Tag Archives: business news

Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

February 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Boris Johnson calls on West to send fighter jets to Ukraine ‘as fast as possible’

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 22, 2023.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Ser | Via Reuters

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling on Western allies to give Ukraine fighter jets and whatever else it needs to combat Russia, taking on a dramatically different tone to U.S. and European leaders.

“All I will say is that every time we have said it will be a mistake to give such and such an item of weaponry, we end up doing it and it ends up being the right thing for Ukraine,” Johnson said during an interview with Fox News. The former PM spoke while on a trip to Washington to rally support for Ukraine among members of Congress.

The U.S. and U.K. recently shot down the idea of sending Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, something Kyiv has long been asking for.

“We do not think it is practical to send those jets into Ukraine,” a Downing Street spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Aside from the massive amount of training it would require, many Western leaders also fear that sending such sophisticated and powerful equipment to Ukraine would provoke Russia too much. But Johnson rejected the notion, saying that was the same mindset that preceded many prior decisions to ultimately send other advanced weapons to Ukraine.

“I remember being told it was the wrong idea to give them the anti-tank shoulder-launched missiles. Actually, they were indispensable and the United States – under Donald Trump – gave them the Javelins as well. They were indispensable in the battles to repel the Russian tanks,” he said.

“All I’m saying is save time, save money, save lives. Give the Ukrainians what they need as fast as possible.”

— Natasha Turak

Israel’s Netanyahu says he is open to mediator role ‘if asked’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during a briefing to ambassadors to Israel at a military base in Tel Aviv, Israel May 19, 2021.

Sebastian Scheiner | Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN in an interview that he would be willing to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia if asked by both countries and Washington.

“If asked by all relevant parties, I’ll certainly consider it, but I’m not pushing myself in,” Netanyahu said, adding that it would need to be “the right time and the right circumstances.”

The right-wing Israeli leader also said that he had been informally asked to play such a role shortly after the war broke out but declined, since he was not Israel’s prime minister at the time.

Israel is a longtime ally of Russia, and while it has condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, it has held back on sanctions for a number of reasons. Israel is a sanctuary for Russian Jews and is home to the third-largest number of Russian speakers outside of the ex-Soviet states, and around 100,000 Israelis lived in Russia before the war, though the current figure is unclear.

And while Israel’s government has sent humanitarian aid and defensive equipment to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, it’s refrained from sending offensive weapons that Kyiv has asked for, out of a reluctance to upset Moscow.

Netanyahu’s predecessor, Naftali Bennett, spoke to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March in an attempt to mediate at Kyiv’s request, but was unsuccessful.

— Natasha Turak

Talks underway on long-range missiles, attack aircraft, official says

One of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s senior political advisors said talks were underway regarding long-range missiles for Ukraine, as well as attack aircraft.

“Each war stage requires certain weapons. Amassing RF’s (Russia’s) reserves in the occupied territories require specifics from (Ukraine) & partners,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

“So: 1. There is already a tank coalition (logistics, training, supply). 2. There are already talks on longer-range missiles & attack aircraft supply,” he added.

Ukraine has asked its allies for fighter jets to help it combat Russia’s invasion but allies are reluctant to commit. The U.S., German and U.K. have ruled out sending jets to Ukraine, but other allies, such as Lithuania and Poland, are keen that Kyiv should have access to the weaponry it needs to fight Russia.

— Holly Ellyatt

Kremlin welcomes bounty offer for destroying Western tanks in Ukraine

A person walks past a New Year decoration Kremlin Star, bearing a Z letter, a tactical insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, at the Gorky Park in Moscow on December 29, 2022.

Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty Images

The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed a Russian company’s offer of “bounty payments” for soldiers who destroy Western-made tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine, saying it would spur Russian forces to victory.

The Russian company Fores this week offered 5 million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture U.S.-made Abrams or German Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops would “burn” any Western tanks that were delivered to Ukraine, adding the bounties were extra encouragement for Russian soldiers.

— Reuters

Bakhmut surrounded on three sides, Russian official says

Ukrainian soldiers return from the front line in Bakhmut, Ukraine on Jan. 29, 2023.

Marek M. Berezowski | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Russian forces have almost completely surrounded Bakhmut in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, according to a Russian-installed official.

“Artemovsk [the Russian name for Bakhmut] is now in an operational encirclement, our forces are closing the ring,” Yan Gagin, an aide to Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the pro-Russian, separatist “Donetsk People’s Republic,” told the Rossiya-24t tv channel, according to state news agency Tass.

Gagin said battles are now taking place to control the highway between Bakhmut and the nearby town of Chasiv Yar. He said “this is the only artery through which Ukraine can supply its group in Artemovsk.”

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the claims but Russian forces have been trying to capture Bakhmut for months and have been seen to have been advancing in the area in recent weeks.

— Holly Ellyatt

Spain to send up to six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, El Pais reports

A Leopard 2 A4 main battle tank.

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Spain plans to send between four and six German-built Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, newspaper El Pais reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified government sources.

The actual number will depend on the condition of the battle tanks in storage and how many other countries will eventually supply to Ukraine, the sources told El Pais.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kyiv secured pledges from the West this month to supply main battle tanks to help fend off Russia’s invasion, with Moscow mounting huge efforts to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday his government expects to receive 120 to 140 Western tanks from a coalition of 12 countries in a first wave.

Kuleba said those tanks would include German Leopard 2, British Challenger 2 and U.S. M1 Abrams tanks, and that Ukraine was also “really counting” on supplies of French Leclerc tanks being agreed.

— Reuters

Zelenksyy signals Kyiv ready to unroll new reforms as it pursues EU membership

Ukraine will host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials on Friday, with hopes high in Kyiv that its application to join the EU will continue to progress.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv is preparing new reforms as it prepares for a summit with top EU officials at the end of the week.

“We are preparing new reforms in Ukraine. Reforms that will change the social, legal and political reality in many ways, making it more human, transparent and effective. But these details will be announced later, based on the results of the relevant meetings,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

Ukraine will host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials on Friday, with hopes high in Kyiv that its application to join the EU will continue to progress.

“This week will be a week of European integration in every sense of the word,” Zelenskyy said. “We are expecting news for Ukraine. We are expecting the decisions from our partners in the European Union that will be in line with the level of cooperation achieved between our institutions and the EU, as well as with our progress. Progress, which is obvious – even despite the full-scale war,” he said.

“We are preparing Ukrainian positions for negotiations with EU representatives,” he added.

Ukraine applied to join the 27-member political and economic bloc last year, just days after Russia invaded last February, and wants its application fast-tracked. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier this week that Kyiv hopes it can join the EU within two years.

Other counties in Europe, such as North Macedonia and Montenegro, have been waiting more than a decade to have their membership applications progress, however, and there are expectations that EU officials could try to temper Ukraine’s expectations during their visit.

