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<ul class="summary-list"><li>PowerSchool sells student data without parents' informed consent, a federal lawsuit alleges.</li><li>The edtech giant calls the lawsuit's allegations "unfounded and inaccurate."</li></ul>It's been 10 years since Emily Cherkin helped her son log onto a school computer on his first day of Kindergarten."He can't even write his name. Why am I teaching a five-year-old control-alt-delete?" she remembers asking herself.Cherkin, a Seattle mother of two, former teacher, and author of the new parenting guide <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=emily+cherkin+the+screentime+solution&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1094US1095&amp;oq=emily+cherkin+the+screentime+solution&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRigATIHCAYQIRirAtIBCTEwMzY5ajBqN6gCALACAA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">"The Screentime Solution,"</a> is now the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that alleges the education technology giant PowerSchool is selling student data, including health and disciplinary records, to its third-party "partners," and doing so without the informed consent of kids or parents.The lawsuit, filed in May in federal court in San Francisco, takes on the world's largest provider of cloud-based software for K-12 schools.PowerSchool, based in Folsom, California, manages data and crunches it into what it calls "analytics and insights" for more than 60 million students and their educators, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/global/north-america/united-states/">at 90 of the top 100 US school systems by enrollment size</a>.Boston-based private equity firm <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rak-garg-bain-capital-ventures-youngest-partner-2024-7">Bain Capital</a> acquired PowerSchool for $5.6 billion in a deal finalized October 1. PowerSchool <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/bain-capital/#:~:text=(%E2%80%9CPowerSchool%E2%80%9D%20or%20the%20%E2%80%9C,value%20of%20approximately%20%245.6%20billion.">CEO Hardeep Gulati said</a> the merger will help the company expand its award-winning products, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/powerbuddy/?utm_id=ps00032&amp;utm_campaign=powerschool_powerbuddy_paid-search__pkg00035&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid-search&amp;utm_content=text-only&amp;_bk=powerbuddy&amp;_bt=702266406463&amp;_bm=e&amp;_bn=g&amp;_bg=161909434485&amp;cq_plac=&amp;cq_net=g&amp;cq_pos=&amp;cq_med=&amp;cq_plt=gp&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwsoe5BhDiARIsAOXVoUucdfp2kkZDiwXnqSDBRfimw6rztJoPhTxmV5nwd8F7Y9ZtUlGzj3IaAqMIEALw_wcB">PowerBuddy,</a> its new generative AI platform.With two parents and their children as sole plaintiffs, the Cherkin lawsuit may seem a small effort by comparison, but it's throwing big rocks.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25260275-cherkin-v-powerschool-complaint-20240506">The lawsuit</a> caps Cherkin's decade of concern about children and screen time. It calls PowerSchool a "multibillion-dollar surveillance-technology empire." It demands that the company pay back untold millions of dollars earned by selling student data "products" to more than 100 of its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/company/partners/">partners</a>, including educational consulting firms and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25259171-powerschool-guide-to-p20w">government policymakers</a>.One partner, an educational consulting firm, offers marketing guidance to colleges, trade schools, and the military based on data from the 6 million high school students who use PowerSchool's Naviance college-planning software, the lawsuit alleges."PowerSchool collects this highly sensitive information under the guise of educational support," the lawsuit alleges, "but in fact collects it for its own commercial gain," while hiding behind "opaque terms of service such that no one can understand."PowerSchool is throwing big rocks back.The days of "spiral-bound grading books" are long over, the edtech company's lawyers counter in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25260257-cherkin-v-powerschool-motion-to-dismiss-20240722">a motion to dismiss</a> filed in July.The motion argues that PowerSchools is legally allowed to collect data voluntarily submitted by students and administrators, along with metadata about "unique device identifiers," IP addresses, and "cookie data."PowerSchool also argues that it "adequately discloses" what data it collects.PowerSchool spokesman Austin Zerbach told BI that no PowerSchool product sells any form of student data. "PowerSchool does not endorse or support any use of student educational records other than as agreed to by our customers, the schools and districts controlling the student education record, nor do we conduct targeted advertising with personal data of students," PowerSchool spokesman Zerbach said in a written statement.<h2 id="d912114d-9964-433f-80b6-1ed9123210db">A 345-terabyte trove of data</h2>The information PowerSchool collects from students is "virtually unlimited," the lawsuit says.It lists more than 50 kinds of data that PowerSchool says in public disclosures it "may" collect, including "extracurricular program membership" and "student assessments."