Finance news

Artificial Intelligence: Google apparently limits Gemini AI for Meta

According to media reports, Google is restricting the use of its Gemini AI for Meta - due to bottlenecks in computing power and increasing demand.

The situation at a glance: USA and Iran continue attacks - is there a risk of new escalation?

Actually, the weapons should be silent between the USA and Iran. But there are also attacks for the second night in a row. The alarm sirens are also sounding again in some Gulf states.

Japan and South Korea scramble fighters in response to Chinese-Russian bomber patrol

Japan and South Korea scrambled fighter jets in response to a joint Russian-Chinese bomber patrol on Saturday. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force said the patrols passed over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific, adding that they showed the two countries’ resolve and ability to safeguard regional peace and stability. It was the 11th patrol of this kind since 2019, but the first this year. Japan’s defence ministry said it had tracked two separate flights involving...

Liberal Islam in Indonesia is sliding into irrelevance

It has been 25 years since Indonesia’s Liberal Islam Network (Jaringan Islam Liberal or JIL) was established in March 2001, just three years after Reformasi. The intellectual network has been in disarray for much of the past decade, reflecting the current state of Indonesia’s broader liberal and progressive Islamic movement. The old guard, represented by the establishments within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, faces elite co-option as they seek access to state resources while also...

Z.ai’s open source GLM5.2 model is now at par with available western models. It was trained completely on Hauwei’s chips

Chinese company Z.ai’s GLM5.2 model dropped a week back and it’s at par with the publicly available western models. The ceo says they will have Claude Mythos level model in a matter of months. Meanwhile Claude Mythos isn’t even available for most American companies at the moment. The real kicker is this frontier level model from China was completely trained on Huawei chips. A lot of people will cope here with “yeah they just distilled Claude”. To a certain extent looks like they did, atleast acc

Inside the Singapore travel trend that’s swarming China’s furniture capital

For a growing number of Singaporeans, furnishing a new home has become reason enough to book a holiday. Not the sort involving beach clubs or Michelin-starred restaurants. Instead, these design-savvy travellers are flying to China armed with camera rolls full of sofa and cabinetry photos, meticulously curated Pinterest boards and floor plans marked with dimensions down to the centimetre, all in pursuit of custom-made furnishings for their homes. Blame it on our collective obsession with our...

Hong Kong’s AI push needs a broader vision and more realistic goals

Hong Kong cannot be faulted for not working hard enough to catch up in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Government funding is flowing generously towards projects focused on AI adoption. In recent years, the government has pumped billions into building the necessary infrastructure, including HK$2.84 billion (US$364 million) for a semiconductor centre, HK$3 billion for an AI subsidy scheme and another HK$1 billion allocated for an advanced AI R&D institute. In March, the government...

China Is Quietly Winning the Clean Energy Trade War

China’s clean energy dominance is growing. Buoyed by the skyrocketing energy needs and future projected demands of the artificial intelligence boom, clean energy projects are getting greenlit at a breakneck pace. And those projects depend on cheap Chinese clean energy components, as Beijing has near-total control of global supply chains for clean energy tech including solar panels and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles as well as energy storage systems. As a result, Chinese clean energy

‘This is an unhealthy environment’: Arctic researcher Li Xueke leaves the US for Hong Kong

For climate scientist Li Xueke, the decision to leave the University of Pennsylvania for Hong Kong was a pivot to the front lines of the global green economy. As climate change turns the Arctic into a seasonally navigable ocean, Li’s research on critical new shipping routes could shed light on the economic impacts of a warming planet. Li joined City University of Hong Kong (CityU) last month as an assistant professor in the school of energy and environment, following a decade of study and work..

Daiichi Sankyo invests: A pharmaceutical company that remains loyal to Germany

Most recently, the drug manufacturers Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim spectacularly scaled back their investment plans in Germany. A competitor from Japan does it differently.

India’s late monsoon rains leave cities and fields parched

The late arrival of India’s monsoon season and below-average rainfall have caused problems ranging from planting delays for farmers to water restrictions for construction sites in its largest business hub, Mumbai. Water shortages have been reported around the country due to the late start of the rainy season, which typically begins in June but has grown erratic in recent years. Climate experts said El Nino, a warming of the Pacific that affects weather around the globe, combined with an already.

Artificial Intelligence: US government restricts access to new AI from OpenAI

In the future, the American government will have a say in who gets access to powerful new AI models. One trigger is the fear of AI being misused for cyberattacks.

US eases ban on AI model Mythos feared to aid cyberattacks

The US government has allowed Anthropic to release its powerful Claude Mythos 5 artificial intelligence model to some “trusted” US organisations, partially reversing an order two weeks ago to suspend access over national security risks. More than 100 companies and institutions will now have access to Mythos 5, including many Fortune 500 companies, according to a source familiar with the new directive, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Concern that powerful AI...

