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Coca-Cola entering the fresh fruit category?

REEDLEY, CALIF. — The Coca-Cola Co. has entered into a licensing agreement with Frutura, a supplier of fresh produce, to put two of its brands on fresh citrus. The agreement involves Coca-Cola’s Simply and Minute Maid brands.

The Minute Maid brand will appear on fresh grapes in the United States and fresh citrus and grapes in Japan. The Simply brand, under Simply Select, will appear on fresh citrus in the United States. The products will be distributed by Dayka & Hackett, a subsidiary of Frutura.

“Our company is committed to serving the consumer with superior products at every part of their day,” said Kayla Carlucci, associate licensing manager with The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta. “When we consider licensing one of our brands, the quality of the product that will bear our name is paramount as is the quality control the licensee exercises at every step along the supply chain. We’re delighted to be in business with Frutura and consider this to be the start of a great relationship.”

Products featuring the Minute Maid and Simply Select branding will begin reaching retailers during the second quarter of the year, according to Frutura.

“Partnering with the iconic Coca-Cola Co., and their globally recognized and respected brands, is a transformative moment for our company and for Frutura,” said Tim Dayka, chief executive officer of Dayka & Hackett. “This will allow us to increase our market penetration in a meaningful way, as these brands resonate so strongly with the discriminating consumer.”

Howard Kurtz Says It Has Been A Rough Week For Fox News In Dominion Case

Fox News anchor Howard Kurtz said Sunday it had been a “very rough week” for the conservative network in its defense against Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday.

“I can assure you that I will provide fair and down the middle coverage of this $1.6 billion suit about coverage of false election fraud claims in 2020, despite the fact that I work here,” Kurtz told “MediaBuzz” viewers. “And with that, it’s been a very rough week for Fox.”

Kurtz explained to viewers that the judge overseeing the case, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, had sanctioned Fox News last week and launched an investigation into potential legal misconduct. The dispute revolves around Rupert Murdoch’s role at Fox News and its parent corporation, which Fox lawyers were accused of misrepresenting to the court.

Kurtz also discussed leaked audio tapes of Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, telling Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that he did not have evidence to back up his false claims about election rigging by Dominion in the 2020 election. Fox News was sanctioned by the judge on Wednesday for failing to hand those recordings over to Dominion’s lawyers during discovery.

“That’s not all,” Kurtz said. “In other pretrial rulings, Judge Davis undercut part of Fox’s defense. The judge said Fox News could not argue that it carried false allegations of election fraud by Trump allies because they would be newsworthy. Judge Davis said just because someone is newsworthy doesn’t mean you can defame someone.”

At the time of Kurtz’s remarks, the Dominion trial was expected to begin Monday. However, Davis announced late Sunday that the trial had been delayed until Tuesday. The judge did not give a reason; however, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fox News had made a late push to settle the dispute out of court.

In February, Kurtz said the network had prohibited him from reporting on the lawsuit, noting that he “strongly disagreed” with that decision.

Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox over allegations the network damaged the voting software company’s reputation by repeatedly amplifying claims that the company helped rig the 2020 election against Trump, despite knowing those claims to be false.

Breaking: New Self-Disclosure Policy – Rickard & Associates

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a new Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy to be used by US Attorney Offices throughout the country.

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The new policy helps to encourage early and voluntary self-disclosure of corporate criminal misconduct. It reinforces the importance of having an effective compliance plan that identifies misconduct.

To be a voluntary self-disclosure, the disclosure must be voluntary, timely and must contain all relevant facts of misconduct.

If the disclosure is all of the above, the government will not seek a guilty plea against the companyso long as the company also fully cooperates with investigators and appropriately remediates the criminal conduct.

However, even if the disclosure counts as a voluntary self-disclosure, if the misconduct:

  • poses a grave threat to national security, public health or the environment, or
  • if it is deeply pervasive throughout the company, or
  • involved current executive management of the company,

then there may still be a guilty plea.

As always, it is essential to be proactive about your compliance plan.

If you need help updating your compliance plan, auditing, or training staff, contact us today.

