Investments and Business

For months, Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI have largely escaped the brunt of the Biden administration's regulatory scrutiny. But things started to change when generative AI, capable of producing human-like text, photos, video and audio, hit the scene in late 2022 and created a frenzy in the industry. Regulators have recently signaled that they want to get ahead of developments in artificial intelligence. In July, the FTC launched an investigation into whether OpenAI had harmed consumers through data collection. In January, the FTC also launched a broad investigation into strategic partnerships between tech giants and AI startups, including Microsoft's investments in…

The humiliation of Modi's party resonates in part as an expression of popular frustration that India remains a land of economic peril for hundreds of millions of people, as well as a country characterized by startling contrasts in wealth. In big cities, five-star hotels boasting luxurious spas look down on teeming, unsanitary slums. In rural areas, malnutrition prevails under many roofs and families struggle to find the money to send their children to school. Even though its working-age population numbers about a billion, India has only 430 million jobs, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent research…

Ms Bongiorno and Mr Chaudhri said Humane was working on problems with the device. The startup has added more voice navigation options to the device, as well as sound effects, to make it easier to use. The updates include the integration of OpenAI's latest chatbot system, GPT-4o, designed to improve battery life by 25% and reduce the device's response time to two seconds. Those updates responded to questions raised by auditors, the founders said. Ms. Bongiorno defined the reviews and feedback as “a gift given to us”. Companies are interested in the device, he added. Within 48 hours of its…

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sony bought Alamo from Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group, as well as the chain's founder, Tim League. Mr League said the cinema chain was “more than thrilled” with the deal. This comes at a time of financial difficulty for the Alamo and the film industry as a whole. Many of Alamo's franchised locations filed for bankruptcy and closed this month, making Sony's move a potential lifeline for the struggling chain. Alamo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 before a private equity firm intervened. The theaters will continue to operate under…

Summer at the spa - a ritual that has lasted nearly 200 years - began early in Saratoga Springs, New York, with the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, held Saturday for the first time at Saratoga Race Course, a relic revered where elites and others mingle, but horses dominate. Broadway, the city's central thoroughfare, was abuzz with activity. Lines for picnic tables along the trail formed before dawn. A new color, Belmont Green, blends with the track's signature red and white coating. Owners, trainers, runners and loyalists all hailed the break with tradition for the 156th…

Tesla could use shareholder approval to support Musk's case in court. If it wins the vote on Musk's compensation, the company is likely to turn to Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the Delaware Court of Chancery judge who rejected the compensation plan, and argue that shareholders, armed with information she says not having had it when they approved the package, they ratified the proposal again. This, according to the company, makes the issue controversial. If McCormick were to declare the plan acceptable, it is likely that the plaintiffs who initially sued will appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. Among their potential arguments:…

Nearly two years after OpenAI ignited a race to add generative artificial intelligence into products, Apple jumped into the competition on Monday, with plans to bring the technology to more than a billion iPhone users around the world.Early into a two-hour presentation from its futuristic Silicon Valley campus, Apple revealed that it would be using generative A.I. to power what it is calling Apple Intelligence. The system will prioritize messages and notifications and offer writing tools that are capable of proofreading and suggesting what users have written in emails, notes or text. It also will result in a major upgrade…

The U.S. economy keeps throwing curveballs, and the May employment report is the latest example.Employers added 272,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday, well above what economists had expected as hiring had gradually slowed. That’s an increase from the 232,000-job average over the previous 12 months, scrambling the picture of an economy that’s relaxing into a more sustainable pace.Most concerning for the Federal Reserve, which meets next week and again in July, wages rose 4.1 percent from a year ago — a sign that inflation might not yet be vanquished.“For those who may have thought they would…

Sacks gave his case for backing Trump. Top of the list: the economy. The U.S. is performing far better than its peers, but he blames President Biden for sticky inflation, weak growth and rising debt (though Trump too added trillions to the national debt).But Biden has huge support in Silicon Valley. The president has raised millions from tech industry leaders this election cycle. Last month, he attended a fund-raising event hosted by Vinod Khosla, the venture capital investor, and Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo C.E.O., and Silicon Valley includes some of his biggest business allies.Hoffman broke down why no C.E.O.…

Europe’s share of the global economy is shrinking, and fears are deepening that the continent can no longer keep up with the United States and China.“We are too small,” said Enrico Letta, a former Italian prime minister who recently delivered a report on the future of the single market to the European Union.“We are not very ambitious,” Nicolai Tangen, head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, told The Financial Times. “Americans just work harder.”“European businesses need to regain self-confidence,” Europe’s association of chambers of commerce declared.The list of reasons for what has been called the “competitiveness crisis” goes…