Category: Business
-
Google rebrands Bard chatbot as Gemini, rolls out paid subscription
By Jeffrey Dastin SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google on Thursday renamed its Bard chatbot after the new artificial intelligence that is powering it, called Gemini, and said consumers can pay for better reasoning capabilities as it vies with Microsoft to win subscriptions. U.S. customers can subscribe for $19.99 a month to access Gemini Advanced, which…
-
Microsoft partners with India’s Sarvam AI for voice-based genAI tools
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Microsoft will support the development of voice-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications through a partnership with Indian startup Sarvam AI, the Windows-maker said on Thursday. The partnership was announced during CEO Satya Nadella’s three-day visit as the company pushes for wider adoption of its products by consumers in India, the fastest-growing major economy.…
-
S&P 500 closes at record high; earnings, rate outlook in focus
By Sinéad Carew and Johann M Cherian (Reuters) -Wall Street’s major stock indexes rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 registering a record closing high, as investors applauded overall strength in U.S. earnings and monitored Federal Reserve comments for clues on interest rates. Shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill finished up 7.2%after it topped analyst…
-
Ackman launches cheaper hedge fund aimed at wider investor pool
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) -Billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman is launching a new investment portfolio in the U.S., according to a regulatory filing which suggests the fund will mimic his existing hedge fund but offering lower fees and quicker access to capital. Pershing Square USA will be listed on the New York…
-
Microsoft launches Copilot internally to boost AI adoption by developers – Business Insider
(Reuters) – Microsoft is launching Microsoft 365 Copilot tool for employees as it looks to get more developers to use artificial intelligence, Business Insider reported on Wednesday. The company has been running pilot tests to up the usage of AI tools among its community of developers and was planning a wider release of Microsoft 365…
-
Oil climbs on US fuel stocks draw, geopolitical tensions
By Georgina McCartney HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, boosted by a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. fuel stocks, and rising tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled 62 cents higher, or 0.79% at $79.21 a barrel as of 2:40 pm ET (1940 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate…
-
Uber expects strong core profit as ride share, food delivery pick up pace
By Yuvraj Malik (Reuters) -Uber Technologies forecast quarterly core profit and gross bookings above estimates and reported market-beating results for the holiday quarter on Wednesday, fueled by higher demand in its ride sharing and food delivery businesses. It posted its first annual net profit as a public company as user retention improved, also benefiting from…
-
US trade deficit rises marginally in December; narrows sharply in 2023
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly in December, but contracted by the most in 14 years in 2023 as imports declined and exports jumped to a record high. The report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday also showed the United States’ rising status as a major oil producer, with…
-
Bearish trades engulf New York Community Bancorp options as shares sink
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Community Bancorp options drew increasingly bearish trading on Wednesday, as the bank’s shares extended their recent sell-off. Put contracts that would guard against a plunge in the shares below $2 by mid-March were among the most actively traded, with about 8,000 of them changing hands…
-
Amazon jumps as AI, retail strength power revenue growth
By Akash Sriram and Aishwarya Venugopal (Reuters) -Amazon.com shares surged 7% on Friday after the e-commerce heavyweight reported higher-than-expected holiday quarter sales and its lucrative cloud business signaled early gains from AI-powered features. The company joined Microsoft and other tech firms in starting to see results benefiting from their heavy AI investments, while also outlining…