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Canada’s transportation supply chains are near breaking point

Susannah Pierce and Murad Al-Katib: 100 days after the task force identified crisis, businesses are still waiting for action from Ottawa

Published January 29, 2023 • Last updated Jan 30, 2023 • 3 minute read

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A highway in BC is washed out by flooding. From the global pandemic to the wildfires and flooding in British Columbia, to physical disruptions due to blockades and strikes, Canada's transportation system has suffered severe disruptions.
A highway in BC is washed out by flooding. From the global pandemic to the wildfires and flooding in British Columbia, to physical disruptions due to blockades and strikes, Canada’s transportation system has suffered severe disruptions. Photo by BC Transportation Ministry

Just over a hundred days have now passed since the Supply Chain Task Force’s independent report to the federal government indicated that “Canada’s transportation supply chain is nearing its breaking point.” And even though task forces are typically established to urgently address a problem in need of a solution, Canadian businesses are still waiting on concrete action to improve the transportation infrastructure and supply chains that serve as a cornerstone of our economy.

From the global pandemic to the wildfires and flooding in British Columbia, to physical disruptions due to blockades and strikes, our transportation system has suffered severe disruptions — some preventable and some unavoidable — that have stretched it beyond its limits.

Nearly a quarter of businesses continue to struggle to get the goods they need

The issue has only escalated, and we’ve run out of time. According to the latest Canadian Survey on Business Conditions Report, nearly a quarter of businesses continue to struggle to get the goods they need, putting operations and growth at risk. To position Canada as a strong competitor and reliable trading partner to our allies and grow our economy, the government must join forces with industry stakeholders to address the transportation supply chain crisis.

The path forward is clear.

First, while the government isn’t solely responsible for infrastructure investment, its leadership is critical. A federal commitment to major, strategic, long-term investments is key to building Canada’s trade infrastructure – a crucial consideration as the government deliberates its next budget.

Without serious investment, we risk hindering Canada’s economic growth, competitiveness and international reputation as a reliable partner for business. With the current geopolitical crisis, the world needs more Canada, from the agricultural goods we produce, to energy transported by rail and pipeline to products manufactured in Canada — we can’t accept trade infrastructure that doesn’t have capacity or can reliably transport goods on time.

The government needs to work with businesses to set clear priorities on infrastructure projects that will bring forward measurable economic returns as well as properly triaging projects that will put food on shelves, deliver the goods businesses need to operate and get Canadian products to global markets.

These projects should include safeguarding critical infrastructure that will ensure our supply chains can continue uninterrupted if a primary route is damaged or blocked. Others will expand rail in busy areas as well as increase bridge capacity to reduce congestion and speed up delivery.

Another critical step forward is developing a vision for Canada’s trade corridors.

Because Canada is a trading nation, our trade infrastructure matters. Two out of every three dollars that Canada makes rely on moving goods.

Trade corridors are key to this transportation of goods, and the government must look to work with businesses to develop new gateway strategies, including those for Western, St. Lawrence and Arctic Gateways.

Each corridor strategy would lay out how the government would work with provinces, the private sector, communities and Indigenous peoples to identify the capacity challenges facing our corridor transportation systems and develop a pipeline of actionable solutions.

Finally, the government must accelerate regulatory modernization.

Regulation continues to be a growing concern, with nearly 25 per cent of businesses that trade interprovincially citing red tape, such as different certifications and technical standards, as a major obstacle to doing business within Canada.

Regulatory effectiveness is integral to a competitive environment and requires regulating smarter to attract new economic opportunities to Canada.

Regulatory uncertainty and changing expectations in the regulatory process are a poison pill to those looking to invest billions of dollars developing new pipelines, new mines and other large-scale nation-building infrastructure projects. We need predictable timelines to encourage capital investment. It can’t take a decade to approve infrastructure projects. In this sense, streamlining the regulatory process and adopting strict timelines for approving major infrastructure projects is essential — and long overdue.

An efficient and reliable transportation network inclusive of trade corridors is key to Canada’s economic growth and partnerships with countries in desperate need of stable, reliable trading partners. Without it, we are jeopardizing the success and livelihood of Canadians and their businesses as well as the growth and prosperity of our country and our allies need. We can’t wait another 100 days for meaningful action.

Susannah Pierce is Shell Canada President and Country Chair and VP Emerging Energy Solutions. Murad Al-Katib is the President and Chief Executive Officer for AGT Food and Ingredients. Together they co-chair the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Western Executive Council.

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Rivian stock tanks as it announces $1.3B ‘green bond’ offering [Video]

Rivian (RIVN) shares are sliding today as the EV-maker announced plans for a “green” debt offering.

Rivian says it intends to sell $1.3 billion worth of “green” convertible senior notes due in 2029, with the option to grant an additional $200 million worth of convertible notes to the original purchasers.

In line with Rivian’s ethos as a company (it’s a Climate Pledge signatory and was the first to say it won’t use deep-sea mining for batteries), it intends to use the capital it raises for “green” or environmental purposes.