<div type="image" title="Categories of data PowerSchool public disclosures mention the edtech company &quot;may&quot; collect." height="1076" width="766" msid="114945245" hostid="261" sizebytes="23708"></div>PowerSchool also tells users it may collect "student behavior data" and information about "physical and mental disabilities," according to the lawsuit.PowerSchool's "data trove" totals some "345 terabytes of data collected from 440 school districts," and includes information from nearly 20 edtech companies it has acquired since 2015, including Schoololgy and Kickboard, a "student behavior management and reporting program," the lawsuit alleges.What's done with the data?The lawsuit alleges that in addition to being aggregated into lucrative analytics "products" for third parties, it's used to "train its AI technologies," including a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/powerbuddy/?utm_id=ps00032&amp;utm_campaign=powerschool_powerbuddy_paid-search__pkg00035&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid-search&amp;utm_content=text-only&amp;_bk=powerschool%20powerbuddy&amp;_bt=702266406463&amp;_bm=e&amp;_bn=g&amp;_bg=161909434485&amp;cq_plac=&amp;cq_net=g&amp;cq_pos=&amp;cq_med=&amp;cq_plt=gp&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw-JG5BhBZEiwAt7JR6wXcuxvpa0vkLTae4QJjMPAdsAXLaqF5-fArp6Ea0cuLbThmuvw7YBoCCiwQAvD_BwE">PowerBuddy</a> chatbot marketed not only to educators but to "state officials" for the purpose of "workforce planning," the lawsuit alleges.<div type="image" title="PowerSchool also publicly discloses that it may collect &quot;student behavior data&quot; and records of &quot;physical and mental disabilities,&quot; the Cherkin lawsuit alleges." height="1512" width="822" msid="114945247" hostid="261" sizebytes="38602"></div><h2 id="58f65212-0185-4112-b583-39eb1ada3ba6">The data is anonymized</h2>The data shared with third parties is anonymized, but the lawsuit raises concerns that it is so "granular" that it can be reverse-engineered to identify individual students."There are data brokers — they're called identity-resolution companies — that collect information from internet users, re-identify the data, and then sell it," said attorney Julie Liddell, whose Austin, Texas-based <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edtech.law/about-us/">EdTech Law Center </a>represents Cherkin in the suit.Technology can easily re-identify anonymized student data, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, where he focuses on privacy, surveillance, and technology issues."A generation ago, the most private student data was kept in a locked steel file cabinet in the principal's office, and it was very hard to share that information," Marlow said. "Nowadays the ability to share and reshare that data can be as easy as pressing a key on a keyboard."<div type="image" title="PowerSchool's marketing of student data systems to state government agencies." height="2394" width="1955" msid="114945234" hostid="261" sizebytes="89902"></div>Among the "products" PowerSchool offers educators, policymakers, and government agencies is its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/college-career-and-life-readiness-cloud/connected-intelligence-p20w/">"P20W Cradle-to-Career State Data Systems."</a>Its data is touted as "longitudinal," captured from the same students from K-12 through post-secondary education and into the workforce.<div type="image" title="PowerSchool markets &quot;efficient access to both historical and current data&quot; from students to government agencies." height="1486" width="1744" msid="114945238" hostid="261" sizebytes="109230"></div>"It's telling state and local governments, 'You will not get a more robust picture of children, starting from their earliest days,'" said Liddell."And this is not just for educational services," she told BI. "It's for workforce planning, for healthcare planning, for juvenile justice and law enforcement planning," she said.PowerSchool's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, including on grounds that it misapplies the law and fails to state "actual damages," will be argued in San Francisco on Thursday before US District Judge James Donato."The claims made in the complaint are unfounded and inaccurate," Zerbach, the PowerSchool spokesman, told BI.The company "strictly and proactively follows all legal, regulatory, and voluntary requirements for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/privacy/">protecting student privacy</a>," the statement said, pointing to PowerSchool's online "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.powerschool.com/blog/commitment-to-protecting-student-data-privacy/">commitment to protecting student data privacy.</a>""No PowerSchool product, including Connected Intelligence P20W, sells any form of student data," the spokesman said. "Connected Intelligence P20W provides a unified, secure, and integrated platform for education and government agencies to securely unify, integrate, and access their own source system data in a state-specific data cloud. As with all PowerSchool products, only authorized users have data access with stringent data governance as defined by the state agency. "PowerSchool began selling software to help schools track grades, attendance, and enrollment in 1996.Apple purchased the company for $62 million in 2001, then sold it to Vista Equity Partners in 2015. Vista Equity retains a minority investment stake, as does Onex Partners, according to PowerSchool's Bain merger announcement.When the deal closed on October 1, shares of the edtech leader, which had been trading as PWSC, were delisted from the NYSE.The Bain-PowerSchool deal comes on the heels of global investment firm KKR &amp; Co. Inc's $4.8 billion acquisition of the Salt Lake City-based edtech firm Instructure Holdings, Inc., <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/instructure-to-be-acquired-by-kkr-for-4-8-billion-302206622.html">announced in July.</a>"It's unsurprising that private equity firms are increasingly interested in acquiring companies that have access to troves of highly valuable data," Liddell told BI.As a private company, "they will no longer be legally bound to make even the minimum disclosures required by a public company," she said.A spokesperson for Bain Capital did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

A lawsuit accuses Bain Capital's PowerSchool of trafficking in student data. The edtech giant says everything it does is legal.

New Delhi: The <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> on Wednesday said it will hear on September 17 the appeal of US-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the <keyword id="19916400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nclat" source="keywords">NCLAT</keyword>, which had stayed insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm BYJU's and approved its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the <keyword id="19901245" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bcci" source="keywords">BCCI</keyword>. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by a battery of lawyers that the plea be heard urgently keeping in mind the subsequent developments in the case. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate NK Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest. The submission was supported by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the ed-tech firm. Kaul said another plea in the case has also been filed and that is listed for hearing on September 17 and hence, the present plea be either heard on that day or the hearings in both the cases be advanced to this Friday. "We will hear both the pleas on September 17," the CJI said. Senior advocate Shayam Divan, appearing for the US-based creditor, said let the matters be heard together on September 17. Earlier on August 22, the bench had refused to pass an interim order to ensure that the committee of creditors (CoC) does not hold any meeting in pursuance of the insolvency proceedings against the embattled ed-tech firm. It had listed the plea for a final hearing on August 27. The bench had said the developments, which may take place in the meantime, can be negated if it finds there was no merit in the appeal of the US-based creditor against the judgment of appellate insolvency tribunal NCLAT. The plea was mentioned earlier also on August 20 by Byju's and the BCCI and the top court had then also refused to pass an interim order to restrain the Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC) in the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech firm. In a major setback to Byju's, the top court had on August 14 stayed the verdict of NCLAT, setting aside the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech major and approving its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the Indian cricket board. The August 2 verdict of the NCLAT had come as a huge relief for Byju's as it had effectively put its founder Byju Raveendran back in control. The top court, however, had prima facie termed the NCLAT verdict as "unconscionable" and stayed its operation while issuing notices to Byju's and others on the appeal of the ed-tech firm's US-based creditor against the judgment of the insolvency appellate tribunal. The case stemmed from Byju's default on a Rs 158.9 crore payment related to a sponsorship deal with the BCCI. The top court had directed the BCCI to keep a sum of Rs 158 crore it had received from Byju's after a settlement in a separate escrow account till further orders. "Issue notice. Pending further orders there shall be a stay of the impugned order of August 2 of NCLAT. In the meantime, BCCI shall maintain the amount of Rs 158 crore, which shall be realised in pursuance of a settlement, in a separate escrow account until further orders," the bench had said. The NCLAT had approved the Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI and set aside the insolvency proceedings against Byju's. Byju's had entered into a "Team Sponsor Agreement" with the BCCI in 2019. Under the agreement, the ed-tech firm got exclusive rights to display its brand on the Indian cricket team's kit and some other benefits. Byju's had to pay a sponsorship fee. The company met its obligations till the middle of 2022 but defaulted on subsequent payments of Rs 158.9 crore. After insolvency proceedings were initiated, Byju's entered into a settlement with the BCCI. On July 16, the Bengaluru bench of the <keyword id="19902197" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-company-law-tribunal" source="keywords">National Company Law Tribunal</keyword> (NCLT) had admitted 'Think and Learn', Byju's parent company, to the insolvency resolution process on a plea filed by the BCCI over default in payment of outstanding dues of almost Rs 158.9 crore. While suspending the board of the ed-tech firm, the NCLT had appointed an interim resolution professional to run the operations of the company, suspended the company's board of directors, and brought it under moratorium by freezing its assets. The US-based lenders suspected that the settlement amount was being diverted from the credit they had extended to Byju's.

