Elon Musk will face questions over the lack of a successor, weak demand and model delays at Tesla's shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Investors are expected to vote on publishing a report on “key-person risk” as some find that Musk is vital to the electric-car company, leading to succession concerns. Musk said he would devote more time to Tesla but has other ventures, including a new AI start-up, which are also a worry. Musk is expected to be asked about this start-up and whether or not he has hired someone to run it.
Russia claims to have destroyed a $1.1bn US air defence system during its rocket attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The Kremlin said that a hypersonic Kinzhal missile destroyed the Patriot missile battery. Ukraine, however, stated that it had downed all six Kinzhal missiles. This comes as a top Russian official is in a coma in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine following an attack in a barber shop when a grenade was thrown at him. In response, France has decided to send longer-range missiles to Ukraine just days after the UK sent its Storm Shadow munitions.
Baidu CEO Robin Li has said that the company's artificial intelligence-driven chatbot will be able to avoid "hallucinating" on sensitive topics due to its experience "tailoring its search engine to Chinese regulatory requirements". The bot, akin to OpenAI's GPT, is waiting for government clearance before launch. The firm, which has more than 20 years' experience operating search in China and working with regulators, is well positioned for forthcoming draft measures aimed at managing services driven by generative AI, said Li.
Kyocera is set to invest $2.9bn in semiconductor-related production facilities through to March 2026 to make cutting-edge chips for AI and other fields. President Hideo Tanimoto said that the investments, which are part of the company's medium-term business plan, are a 130% increase from the previous three-year period. The company is planning to raise production capacity for package products as well as fine-ceramic components for semiconductor-processing equipment.
Baidu CEO Robin Li has said that providing “appropriate” online content for viral chatbots such as ChatGPT is difficult in China. While models such as ChatGPT may be probabilistic, regulations in the country mean that content must comply with laws concerning political, sexual and violent material. The company recently launched its own chatbot, Ernie Bot, and plans to use it to gain ground in areas including cloud services, online marketing and smart devices.
French video game producer Ubisoft has stayed on track to post a rebound this financial year, despite accumulating €500.2m ($550.6m) in non-IFRS losses during its most recent financial year. The developer behind games including Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin's Creed, whose family of titles has been hit by cancellations and delays, said it would increase the number of developers working on the latter by 40%, but was set to cut 20% of its workforce. It said it was also working on improving its AI capabilities.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to change investment management, writes Andrew Allentuck in The Globe and Mail. The increased adoption of AI will lead to more time for solving problems, thinking of new methodologies and fewer man-hours spent on data by asset managers and quants. By contrast, it will be bad news for stockbrokers and their business in "high-priced 'investments de jour'," which are more likely to be replaced by robo-advisers.
Governments need to take urgent action to prevent the world being harmed by rogue AI, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman cited fears that programmers could accidentally create a superintelligence that could destroy humanity, adding: "If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong." Altman suggested powerful AI algorithms should be licensed and audited, with the aim of preventing them from developing capabilities such as self-replication, and that an international body similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency could be created to manage compliance. Such measures should be followed by enhanced privacy rules, Altman said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use this weekend’s meeting of the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders in Hiroshima to promote the elimination of nuclear weapons, but there will be deep irony as Kishida is overseeing the greatest expansion of Japanese military power since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, threatened earlier this year that there would be a "nuclear apocalypse" if the West sent weapons to Ukraine, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol recently suggested his country might need to develop atomic weapons. The G-7 leaders will find common ground on Ukraine, but the issue of China’s increasing assertiveness is a trickier issue to resolve.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has told Congress that artificial intelligence (AI) should be regulated, with particular attention paid to possible election interference. During a Senate hearing in the US, Altman proposed the introduction of an agency responsible for providing licences for the most powerful AI. He said the technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and people are concerned about how it might change their lives. The Senate committee had been chaired by former presidential candidate Al Gore, and was examining the future impact of AI systems.
