Korea's Meritz Securities partners with AWS for AI platform
Under the cooperation with AWS, the world's top cloud service provider, Meritz Securities plans to develop personalized financial platforms powered by artificial intelligence applications.
Meritz Securities has channeled resources to strengthen its AI research capabilities and come up with futuristic financial platforms.
Toward that end, the Seoul-based company founded a dedicated in-house organization, called the Inno Biz Center, early this year and attracted dozens of info-tech and financial experts.
"This collaboration will serve as a turning point for us as we transform into a next-generation AI-driven financial corporation," said Meritz Securities Senior Vice President Lee Jang-wook, who leads the Inno Biz Center.
An increasing number of South Korean brokerages take advantage of AI technologies.
Late last month, for example, Mirae Asset Securities launched a new service, which uses AI to identify and deliver real-time insights into the causes of sharp stock price fluctuations in overseas markets.
The service automatically scans U.S. stocks, which rose or fell by more than 2% during the previous trading session and identifies reasons by going through disclosures or key events. It then summarizes related global news and provides investors with concise explanations.
In April, KB Securities unveiled "Stock GPT," a customized investment information service supported by generative AI.
It incorporates conversational AI technology, thus enabling investors to receive real-time answers to their stock market-related inquiries.
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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Gary fighting shortage in classroom with online teachers
With less than a month before school begins, Gary Community School Corp. staffers made one thing clear during Thursday's school board meeting – the district is hiring. Staff members and school board members wore white T-shirts with a QR code on the back and the message, 'We are Hiring!' The first day of school is Aug. 7. Teachers are the most prized employees, including special education, physics, and secondary content teachers. Gary's website cited 81 job openings, including 36 teacher vacancies. To ensure students have a qualified teacher in each classroom, the board retained Proximity Learning, an Austin, Texas-based company that operates a virtual teaching program led by licensed teachers. Locally, Lake Ridge Schools have used Proximity teachers and its former superintendent, Sharon Johnson-Shirley, offered a testimonial featured on Proximity's website. She said Lake Ridge had been relying on substitutes, and she praised the impact Proximity teachers provided. In many cases, Gary has been relying on classroom teachers who work under emergency state permits. Those teachers have a bachelor's degree, but they aren't licensed to teach. Chief human resources officer Jovanka Cvitkovich said about one-third of the district's teachers worked under emergency permits last year. She said many had permits that could not be renewed because the teachers didn't meet Indiana's requirements. 'We'd prefer someone who has expertise, albeit on a screen with a classroom facilitator in place,' Cvitkovich said. The district's ultimate goal is to have a live teacher, she said. 'This provides flexibility, they're here for us as that backup…. We can't keep doing the same thing we've been doing for the past seven years, which is having teachers not licensed. This is a backup to make sure students get what they need, which is high-quality instruction.' Chief academic officer Cynthia Treadwell also endorsed Proximity. 'It's a very unique opportunity given what's at stake. We are really trying to drive academic outcomes. When we have teachers that don't have that pedagogy, there's a huge gap. We know high-quality teachers make a difference.' Superintendent Yvonne Stokes said each Proximity teacher would cost the district about $70,000, but the district would also have to hire a facilitator in each classroom as a backup for the online teacher. Proximity vice president Michael Robinson said there's a national teaching shortage with 600,000 open jobs. 'Don't feel like you're in this by yourselves,' he said. Founded in 2009, Robinson said Proximity has served more than 500,000 students in states across the country. The board also gave Superintendent Stokes temporary authority to hire new staff members because the board doesn't have a meeting before school starts. Teachers start work Aug. 4. In other business, the board voted 4-0, without discussion, to allow Gary-based Edgewater Health to offer an on-site student health center at the West Side Leadership Academy. Stokes said the collaboration wouldn't cost the district, other than the space at West Side. Community HealthNet, of Gary, was the other applicant. Board member Danita Johnson-Woods, president and chief executive officer of Edgewater, recused herself from the vote. Cvitkovich said Edgewater has offered day treatment services to the district for the past 50 years, including counseling, crisis and trauma services, teacher training and parenting workshops. She said it should be a seamless transition. Karen Bishop Morris, Edgewater's chief development officer and communications director, said the board's support represented a vote for integrated health services. 'This is an amazing opportunity for us to continue and expand our partnership… improving access to care. We hope it will reduce absenteeism,' she said.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