SC to hear plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's on Sept 17

The <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> on Friday agreed to list for an early hearing the appeal of US-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the <keyword id="19916400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCLAT" source="keywords">NCLAT</keyword>, which had stayed <keyword id="19965539" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="insolvency-proceedings" source="keywords">insolvency proceedings</keyword> against ed-tech firm <keyword id="19958178" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Byjus" source="keywords">BYJU's</keyword> and approving its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the <keyword id="19901245" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BCCI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BCCI" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="BCCI">BCCI</keyword>. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate NK Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest. Kaul said, "The only funding was done by the promoters and today no one has brought any external borrowing. We have to show today how malafide the petition (of US firm) is." "I will get it listed as early as possible," the CJI, who was indisposed and in quarantine for the last few days, said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the US-based creditor, said it also wanted an early hearing. Earlier on August 22, the bench had refused to pass an interim order to ensure that the committee of creditors (CoC) does not hold any meeting in pursuance of the insolvency proceedings against the embattled ed-tech firm. It had listed the plea for a final hearing on August 27. The bench had said the developments, which may take place in the meantime, can be negated if it finds there was no merit in the appeal of the US-based creditor against the judgment of appellate insolvency tribunal NCLAT. The plea was mentioned earlier also on August 20 by Byju's and the BCCI and the top court had then also refused to pass an interim order to restrain the Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC) in the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech firm. In a major setback to Byju's, the top court had on August 14 stayed the verdict of NCLAT, setting aside the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech major and approving its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the Indian cricket board. The August 2 verdict of the NCLAT had come as a huge relief for Byju's as it had effectively put its founder Byju Raveendran back in control. The top court, however, had prima facie termed the NCLAT verdict as "unconscionable" and stayed its operation while issuing notices to Byju's and others on the appeal of the ed-tech firm's US-based creditor against the judgment of the insolvency appellate tribunal. The case stemmed from Byju's default on a Rs 158.9 crore payment related to a sponsorship deal with the BCCI. The top court had directed the BCCI to keep a sum of Rs 158 crore it had received from Byju's after a settlement in a separate escrow account till further orders. "Issue notice. Pending further orders there shall be a stay of the impugned order of August 2 of NCLAT. In the meantime, BCCI shall maintain the amount of Rs 158 crore, which shall be realised in pursuance of a settlement, in a separate escrow account until further orders," the bench had said. The NCLAT had approved the Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI and set aside the insolvency proceedings against Byju's. Byju's had entered into a "Team Sponsor Agreement" with the BCCI in 2019. Under the agreement, the ed-tech firm got exclusive rights to display its brand on the Indian cricket team's kit and some other benefits. Byju's had to pay a sponsorship fee. The company met its obligations till the middle of 2022 but defaulted on subsequent payments of Rs 158.9 crore. After insolvency proceedings were initiated, Byju's entered into a settlement with the BCCI. On July 16, the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted 'Think and Learn', Byju's parent company, to the insolvency resolution process on a plea filed by the BCCI over default in payment of outstanding dues of almost Rs 158.9 crore. While suspending the board of the ed-tech firm, the NCLT had appointed an interim resolution professional to run the operations of the company, suspended the company's board of directors, and brought it under moratorium by freezing its assets. The US-based lenders suspected that the settlement amount was being diverted from the credit they had extended to Byju's. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/india-beats-the-us-to-emerge-as-the-second-biggest-market-for-5g-smartphones/articleshow/113095322.cms">India beats the US to emerge as the second-biggest market for 5G smartphones</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-iphone-16-to-launch-on-september-9-design-specs-and-everything-we-know-so-far/articleshow/113091114.cms">Apple iPhone 16 to launch on September 9 – design, specs and everything we know so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/shree-tirupati-balajee-agro-trading-ipo-price-band-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/113082663.cms">Shree Tirupati Balajee Agro Trading IPO – Price band to risk factors, all you need to know</a>

