they’ve used it to plug gaps in everyday budgets. For many, it’s become a way to spread the cost of essentials like food shopping, rather than to cover large expenses. The legislation bringing BNPL into regulation will be laid in Parliament on 19 May.
Snoop launches Variable Recurring Payments to supercharge automated saving- allowing users to set flexible, automated deposits from their current account into their Snoop savings account on a weekly or monthly basis
Snoop has launched Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs), letting users automate savings with ease and stay on track with financial goals – all powered by Open Banking. Snoop’s new VRP functionality allows users to set flexible, automated deposits from their current account into their Snoop savings account on a weekly or monthly basis – on the day that suits them. This new capability builds on the app’s existing savings features, which already include smart insights and nudges that help customers shift spare cash into high-interest savings. John Natalizia, chief executive officer and co-founder of Snoop said “With VRPs, we’re unlocking a new level of control and ease. This is about building better habits with less effort – and helping people grow their money without needing to think about it every day.” Since launch, the Snoop savings account has gained strong traction. Over 90% of customers fund their accounts using Open Banking, preferring seamless, secure transfers over manual top-ups. The Snoop savings account offers: 4.25% AER / 4.16% gross (variable) interest; Daily interest payments; Easy access: same working day if requested before 11am; Open from just £1, save up to £85,000; FSCS protection up to £85,000 (held with Vanquis Bank Limited). Over 80% of users have set savings goals, most aiming to build an emergency fund. Snoop recommends monthly contributions and nudges users when spare cash is available. This will expand to include advanced sweep rules, roundups, and payday savings, offering even more intelligent automation. Natalizia added “Unlike traditional accounts, Snoop actively helps customers optimise their savings.
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.
Stripe launches stablecoin accounts and AI foundation model to improve fraud detection and authorization rates trained on “subtle signals” per payment, which specialized models cannot capture
Among these, the company debuted an AI foundation model to improve fraud detection and authorization rates. Dubbed the Payments Foundation Model, it is trained on tens of billions of transactions and incorporates hundreds of “subtle signals” per payment, which it said specialized models cannot capture. The technology firm plans to deploy this model across its payments suite to improve performance in ways that were previously unattainable. Stripe stated that early results indicate the model’s effectiveness, particularly against card testing attacks, where it increased detection rates beyond the 80% reduction achieved over two years with previous models. By applying the new foundation model, Stripe increased its detection rate for attacks on large businesses by 64% practically overnight. In parallel, Stripe expanded its money management offerings with the launch of Stablecoin Financial Accounts, powered by stablecoins. Businesses using these accounts can hold balances in stablecoins, receive payments via both crypto and traditional fiat rails such as ACH and SEPA, and send stablecoins to most markets globally. These accounts are designed to be accessible to businesses in 101 countries. Initially, the accounts will support stablecoins USDC and Bridge’s USDB, with plans to incorporate additional currencies over time. Stripe also announced a deeper partnership with NVIDIA, which completed the fastest-ever migration to Stripe Billing.
Ally Bank’s AI platform can pick the right external LLM depending on the use case or combine answers from several LLMs; it removes PII, tracks all transactions and rehydrates PII for context
In an era where differentiation in banking is increasingly difficult, Ally Bank has emerged as a leader in creating exceptional digital banking experiences. Sathish Muthukrishnan, chief information and technology officer at Ally Financial said, “The intent behind launching our technology strategy was to ensure that technology will continue to be relevant in an all-digital bank, but more importantly, to create differentiation and drive significant business outcomes. We categorized our strategy into six different pillars. The first is security. Our second pillar was driving tremendous experiences. The third pillar is how I know my experience is working. That’s when data analytics came in. Measure what consumers do, but more importantly, measure what they don’t do. Our operational pillar involved migrating to cloud, driving automation and consistency in how we develop and deploy code. And then we needed to preserve our culture and take care of our talent. These pillars laid the foundation for our transformation. We now have about 75% of our applications running on the cloud and about 95% of the enterprise data in the cloud. This allows us to learn from consumer behaviors, understand what they’re expecting and create experiences in real time so consumers think they are our only customer. We had our cloud strategy and data in the cloud warehouse. At the beginning of 2022, we redefined our network. As we were thinking about AI, we launched our chat assistant, Ally Assist. We created Ally AI because we knew technology was fast-evolving, but there were concerns about sending data to external LLMs. To address this, we built an AI platform that could connect to external LLMs but with added security — it removes PII, tracks all transactions and rehydrates PII for context. Our platform can connect to multiple LLMs — from GPT to FLAN to Bedrock. We can pick the right LLM depending on the use case or combine answers from several LLMs. Our content creation LLM is different from what we use for code generation or risk assessment. We have different models for different use cases. My advantage is that the product team, UI/UX team and technology team are all part of the same technology organization. We rolled out savings buckets — your deposit account with multiple savings buckets that you can name yourself. If you start questioning why roadblocks exist and how to solve them, your brand becomes more relevant to consumers. You become their next best experience, deepening relationships.”
Qvinci Software simplifies financial analysis of multi-entity businesses- Eliminations Entries feature removes the impact of transactions between related companies
Qvinci Software has launched new products and enhancements to strengthen their offering of automating time-consuming manual tasks common in traditional financial and business intelligence reporting, so that business leaders can focus on proactive, revenue-impacting initiatives. New Report Categorization and Packaging features enable searching, filtering, bulk-pinning, and building customized financial and business intelligence report packages in minutes, instead of hours or days using other accounting platforms. New Report Interact functionality allows for switching dollar/percentage views, filtering by specific entity in a multi-entity report, and focus mode to highlight cells that need attention – all without numerous data re-runs. A new suite of Business Intelligence Dashboards and Reporting Templates target key financial metrics that simplify impactful coaching and advising by identifying problem areas that need corrective action. For global organizations, Currency Conversion tools now fully support QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero, eliminating the hassle of manual in-app currency adjustments. Qvinci Budgets with Future Budgeting enables users to import Excel-based budgets to use with templates for precise financial planning, as well as use Qvinci Budgets with QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, or QuickBooks by Class. With Non-Sunday Aligned Reporting, organizations (i.e., hospitality brands, franchises, faith-based institutions, etc.) can generate reports based on their busiest operational days using customizable accounting calendars. Now, “As Of Week” reporting is available, making it easy to define the week through which reports should be run. With enhanced Security Infrastructure – including multi-factor authentication, PCI certification, and a published formal security framework – Qvinci ensures enterprise-grade data protection. Lastly, Eliminations Entries, used to remove the impact of transactions between related companies, can now be handled directly within the Qvinci solution, cutting down drastically on needless complexity and manual labor.