IBM's Bob Lord: Red Hat Acquisition Makes IBM the Top Hybrid Cloud Provider
*By Chloe Aiello*
Move over, Watson.
Hybrid cloud computing is now the name of the game at IBM, thanks to the company's recent acquisition of Red Hat.
"We are going to be the company that is providing enterprise-ready hybrid cloud solutions and actually create the foundation of the infrastructure of the future," IBM's ($IBM) chief digital officer Bob Lord told Cheddar on Tuesday.
IBM's Red Hat ($RHT) acquisition will be a game-changer for the information technology giant ー and it better be, at a $34 billion price tag. The deal, which is IBM's largest ever and the third biggest deal in tech, is expected to close at the end of 2019. It's been less than one month since IBM announced the acquisition, but executives like Lord are already suggesting it will be revolutionary.
"With Red Hat, we now become the number one largest provider of hybrid cloud solutions in the world," Lord said, "which is really important for all our enterprise clients." He said the deal also means that IBM is doubling down on open source and "committing to the developer community that these tools are something that they are going to be able to use and have impact on the world."
"Hybrid cloud" refers to a computing environment created from a mix of public and private cloud infrastructure ー and more secure on-premise infrastructure, like data centers. Red Hat is a leading distributor of open-source technology for enterprise, and is especially well-known for its Linux operating system. Aside from giving IBM a major boost in open-source technology and hybrid cloud infrastructure, Lord said the acquisition will help grow earnings and revenue.
"The Red Hat Acquisition is accretive within the first 12 months, and it is clearly going to help our growth ... because as I said we are going to be ... focused on our enterprise clients and giving our enterprise clients a comprehensive solution on how to migrate to the cloud to get the competitive advantage," Lord said.
Some of those aforementioned clients include major banks and health-care industry players who still cling to outdated on-premise computing solutions, Lord said. IBM's latest obsession with hybrid cloud doesn't mean it's any less focused on its other projects, including its widely-touted artificial intelligence, Watson. But Lord emphasized the computing infrastructure is especially important because "Watson and other technology solutions will plug right into the top of that."
And IBM's ambitions are nothing to dismiss. Taking the top spot in hybrid computing won't be easy ー IBM will be up against some stiff competition, including Microsoft ($MSFT), Amazon ($AMZN) and Alphabet's ($GOOGL) Google.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/ibms-quest-for-the-cloud).
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