In rare earth metals power struggle with China, old laptops, phones may get a new life
As the U.S. and China vie for economic, technological and geopolitical supremacy, the critical elements and metals embedded in technology from consumer to industrial and military markets have become a pawn in the wider conflict. That's nowhere more so the case than in China's leverage over the rare earth metals supply chain. This past week, the Department of Defense took a large equity stake in MP Materials, the company running the only rare earths mining operation in the U.S. But there's another option to combat the rare earths shortage that goes back to an older idea: recycling. The business has come a long way from collecting cans, bottles, plastic, newspaper and other consumer disposables, otherwise destined for landfills, to recreate all sorts of new products. Today, next-generation recyclers — a mix of legacy companies and startups — are innovating ways to gather and process the ever-growing mountains of electronic waste, or e-waste, which comprises end-of-life and discarded computers, smartphones, servers, TVs, appliances, medical devices, and other electronics and IT equipment. And they are doing so in a way that is aligned to the newest critical technologies in society. Most recently, spent EV batteries, wind turbines and solar panels are fostering a burgeoning recycling niche. The e-waste recycling opportunity isn't limited to rare earth elements. Any electronics that can't be wholly refurbished and resold, or cannibalized for replacement parts needed to keep existing electronics up and running, can berecycled to strip out gold, silver, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, lithium, cobalt and other metals vital to manufacturers in various industries. But increasingly, recyclers are extracting rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, which are critical in making everything from fighter jets to power tools. "Recycling [of e-waste] hasn't been taken too seriouslyuntil recently" as a meaningful source of supply, said Kunal Sinha, global head of recycling at Swiss-based Glencore, a major miner, producer and marketer of metals and minerals — and, to a much lesser but growing degree, an e-waste recycler. "A lot of people are still sleeping at the wheel and don't realize how big this can be," Sinha said. Traditionally, U.S. manufacturers purchase essential metals and rare earths from domestic and foreign producers — an inordinate number based in China — that fabricate mined raw materials, or through commodities traders. But with those supply chains now disrupted by unpredictable tariffs, trade policies and geopolitics, the market for recycled e-waste is gaining importance as a way to feed the insatiable electrification of everything. "The United States imports a lot of electronics, and all of that is coming with gold and aluminum and steel," said John Mitchell, president and CEO of the Global Electronics Association, an industry trade group. "So there's a great opportunity to actually have the tariffs be an impetus for greater recycling in this country for goods that we don't have, but are buying from other countries." Although recycling contributes only around $200 million to Glencore's total EBITDA of nearly $14 billion, the strategic attention and time the business gets from leadership "is much more than that percentage," Sinha said. "We believe that a lot of mining is necessary to get to all the copper, gold and other metals that are needed, but we also recognize that recycling is going to play a huge role," he said. Glencore has operated a huge copper smelter in Quebec, Canada, for almost 20 years on a site that's nearly 100-years-old. The facility processes mostly mined copper concentrates, though 15% of its feedstock is recyclable materials, such as e-waste that Glencore's global network of 100-plus suppliers collect and sort. The smelter pioneered the process for recovering copper and precious metals from e-waste in the mid 1980s, making it one of the first and largest of its type in the world. The smelted copper is refined into fresh slabs that are sold to manufacturers and traders. The same facility also produces refined gold, silver, platinum and palladium recovered from recycling feeds. The importance of copper to OEMs' supply chains was magnified in early July, when prices hit an all-time high after President Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on imports of the metal. The U.S. imports just under half of its copper, and the tariff hike — like other new Trump trade policies — is intended to boost domestic production. It takes around three decades for a new mine in the U.S. to move from discovery to production, which makes recycled copper look all the more attractive, especially as demand keeps rising. According to estimates by energy-data firm Wood Mackenzie, 45% of demand will be met with recycled copper by 2050, up from about a third today. Foreign recycling companies have begun investing in the U.S.