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Eurozone’s Economy Outpaced U.S. & China in GDP Growth
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Eurozone Leads Global Growth. Figures released by the European Union’s statistics agency Tuesday showed the currency- area’s economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.5% as higher energy costs weighed on household spending. This translated into 3.5% growth in gross domestic product*...
ChatGPT Passes Law School Exams
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * ChatGPT passes law school exams. A quartet of law professors at the University of Minnesota used the popular artificial intelligence chatbot to generate answers to exams in four courses last semester, then graded them blindly alongside actual students' tests. ChatGPT’s average C+ performance fell below...
US Sues Google to Break Up Ad Unit
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * The United States government has filed a lawsuit against Google for alleged antitrust violations, claiming that the tech giant abuses its dominant position as one of the biggest brokers, suppliers, and auctioneers of online ads. The lawsuit seeks to unwind Google's past acquisitions, including its 2008...
Netflix Subscriber Base Soars with the Addition of 7.7 Million New Members
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Netflix blows away expectations on subscriber numbers. Netflix added 7.66 million paid subscribers during the fourth quarter, more than the 4.57 million Wall Street expected. This is the first quarter that Netflix’s ad tier is reflected in its earnings. Meanwhile, founder Reed Hastings...
Microsoft Expands Access to OpenAI’s Tools
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Microsoft to build OpenAI capabilities into all products. Microsoft said Monday that it is giving more customers access to the software behind those tools through its cloud-computing platform Azure.* Mr. Nadella said at the panel Tuesday that the aim was to make Azure “the place for...
U.S. Inflation Slowed for Sixth Straight Month
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * U.S. inflation slowed for sixth straight month in December. The consumer-price index rose 6.5% last month from a year earlier, down from 7.1% in November and well below a 9.1% peak in June. Core CPI climbed 5.7% in December from a...
Microsoft Considers $10 Billion Investment in OpenAI
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Microsoft considers $10 Billion Investment in ChatGPT Creator. Microsoft is in discussions to invest as much as $10 billion in OpenAI, the creator of viral artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT, according to people familiar with its plans. The proposal under consideration calls for the software giant to...
Mercedes to Build Own EV Charging Network to Outdo Tesla
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Mercedes tries to outdo Tesla with its own EV charging network. Mercedes will begin adding the first stations this year in North America* and later expand to Europe and China, the company said Thursday. The units will have as much as 350 kilowatts of power, enough...
iPhone City Is Back at 90% Capacity
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * iPhone city is back at 90% capacity after covid turmoil subsides. Foxconn Technology Group has brought the world’s largest iPhone plant to about 90% of anticipated peak capacity, suggesting Apple Inc.’s biggest main production partner has secured enough workers despite a Covid resurgence* and...
Tesla Set for Delivery Record Amid Demand Concerns
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Tesla poised for delivery record despite demand concerns. Analysts estimate fourth-quarter deliveries of about 421,000. In an effort to clear inventory, Tesla offered a rare $7,500 discount to US customers who took delivery of a new Model 3 or Model Y at the end...
Kremlin Bans Sales of Russian Oil
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Kremlin bans sales of Russian oil to countries that impose price cap. Vladimir Putin banned the supply of Russian oil and oil products to countries that impose a price cap, allowing deliveries to those nations only on the basis of special permission* for the Kremlin leader....
Elon Musk Won’t Sell Tesla Stock for 2 Years
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Elon Musk says he won’t sell Tesla stock for 2 years. “You have my commitment* that I won’t sell stock until, I don’t know, probably two years from now. Definitely not next year under any circumstances and probably not the year thereafter,” Musk...
Bank of Japan Sparks Global Bond Selloff
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Bank of Japan shocks global markets with bond yield shift. After the BOJ said Tuesday that it would allow benchmark bond yields to trade as high as 0.5%*, the yen and bank shares surged, while the Japanese market sold off. Japanese 10-year bond yields surged,...
Twitter Suspends Mastodon’s Account and Bans Several Others
MARKET MOVERS * Twitter suspends mastodon’s account and bans several accounts. A day after Twitter crafted a new policy to explain its decision to ban an account that tracks Elon Musk’s private jet and the accounts of several journalists, the fallout continues. Twitter apparently suspended its open-source competitor Mastodon...
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Google Invests $400M in ChatGPT Rival
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Google Invests Almost $400 Million in ChatGPT Rival Anthropic.. Alphabet Inc.'s Google has invested in AI start-up Anthropic, injecting almost $400 million into the company. Anthropic is testing a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT* and will be leveraging Google's cloud computing services. The move highlights...
UK Unveils Blueprint to Govern Crypto Market
Image Source. THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO * UK Unveils Regulatory Proposals for Crypto Industry. Among the proposals was a move that would strengthen rules targeting financial intermediaries and custodians that store crypto on behalf of clients. The proposals would also enforce tougher transparency requirements on crypto exchanges to ensure they publish...
Google Tests Potential ChatGPT Competitor
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Google Steps Up the Competition with ChatGPT Rival. Google is taking the competition with AI-powered language model ChatGPT seriously with its new project, "Atlas," under its cloud unit. This "code red" effort is designed to compete with ChatGPT. The tech giant is also testing a chatbot...
Eurozone’s Economy Outpaced U.S. & China in GDP Growth
Image Source. MARKET MOVERS * Eurozone Leads Global Growth. Figures released by the European Union’s statistics agency Tuesday showed the currency- area’s economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.5% as higher energy costs weighed on household spending. This translated into 3.5% growth in gross domestic product*...
Ford Follows Tesla's Lead, Cuts Mustang Mach E Prices
Image Source. On the go? Play the audio digest below MARKET MOVERS * Ford Lowers Prices of Electric Mustang Mach-E to Compete with Tesla's Model Y. Ford announced Monday that it will lower the prices of its electric Mustang Mach-E by an average of $4,500, depending on the model. The...