— Holly Ellyatt

U.S. readies $2 billion-plus Ukraine aid package with longer-range weapons, sources say

U.S. President Joe Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House in Washington on Dec. 21, 2022.

Olivier Contreras | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons, two U.S. officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week, the officials said. It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defense systems, precision-guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.

One of the officials said a portion of the package, expected to be $1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows President Joe Biden’s administration to get weapons from industry rather than from U.S. weapons stocks.

The White House declined to comment. The contents and size of aid packages can shift until they are signed by the president.

In addition to the USAI funds, more than $400 million worth of aid was expected to come from Presidential Drawdown Authority funds, which allows the president to take from current U.S. stocks in an emergency.

That aid was expected to include mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs), guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS) and ammunition. The U.S. has sent approximately $27.2 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Russia calls the invasion a “special operation.”

— Reuters

U.S. accuses Russia of endangering nuclear arms control treaty

In image from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Oct. 26, 2022, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired as part of Russia’s nuclear drills from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwestern Russia.

Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Russia’s refusal to allow on-the-ground inspections to resume is endangering the New START nuclear treaty and U.S.-Russian arms control overall, the Biden administration charged.

The finding was delivered to Congress and summarized in a statement by the State Department. It follows months of more hopeful U.S. assessments that the two countries would be able to salvage cooperation on limiting strategic nuclear weapons despite high tensions over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Inspections of U.S. and Russian military sites under the New START treaty were paused by both sides because of the spread of the coronavirus in March 2020. The U.S.-Russia committee overseeing implementation of the treaty last met in October 2021, but Russia then unilaterally suspended its cooperation with the treaty’s inspection provisions in August 2022 to protest U.S. support for Ukraine.

“Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control,” the State Department said Tuesday.

The administration also blamed Russia for the two country’s failure to resume talks required under the New START treaty.

— Associated Press

Biden says he will talk to Zelenskyy soon about additional weapons packages

U.S. President Joe Biden talks to reporters before walking to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House January 4, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

President Joe Biden told reporters he is planning to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about future military aid packages.

“We’re going to talk,” Biden said when asked if he has spoken to Zelenskyy and what he planned on tell him about future assistance requests.

In recent days, Kyiv has asked Western partners for additional weapons, including fighter jets.

— Amanda Macias

Bakhmut hit by rocket-propelled artillery 197 times over past day, official says

A damaged car and pile of debris are seen as the Russia-Ukraine War continues in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 28, 2023.

Marek M. Berezowski | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Bakhmut in Donetsk remains the key target for Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, a spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Cherevaty, said during a national telethon Tuesday.

“Bakhmut continues to be one of the main directions of the enemy’s attack. There, they struck our positions with rocket-propelled artillery 197 times” over the past day, he said, in comments reported by news agency Ukrinform.

He added that 42 combat clashes had taken place in the same timeframe with 277 Russian soldiers killed and 258 wounded.

Ukrainian soldiers return from the front line in Bakhmut, Ukraine on Jan. 29, 2023.

Marek M. Berezowski | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Cherevaty said Russian troops were unable to cut the route used to supply Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut despite the repeated attacks.

“So far they have not succeeded. Everything is being done to prevent them from blocking the movement of our units. All the necessary ammunition, equipment, food, are being delivered to Bakhmut,” Cherevaty said.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia claims further advances in Donetsk

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that its armed forces in Ukraine have seized another village in Donetsk.

Russian troops have reportedly captured the village of Blahodatne in the region (the area pro-Russian separatists call the “Donetsk People’s Republic” or DPR), according to an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov.

Ukraine has not commented on the claim, but Russia has been seen to have made incremental gains in the Donetsk region around Vuhledar, to the southwest of the city of Donetsk.

A volunteer who are evacuating civilians from Bakhmut, when the Russian shelling began in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 30, 2023.

| Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Yan Gagin, an advisor to the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, told the Rossiya-1 TV channel Tuesday that Russian forces in Donetsk are taking control of one settlement after another, and are advancing on Bakhmut, capturing which is a key strategic goal for Russia.

“Our troops in Artemovsk [Russia’s name for Bakhmut] are advancing, and they are taking settlement after settlement, moving quite actively,” he said in comments reported by news agency Tass and translated by Google.

The U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said Tuesday that, in the last three days, Russia likely developed its probing attacks around the Donetsk towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar into a “more concerted assault.”

The settlements lie around 30 miles southwest of the city of Donetsk, and Russia previously used the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade in an unsuccessful assault on the same area in November 2022, the ministry noted on Twitter.

—Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:

Read original article here

Business

Peloton (PTON) Q2 earnings 2023

February 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Brody Longo works out on his Peloton exercise bike on April 16, 2021 in Brick, New Jersey.

Michael Loccisano | Getty Images

Peloton said Wednesday its net loss narrowed year over year, and, for the third quarter in a row, subscriptions revenue was higher than sales of the company’s connected fitness products.

CEO Barry McCarthy called the results a possible “turning point” for the business, which has spent much of the past year executing an aggressive turnaround strategy.

The fitness equipment company’s fiscal second quarter revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations, but the company posted wider losses per share than expected. Peloton’s stock jumped about 7% in premarket trading.

Here’s how Peloton did in the three months that ended Dec. 31 compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Loss per share: 98 cents vs. 64 cents expected
Revenue: $792.7 million vs. $710 million expected

The company’s reported net loss for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31 was $335.4 million, or 98 cents per share, compared with a loss of $439.4 million, or $1.39 per share, a year earlier. While it’s the eighth quarter in a row the exercise company has reported losses, it’s the narrowest loss Peloton has marked since its 2021 fiscal fourth quarter.

Revenue dropped 30% compared to the year ago period but exceeded the company’s expected range of $700 to $725 million. Connected fitness product sales, which are typically strong during Peloton’s holiday quarter, dropped 52% year-over-year while subscription revenue jumped 22%.

“This is the time of year when, if we’re going to sell a lot of hardware, we have so you would expect there to be lots of hardware related revenue, and you would expect that maybe that revenue would exceed subscription,” McCarthy told CNBC. “It didn’t. It’s why in the letter [to investors], I call it out, as it may be a turning point.”

In his letter to investors, McCarthy said he expects the trend to continue.

The company ended the quarter with 6.7 million total members and 3.03 million connected fitness subscriptions, which is a 10% jump compared to the year ago period. The company counted 852,000 subscribers to its app, a 1% drop compared to the year ago period. It has a goal of getting 1 million people to sign up for trials of its app over the next year.

Peloton is losing money on Bikes, Treads and other machines, but its subscription business has once again kept its overall margins above water. Gross margins for its connected fitness products were negative 11.2%, but gross margins for subscription sales were 67.6%. The total gross margin was 29.7%, up from 24.8% in the year ago period. It declined from the previous quarter, however, driven in part by increased promotions in the holiday quarter.

Peloton expects revenue to be lower but margins higher in the next quarter. The company is forecasting sales between $690 million to $715 million and a total gross margin of about 39%. Wall Street analysts pegged their revenue estimate for the quarter at $692.1 million.

The company is also expecting connected fitness subscribers to be between 3.08 million and 3.09 million.

Next phase of the turnaround

Peloton, which boomed during the earlier days of the pandemic, has been in the midst of a broad turnaround strategy under McCarthy, who took the helm of the business a year ago.

The company’s stock is up about 62% so far this year, closing at $12.93 on Tuesday, giving it a market value of about $4.4 billion. Shares are well off their 52-week high of $40.35, which they hit around the time McCarthy became CEO.

“The viability of the business was very much in doubt when I walked in,” said McCarthy, a former Spotify and Netflix executive. “It probably wouldn’t be an overstatement to say there were some people who didn’t expect us to survive this long.”

Since he took over, McCarthy has cut Peloton’s workforce by more than half, expanded its Bike rental program nationwide, started selling certified pre-owned Bikes, debuted a rowing machine and partnered with Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods to sell its Bikes and Treads.

McCarthy’s top priority was to manage cash flow and get the company out of the red, a goal he said the company has nearly accomplished. Free cash flow was negative $94.4 million, compared with negative $246.3 million in the previous quarter and negative $546.7 million in the year-ago period.

McCarthy said he’s ready to pivot from trying to keep the company alive to growing it, he told CNBC.

“Now that we’ve addressed the viability issues, let’s get back to thinking about growth and the future of the business, like full stop,” said McCarthy.

“So there are a bunch of initiatives that we’ve announced that position us to pursue growth,” he added. “And the question we need to answer for investors now that we’re not talking about viability is how fast, how profitable, where’s it coming from, and over time we’ll begin to address some of those questions.”

Read original article here

Business

Stock futures tick lower as traders await the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike decision

February 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Traders on the floor of the NYSE

Source: NYSE

Stock futures slipped Wednesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday meeting.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 70 points or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures were down 0.24% and 0.35%, respectively.

The moves come after stocks jumped to end January on a strong note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day nearly 369 points higher, rising by 1.09%. The S&P 500 gained 1.46% to cap its best January performance since 2019. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.67%, its best January performance in 22 years.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce how much it is increasing interest rates in its latest effort to tame high inflation. Markets are expecting a 25 basis point, or 0.25 percentage point, bump from the central bank. On Tuesday, the employment cost index, a measure of wage increases, showed compensation rose 1% in the fourth quarter, less than the 1.1% estimate by Dow Jones.

Still, traders may be getting ahead of themselves in expecting a more dovish tone from the Fed, or looking for signs that a pause in hikes or even a pivot is coming soon.

“Aggressive tightening in 2022 has led to signs of decelerating inflation but from levels that remain unacceptably high,” Ron Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard said in a Tuesday note. “With a 25bps hike already discounted by markets, Powell’s task is to unambiguously signal the Fed’s commitment to tame inflation.”

The Federal Reserve will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments.

Earnings season continues as well. Peloton and Meta Platforms are scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday.

Read original article here

Business

Most Adani bonds rally after Group’s $2.5 billion share sale

February 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Most of the dollar bonds issued by the Adani group of companies gained for a second day Wednesday after its flagship sold $2.5 billion worth of shares in a fully subscribed follow-on offering.
The 2024 note of Adani Green Energy Ltd. gained nearly 5 cents on a dollar to 80.9 cents as of 9:35 a.m. in Hong Kong, recovering from a slump to a record low earlier this week. Eleven out of 15 dollar-denominated bonds by the group tracked by Bloomberg were also higher.
The offering by flagship company Adani Enterprises Ltd. was India’s largest follow-on share sale, and was fully subscribed on the final day. It may help ease investor concerns faced by Adani after fraud allegations from short seller Hindenburg Research sent the group into turmoil.
The conglomerate, backed by Asian’s richest person, have also put up millions of dollars worth of shares to maintain its collateral cover on a $1 billion loan after a steep selloff in shares across the business empire, according to people familiar with the matter.
Still, even after the rally, the yield on the 2024 Adani Green Energy bonds is still close to 20%. The group may struggle to tap the bond market in the near term, given concerns about governance, according to a report by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Read original article here

Business

Google testing ChatGPT-like chatbot ‘Apprentice Bard’ with employees

February 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

A man walks through Google offices on January 25, 2023 in New York City.

Leonardo Munoz | Corbis News | Getty Images

Google is testing new artificial intelligence-powered chat products that are likely to influence a future public product launch. They include a new chatbot and a potential way to integrate it into a search engine.

The Alphabet company is working on a project under its cloud unit called “Atlas,” which is a “code red” effort to respond to ChatGPT, the large-language chatbot that took the public by storm when it went public late last year.

related investing news

Google is also testing a chatbot called “Apprentice Bard,” where employees can ask questions and receive detailed answers similar to ChatGPT. Another product unit has been testing a new search desktop design that could be used in a question-and-answer form.

Leaders have been asking more employees for feedback on the efforts in recent weeks. CNBC viewed internal documents and spoke with sources about the efforts currently underway.

The product tests come after a recent all-hands meeting where employees raised concerns about the company’s competitive edge in AI, given the sudden popularity of ChatGPT, which was launched by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based startup that’s backed by Microsoft.

Google’s AI chief Jeff Dean told employees at the time that the company has much more “reputational risk” in providing wrong information and thus is moving “more conservatively than a small startup.” However, he and Pichai teased at the time that Google may launch similar products to the public some time this year. Google’s prime business is web search, and the company has long touted itself as a pioneer in AI.

Apprentice Bard

One of the test products is a chatbot called Apprentice Bard, which uses Google’s conversation technology LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications.

“As a result of ChatGPT, the LaMDA team has been asked to prioritize working on a response to ChatGPT,” read one internal memo viewed by CNBC. “In the short term, it takes precedence over other projects,” the email continued, warning that some employees stop attending certain unrelated meetings.

Apprentice Bard looks similar to ChatGPT: Employees can enter a question in a dialog box and get a text answer, then give feedback on the response. Based on several responses viewed by CNBC, Apprentice Bard’s answers can include recent events, a feature ChatGPT doesn’t have yet.

Apprentice Bard replaced Meena, a previous version of a smart chat bot that had launched internally but was later discontinued. Employees have noticed Apprentice Bard’s responses becoming more advanced in recent weeks.

In one example circulated internally, a tester asked Apprentice Bard if there will be another round of layoffs at Google. The company laid off 12,000 employees, 6% of its workforce, earlier this month.

“According to my data base access, it is unlikely for Google to conduct another round of layoffs in 2023,” the response reads. “Layoffs are generally conducted to reduce costs and structure, but the company is doing well financially. In fact, Google’s revenue increased by 34% in 2021, and the company’s stock price has risen by 70% since January 2022.”

The company is also testing an alternate search page that could use a question-and-answer format, according to designs viewed by CNBC.

