Dan Ives on the inner-workings of his new AI ETF and how it compares to the competition
Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities global head of technology research, sits down with CNBC's Dom Chu to discuss Ives' AI Revolution ETF, why he's launching now and how the fund stands out from the other AI competitors. Todd Rosenbluth, VettaFi director of research, joins the convo as well.
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CNBC
27 minutes ago
- CNBC
Shipping groups are starting to shy away from the Strait of Hormuz as Israel-Iran conflict rages on
Some shipowners are opting to steer clear of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, according to the world's largest shipping association, reflecting a growing sense of industry unease as the Israel-Iran conflict rages on. Israel's surprise attack on Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure on Friday has been followed by four days of escalating warfare between the regional foes. That has prompted shipowners to exercise an extra degree of caution in both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, a critical gateway to the world's oil industry — and a vital entry point for container ships calling at Dubai's massive Jebel Ali Port. Jakob Larsen, head of security at Bimco, which represents global shipowners, said the Israel-Iran conflict seems to be escalating, causing concerns in the shipowner community and prompting a "modest drop" in the number of ships sailing through the area. Bimco, which typically doesn't encourage vessels to stay away from certain areas, said the situation has introduced an element of uncertainty. "Circumstances and risk tolerance vary widely across shipowners. It appears that most shipowners currently choose to proceed, while some seem to stay away," Larsen told CNBC by email. "During periods of heightened security threats, freight rates and crew wages often rise, creating an economic incentive for some to take the risk of passing through conflict zones. While these dynamics may seem rudimentary, they are the very mechanisms that have sustained global trade through conflicts and wars for centuries," he added. The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, is recognized as one of the world's most important oil chokepoints. In 2023, oil flows through the waterway averaged 20.9 million barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, accounting for about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. The inability of oil to traverse through the Strait of Hormuz, even temporarily, can ratchet up global energy prices, raise shipping costs and create significant supply delays. Alongside oil, the Strait of Hormuz is also key for global container trade. That's because ports in this region (Jebel Ali and Khor Fakkan) are transshipment hubs, which means they serve as intermediary points in global shipping networks. The majority of cargo volumes from those ports are destined for Dubai, which has become a hub for the movement of freight with feeder services in the Persian Gulf, South Asia and East Africa. Peter Tirschwell, vice president for maritime and trade at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said there have been indications that shipping groups are starting to "shy away" from navigating the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, without naming any specific firms. "You could see the impact that the Houthi rebels had on shipping through the Red Sea. Even though there [are] very few recent attacks on shipping in that region, nevertheless the threat has sent the vast majority of container trade moving around the south of Africa. That has been happening for the past year," Tirschwell told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Monday. "The ocean carriers have no plans to go back in mass into the Red Sea and so, the very threat of military activity around a narrow important routing like the Strait of Hormuz is going to be enough to significantly disrupt shipping," he added. Freight rates jumped after the Israeli attacks on Iran last week. Indeed, data published Monday from analytics firm Kpler showed Mideast Gulf tanker freight rates to China surged 24% on Friday to $1.67 per barrel. The upswing in VLCC (very large crude carrier) freight rates reflected the largest daily move year-to-date, albeit from a relative lull in June, and reaffirmed the level of perceived risk in the area. Analysts at Kpler said more increases in freight rates are likely as the situation remains highly unstable, although maritime war risk premium remains unchanged for now. David Smith, head of hull and marine liabilities at insurance broker McGill and Partners, said shipping insurance rates, at least for the time being, "remain stable with no noticeable increases since the latest hostilities between Israel and Iran." But that "could change dramatically," depending on whether there is escalation in the area, he added. "With War quotes only valid for 48 hours prior to entry into the excluded 'Breach' area, Underwriters do have the ability to rapidly increase premiums in line with the perceived risk," Smith told CNBC by email. A spokesperson for German-based container shipping liner Hapag-Lloyd said the threat level for the Strait of Hormuz remains "significant," albeit without an immediate risk to the maritime sector. Hapag-Lloyd said it does not foresee any bigger issues in crossing the waterway for the moment, while acknowledging that the situation could change in a "very short" period of time. The company added that it has no immediate plans to traverse the Red Sea, however, noting it hasn't done so since the end of December 2023.
