TNB Tech Minute: Fed System for Monitoring Banks Suffered Outage Last Month

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This podcast is sponsored by McKinsey. Companies are moving faster than ever to integrate AI across operations. But while 90% of companies use AI somewhere in the business, research from McKinsey indicates only 6% are seeing material value. Later, join McKinsey to learn how AI can truly be used as an engine for growth.

Danny Lewis (0:21)

Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, September 15th. I'm Danny Lewis for the Wall Street Journal. We exclusively report that a Federal Reserve database used to monitor banks experienced a temporary outage last month. People familiar with the matter say the outage impacted the system's public-facing website, as well as internal systems that use public and confidential information to monitor banks, including the Fed's discount window, the central bank's primary channel for lending directly to banks, which can be crucial in a crisis. A Fed spokesperson said critical functions remained operational.

China is imposing new travel restrictions as its tech race with the US intensifies. Chinese citizens now face sweeping restrictions on exiting the country, preventing people from leaving China for months or years if they engage in, quote, criminal activities abroad that threaten national security or violate export controls related to industry or technology. The tech industry has already been affected by recent exit limitations. This spring, Beijing told two co-founders of AI firm Manus not to leave China after meta-platforms said it would buy the startup in December. Beijing forced Manus to unwind the deal on national security grounds. Foreigners visiting China are also subject to new rules to enter the country, including calls for punishment for providing information on visa applications.

And OpenAI has quietly bought a startup developing higher quality cameras for smartphones. People familiar with the matter say the AI firm bought Glass Imaging in recent months. The people say the deal valued the camera startup at $300 million, three times what it was valued in a funding round last year. OpenAI's exact plans for Glass Imaging are unclear. The ChatGPT maker has been developing a secretive device with former Apple executive Johnny Ive who helped design the iPhone. News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, has a content licensing partnership with OpenAI.

That's your TNB Tech Minute. Join us again this afternoon for more.

SPEAKER_1 (2:20)

Companies seeking to fuel growth with AI should resist the temptation to rush into big swings says McKinsey's Steve Reyes.

SPEAKER_3 (2:26)

It's very important to start with things that feel winnable to build momentum in the organization. You're building that muscle, you're also building the mindset of people being curious and figuring out how to use these tools and to think differently about what's possible.

SPEAKER_1 (2:39)

Reyes believes the principles that have driven growth for decades don't change because of AI. The highest AI performers use it to fundamentally redesign workflows, not just automate what's already there, demonstrating how AI's real value is in its potential to reward ambitious thinking.

SPEAKER_3 (2:54)

The exciting piece is to say, hey, this is how we do things, put it to the side and ask the more fundamental question of what's the outcome we're trying to drive, and then how can we use AI to rethink the way we do things to enable that to be better? And what we typically find is when companies do that, they're rethinking the process and enabling people to be more effective, not just more efficient, and drive growth.

SPEAKER_1 (3:16)

For more, visit mckinsey.com.