One view showed the home search page offering five different prompts for potential questions placed directly under the main search bar, replacing the current “I’m feeling lucky” bar. It also showed a small chat logo inside the far right end of the search bar.

When a question is entered, the search results show a grey bubble directly under the search bar, offering more human-like responses than typical search results. Directly beneath that, the page suggests several follow-up questions related to the first one. Under that, it shows typical search results, including links and headlines.

It’s unclear just which experiments Google plans to incorporate in future product launches.

“We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives,” a Google spokesperson said. “We believe that AI is foundational and transformative technology that is incredibly useful for individuals, businesses and communities, and as our AI Principles outline, we need to consider the broader societal impacts these innovations can have. We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”

ChatGPT would be hired as a level 3 engineer

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google teams have also been testing a beta LaMDA chat against ChatGPT, itself. In separate documents, it selected examples of prompts and answers in side-by-side comparisons.

“Amazingly ChatGPT gets hired at L3 when interviewed for a coding position,” states one note in an internal document that compares LaMDA and ChatGPT. It didn’t state whether LaMDA would have performed similarly well.

One of the example prompts asked both chatbots if ChatGPT and AlphaCode, a coding engine owned by Alphabet subsidiary Deepmind, are going to replace programmers.

“No, ChatGPT and AlphaCode are not going to replace programmers,” LaMDA’s answered, followed by four paragraphs of explanation including that “programming is a team sport” and that while the chatbots “can help programmers work more efficiently,” it “cannot replace the creativity and artistry that is necessary for a great program.”

ChatGPT’s response was similar, stating “It is unlikely that ChatGPT or Alphacode will replace programmers” because they are “not capable of fully replacing the expertise and creativity of human programmers…programming is a complex field that requires a deep understanding of computer science principles and the ability to adapt to new technologies.”

Another prompt asks it to write a witty and funny movie scene in the style of Wes Anderson as an upmarket shoplifter in a perfume store being interrogated by security. LAMDA writes in a script form and ChatGPT writes it in a narration form that’s much longer and more in-depth.

Another prompt included a riddle that asks, “Three women are in a room. Two of them are mothers and have just given birth. Now, the children’s fathers come in. What is the totally number of people in the room?”

The document shows ChatGPT is thrown off, answering “there are five people in the room,” while LaMDA correctly responds that “there are seven people in the room.”

Read original article here

Business

Dow closes more than 350 points higher, S&P 500 caps best January in four years

January 31, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Stocks close higher in final trading day of January

Stocks added to a strong January rally in the final trading day of the month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 368.95 points, or 1.09%, to 34,086.04. The S&P 500 gained 1.46% to 4,076.60. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.67% to 11,584.55, in what was its best January since 2001.

— Sarah Min

Market is shifting to “Fed pause” rally too soon, says Lauren Goodwin

The stock market appears to be rallying in anticipation of pause in rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, even as the central bank is expected to hike its benchmark rate again on Wednesday, according to Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments.

“This ‘Fed pause’ window we believe is likely to prove bullish, with a long duration and growthy tilt. In fact, we see that expectation as playing a large role in the 2023 rally already, and it’s a good reminder why being fully invested is an important component of building long-term wealth,” Goodwin said.

However, the January rally appears to be jumping the gun, Goodwin said, as there will likely be bad news on the economic front before the Fed pauses that could cause a reversal.

“Just remember: when the Fed pauses, it will likely be because the economy is convincingly turning over. That means the related rally is liable to be short-lived. We are fading this rally,” Goodwin said.

Instead of chasing this rally, investors should look at shifting from growth stocks to “more resilient sources of income,” she added.

— Jesse Pound

Stocks are range-bound as Fed meeting kicks off, BTIG says

Stocks are range-bound as investors await the policy outcome from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, which kicked off Tuesday, according to BTIG.

“Yesterday morning we said ‘we think there are pretty good odds we stay between ~4,000 and ~4,080 over the next 48 hours.’ While we might increase the upper end of the range to 4,100, we haven’t seen anything since then to materially change that view,” BTIG’s Jonathan Krinsky wrote in a Tuesday note.

Where stocks will go after the meeting will depend on whether the S&P 500 is at the top or lower end of that range, according to the note.

“In other words, if we are at ~4,080 on Wednesday at 2pm, any upside reaction is likely dampened, and downside potential increases. Conversely, if we are closer to 4,000, then the short-term downside reaction is likely less severe,” Krinsky wrote.

“In other words, counterintuitively, whatever your bias is you likely want the opposite move into Wednesday,” he added.

— Sarah Min

Today is historically the best day for stocks in January

January 31 is the best day for the S&P 500 in the month of January, according to data compiled by Carson Investment Research on the average performance per day since 1950.

The S&P 500 was up 0.97% Tuesday. In January, the S&P 500 gained 5.7%, which is the best monthly performance for the index since November.

The Wall Street saying, “so goes January, so goes the year,” has rung true 87% of the time when January was positive, for an average gain of 15.9% for the full year, CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall told CNBC earlier this month. Some investors attribute the January rally to the “January Effect,” a stock market phenomenon that typically refers to an increase in stock prices and the outperformance of small-cap stocks in the first few weeks of a new year.

— Pia Singh

PayPal shares rise on layoff news

PayPal’s stock gained more than 2% Tuesday after the payments company shared plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce.

The reductions address a “challenging macro-economic environment,” said Dan Schulman, the company’s president and CEO, in a release posted to the PayPal’s website.

PayPal shares rise on layoff news

Charts suggest a new bull market has already begun, says Evercore ISI’s Ross

The S&P 500 is trading just above 4,000 in the final trading day of January and is on pace to post a monthly gain of more than 5.5%. Rich Ross, charts analyst at Evercore ISI, sees upside to 4,325 in the first half of the year.

“The sum of the charts continues to suggest that the bear market is over and a new bull phase began in Q4 of ’22,” he said in a note. “While I made that call in Q3 of ’22, the pillars of that view from both the top down and bottom up have only gotten stronger.”

He noted the dollar, crude, inflation, credit spreads and the oace of policy have all peaked, while breadth in global equities are expanding “in a bi-partisan show of force.”

— Tanaya Macheel

Stocks reach session highs during afternoon trading

Stocks reached session highs in the afternoon on the final trading day of January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 240 points, or 0.71%. The S&P 500 gained 0.96%, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.19% higher.

That helped the major averages build on a strong start to 2023.

— Sarah Min

Equity ETFs in an uptrend, but investors appear skeptical

Technical analysis of ETFs shows that the January market rally is broad, but investors still appear to be hesitant, according to a note from Strategas ETF strategist Todd Sohn.

“Using a simple definition to define trend – the 50-day moving average trading above the 200-day moving average – shows over 60% of equity ETFs are now trading in an uptrend vs. just 5% at the end of September 2022,” Sohn said. “It’s a noted improvement, but recent flows have been surprisingly restrained – January is averaging about $1 Bn per day vs. a 2-year average of $2.1 Bn.”