Supreme Court agrees to list plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Headway's CEO shifted to an AI-focused strategy after a Silicon Valley trip in April 2023.</li><li>AI tools boosted Headway's marketing, achieving 3.3 billion ad impressions in early 2024.</li></ul>In the first weeks after OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in 2022, Anton Pavlovsky, the chief executive of the Ukrainian edtech startup <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://makeheadway.com/">Headway</a>, was wary of the artificial-intelligence hype.He decided his then-three-year-old company should adopt a defensive strategy, letting other companies take the lead in generative-AI investments, and reaping the benefits afterward, should they indeed come.But a business trip to Silicon Valley the following April completely changed Pavlovsky's thinking."I talked with so many very smart people with lots of experience, and those people said that this is definitely a paradigm shift," Pavlovsky said. "They said that it's akin to the internet, the world wide web, then the smartphone, and then AI."On his return, he implemented a companywide, four-month, hardcore focus on AI. The company also created a separate cross-functional team to help integrate AI-powered features into its various products.Pavlovsky said the use of AI tools has made a profound difference to the company's marketing performance.During the first six months of 2024, the company said AI-driven ads reached 3.3 billion impressions. The company said the use of AI tools had increased the return on investment from its video ads by 40% because it had helped lower the costs Headway would have previously spent on production. Headway declined to disclose its marketing budget but said it is in the "millions.""The biggest impact is on opportunity costs for people, it's freeing up so many resources on creative and more value-add endeavors for experimenting with crazy ideas," Pavlovsky said.Headway joins a growing number of marketers looking to harness AI tools, in part to reduce their advertising costs.The buy-now-pay-later firm <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/klarna-ceo-comments-ai-smaller-marketing-team-produce-more-savings-2024-5">Klarna made waves</a> when it said AI had helped cut its spend on marketing agencies by 25%. A recent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/topics/ai-in-marketing">Gartner study</a> predicted that 30% of outbound marketing messages from large companies would be synthetically generated by 2025. The rapid adoption of the tools has the marketing industry excited about AI's prospects, but some are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-is-set-to-dominate-cannes-lions-ad-festival-2024-6">uneasy</a> about the consequences for agency jobs and question <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-has-marketing-problem-people-dont-like-hearing-about-it-2024-8">whether consumers are ready</a> for an influx of ads using or mentioning AI.<h2 id="5283ce02-8cac-4410-a913-fe59c246f13c">Headway is using AI tools like HeyGen, Rask, and Midjourney</h2>Founded in Ukraine in 2019, Headway operates a portfolio of educational apps that combined have been downloaded by more than 110 million users worldwide. The company continues to be headquartered in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, though most of its users are based in the US. (The company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1018097949135255&amp;id=250289965916061&amp;set=a.351463732465350">previously said</a> after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it had helped the majority of its staff and families who wanted to move away from the country to do so, though some have since returned.)Its flagship app, Headway, offers 15-minute summaries of popular nonfiction books, as well as challenges and daily micro-learning sessions. Other apps in its portfolio include the brain-training app Impulse, the AddMile coaching platform, and its newest, Skillsta, which is a training app for soft skills like critical thinking and empathy. The company makes money through paid subscriptions.Headway has leaned heavily on advertising on digital platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook, Google, and TikTok in order to grow its user base.All of Headway's user-generated-content video ads are now produced using some element of AI technology, such as for subtitles or voiceovers, the company said. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-from-ugc-user-generated-content-ads">UGC ads</a> refer to those that blend in with other content on an app, such as vertical video ads on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and are often produced by creators rather than professional production teams. These ads account for 30% to 50% of the purchases of Headway subscriptions or signups to its 7-day free trials, according to the company.While Headway used to rely heavily on stock images for its static ads, around one in five of its paid downloads or trials are now driven by static ads that use AI-generated images, the company said.When the company launched the French version of its Headway app, it used the AI tools <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rask.ai/">Rask</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.heygen.com/">HeyGen</a>, as well as the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.deepl.com/en/write">DeepL</a> translator, to translate a video ad featuring an English-speaking creator into a convincing ad for a French audience using AI voiceover and lipsync features.Elsewhere, Headway used tools, including HeyGen and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.d-id.com/photo-to-video/?utm_term=brand-ad&amp;utm_term=d-id%20ai&amp;utm_term=d-id%20ai&amp;utm_campaign=brand-eu&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_content=611130303518&amp;hsa_acc=6149207258&amp;hsa_cam=17780208183&amp;hsa_grp=141566902480&amp;hsa_ad=611130303518&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-1687090777879&amp;hsa_kw=d-id%20ai&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw59q2BhBOEiwAKc0ijUa9IQQFD-hJJhliDHdxTzmgFcNRWdza6NQWHTILSDlqdRtPc6d2CxoCTMgQAvD_BwE">D-ID,</a> to animate characters in famous paintings like the Mona Lisa to make them "speak" in a YouTube Shorts ad to encourage users to "stop scrolling" and download its Nibble knowledge app.Headway also uses text-to-image tools like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.midjourney.com/home">Midjourney</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://leonardo.ai/">Leonardo AI</a>. In one example, it produced a static ad featuring an image of Marie Antoinette biting into a marshmallow to promote its concept of "bite-sized learning" for its Nibble app.<div type="image" title="An ad for the Nibble app featuring Marie Antoinette biting into a marshmallow." height="1350" width="1080" msid="113031413" hostid="261" sizebytes="116312"></div>Headway is also increasingly introducing AI features to its own products. The Headway app is currently testing an AI assistant that uses the OpenAI application programming interface, Google Cloud's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://cloud.google.com/generative-ai-studio">Vertex AI</a>, and its own vector database to answer user queries based on its library of books in a conversational format.Unexpectedly, some users are spending "hours per day" communicating with the AI assistant, according to Pavlovsky, which he said speaks to the success of the company's AI push."Maybe some legacy players that don't move fast won't have that kind of speed of adoption, but for startups, or digital natives, it's a no-brainer," Pavlovsky said.