-based facilities. In 2022, Germany's Wieland broke ground on a $100-million copper and copper alloy recycling plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Last year, another German firm, Aurubis, started construction on an $800-million multi-metal recycling facility in Augusta, Georgia. "As the first major secondary smelter of its kind in the U.S., Aurubis Richmond will allow us to keep strategically important metals in the economy, making U.S. supply chains more independent," said Aurubis CEO Toralf Haag. The proliferation of e-waste can be traced back to the 1990s, when the internet gave birth to the digital economy, spawning exponential growth in electronically enabled products. The trend has been supercharged by the emergence of renewable energy, e-mobility, artificial intelligence and the build-out of data centers. That translates to a constant turnover of devices and equipment, and massive amounts of e-waste. In 2022, a record 62 million metric tons of e-waste were produced globally, up 82% from 2010, according to the most recent estimates from the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. That number is projected to reach 82 million metric tons by 2030. The U.S., the report said, produced just shy of 8 million tons of e-waste in 2022. Yet only about 15-20% of it is properly recycled, a figure that illustrates the untapped market for e-waste retrievables. The e-waste recycling industry generated $28.1 billion in revenue in 2024, according to IBISWorld, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 8%. Whether it's refurbished and resold or recycled for metals and rare-earths, e-waste that stores data — especially smartphones, computers, servers and some medical devices — must be wiped of sensitive information to comply with cybersecurity and environmental regulations. The service, referred to as IT asset disposition (ITAD), is offered by conventional waste and recycling companies, including Waste Management, Republic Services and Clean Harbors, as well as specialists such as Sims Lifecycle Services, Electronic Recyclers International, All Green Electronics Recycling and Full Circle Electronics. "We're definitely seeing a bit of an influx of [e-waste] coming into our warehouses," said Full Circle Electronics CEO Dave Daily, adding, "I think that is due to some early refresh cycles." That's a reference to businesses and consumers choosing to get ahead of the customary three-year time frame for purchasing new electronics, and discarding old stuff, in anticipation of tariff-related price increases. Daily also is witnessing increased demand among downstream recyclers for e-waste Full Circle Electronics can't refurbish and sell at wholesale. The company dismantles and separates it into 40 or 50 different types of material, from keyboards and mice to circuit boards, wires and cables. Recyclers harvest those items for metals and rare earths, which continue to go up in price on commodities markets, before reentering the supply chain as core raw materials. Even before the Trump administration's efforts to revitalize American manufacturing by reworking trade deals, and recent changes in tax credits key to the industry in Trump's tax and spending bill, entrepreneurs have been launching e-waste recycling startups and developing technologies to process them for domestic OEMs. "Many regions of the world have been kind of lazy about processing e-waste, so a lot of it goes offshore," Sinha said. In response to that imbalance, "There seems to be a trend of nationalizing e-waste, because people suddenly realize that we have the same metals [they've] been looking for" from overseas sources, he said. "People have been rethinking the global supply chain, that they're too long and need to be more localized." Several startups tend to focus on a particular type of e-waste. Lately, rare earths have garnered tremendous attention, not just because they're in high demand by U.S. electronics manufacturers but also to lessen dependence on China, which dominates mining, processing and refining of the materials. In the production of rare-earth magnets — used in EVs, drones, consumer electronics, medical devices, wind turbines, military weapons and other products — China commands roughly 90% of the global supply chain. The lingering U.S.–China trade war has only exacerbated the disparity. In April, China restricted exports of seven rare earths and related magnets in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, a move that forced Ford to shut down factories because of magnet shortages. China, in mid-June, issued temporary six-month licenses to certain major U.S. automaker suppliers and select firms. Exports are flowing again, but with delays and still well below peak levels. The U.S. is attempting to catch up. Before this past week's Trump administration deal, the Biden administration awarded $45 million in funding to MP Materials and the nation's lone rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California. Back in April, the Interior Department approved development activities at the Colosseum rare earths project, located within California's Mojave National Preserve. The project, owned by Australia's Dateline Resources, will potentially become America's second rare earth mine after Mountain Pass. Meanwhile, several recycling startups are extracting rare earths from e-waste. Illumynt has an advanced process for recovering them from decommissioned hard drives procured from data centers. In April, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital announced a collaboration with Microsoft, Critical Materials Recycling and PedalPoint Recycling to pull rare earths, as well as copper, gold, aluminum and steel, from end-of-life drives. Canadian-based Cyclic Materials invented a process that recovers rare-earths and other metals from EV motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and data-center e-scrap. The company is investing more than $20 million to build its first U.S.