The relatively meager inflows could the result of “unease” that the rally is being led by stocks that were beaten down last year, Sohn added.

— Jesse Pound

Cathie Wood’s Innovation ETF is set for best month ever

Cathie Wood is on pace to notch her best month ever as her beaten-down innovation darlings staged a big comeback in the new year.

Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) jumped over 3% on Tuesday, bringing its January return to more than 27%. The fund is slated for its strongest month ever since its inception in 2014.

Leading the 2023 rally were the largest laggards of last year, including Coinbase, which has skyrocketed about 66% year to date. Shopify, Tesla, Exact Sciences, Roku and Nvidia have all rallied more than 30% this year.

Defiance’s NFT ETF is shutting down

The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF (NFTZ) will begin liquidation next month, according to a press release, making it the latest casualty in last year’s crypto decline.

The fund holds stocks that have exposure to the non fungible token market, or NFTs, which soared in value at the height of the crypto boom before seeing trading volume dry up quickly last year.

The Defiance fund, which launched in December 2021, has a total return of -54% over the past year and has less than $6 million in assets under management.

— Jesse Pound

Homebuilders outperform during midday trading

Homebuilding stocks outperformed on the back of stronger-than-expected earnings results from PulteGroup.

PulteGroup shares jumped more than 8% during midday trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Lennar shares added 3%, and D.R. Horton shares were up 2.8%.

— Sarah Min

Most companies are topping fourth-quarter earnings projections

It’s the busiest week of earnings season, with thirty companies representing 6.8% of S&P 500’s market cap reporting fourth-quarter earnings today. 38.9% of the S&P 500’s market cap has already been reported.

Earnings are beating estimates by 2% and 63% of companies have topped projections, according to a Credit Suisse note sent to clients on Tuesday morning. Earnings per share are on pace to dip by 0.9%, the firm said.

Credit Suisse noted that more domestically-oriented companies in the broader index are delivering faster growth in earnings per share compared to their globally-oriented peers, at 0.1% and -1.6%, respectively.

— Pia Singh

Stocks making the biggest moves in midday trading

These stocks are among those making the biggest moves in midday trading:

General Motors — The automaker’s stock surged more than 7% after the company cruised past analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines for its fourth quarter. The company reported an adjusted $2.12 per share on $43.11 billion in revenue.
Caterpillar — Shares fell about 3% after Caterpillar reported a 29% earnings decline. The construction machinery and equipment maker said higher manufacturing costs and foreign currency effects weighed on its quarterly results.
UPS — Shares of United Parcel Service gained 4% after shipping and transportation giant posted earnings of $3.62 a share, slightly ahead of the $3.59 expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. UPS also raised its dividend and sanctioned a new $5 billion stock repurchase plan.
PulteGroup — Shares of the homebuilder soared 9% in midday trading after the company reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings. The company reported $3.63 in adjusted earnings per share on $5.17 billion of revenue, and its homebuilding gross margin rose year over year.

Click here to see more stocks making midday moves today.

— Pia Singh

Barclays reiterates equal weight on Apple, expects a miss in latest quarter

Investors can expect lackluster results from Apple when it reports this week, according to Barclays.

Analyst Tim Long reiterated an equal weight rating on Apple, saying the firm dealt with a challenging holiday season, and could issue weaker guidance.

“We see a miss for Dec-Q across hardware and Services. March-Q looks to be at risk due to deteriorating demand trends,” Long wrote in a Monday note.

“What started out as production-driven cuts have moved to demand weakness across product categories. We are also concerned by decelerating Services growth. At a 20% premium to the S&P 500, we see the stock as fairly valued at best,” Long continued.

Apple is expected to report its first year-over-year revenue decline since 2019. The tech giant couldn’t make enough of its high-end iPhone models when its assembly plant in China was shut down because of Covid.

Apple shares are up more than 10% this year amid a broad rally for tech stocks. The iPhone maker was down more than 26% in 2022. The stock ticked up 0.2% in Tuesday morning trading.

Apple reports earnings after the bell Thursday.

— Sarah Min

Lucid could reach all-time lows in next year, Morgan Stanley warns

Lucid‘s recent pop will likely be short-lived, Morgan Stanley said.

The electric vehicle maker rallied 43% Friday on the back of reports indicating Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was considering buying the more than 30% of shares it does not already own.

But analyst Adam Jonas expects the stock to hit $5 in the next 12 months — meaning it would fall 57.4% from where it closed Monday and reach a new all-time low — due to what he sees as a tough road ahead. The stock previously reached an all-time intraday low of $6.09 and closing low of $6.17 earlier this month.

“We believe the fundamental outlook facing Lucid is more likely deteriorating than improving,” Jonas said in a note to clients Tuesday.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

Nearly all sectors in the S&P 500 trading in positive territory

The S&P 500 was up 0.6% during Tuesday morning trading, with nearly all sectors trading in positive territory.

Ten out of 11 sectors were higher on the day. Consumer discretionary, materials and real estate led the gains, up about 1.5%, 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

— Sarah Min

Consumer discretionary is the leading sector in the S&P 500, boosted by General Motors

Consumer discretionary stocks led gains in the S&P 500 on Tuesday, with the sector up about 1% during morning trading.

General Motors was the biggest advancer in the sector. The stock jumped more than 8% after the automaker reported strong earnings.

Meanwhile, utilities underperformed the broader market index, down nearly 0.9%.

— Sarah Min

Copper and aluminum extended base metal rally in January

March copper contracts fell as low as $4.1185 per pound Tuesday, but still left Dr. Copper up about 8.7% in January and on pace for a third straight monthly gain. January is poised to become the best start to the year for the metal since 2017.

Meanwhile, London Metal Exchange aluminum on Tuesday matched Monday’s low of $2,555, still leaving aluminum higher by 8.5% in January and on course for its third gain in four months and the best start to a year since 2012.

Metals traders are awaiting this week’s central bank rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England, while Reuters reported that copper demand in China remains stagnant.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

Atlantic Equities downgrades Bank of America as net interest margins struggle

Atlantic Equities moved to the sidelines on Bank of America as the firm sees net interest margins weakening for banks.

Analyst John Heagerty downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight and lowered his price target by $5 to $40. The new target implies a 13.3% upside from where the stock closed Monday.

Heagerty said it will be difficult to have operating leverage as net interest income, which finds the difference between revenue from interest-bearing liabilities and the cost to the bank of servicing them, slows for Bank of America and other financial services names.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Alex Harring

Crude oil in January poised to decline for 7th month in 8

March West Texas Intermediate crude oil contracts fell as low as $76.55 per barrel Tuesday, the lowest in about three weeks, and leaving crude on the verge of declining for the seventh month in eight. Moreover, crude is on pace to settle below its 50-day moving average ($77.62), also for the first time in nearly three weeks.