“Rivian intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to finance, refinance, make direct investments in, in whole or in part, one or more new or recently completed… current and/or future eligible green projects,” the company said in a statement. Rivian said these projects could include activities tied to clean transportation, renewable energy, circular economy (ie, recycling batteries/metals), energy efficiency, and pollution prevention.

Rivian said the green-note offering meets the eligibility requirements as determined by the International Capital Markets Association’s “Green Bond Principles” guidelines.

In its most recent earnings report, Rivian barely reached its production goal for the year but reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $5.22 billion. With the company forecasting another adjusted EBITDA loss of $4.3 billion for 2023, it’s not surprising that it’s seeking additional sources of funding. Rivian reported it had cash on hand of $12.01 billion at the end of the fourth quarter and expects capital expenditures to reach $2 billion for the year. Rivian is also in the midst of developing its next factory in Georgia, where its next-generation R2 vehicles will be built. Rivian says production of that vehicle will start in 2026.

Indianapolis - Circa August 2022: Rivian R1T Pickup Truck display at a dealership. Rivian offers the R1T in Explore, Adventure and Launch models.

Indianapolis – Circa August 2022: Rivian R1T Pickup Truck display at a dealership. Rivian offers the R1T in Explore, Adventure and Launch models.

With a long lead time until its next vehicle, Rivian’s cash situation is a key focus for analysts and investors.

“We’re forecasting 2023 cash burn of $5.5B helped by working cap. RIVN guided to a 40% improvement in FCF in 2024 driven by their target of positive gross margins. We est. RIVN will need to raise financing by the end of 2024,” Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan wrote in a note the day after Rivian’s latest earnings release predicting today’s announcement of a capital raise. Langan currently has an Equal Weight rating on the stock with an $18 price target.

With questions still remaining about how many vehicles the company can churn out in 2023, Rivian’s recent stock volatility may be a regular occurrence without more evidence of production gains and cash preservation initiatives.

—

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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Cheaters beware: ChatGPT maker releases AI detection tool – Business News

Matt O’Brien And Jocelyn Gecker, The Associated Press – | Stories: 409116

The makers of ChatGPT are trying to curb its reputation as a freewheeling cheating machine with a new tool that can help teachers detect if a student or artificial intelligence has written homework.

The new AI Text Classifier launched Tuesday by OpenAI follows a weeks-long discussion at schools and colleges over fears that ChatGPT’s ability to write just about anything on command could fuel academic dishonesty and hinder learning.

OpenAI cautions that its new tool – like others already available – is not foolproof. The method for detecting AI-written text “is imperfect and it will be wrong sometimes,” said Jan Leike, head of OpenAI’s alignment team tasked with making its systems safer.

“Because of that, it shouldn’t be solely relied upon when making decisions,” Leike said.

Teenagers and college students were among the millions of people who began experimenting with ChatGPT after it was launched Nov. 30 as a free application on OpenAI’s website. And while many found ways to use it creatively and harmlessly, the ease with which it could answer take-home test questions and assist with other assignments sparked a panic among some educators.

By the time schools opened for the new year, New York City, Los Angeles and other big public school districts began to block their use in classrooms and on school devices.

The Seattle Public Schools district initially blocked ChatGPT on all school devices in December but then opened access to educators who wanted to use it as a teaching tool, said Tim Robinson, the district spokesman.

“We can’t afford to ignore it,” Robinson said.

The district is also discussing possibly expanding the use of ChatGPT into classrooms to let teachers use it to train students to be better critical thinkers and to let students use the application as a “personal tutor” or to help generate new ideas when working on an assignment , Robinson said.

School districts around the country say they are seeing the conversation around ChatGPT evolve quickly.

“The initial reaction was ‘OMG, how are we going to stem the tide of all the cheating that will happen with ChatGPT,'” said Devin Page, a technology specialist with the Calvert County Public School District in Maryland. Now there is a growing realizing that “this is the future” and blocking it is not the solution, he said.

“I think we would be naïve if we were not aware of the dangers this tool poses, but we would also fail to serve our students if we banned them and us from using it for all its potential power,” said Page, who thinks districts like his own will eventually unblock ChatGPT, especially once the company’s detection service is in place.

OpenAI stressed the limitations of its detection tool in a blog post Tuesday, but said that in addition to deterring plagiarism, it could help detect automated disinformation campaigns and other misuses of AI to mimic humans.