-based facility in Mesa, Arizona. Late last year, Glencore signed a multiyear agreement with Cyclic to provide recycled copper for its smelting and refining operations. Another hot feedstock for e-waste recyclers is end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, a source of not only lithium but also copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese and aluminum. Those materials are essential for manufacturing new EV batteries, which the Big Three automakers are heavily invested in. Their projects, however, are threatened by possible reductions in the Biden-era 45X production tax credit, featured in the new federal spending bill. It's too soon to know how that might impact battery recyclers — including Ascend Elements, American Battery Technology, Cirba Solutions and Redwood Materials — who themselves qualify for the 45X and other tax credits. They might actually be aided by other provisions in the budget bill that benefit a domestic supply chain of critical minerals as a way to undercut China's dominance of the global market. Nonetheless, that looming uncertainty should be a warning sign for e-waste recyclers, said Sinha. "Be careful not to build a recycling company on the back of one tax credit," he said, "because it can be short-lived." Investing in recyclers can be precarious, too, Sinha said. While he's happy to see recycling getting its due as a meaningful source of supply, he cautions people to be careful when investing in this space. Startups may have developed new technologies, but lack good enough business fundamentals. "Don't invest on the hype," he said, "but on the fundamentals." Glencore, ironically enough, is a case in point. It has invested $327.5 million in convertible notes in battery recycler Li-Cycle to provide feedstock for its smelter. The Toronto-based startup had broken ground on a new facility in Rochester, New York, but ran into financial difficulties and filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in May, prompting Glencore to submit a "stalking horse" credit bid of at least $40 million for the stalled project and other assets. Even so, "the current environment will lead to more startups and investments" in e-waste recycling, Sinha said. "We are investing ourselves."
Android Authority
2 hours ago
- Android Authority
Never mind the Galaxy Z Fold 7, I wish Samsung copied this foldable alternative
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has just launched, and it's one of the thinnest foldables yet, while offering a larger folding screen than previous models. As cool as Samsung's latest Fold is, though, I've been spending time with an old alternative to foldable phones, and I'd love Samsung to copy this trick. Yep, I'm talking about LG's Dual Screen Case. The LG Dual Screen Case was first launched in 2019 for the LG V50, and most subsequent LG flagship phones supported this accessory. The case plugged into your phone's USB-C port and gave you an FHD+ OLED screen to go with your phone's display. This enabled a foldable-style experience in some ways for just $200 at the time. That was a fair chunk of change for an accessory, but a far cry from the $1,500+ you'd pay for a brand-new foldable phone back then. So what's the benefit of this combination? Why do I love the LG Dual Screen Case? Hadlee Simons / Android Authority I often find myself using my LG V60 and the dual-screen add-on to watch YouTube on one of the screens while doing chores. Sure, I can do the same with cheap folio cases on a regular phone, but I still find it a handy feature, and it's broadly in line with the way I use Flex Mode on proper foldable phones. It also doesn't hurt that the case has a free-stop hinge, allowing the second screen to stay open at virtually any angle. My favorite use case is reading, though. I use an app called AI Reader X, as well as the Wide Mode app, which allows you to span any app across both screens to read locally downloaded ebooks across both displays like a physical book. I've spent quite a few evenings over the past six months or so reading books like this. The Kindle app for Android supports this book-style layout, but this only applies to landscape orientation or on foldable phones with squat displays (e.g. Pixel Fold, OPPO Find N2). Would you buy a Samsung phone with a dual screen case? 0 votes Yes, absolutely NaN % Maybe, it depends on price/features NaN % No, I wouldn't NaN % LG also promoted the Dual Screen Case as ideal for multitasking, as you can run an app on each panel. I don't care too much for phone-based multitasking in general, but it did come in handy recently when I ran a cooking timer on one screen while watching videos on the other display. However, I can envision this setup being very handy for people who love split-screen multitasking on