The CEO of edtech startup Headway breaks down how the company used AI tools to improve its ad performance by 40%

The top 6 people in artificial-intelligence edtech

<keyword id="19950639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech" source="keywords">Edtech</keyword> major Byju's on Friday said that it has not received any formal intimation of any petition being filed in the <keyword id="19902197" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-company-law-tribunal" source="keywords">National Company Law Tribunal</keyword> (NCLT) by select investors over its rights issue. Byju's key investors -- Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina and <keyword id="20124152" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="peak-xv" source="keywords">Peak XV</keyword> -- have moved the tribunal against the embattling edtech major over its $200 million rights issue, according to investor sources. The company told IANS that "it cannot comment on rumours on the same". "The Indian regulations stipulate due process for conducting an EGM, intimation of petitions being filed in NCLT, etc. But certain shareholders prefer to manufacture a media spectacle as opposed to following due process," the company spokesperson said. If such a petition has been filed, "the company shall respond to the same as per applicable law and due process," the spokesperson added. According to investor sources, the VC firms have cited "suppression of investor rights and mismanagement of the company". The four investors filed the petition before the Bengaluru bench of the tribunal, according to sources. This is the first time Byju's investors have legally moved against the rights issue. The edtech company said earlier this week that the rights issue by its parent company Think &amp; Learn Pvt. Ltd to raise $200 million at a 99 per cent valuation cut was fully subscribed. "Investors have sought relief on declaring the rights issue as void, and declaring the founders and the management as unfit to run the company," according to investor sources. The investors said the company's management has not shared "relevant financial information with the investor group". The battle between Byju's and investors intensified after the edtech major said the company's co-founder and CEO <keyword id="19901244" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byju-raveendran" source="keywords">Byju Raveendran</keyword> and Board members will not attend the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by select investors to oust its CEO on Friday which was underway. --IANS na/prw