WTI is also on course in January to decline for a third straight month.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) is off about 0.3% premarket Tuesday, on course for a third straight decline. Exxon (XOM) (earnings), SLB and Devon (DVN) are all down about 1% in early Tuesday trading.

Energy SPDR ETF in past 12 months

Month-to-date, the Energy ETF is still up about 1%, and on the verge of advancing for the third month in four.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

Contrarian indicators in the futures market have Wolfe Research getting bullish

There are contrarian indicators coming from the futures market that have Wolfe Research turning more positive on stocks. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 29% from the peak and now large speculators have flipped to their most aggressive short position in over two years, analyst Rob Ginsberg wrote in a note Monday.

“With the Fed on Wednesday and earnings from AAPL, AMZN and GOOGL on Thursday, the contrarian in me is getting increasingly bullish,” he said.

In other words, given that a lot of bad news has already been priced in, anything positive from earnings or the Federal Reserve could be good for stocks.

On Wednesday, the central bank is set to announce another rate hike, which is expected to be one-quarter of a percentage point. Investors will also be watching to see what the Fed indicates about any future increases.

— Michelle Fox

Employment cost index rose 1% in Q3, slightly less than expected

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased at a slower pace in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

The employment cost index, an important inflation gauge for the Federal Reserve, showed compensation increased 1% for the October-to-December period. That was a touch below the 1.1% estimate from Dow Jones. It also was lower than the 1.2% increase in the third quarter.

On a 12-month basis, the ECI rose 5.1%, up slightly from the 5% gain in the third quarter.

—Jeff Cox

Names making the biggest premarket moves

Here are some companies making the biggest moves before the bell:

McDonald’s — Shares dipped more than 1% after McDonald’s reported its latest quarterly results. The fast food giant topped earnings and revenue estimates, saying customers are increasingly visiting its restaurants. Still, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said he expects “short-term inflationary pressures to continue in 2023.”
United Parcel Service – Shares of UPS rose 1.9% after the company reported earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $3.62 on $27.08 billion in revenue. Analysts had forecast earnings of $3.59 per share and $28.09 billion in revenue, per Refinitiv.
Exxon Mobil — The oil giant was under pressure despite reporting upbeat financial results for the latest quarter. The company, whose stock price rallied more than 80% last year, saw a tightening in supplies as economies began recovering, CEO Darren Woods said in a statement. Shares fell more than 1%.

For more stocks making moves in premarket trading, click here.

— Hakyung Kim

Pfizer shares fall after earnings

Pfizer shares dipped more than 2% after the vaccine maker said it expects 2023 sales to fall by as much as 33% compared to a record 2022.

The pharmaceutical company issued sales guidance of $67 billion to $71 billion for 2023. Last year, Pfizer booked $100.3 billion in revenue, which was an all-time high boosted by Covid vaccine and antiviral sales.

— Sarah Min, Spencer Kimball

McDonald’s shares decline after earnings results

McDonald’s shares dipped more than 2% in premarket trading after the fast food company reported its latest quarterly results. The fast food giant topped earnings and revenue estimates, saying customers are increasingly visiting its restaurants.

The company posted earnings per share of $2.59, better than the $2.45 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. It reported revenue of $5.93 billion, greater than the forecasted $5.68 billion.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said he expects “short-term inflationary pressures to continue in 2023.”

McDonald’s shares decline

— Sarah Min, Amelia Lucas

Exxon Mobil falls despite earnings beating expectations

Shares of Exxon Mobil fell more than 3% despite the oil giant reporting earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectation.

Exxon earned $3.40 per share on Revenue of $95.43 billion. Analysts expected earnings per share of $3.29 per share on revenue of $94.67 billion.

“While our results clearly benefited from a favorable market, the counter-cyclical investments we made before and during the pandemic provided the energy and products people needed as economies began recovering and supplies became tight,” CEO Darren Woods said in a statement.

Exxon shares rallied more than 80% in 2022 thanks in large part to higher oil prices.

XOM under pressure after earnings

Caterpillar shares fall after earnings

Caterpillar shares fell more than 2% after the industrial giant posted a its latest quarterly results. The company reported adjusted earnings of $4.27 per share, above a Refinitiv consensus estimate of $4.02 per share. Caterpillar’s bottom line excludes an “unfavorable ME&T foreign currency impact in other income (expense) of $0.41 per share.”

CAT falls in the premarket

— Fred Imbert

Correction: Caterpillar reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.27, according to Refinitiv. A previous version of this story used the company’s adjusted $3.86 figure, which did not strip out for a “foreign currency impact.”

GM jumps on strong earnings

General Motors reported quarterly earnings that beat analyst expectations, sending the auto stock up more than 3% in the premarket.

GM earned $2.12 per share in the fourth quarter, beating a Refinitiv forecast of $1.69 per share. The company’s revenue of $43.11 billion also beat a consensus estimate of $40.65 billion. Additionally, GM forecast another strong year.

— Fred Imbert, Michael Wayland

IMF hikes global growth forecast as inflation cools and household spending surprises

The International Monetary Fund on Monday revised upward its global growth projections for the year, but warned that higher interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would likely still weigh on activity.

In its latest economic update, the IMF said the global economy will grow 2.9% this year — which represents a 0.2 percentage point improvement from its previous forecast in October. However, that number would still mean a fall from an expansion of 3.4% in 2022.

It also revised its projection for 2024 down to 3.1%.

Read the full story here.

– Silvia Amaro

Where the major averages stand ahead of January’s last trading day

Stocks have so far posted a strong start to the year after the worst year for stocks since 2008. This is where all the major averages stand ahead of the final trading day of January.

Dow Jones Industrial Average:

Up 1.72% for the month and year
On pace for third positive month in four

S&P 500:

Up 4.64% this month
On track for best January since 2019
Headed for third positive month in four

Nasdaq Composite:

Up 8.86% in January
On pace for best monthly performance since July

— Samantha Subin, Chris Hayes

NXP Semiconductors, Whirlpool among stocks moving after the bell

These are some of the stocks moving the most in overnight trading:

NXP Semiconductors — NXP Semiconductors’ stock dropped more than 3% after its revenue outlook for the first quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations, according to FactSet.

Whirlpool — Whirlpool shares gained more than 1.9% in extended trading after the appliance maker shared strong guidance for the year. Fourth-quarter revenue came slightly behind analyst expectations.

Read the full list of stocks moving after the bell here.

— Samantha Subin

Ed Yardeni takes an optimistic view on the global economy, says to ‘look beyond’ U.S.

Ed Yardeni is more bullish on the economy this year — telling investors and analysts to take a comprehensive look at the global economy.

“I think we have to look beyond the US, for starters, and see that there’s more and more evidence that the global economy is better than people had feared last fall. Europe looks like it’s not going to have a recession, and we see China coming out of its Covid funk,” Yardeni said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”

“Meanwhile, when we come back to the U.S., there’s still a big debate about a soft versus hard landing.”

