NewsBite

Paul Smith

Yesterday

Canva Sheets is an update on how people have become accustomed to using spreadsheets like Excel and Google Sheets.

Canva makes its pitch to take on Microsoft with an AI Excel rival

Canva has launched its biggest product update, including a move to take on the industry giant with a re-imagining of the Excel spreadsheet.

This Month

Westpac has stumbled into a public relations nightmare after a customer was told he couldn’t transfer money from his account.

Westpac’s $50,000 call centre clash lands bank in PR nightmare

The lending giant thought it had detected a scam. But a customer is adamant he was denied access to his money with no explanation. And he’s gone public.

Super fund customers’ details are up for sale on dark web forums.

Cyber minister Tony Burke ‘radio silent’ on super breach: Coalition

The accusation comes after cybersecurity firms identified the details of thousands of Australian retirees for sale online.

Hola Health co-founders Vishnu Gopalan, Lenin Rajendran and Thiru Rajendran have received investment that values the company at $70 million.

Woolworths buys into telehealth consultations with $70m start-up

The supermarket giant’s pharmacy division has led a funding round in Hola Health, giving customers access to virtual doctor’s appointments and prescriptions.

Ramsay Health CEO Natalie Davis says digitisation and AI are a big part of the hospital operator’s plans.

Ramsay Healthcare chief says the age of AI care is coming

The CEO of Australia’s biggest private hospital operator has flagged greater AI adoption as a way to help improve services.

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NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie says reports of reduced investment in data centre capacity are not borne out it his company’s books.

Microsoft pull-back casts doubts on local data centre boom

The CEO of data centre operator NextDC hoses down suggestions the sector is in for a correction but analysts warn of ‘AI fatigue’ across businesses.

AustralianSuper customers lost money to the cyberattackers.

How hackers struck super fund customers while they slept

The cyberattack that has robbed Australians of money from superannuation accounts began with criminals attempting to access accounts in the dead of night.

StrongRoom’s Max Mito and Christopher Durre with EVP’s Misha Saul (left) last month.

StrongRoom investors at war as founders hit with freezing orders

A European venture capital firm has accused EVP of destroying the prospects of the pharmaceutical software start-up after reporting the company to police.

March

Michael Intrator, co-founder and chief executive officer of CoreWeave (centre), during the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq in New York on Friday.

AI company’s IPO fizzer a warning for Canva and Australian tech stars

The biggest US technology float since 2021, for artificial intelligence firm CoreWeave, fell flat on Friday. That has implications across the Pacific.

QuintessenceLabs chief executive Vikram Sharma shows Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic around his Canberra facility.

Labor bets $15m on using quantum technology to fight cyberattacks

The government’s National Reconstruction Fund is the lead investor in a funding round for Canberra-based QuintessenceLabs, which is also backed by Westpac.

PsiQuantum founders Jeremy O’Brien (left) and Terry Rudolph.

PsiQuantum targets $9.5b valuation, handing Labor a potential windfall

The Silicon Valley-headquartered quantum computing start-up is heavily backed by the federal and Queensland governments, and is raising about $1.2 billion.

David Tattam and David Bergmark have been building Protecht for 25 years.

Former PwC colleagues’ tech firm lands $445m PE deal

PSG Equity has bought out most of Protecht, a 25-year-old Sydney software company.

SAP chief executive Christian Klein is concerned about the geopolitical climate, as his company makes progress in the AI era.

‘No winners’: CEO of software giant SAP urges end to Trump tariff war

The head of the group, which lists clients such as Coles, Woolworths and Woodside, says all countries and businesses will lose if the trade war continues.

Oracle denies being breached by a hacker, but hundreds of Australian clients are on alert after being named.

Hacker claims Oracle breach, sending business and agencies scrambling

Australia’s biggest companies rushed to check their systems after a hacker claimed to have stolen important credentials via tech giant Oracle.

Square Peg’s Paul Bassatt, OneVentures’ Michelle Deaker, Airtree’s Craig Blair,  Andrea Gardiner of Jelix Ventures, and Blackbird’s Rick Baker are among the investors who responded to the AFR survey.

14 venture capitalists unpack the year ahead

More than a dozen of the country’s biggest tech investors say floats will return, there’s no AI bubble, and Donald Trump may be good news for local firms.

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The power of rival AI platforms, and the data they use to get smarter is changing rapidly.

Be afraid: Google’s new AI assistant will remember your search history

The tech giant has unveiled updated artificial intelligence tools, including a feature that learns from your web browsing, while OpenAI says the US will lose to China if it can’t use copyrighted work.

Scott Farquhar says he wants to help a new generation of Australian tech start-ups become the country’s biggest companies.

Scott Farquhar to succeed Robyn Denholm as Tech Council chair

The Atlassian co-founder is taking his first major role since stepping down from his company and will become Australia’s top tech lobbyist.

Federico Collarte is hoping a change of product direction can save Baraja.

Investors hope for U-turn in Baraja fortunes after millions wiped out

Investors in former star tech start-up Baraja are waiting to see if a change of product direction can revive the tech company, before considering a sale of its assets

Sonder co-founders Chris Marr, Peter Burnheim and Craig Cowdrey, have attracted $40 million in fresh funding.

Wellness app Sonder secures $40m from Blackbird, Seek and Hostplus

The start-up said the round had left it with a “material uplift” on a $150 million valuation secured last year. It will use the money to expand overseas.

Data centres have become the hottest commercial real estate, as the AI boom picks up pace.

Swiss PE giant swoops on Australian data centre firm with $1.2b buyout

GreenSquare DC has secured a $1.2 billion deal with Swiss private equity giant Partners Group as deep-pocketed investors look for AI exposure.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/paul-smith-j7ged