Key investors move NCLT against Byju's rights issue, firm says yet to get any petition

US-based investment firm <keyword id="158169" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blackrock" source="Orion">BlackRock</keyword> has once again cut the value of its holding in <keyword id="6384897" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byjus" source="Orion">Byju's</keyword>, reducing the <keyword id="1464841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech" source="Orion">edtech</keyword> major's <keyword id="51393" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="valuation" source="Orion">valuation</keyword> to a mere $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022. BlackRock, which owns less than 1 per cent of Byju's, has valued its shares at about $209.6 apiece, down from the peak of $4,660 in 2022, reports TechCrunch. Byju's did not immediately comment on the latest valuation cut. This isn't the first time BlackRock has cut the worth of its holding in Byju's. Investment firm Prosus, which owns nearly 9 per cent in Byju's, has also <keyword id="20163425" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="marked-down" source="Orion">marked down</keyword> the value of its stake in Byju's to less than $3 billion, representing a decline of more than 86 per cent from the previous funding round valuation of $22 billion. In November last year, Prosus first slashed the fair value of Byju's to $5.97 billion. "Byju's is facing multiple headwinds. We and other shareholders are working everyday to improve the situation. We are in close discussions with the company every day," a senior Prosus executive was quoted as saying in reports late last year. Byju's was preparing to go public in early 2022 through a SPAC deal that would have valued the company at up to $40 billion. According to reports, Byju's needs at least Rs 500-Rs 600 crore to pay off dues of employees and vendors.

BlackRock reduces Byju's valuation to mere $1 billion

The <keyword id="44171" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ugc" source="Orion">UGC</keyword> has warned edtech companies and colleges offering degrees in collaborative arrangements with <keyword id="6726010" type="General" weightage="70" keywordseo="foreign-universities" source="Orion">foreign universities</keyword> not recognised by it, according to officials. The <keyword id="56459" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="university-grants-commission" source="Orion">University Grants Commission</keyword> (UGC) has also reiterated that none of these degrees will be valid and cautioned students against taking admission in such courses. "It has been observed that many <keyword id="505101" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="Higher-Education-Institutions" source="Orion">Higher Education Institutions</keyword> (HEIs) and colleges have entered into collaborative agreements with foreign-based educational institutions or providers not recognised by the commission and have been facilitating the issuance of foreign degrees to the students," UGC Secretary <keyword id="722170" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="manish-joshi" source="Orion">Manish Joshi</keyword> said. "Any such kind of collaboration or arrangement is not recognised by the UGC and, accordingly, the degrees issued subsequent to such collaboration arrangement are also not recognised by the commission," he added. Joshi said it has also come to the UGC's notice that some edtech companies are advertising in newspapers, social media and television, offering degree and diploma programmes in online mode in association with some foreign universities and institutions. "Such a franchisee arrangement is not permissible and any such programme or degree shall not have UGC recognition. Action will also be taken against all the defaulting edtech companies as well as the HEIs under applicable regulations," Joshi added. "Students and the general public are advised to exercise due caution and any enrolment in such courses will be at their own risk," Joshi added.