foldable phones. Some LG owners use their phones and the Dual Screen Case to emulate Nintendo DS and 3DS games, too. I haven't extensively tested this scenario yet, but it's certainly worth considering if you're an emulation addict. Pros and cons of a Dual Screen Case C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Obviously, the biggest pro to using this combination is the cost. The LG V60 launched at $800, or you could buy a bundle with the case for $900 — and you can still grab this setup today for under $500 if you want to try it out. Meanwhile, the brand new Galaxy Z Fold 7 costs an eye-watering $2,000. If Samsung, or anyone else, made a $200 dual-case accessory for their regular flagships instead, we could save $100s over the cost of the latest booklet foldables while still enjoying many of the form factor's benefits. Another point in favor of the Dual Screen Case is its durability. My LG V60 case seems to have a plastic screen. However, this plastic is pretty hardy compared to the soft plastic used on foldable phones. I don't feel like I'm going to damage this screen with my fingernail. The case isn't water resistant, though, so that's something to be aware of compared to most other proper foldables. The display on the LG Dual Screen Case isn't as fragile as foldable screens. I also thought multitasking was pretty powerful here, owing to the aforementioned ability to run an app on each screen. Again, I'm not a big multitasker, but I thought the physical divide between the screens made for a more natural experience. LG also offers app pair functionality so I can launch two specific apps at once. Nice. Finally, I'm glad to see a couple of great third-party apps, like the aforementioned Wide Mode. There's also the old G8X BrowserHelper app, which opens any web links on the opposite screen (although this only seems to work with the Whale Browser app). Hadlee Simons / Android Authority There are several areas where I thought foldable phones reigned supreme, though. For one, video playback wasn't great when using both screens. You'll notice the gap between screens when playing a video across the displays. It also doesn't help that apps like VLC and YouTube don't seem to recognize Flex Mode and only play on one screen by default. I can use Wide Mode to span YouTube across both screens, but things look pretty goofy unless I use landscape orientation. You can also scroll through comments while watching a video, but the comments window runs down the right side of both screens instead of being restricted to the lower screen. And no, you won't see playback controls on the lower screen, either. Check out the image above for a better idea of what I mean. In fact, I found that virtually no third-party apps or even first-party apps are optimized to run across both screens. The Wide Mode app can only take you so far, as apps need to offer enhancements that take advantage of both displays. Otherwise, they just look stretched out. Furthermore, I had to re-activate Wide Mode every time I switched apps or unlocked my V60. I'm guessing that's a system limitation, but it can still make for a tedious experience. Finally, one other downside to this accessory is that it attaches to my V60's USB-C port. That ordinarily means I can't charge my phone, but thankfully, LG bundled a magnetic dongle for this purpose. However, the dongle is tiny, and I'll need to buy a new one if I lose it. Otherwise, I'll need to remove the case every time I want to charge my phone. At least I can still use the headphone jack while the case is attached. How Samsung could make a better Dual Screen Case Hadlee Simons / Android Authority I highly doubt Samsung would actually make a Dual Screen Case for its devices, as this would likely cannibalize its relatively meager foldable phone sales. But there are so many ways the Galaxy maker could improve upon the concept. For starters, it has a wider geographical footprint than most other smartphone brands. That means there's a good chance I'd be able to easily buy this accessory if it ever saw the light of day. Samsung also has a lot of influence and sells plenty of Android phones, so the company could push third-party developers to optimize their screens for a second-screen add-on. This includes existing partners like Google and Microsoft. I could totally see apps like Chrome, Gmail, Google Photos, and Maps being updated for a second-screen experience. In fact, Microsoft previously adapted some of its apps for the ill-fated Surface Duo phones, which featured two screens. Samsung has the market to make dual screen cases great, if it wanted to. There's even great potential for Samsung's own apps to take advantage of these screens. How about the Gallery app offering editing controls on one screen and the photo on another? Or what about Samsung Internet Browser letting you run different browser tabs on each screen? Samsung's Good Lock modules are also fantastic tools for people who want to deeply customize their phones. So a Good Lock module for customizing dual-screen behavior would be a match made in heaven for me. In any event, a Samsung-made Dual Screen Case is likely a pipe dream as the company continues its bid to make foldable phones a mainstream proposition. But LG's old accessory shows that I don't have to spend a ton of cash if I want a taste of the foldable life.