The CEO of OpenAI, the firm behind advanced conversational AI ChatGPT, has called on US lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). Sam Altman told a Senate committee that an independent agency should license AI companies and should have the power to give and withdraw permits. Altman also said that AI posed a threat to jobs and to democracy, and called for firms such as OpenAI to be independently audited. There is bipartisan support for such an agency, although senators questioned whether it would be able to keep up with the fast-developing industry.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the human-like chatbot ChatGPT, told a US Senate hearing that the creation of a U.S. or global agency that could provide licences for the most powerful AI systems would be vital to mitigating the risks of advancing AI. The agency would also be tasked with ensuring compliance with safety standards, and be able to withdraw licences. Altman's comments expanded on earlier concerns over cyber-cheating mechanisms, to reflect a wider range of concerns ranging from misinformation to breaching copyright protections and job dislocation. Altman's proposals echo initiatives under way in Europe.
The CEO of AI firm OpenAI, Sam Altman, has called for the creation of a licensing body for the world's most powerful AI algorithms. Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate this week, Altman said that, as AI became more advanced, people were understandably anxious about its power and how it could change human lives. He recommended that a new agency should ensure compliance with safety standards for use of AI, including its ability to generate misleading and false statements. The proposed agency could license the most powerful AI systems and withdraw that licence where any risks were identified.
The creator of ChatGPT has warned of a "rogue" artificial intelligence that could cause massive harm unless governments intervene. OpenAI, the firm hailed for creating digital chatbots capable of fielding queries, has raised the fear of a "catastrophe", with commentators warning that computer software could accidentally create a malevolent superintelligence that could set about destroying humankind. Ahead of a hearing in the US, OpenAI founder Sam Altman said: "We, the field, the technology, the industry, cause significant harm to the world. If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong."
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, testified before Congress on 16 May, pressuring the US government to regulate AI more thoroughly, citing dangers including spreading election misinformation and manipulating individuals' views. Altman appeared alongside IBM’s chief of privacy and trust Christina Montgomery and AI expert Dr Gary Marcus, who all agreed that new regulation is necessary in order to keep pace with technology development. Both Altman and Marcus suggested the creation of an agency that would issue licenses to AI technologies and revoke them if they didn't comply with safety standards.
Under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to receive $80bn over the next 10 years, a move that should aid the agency in auditing high-income taxpayers and securing more tax income for the government. The IRS recently posted new guidelines and has hired a new commissioner, Danny Werfel, who has said a primary objective is to acquire expertise such as accountants and lawyers needed to pursue high-wealth individuals and large corporations that are not paying their taxes. The overhaul will be done in stages over several years.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has told US legislators that government regulation over AI is essential to mitigate risks posed to humanity. Speaking at a US senate judiciary subcommittee, Altman said “if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong”. Despite ongoing political divisions, he urged Congress to introduce rules aimed at regulating tech companies. OpenAI was founded to improve lives with AI, but regulation is necessary due to concerns over disinformation, job security and other dangers, Altman said. He proposed the formation of a US or global agency to license the most powerful AI systems, having authority to intervene.
Tencent Holdings will cut prices for cloud services by up to 40% from June amid similar moves from rivals that have plunged the sector into a price war. Alibaba Group Holding will slash prices for some cloud products by up to 50%. State-owned China Mobile also joined Tencent on Tuesday in announcing cuts, saying prices for some services would be reduced by up to 60% for a limited time.
China's Tencent Holdings reported an 11% uptick in revenues to $21.4bn for Q1, better than forecasts, but net income of $3.99bn fell short of predictions. The firm grew online advertising 17% and profits from investment gains rose 23% in the first quarter, however, it faces competition in its core gaming and social media markets, as well as from fintech newcomers. Tencent intends to fill its empty pipeline with hits such as Valorant and will integrate artificial intelligence across its suite of products from WeChat to online media. In March, Tencent debuted Honor of Kings in Brazil, paving the way for a global roll-out.
Asia's bullish stock traders are dwindling as China's post-Covid economic recovery has failed to rally stocks in a sustained way, reinforced by a recent miss in April economic data, from industrial production to fixed-asset investment. Concerns centre on the speed and strength of China's recovery and a looming overseas recession that will add to the pressure on external demand. The lacklustre trading pattern has led to a drop in the number of investors bullish on China's recovery, a recent survey by Bank of America revealed, adding that India has overtaken China as the favourite for investors in Asia. Per capita consumer spending during May's golden week holiday came in below pre-pandemic levels. Property investment continued to contract, and youth unemployment hit a record high of 20.4% – but that data excluded almost 12 million university graduates who will enter the job market this summer.