Talking when you eat is bad for you, and other Chinese beliefs

“What did your family talk about at the dinner table?” Snug under the Tuscan sun, at a writing retreat on a permaculture farm outside Florence, I was ready to mine my fondest food memories. For a moment, scenes from films and television flashed across my mind: a montage of vivid dinner conversations and emotional check-ins, stitched together from various coming-of-age stories. The only problem was that I could not claim any of those vignettes as my own. I squinted and dug deeper, into countless.

Artificial Intelligence: US government restricts access to new AI from OpenAI

The American government now has a say in who gets access to powerful new AI models. One trigger is the fear of artificial intelligence being misused for cyberattacks.

China's Zhipu is closing in on top U.S. AI models with Anthropic and OpenAI held back

Zhipu's GLM 5.2 shows the AI fight is shifting to who delivers the most intelligence per dollar, making open source suddenly a real contender.

Young Americans feel more threatened by AI than young Chinese. Why?

My four-year-old son has become fascinated with his new friend, who has endless patience and an answer for everything. She is an artificial intelligence assistant on Doubao, one of China’s most popular AI applications. My son, obsessed with space, black holes and galaxies, keeps asking Doubao for related videos. When the video is of low quality or inaccurate, I would stop it and explain it may not be reliable. Despite my concerns about AI-generated information, I let him interact with AI within.

Healthcare stocks have become a haven for investors ditching tech

Shares of AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson were on track to hit all-time highs Friday, in the latest signal that investor appetite for the biopharmaceutical sector is back.

China's Battery Giant Bets Big on Sodium as Lithium Volatility Persists

The world’s largest battery maker is taking a step back from the eclectic vehicles sector to refocus its efforts on energy storage. China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (better known as CATL) has been building up its energy storage portfolio for years now, but the company’s transition away from EVs and toward energy systems has been supercharged by the artificial intelligence boom. Five years ago, just 2 percent of CATL’S sales came from battery storage. Today, storage accounts for a

Takeda's 1st female CEO leans into AI to shape biopharma business

Prime Minister Andy Burnham comes with defense and national security implications

Burnham will likely want to continue many aspects of Keir Starmer’s approach to defense and security policy, but with some key differences.

101st soldiers use drones to drop grappling hooks, breach razor wire

The Army should treat drones like ammo, one officer said, estimating a brigade needs between 1,000 to 1,500 drones per week in sustained combat operations.

What Happened to Big Oil's Green Pivot?

Over the past 20 years, the story seemed straightforward. Big Oil would gradually become Big Energy. Over time, oil majors would use their balance sheets, engineering expertise, and global project-management skills to build wind farms, solar projects, hydrogen hubs, carbon capture networks, and renewable power businesses. Big Oil did make major investments in renewables. And that transition is still happening in parts of the energy sector. But among the oil majors, the strategy has become far mo

‘Digital ID cards’: China moves to regulate AI agents with unified identity system

China is establishing an identity system for artificial intelligence agents, as part of new national standards released on Friday to regulate the next frontier of autonomous technology. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) unveiled the standard for “Artificial Intelligence Agent Interconnection”, aiming to establish a “closed-loop system” with a unified identity management framework for all AI agents, according to a report from state broadcaster China Central Television...

VW: Volkswagen wants to get rid of four plants – tens of thousands of jobs are at risk

At VW, more jobs are at risk than previously assumed. IG Metall and the works council are sounding the alarm and talking about “irresponsible threats”.

Volkswagen: Report: VW tightens austerity measures – resistance announced

Are up to 100,000 jobs at VW at risk? IG Metall and the works council are sounding the alarm and talking about “irresponsible threats”. Many of the company's employees feel insecure.

‘We love guns’: school shooting exposes reality of Philippine crisis

Monday’s school shooting in the Philippines that killed three students and injured dozens has highlighted the decades-long problem of gun proliferation in the country, easy access to weapons despite theoretically strict laws – and Filipinos’ fascination with firearms. One shocking issue that emerged after videos of the shooting were posted online was the quantity of bullets fired and the teenaged shooters’ seeming familiarity with weapons. Officers recovered 21 fired cartridge cases, seven lead.

Pharmacist and doctor explain: Psychotropic drugs and heat: This is how you deal with the risk well

Medication often helps those who have depression, an anxiety disorder or ADHD. Many of these are “heat critical” - high temperatures can have undesirable consequences for patients. That doesn't have to be the case.

Competition law: EU Commission initiates antitrust investigation against Sanofi

Has the pharmaceutical company Sanofi used anti-competitive practices in the flu vaccine business? The European Commission is now examining.

Auto industry: Up to 100,000 jobs in the VW Group are at risk - where the conversion has so far been

CEO Blume is planning even more radical job cuts than previously known. The workers are alarmed. According to information from Handelsblatt, job cuts are making rapid progress.