UGC warns edtech companies offering degree courses online in association with foreign universities

<ul><li>The <keyword id="291131" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aws" source="Orion">AWS</keyword> Public Sector Symposium talked about cloud computing in public sectors</li><li>It featured important announcements including collaboration with <keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword></li><li>AWS has also partnered with CCMB</li></ul> Amazon Web Services Public Sector Symposium 2023 that took place in September saw a series of announcements by the Cloud computing behemoth. One of the largest service providers in the world, AWS has been actively collaborating in the public sector space in India. The event last month reiterated the established partnerships along with a string of new announcements. But before that let’s understand what is cloud computing? Cloud Computing for laymen Imagine enjoying the benefits of having a high end personal computer that can handle Terabytes of data in seconds. Now make it intangible, and completely based on a server network. That essentially is cloud computing. It is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. Amazon Web Services does just that, but on a massive scale, hence the collaborations we are seeing in the public sector. AWS &amp; ISRO AWS has announced a collaboration with ISRO and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) to accelerate India’s space-tech growth. The collaboration will see space start-ups get access to new age cloud computing services. The organizations will work together to train students in AI, ML, analytics and security. AWS &amp; Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology CCMB is also using AWS cloud computing services to manage its work. The core focus of this collaboration is to accelerate the growth of genome sequencing research projects. According to reports the progress is significant with the reduction of research analysis by 98%. AWS &amp; AI In a collaboration with ConveGenius AWS has also developed a chatbot dubbed the SwiftChat. It is a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot platform for government schools and low-free private schools built on AWS. We will be coming out with a video with it very soon.

Amazon Web Services Public Sector Symposium 2023 - Cloud Computing For the Future

<ul><li><keyword id="335232" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="guild" source="Orion">Guild</keyword> has announced to lay off 172 employees, or 12 per cent of its workforce.</li><li>Guild CEO <keyword id="17547649" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rachel-romer" source="Orion">Rachel Romer</keyword> told employees in an email that layoffs were "incredibly painful" but necessary to ensure the company's long-term success, reports layoffstracker.com.</li></ul>San Francisco, Woman founder-led edtech unicorn Guild has announced to lay off 172 employees, or 12 per cent of its workforce, as part of a broader reorganisation for long-term growth. Guild CEO Rachel Romer told employees in an email that layoffs were "incredibly painful" but necessary to ensure the company's long-term success, reports layoffstracker.com. The company had "identified the go-forward structure, roles, and skill sets needed to enable our strategy and create a more focused, seamless way of doing work at Guild," she told the staff. Those impacted will receive 12 weeks of severance pay, with an additional week of pay for each full year of service at the company. Moreover, they will also get medical, dental, and vision coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for up to 18 months, with Guild covering the premiums for the first six months. Denver, Colorado-based Guild has extended the equity exercise period by two years, allowing employees to continue accessing the company's upskilling programmes, said the report. Those impacted will also retain access to the <keyword id="678788" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="beehive" source="Orion">Beehive</keyword>, Guild's subsidised childcare programme. The company raised over $200 million in funding and was valued at $4.4 billion in 2022. The edtech platform received the unicorn status in 2019. Last year, Guild secured a $175 million Series F financing round, which included investment from <keyword id="20411" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="oprah-winfrey" source="Orion">Oprah Winfrey</keyword>. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/samsung-galaxy-a34-5g-review-a-mid-range-marvel/articleshow/100564038.cms">Samsung Galaxy A34 5G review: A Mid-range marvel</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-opens-ai-search-experiment-to-selected-users-for-testing-heres-how-you-can-sign-up/articleshow/100519280.cms">Google opens AI search experiment to selected users for testing - here’s how you can sign up</a>

You Searched For "edtechs" and got 11 results

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You Searched For "edtechs" and got 11 results

Most innovative EdTech companies around the world

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A lawsuit accuses Bain Capital's PowerSchool of trafficking in student data. The edtech giant says everything it does is legal.

Laura Italiano

SC to hear plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's on Sept 17

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Supreme Court agrees to list plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's

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The CEO of edtech startup Headway breaks down how the company used AI tools to improve its ad performance by 40%

Lara O&apos;Reilly

The top 6 people in artificial-intelligence edtech

Madeline Renbarger

Key investors move NCLT against Byju's rights issue, firm says yet to get any petition

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BlackRock reduces Byju's valuation to mere $1 billion

IANS

UGC warns edtech companies offering degree courses online in association with foreign universities

PTI

Amazon Web Services Public Sector Symposium 2023 - Cloud Computing For the Future

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Woman-led edtech unicorn Guild lays off 172 employees

IANS

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