The longer a passage of text, the better the tool is at detecting if an AI or human wrote something. Type in any text — a college admissions essay, or a literary analysis of Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” — and the tool will label it as either “very unlikely, unlikely, unclear if it is, possibly, or likely” AI -generated.

But much like ChatGPT itself, which was trained on a huge trove of digitized books, newspapers and online writings but often confidently spits out falsehoods or nonsense, it’s not easy to interpret how it comes up with a result.

“We don’t fundamentally know what kind of pattern it pays attention to, or how it works internally,” Leike said. “There’s really not much we could say at this point about how the classifier actually works.”

Higher education institutions around the world have also begun debating the responsible use of AI technology. Sciences Po, one of France’s most prestigious universities, prohibited its use last week and warned that anyone found surreptitiously using ChatGPT and other AI tools to produce written or oral work could be banned from Sciences Po and other institutions.

In response to the backlash, OpenAI said it has been working for several weeks to craft new guidelines to help educators.

“Like many other technologies, it may be that one district decides that it’s inappropriate for use in their classrooms,” said OpenAI policy researcher Lama Ahmad. “We don’t really push them one way or another. We just want to give them the information they need to be able to make the right decisions for them.”

It’s an unusually public role for the research-oriented San Francisco startup, now backed by billions of dollars in investment from its partner Microsoft and facing growing interest from the public and governments.

France’s digital economy minister Jean-Noël Barrot recently met in California with OpenAI executives, including CEO Sam Altman, and a week later told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that he was optimistic about the technology. But the government minister — a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the French business school HEC in Paris — said there are also difficult ethical questions that will need to be addressed.

“So if you’re in the law faculty, there is room for concern because obviously ChatGPT, among other tools, will be able to deliver exams that are relatively impressive,” he said. “If you are in the economics faculty, then you’re fine because ChatGPT will have a hard time finding or delivering something that is expected when you are in a graduate-level economics faculty.”

He said it will be increasingly important for users to understand the basics of how these systems work so they know what biases might exist.

How Can I Preserve Wealth for Future Generations?

Some of our clients are interested in preserving wealth for future generations, and in that instance, we sometimes recommend starting a family bank.

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A family bank is an estate planning tactic to help preserve wealth for generations to come. They can be structured in a variety of ways to meet that family’s needs, however, they are intended to help benefit a group of family members.

If our clients give their children distributions at their death, it is usually gone quickly. Even if the child invests the money, it does not really transfer to future generations.

The family bank is an incredibly useful tool.

Our clients with family banks are able to charge less interest for loans, set different policies than a bank may have, and encourage goals that are important to that family.

The average American pays over $280,000 in interest fees during their lifetime.

With a family bank, interest helps grow wealth in multiple ways.

Borrowers will be charged less than if they go to a bank and the family bank accrues the interest.

Family banks can also provide some asset protection and possibly help reduce estate tax liability.

If you want to think about preserving wealth for future generations, instead of distributing any assets outright at your death, call us today to discuss setting up a family bank.

Contact us today to help you get the right documents in place or to update your current estate plan. We will plan so that you don’t have to worry about your future.

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Contact us today with all your legal needs!

Is Your Practice Fraudulently Billing?

Most of our clients would obviously answer ‘no’, however, some providers are submitting bills incorrectly and could be subjecting themselves to hefty fines.

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Recently, a Florida Cardiology group and 10 of its physicians agreed to pay $2 million to settle False Claims Act allegations.

According to the settlement, the group submitted inflated claims to Medicare and Medicaid and billed for services while they were outside of the United States.

Whistleblowers were involved in bringing this scheme to light.

While your healthcare practice might not be as brazen in violations, this serves as a good reminder to perform regular internal audits and review your billing.

Many of our practices think that their billing is perfect, however, there are often issues when we perform an audit of their billing.

Obviously, it is essential to make sure that you are not upcoding. It is also important to make sure you are not underbilling or misrepresenting services.

It is always important to remember, if it’s not in the chart, it didn’t happen – as far as billing is concerned.

Make sure that your policies and procedures are up to date and your compliance plan is active.

Your employees need to be trained regularly and know what to do to report their concerns internally.

If employees do not feel that their concerns are taken seriously, this is when they become whistleblowers.

It is important to routinely reassess your Electronic Medical Record template, to make sure that it is not causing any issues with your patient records.

We help our clients to update their compliance plan, audit and mitigate potential issues and train staff to make sure that they are not in violation of any federal law.

If you have questions or need help with your healthcare practice, employee training, or security, contact Rickard & Associates today.

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