The father of microfinance is shaking up politics in Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus — a familiar face to many Enterprise readers as the face and arguably founder of microfinance — is now making headlines as Bangladesh’s interim leader following protests that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Yunus is a household name across the globe as the face of microfinance. Fans of Yunus — who refer to him as the banker of the poor — claim that his founding of the Grameen Bank in 1983 transformed the way that we approach development and opened up the way for people across the globe to lift themselves out of poverty. Many point to Yunus winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for making microfinance mainstream and spreading the idea across the globe — including here in Egypt.

But what is microfinance exactly? Microfinance is about providing small loans — sometimes of only a few USD — and other financial services to people that don’t have access to traditional banking. Supporters of microfinance claim that it helps individuals in low-income and underserved communities grow and start small businesses, better manage household finances, and deal with unforeseen circumstances, which in turn promotes economic development and tackles poverty.

Yet Yunus’s model faces criticism. Some argue that microfinance’s high-interest rates can trap borrowers in debt, and research on the effectiveness of microcredit is mixed, suggesting it doesn’t always have the desired effect. With private sector players also starting their own microfinance operations alongside NGOs and government-supported projects, critics claim that some microfinance providers are prioritizing profit over social impact.

Apple’s AI demonstration failed to inspire investors and comfort consumers. In case you missed it, a thirty minute presentation by the tech giant over the weekend showcased their Apple Intelligence tech, focusing on its applications to Siri, calendar, and emoji’s successor, Genmoji. The company’s stock price fluctuated wildly during the demonstration, peaking when CEO Tim Cook mentioned AI for the first time. But interest dropped sharply after, and Apple shares closed the day with a 1.9% dip in stock price, settling at USD 193.12 at the end of the day.

Lofty AI promises are the way to investors’ hearts, and Apple chose to be practical. Apple has been the last of Silicon Valley’s major players to hop onto the AI bandwagon, with this demonstration marking their largest effort to join in. This may have been awful timing on the company’s part, with investors reportedly falling out of love with AI investment, and Wall Street questioning whether or not the industry will ever be profitable. Instead of an AI takeover, Apple presented AI integration into its software, perhaps underwhelming bigwigs used to a more creative — and perhaps contrived — imaginations when it comes to the potential of AI use.

Despite Apple’s attempts to temper consumer concerns over AI, many were unconvinced. Recent studies have found that mentioning AI in marketing copy has been hurting sales, pointing towards hostile consumer sentiment in the face of the growing industry. Earlier this year, Apple’s iPad Pro commercial (watch, runtime: 1:08) was testament to how Big Tech was failing to read the room — watchers saw the destruction of instruments, art, arcade games, and books to signal the maliciousness of AI and its intent to replace and/or destroy human creativity.

Privacy, please: Consumers don’t trust tech companies with their data. It’s no secret that AI is built on scraping human data, work, and information from across the internet, typically without consent. Apple assured the audience that most of its AI operations will run “entirely on device,” and that those that don’t will store information on a “ private cloud computer,” ensuring that Apple servers will never keep — and more importantly, never share — data. Despite their promise to set new privacy standards for AI and “apply this technology in a responsible way,” according to Cook, users remain skeptical.

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