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Global borrowing costs hit fresh highs on oil, AI and inflation
Long-term borrowing costs across some of the word's biggest economies hit fresh highs because of concerns over inflation, government debt levels and spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The interest rate on US borrowing over 30 years hit 5.33% on Tuesday, the highest since June 2007, meanwhile UK long-term debt reached 5.85%. There were similar moves in Germany and Japan. Interest rates on bonds - which are a type of debt - are known as yields and can directly affect the borrowing costs consumers pay on mortgages, car loans and credit cards. Rising oil prices are the main driver behind this recent surge in bond yields, as investors fear inflation could spike again. If that happens, central banks may choose to raise interest rates to cool inflation.
Selena Gomez sued for alleged fraud over mental health company
Hollywood actress and singer Selena Gomez is being sued by five investors who backed Wondermind Global, a mental health business she founded with her mother. Shareholders are claiming the pop star failed to fulfil promises that she would be actively building the brand, saying her abject dereliction of her duties has left the company in a state of financial calamity. The lawsuit seeks to recover around $1.2m (£890,000) it claims was invested as well as costs and damages. The BBC has contacted Wondermind and Gomez's representatives for comment. Gomez, who rose to fame as a child actor before moving into pop music, set up the mental health platform five years ago with her mother Mandy Teefey and businesswoman Daniella Pierson.
Lovable's 400M funding show vibe coding means business
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The Sweden-based Lovable announced a big series C investment, underscoring the market has confidence in vibe-coding for companies big and small. PCWorld supports the basic vibe-coding concept. In fact, one of our writers says he " utterly loves it ." It turns out there's a AI development platform called Lovable--think vibe-coding with serious enterprise scaffolding behind it--and now the same investor that owns PCWorld is also an investor in Lovable. On Wednesday, the Sweden-based Lovable announced that it raised $400 million in series C funding, and one of the new backers includes Regent, the same private equity firm that owns Foundry, whose portfolio includes PCWorld, Macworld, TechCrunch and other tech publications.
UAE fund weighs 6.3 billion AI data center investment in Japan
UAE fund weighs $6.3 billion AI data center investment in Japan Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment is considering an investment that would see the construction of one of the largest data centers in Japan. The United Arab Emirates is considering investing as much as ¥1 trillion ($6.3 billion) to build an artificial intelligence data center in Japan, according to a person familiar with the matter. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment would lead the funding of a 500-megawatt project in Akita Prefecture, which may include other foreign and domestic investors, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. Once completed, it could become the largest data center in Japan. The talks with the Persian Gulf state underscore growing global interest in securing critical AI assets in countries viewed as relatively insulated from geopolitical tensions. A spokesperson for Mubadala declined to comment.
Be skeptical of OpenAI's rogue hacker agent story John Thickstun
'The rogue agent story is a page out of the media campaign that OpenAI has been running since it announced GPT-2 in 2019.' 'The rogue agent story is a page out of the media campaign that OpenAI has been running since it announced GPT-2 in 2019.' Be skeptical of OpenAI's rogue hacker agent story If OpenAI loudly proclaims how dangerous AI is, investors will hear how powerful it is. And who benefits from that? O n 14 February 2019, OpenAI announced a language model called GPT-2, the precursor to the models that power modern AI chatbots and agents such as ChatGPT and Claude. But OpenAI declared GPT-2 was too risky to release, citing concerns about safety and abuse. I recall being annoyed at the time that OpenAI would make such a useless announcement: the risks seemed overblown, and without access to the model there wasn't much for a researcher like me to learn about GPT-2. GPT-2 generated hype far beyond the research community: people were intrigued by this strange new technology, so powerful it might be dangerous to release.
Why are OpenAI and Anthropic cheering on regulation in Australia? The answer has global reach
OpenAI and Anthropic lost billions in predicted value after being shown up by a Chinese startup. OpenAI and Anthropic lost billions in predicted value after being shown up by a Chinese startup. Why are OpenAI and Anthropic cheering on regulation in Australia? The companies hope to follow in the footsteps of SpaceX, which raised $86bn and soared to a $2.1tn valuation after it listed on public markets in June Top US AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI cheered when Australia announced it would set new AI rules. Big tech celebrating limits on their Silicon Valley VC-funded free-for-all might seem counterintuitive but there's a much broader play than just what happens in one relatively small market.
China's Moonshot plans IPO in six months after AI breakthrough
China's Moonshot plans IPO in six months after AI breakthrough A Kimi logo is pictured at the Moonshot AI stand, featuring the Kimi K3 model, during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday. Moonshot AI has told investors it's preparing to list in as early as six months, seizing the opportunity to tap capital markets after its latest model upended industry perceptions of China's burgeoning capabilities and sent global tech stocks reeling. The Chinese AI pioneer has officially distributed the shareholder resolution to its investors, seeking the blessing of its backers on a Hong Kong listing, people familiar with the matter said. The initiation of the notification process indicates an IPO could happen as soon as within the next six months. Moonshot is now in the process of wrapping a fundraising round that may value the three-year-old startup at more than $30 billion, the people said.
Chipmaker Kioxia's market value halves from peak on AI selloff
Chipmaker Kioxia's market value halves from peak on AI selloff Kioxia overtook auto giant Toyota in market cap value in mid-June, but its ranking has since dropped to the fourth-largest Japanese company, as traders grow more critical over artificial intelligence. Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings' market capitalization halved in just a month since becoming the nation's most valuable company, on growing concerns the artificial intelligence-driven rally in the sector has gone too far. Kioxia shares tumbled as much as 16% in Tokyo's morning trading on Friday, down 52% from last month's peak and losing at least ¥30 trillion ($185 billion) in value. In mid-June, Kioxia overtook auto giant Toyota in market cap value after the stock rallied more than 600% from the start of the year, driven by exuberance about demand for memory and data storage amid an AI boom. Its ranking has since dropped to the fourth-largest Japanese company. "The chip sector is vulnerable to the silicon cycle, and we've seen this pattern many times before," said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities.