View time: 1 min 09
Level : Advanced
Author: natixis-ezine
Army of lobbyists helped water down banking regulations
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By BRIAN SLODYSKO and KEN SWEET Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — It seemed like a good idea at the time: Red-state Democrats facing grim reelection prospects would join forces with Republicans to slash bank regulations — demonstrating a willingness to work with President Donald Trump while bucking many in their party.
That unlikely coalition voted in 2018 to roll back portions of a far-reaching 2010 law intended to prevent a future financial crisis. But those changes are now are being blamed for contributing to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that prompted a federal rescue and stoked anxiety about a broader banking contagion.
The rollback was was leveraged with a lobbying campaign that cost tens of millions of dollars and drew an army of hundreds of lobbyists into the effort. It also was seeded with ample campaign contributions.
The episode offers a fresh reminder of the power that bankers wield in Washington, where the industry spends prodigiously to fight regulation and often hires former members of Congress and their staff to make the case that they are not a source of risk to the economy. Continue reading
What can ChatGPT maker’s new AI model GPT-4 do?
Read time : 5 mins
Level : Intermediate
By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer
LONDON (AP) — The company behind the ChatGPT chatbot has rolled out its latest artificial intelligence model, GPT-4, in the next step for a technology that’s caught the world’s attention.
The new system can figure out tax deductions and answer questions like a Shakespearan pirate, for example, but it still “hallucinates” facts and makes reasoning errors.
Here’s a look at San Francisco-based startup OpenAI’s latest improvement on the generative AI models that can spit out readable text and unique images:
WHAT’S NEW?
OpenAI says GPT-4 “exhibits human-level performance.” It’s much more reliable, creative and can handle “more nuanced instructions” than its predecessor system, GPT-3.5, which ChatGPT was built on, OpenAI said in its announcement.
In an online demo Tuesday, OpenAI President Greg Brockman ran through some scenarios that showed off GPT-4’s capabilities that appeared to show it’s a radical improvement on previous versions. Continue reading
Activism is new standard in ski industry
View time : 3 min 15
Level : Intermediate
Startups can’t get money from Silicon Valley Bank
View time: 1 min 12
Level : Advanced
Oil giant Saudi Aramco makes a historic $161B profit in 2022
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported Sunday earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.
The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.
Aramco also hopes to increase its production to take advantage of market demand as China reenters the global market after lifting its coronavirus restrictions. That could raise the billions needed to pay for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to develop futuristic cityscapes to pivot Saudi Arabia away from oil. Continue reading
Tesla price cuts: Flagging demand or tactic to boost sales?
Read time : 4 mins
Level : Intermediate
By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer
DETROIT (AP) — In explaining why Tesla Inc. keeps cutting prices on its electric vehicles, the auto industry is pretty much divided into two camps.
On one side are analysts who see an aggressive move by the leading manufacturer of EVs to gobble up sales and market share from its competitors just as they’re beginning to bring more vehicles to market.
On the other side are critics who argue that with demand for Tesla’s older vehicles beginning to wane, the company feels forced to slash prices to attract buyers.
Over the weekend, Tesla cut the prices of its two costliest vehicles, from $5,000 to $10,000, or from 4.3% to just over 9%. A Model S two-motor sedan now starts at $89,990, with the Plaid “performance” version beginning at $109,990. A Model X SUV dual motor starts at $99,990, the performance version at $109,990. Continue reading
First 3D-printed rocket prepares for launch
View time : 1 min 47
Level : Intermediate
Some in Northeast lament ‘dud’ of a winter
View time: 2 min 52
Level : Advanced
In Britain, ‘warm hubs’ emerge to beat soaring energy costs
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England (AP) — On a blustery late-winter day in Shakespeare’s birthplace, the foyer of the Other Place theater is a cozy refuge. Visitors are having meetings over coffee, checking emails, writing poetry, learning to sew.
It looks and feels like an arty café in the pictureque streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, but it’s a “warm hub” set up by the Royal Shakespeare Company drama troupe to welcome people struggling to heat their homes because of sky-high energy prices.
Warm hubs have sprouted across Britain by the thousands this winter as soaring food and energy prices drive millions to turn down the thermostat or skimp on hot meals. Research by the opposition Labour Party counted almost 13,000 such hubs, funded by a mix of charities, community groups and the government and nestled in libraries, churches, community centers and even a tearoom at King Charles III’s Highgrove country estate. Continue reading