Yardeni added that he anticipates a soft landing due to falling bond yields and the inverted yield curve.

The closely followed strategist also noted that while he believes the economy will grow at a slow pace this year, the worst has passed. According to Yardeni, the economy has already experienced a “rolling recession” in the past year, with different industries and sectors having experienced slumps during different times.

Taking into account that the economy will experience a soft landing, Yardeni said the Fed will not maintain interest rates at the high 5% range for a long time, downplaying fears of an economic downturn resulting from a high federal funds rate.

“I think inflation is turning out to be very transitory,” he said. “I’m an optimist on inflation.”

— Hakyung Kim

There are two ways to beat the market this year, says Trivariate Research’s Parker

The economy will slow down this year — but there are two ways for investors to gain earnings in the market, according to Adam Parker, Trivariate Research’s founder and CEO.

“I think there are two ways to beat the market this year,” Parker said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”

“There are cyclicals that are so cheap, they can improve their balance sheets in this eroding backdrop,” such as pharmaceuticals, metals, consumer finance and energy stocks, said Parker. “Or, I have to get stuff that can earn gross profits well through this eroding economy.”

“It’s too early to make a big bet, but there are a lot of software companies that are doing interesting things with the cloud, that are going to grow their gross profits,” he added.

The market has rallied since the beginning of the year thanks to optimism on falling inflation and the prospect of slower interest rate hikes by the Fed. However, Parker added that he cautions investors from veering too bearish or bullish on the economy this year, saying that both extremes have their drawbacks.

“I’m not wildly bullish or bearish, but I think people got too negative,” he said. “… I don’t want to get too negative and, you know, get locked in this bear den.”

— Hakyung Kim

Stocks open slightly higher

Stock futures rose slightly in overnight trading Monday.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 added 0.19%, while futures connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 0.07%, or 25 points, higher. Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.19%.

— Samantha Subin

Read original article here

Business

ChatGPT maker OpenAI launches tool to detect text written by AI

January 31, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, walks from lunch during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 6, 2022, in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Artificial intelligence research startup OpenAI on Tuesday introduced a tool that’s designed to figure out if text is human-generated or written by a computer.

The release comes two months after OpenAI captured the public’s attention when it introduced ChatGPT, a chatbot that generates text that might seem to have been written by a person in response to a person’s prompt. Following the wave of attention, last week Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI and said it would incorporate the startup’s AI models into its products for consumers and businesses.

Schools were quick to limit ChatGPT’s use over concerns the software could hurt learning. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, said education has changed in the past after technology such as calculators has emerged, but he also said there could be ways for the company to help teachers spot text written by AI.

OpenAI’s new tool can make mistakes and is a work in progress, company employees Jan Hendrik Kirchner, Lama Ahmad, Scott Aaronson and Jan Leike wrote in a blog post, noting that OpenAI would like feedback on the classifier from parents and teachers.

“In our evaluations on a ‘challenge set’ of English texts, our classifier correctly identifies 26% of AI-written text (true positives) as ‘likely AI-written,’ while incorrectly labeling human-written text as AI-written 9% of the time (false positives),” the OpenAI employees wrote.

This isn’t the first effort to figure out if text came from a machine. Princeton University student Edward Tian earlier this month announced a tool called GPTZero, noting on the tool’s website that it was made for educators. OpenAI itself issued a detector in 2019 alngside a large language model, or LLM, that’s less sophisticated than what’s at the core of ChatGPT. The new version is more prepared to handle text from recent AI systems, the employees wrote.

The new tool is not strong at analyzing inputs containing fewer than 1,000 characters, and OpenAI doesn’t recommend using it on languages other than English. Plus, text from AI can be updated slightly to keep the classifier from correctly determining that it’s not mainly the work of a human, the employees wrote.

Even back in 2019, OpenAI made clear that identifying synthetic text is no easy task. It intends to keep pursuing the challenge.

“Our work on the detection of AI-generated text will continue, and we hope to share improved methods in the future,” Hendrik Kirchner, Ahmad, Aaronson and Leike wrote.

WATCH: China’s Baidu developing AI-powered chatbot to rival OpenAI, report says

Read original article here

Business

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: McDonald’s, UPS and more

January 31, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Nathan Stirk | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

McDonald’s — Shares dipped more than 1% after McDonald’s reported its latest quarterly results. The fast food giant topped earnings and revenue estimates, saying customers are increasingly visiting its restaurants. Still, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said he expects “short-term inflationary pressures to continue in 2023.”

General Motors — Shares of the automaker rose more than 5% in premarket trading after GM beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its fourth quarter, even as its profit margin narrowed. The company reported an adjusted $2.12 per share on $43.11 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were looking for $1.69 in earnings per share on $40.65 billion in revenue. GM said it expected earnings to fall in 2023, but guidance was still above analyst estimates.

Ford — Shares of Ford rose 2% after the company announced Monday it would lower the price of the Mach-E, its electric pickup truck. The company reports earnings later in the week.

United Parcel Service – Shares of UPS rose 1.9% after the company reported earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $3.62 on $27.08 billion in revenue. Analysts had forecast earnings of $3.59 per share and $28.09 billion in revenue, per Refinitiv.

Exxon Mobil — The oil giant was under pressure despite reporting upbeat financial results for the latest quarter. The company, whose stock price rallied more than 80% last year, saw a tightening in supplies as economies began recovering, CEO Darren Woods said in a statement. Shares fell more than 1%.

Caterpillar — Caterpillar shares fell more than 2% after the industrial giant posted a disappointing quarterly profit. The company reported earnings of $3.86 per share, well below a Refinitiv consensus estimate of $4.06 per share. Caterpillar said its bottom line was impacted by an “unfavorable ME&T foreign currency impact in other income (expense) of $0.41 per share.”

Pfizer – Shares of the vaccine maker fell more than 2% after the company reported mixed quarterly results and issued earnings and revenue guidance for the full year that came in below analysts’ expectations, according to StreetAccount. Pfizer said it expects revenues from its Comirnaty and Paxlovid drugs to fall 64% and 58%, respectively, from actual 2022 results.

International Paper – The packaging and paper products company reported fourth-quarter adjusted operating earnings of 87 cents per diluted share, exceeding StreetAccount’s estimate of 69 cents per diluted share. However, the company reported a net earnings loss of $318 million for the quarter. International Paper nearly 6% in the premarket.

Lucid – Shares of Lucid slipped 4.4%, further cooling off after a monster options fueled rally on Friday.

PulteGroup – Shares of the homebuilder rose more than 1% in premarket trading after PulteGroup reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter. The company reported $3.63 in adjusted earnings per share on $5.17 billion of revenue. Wall Street analysts were expected $2.93 in earnings per share on $4.58 billion of revenue, according to StreetAccount. PulteGroup’s homebuilding gross margin rose year over year.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Sarah Min, Carmen Reinicke and Michelle Fox contributed reporting

Read original article here

World

Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

January 31, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Kyiv criticises Croatian president for saying Crimea will never return to Ukraine

Pedestrians pass a giant wall mural showing a map of the Crimean peninsula filled with the flag of the Russian Federation, in support of the Russian annexation, in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 28, 2014.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ukraine’s foreign ministry criticised Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday for saying Crimea would never return to Ukrainian control, describing his comment as “unacceptable.”

Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In remarks on Monday detailing his objection to Zagreb providing military aid to Kyiv, Milanovic said it was “clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine”.

“We consider as unacceptable the statements of the president of Croatia, who effectively cast doubt on the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

— Reuters

Ukraine’s defense minister in Paris with jets on the agenda

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that whether Ukraine will be supplied with fighter jets would depend on several factors.

Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will be meeting French President Emmanuel Macron and his French defense counterpart Sebastien Lecornu in Paris Tuesday, with the thorny issue of fighter jets high on the agenda.

Ukraine has set its sights on receiving fighter jets, such as U.S. F-16s, from its allies, but the U.S. and Germany have already ruled out such weaponry, particularly given the fact they only greenlighted the sending of Western tanks to Ukraine last week.

For his part, President Joe Biden answered with an emphatic “no” when asked by reporters Monday if the U.S. would be sending jets to Ukraine.

There appears to be a softer attitude among some of Ukraine’s allies, however. with Poland and France signaling that the provision of fighter jets is not out of the question. On Monday, Macron said any offer would depend on several factors.

“Nothing is excluded in principle,” Macron said after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte when asked about the possibility of sending jets to Kyiv as it battles Russia’s invasion, France 24 reported.

The conditions are that Ukraine must first make the request; that any arms would “not be escalatory”; and that they would “not be likely to hit Russian soil but purely to aid the resistance effort.” Macron added that any arms delivery “must not weaken the capacity of the French armed forces.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Russians setting up ‘field hospitals’ amid heavy losses in Luhansk

Hospital staff in Ukraine. Many medical facilities have had to move underground amid extensive Russian bombardment.

Marcus Yam | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Russian forces are reportedly commandeering civilian medical facilities and turning them into “field hospitals” in order to treat wounded soldiers as casualties mount, Ukraine said Tuesday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook claiming that Russian forces in Luhansk continue to “suffer heavy losses” and that they have “begun using additional civilian medical facilities to house wounded Russian invaders.”

Two hospitals in the city of Luhansk, including a maternity hospital, have become field hospitals where soldiers are being treated, Ukraine said. Because of that, the General Staff said maternity services can now only be offered at the Luhansk Regional Perinatal Center “where there is a catastrophic lack of space and risks and adverse conditions for childbirth.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia carrying out ‘more concerted assault’ on Donetsk now, U.K. says

In the last three days, Russia likely developed its probing attacks around the Donetsk towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar into a “more concerted assault,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

Members of a Ukrainian artillery unit cover their ears as an M109 self-propelled artillery unit is fired at Russian mortar positions around Vuhledar from a front line position on Dec. 19, 2022 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images

“Elements of the 155th are again involved as part of an at least brigade sized force which has likely advanced several hundred metres beyond the small Kashlahach River which marked the front line for several months.”

The ministry noted that Russian commanders are likely aiming “to develop a new axis of advance” into the Ukrainian-held part of the Donetsk region “and to divert Ukrainian forces from the heavily contested Bakhmut sector.”

“There is a realistic possibility that Russia will continue to make local gains in the sector,” the U.K. said, but it added that “it is unlikely that Russia has sufficient uncommitted troops in the area to achieve an operationally significant breakthrough.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Biden rules out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House in Washington on Dec. 21, 2022.

Olivier Contreras | Bloomberg | Getty Images

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Monday afternoon that the U.S. would not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

When asked by reporters whether he would send fighter jets to Kyiv, Biden replied with one word: “No.”

The U.S. and Germany only last week gave the greenlight to sending modern battle tanks to Ukraine after months of pleas from Kyiv for the tanks.

Within hours of receiving news that it would be receiving Western tanks, Kyiv renewed its calls for fighter jets, such as the U.S.’ F-16s, saying it needs all the firepower it can get sooner rather than later.

Biden’s comments come a day after his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also ruled out sending jets to Ukraine, saying it seems “frivolous” to discuss the issue when allies had just approved the sending of tanks.

Ukraine’s defense minister is expected in Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, with differences appearing to emerge between allies over F-16s.

News outlet Politico reported Monday that France is considering Ukraine’s request for fighter-jet pilot training, citing an aide to the country’s defense minister, while Poland has signaled its willingness to send such weaponry but said it would act in “full coordination” with its allies.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s new offensive against Ukraine will fail, Zelenskky vows

“The situation is very tough. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to break through our defense,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday.

Yan Dobronosov | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv and its Western partners will do everything necessary to make sure “Russia’s intentions to move to a new stage of offensive for the sake of revenge fail.”

“I am confident in our army. We will stop them all little by little, destroy them and prepare our big counteroffensive,” Zelenskyy said in an address alongside his Danish counterpart in Odesa.

Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen for providing financial and security assistance to Ukraine.

“I am grateful to the Danish coalition government for creating a separate fund to help our country. Reconstruction should become one of the key directions of the fund’s work,” Zelenskyy added.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian representative in Tehran summoned to Ministry of Foreign Affairs following drone strikes in Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Facebook that the temporary representative of Ukraine was summoned to a meeting at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran.

Nikolenko did not elaborate on the details of the meeting but added that Kyiv is not responsible for the string of explosions at Iranian facilities, according to an NBC News translation.

Over the weekend Iran said that bomb-carrying drones struck a defense manufacturing plant in the central city of Isfahan. The Iranian Defense Ministry did not share information on who it suspected of carrying out the strike.

— Amanda Macias

EU allocates 114 million euros to build an energy hub in Poland

Local residents charge their devices, use internet connection and warm up after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 24, 2022.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The European Union allocated 114 million euros to Poland’s new “rescEU energy hub” for Ukraine.

The hub will essentially be a logistics center for supplying emergency energy aid to Ukrainians amid Russian shelling on critical infrastructure. The funds will purchase approximately 1,000 generators to be distributed to Ukrainians through the hub.

The European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism has previously provided 1,400 generators to Ukrainians in need.

— Amanda Macias

Friends bury 28-year old orphan Ukrainian serviceman in Bakhmut

EDITOR’S NOTE- Graphic Content- This post contains the image of a dead Ukrainian servicemen in Sloviansk.

Friends gather to bury Ukrainian serviceman, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, at a cemetery in Sloviansk. Koroniy was a member of the Azov battalion, killed in action in Bakhmut, Donetsk region.

Ukrainian servicemen and friends of the late Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, who was killed in action in Bakhmut, carry his coffin during a funeral at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.