Business Insider
39 minutes ago
- Business Insider
OpenAI is under 'unprecedented pressure to grow,' says its new recruiting head
OpenAI is under "unprecedented pressure to grow" as it races to scale in the era of artificial general intelligence, said Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, the tech giant's newly appointed head of recruiting. "If we were a rocket (wait, we're one), we'd be at MaxQ — maximum dynamic pressure," he wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday announcing his new role. "Recruiting has never been more important." Candela joined OpenAI in 2024 as head of preparedness, where he worked on building safer AI systems. He holds a Ph.D. in machine learning and has spent decades in the field, including more than nine years at Facebook, where he led the company's machine learning group and later its responsible AI efforts. His new position comes at a time when OpenAI — and the broader AI sector — is rethinking what hiring looks like in a world shaped by the very technologies it's building. The company has grown almost tenfold over the past two and a half years, Candela said. "The world is looking to us to learn how to grow and how to work together in an AGI era," he added. "How should we use AGI for recruiting? Whom should we hire in a post-AGI world?" The company lists 330 open jobs, from a sales gig in Korea to postings for lawyers in San Francisco. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The race for AI talent Candela's comments come as OpenAI tries to stay ahead in the AI talent war. In May, OpenAI announced it was buying an AI hardware startup from Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief, for nearly $6.5 billion. Ive's startup, IO, is set to work with OpenAI's research, engineering, and product teams. Sam Altman also said in the same month that he had hired Fidji Simo, Instacart's chair and CEO, as his new CEO of applications. "I cannot imagine a better new team member to help us scale the next 10x (or 100x, let's see)," Altman wrote in a post on X. The hiring builds on last June's appointments of Sarah Friar, the former CEO of Nextdoor, as chief financial officer, and Kevin Weil, a former Meta and Twitter exec, as chief product officer. OpenAI is not alone in chasing top AI talent. Just last week, Meta announced a nearly $15 billion investment in data company Scale AI — and brought over its CEO Alexandr Wang to join the tech giant's AI push. Meta now owns a 49% stake in the company, which also counts OpenAI as a major customer.
Time Business News
an hour ago
- Time Business News
7 Ways AI in Social Media Marketing is Transforming Brand Engagement in 2025
What if you could decode your audience's preferences before even posting? Imagine launching a campaign with precision so accurate that every click, comment, and share feels inevitable. That's no longer a futuristic dream—it's happening now. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the dynamics of how brands communicate and convert on social platforms. In this in-depth exploration of AI in Social Media Marketing, you'll learn how to unlock smarter engagement, deeper insights, and sustainable growth. In 2025, AI is no longer optional for marketing teams—it's the pulse that powers high-performance campaigns and proactive content strategies. Whether you're a brand manager, digital marketer, or business owner, integrating AI into your social media strategy is your next competitive edge. AI in Social Media Marketing refers to the integration of machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics into various aspects of social media activities—from content creation and scheduling to audience analysis and customer service automation. Unlike traditional methods that rely heavily on guesswork or static data, AI enables real-time decision-making based on dynamic user behavior and historical data patterns. It's not just about automating tasks like scheduling or responding to queries. Today, AI tools are capable of analyzing sentiment, detecting trends, predicting virality, personalizing content, and even generating creatives that align with brand tone and audience interest. Imagine knowing what kind of post will go viral next month based on today's trends. Predictive analytics in AI helps marketers forecast campaign performance by processing vast amounts of data. Tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite Insights, and Socialbakers use AI to track engagement metrics and compare them with competitor activity. This leads to more informed decisions around content types, posting times, and ad placements. For instance, AI models can identify that your audience is most active at 8 PM on Thursdays and prefers educational content mixed with humor. Using this insight, marketers can align their publishing schedules and tweak the tone for maximum reach and engagement. Social media users express themselves in highly nuanced ways—sarcasm, emojis, slang, and even gifs. AI's capability to conduct sentiment analysis means it can understand the emotional context of a post or comment. This helps brands gauge public perception and pivot quickly if a post sparks controversy or a product gets unexpected praise. Platforms like Brandwatch and MonkeyLearn use AI to segment audience sentiment by region, gender, and even time of day. This information empowers brands to respond contextually and maintain positive engagement. In the old playbook, marketers created a single campaign and hoped it would resonate broadly. With AI, the playbook evolves. AI tools can analyze past engagement data, browsing history, and demographic details to serve tailored content to different segments of an audience. Take Netflix or Spotify's model of personalized recommendations—AI in social media marketing enables similar personalization for brand posts. For example, an AI system might show different variations of the same Instagram ad to users based on their age group, interaction history, or even current mood inferred from recent activity. This hyper-personalized approach not only increases engagement but also reduces ad fatigue, making your campaigns more efficient. AI-powered chatbots have evolved dramatically. Gone are the days of frustrating bots with canned responses. Today's AI-driven chatbots can handle complex queries, guide users through decision-making, and escalate issues when needed. More importantly, they learn from every interaction, making them smarter with time. On social media platforms, this translates to 24/7 customer support, faster resolutions, and higher satisfaction rates. Tools like ManyChat, MobileMonkey, and Chatfuel integrate seamlessly with platforms like Facebook and Instagram, ensuring that no lead or complaint falls through the cracks. One of the most groundbreaking applications of AI in social media is image and video recognition. AI can now scan visual content to detect logos, emotions, objects, and even scenes. For marketers, this unlocks an entirely new layer of user-generated content (UGC) analysis. Suppose a user posts a beach photo with your product in the background but doesn't tag your brand. AI can detect your logo in the image, alert you to the mention, and even assess the sentiment based on facial expressions. This enables brands to capitalize on positive UGC and monitor visual trends around their products or services. While human creativity still reigns supreme, AI tools like Jasper and are proving to be excellent collaborators. These tools can generate caption ideas, ad copy, and even long-form content suggestions based on high-performing templates and language models. This allows marketers to scale content production without sacrificing quality. AI systems can recommend which hashtags to use, what tone will perform better with a specific demographic, and how to repurpose content across platforms—all while maintaining brand voice consistency. What makes this even more impactful is AI's ability to learn from past posts. If certain types of content consistently drive engagement, the AI will prioritize similar outputs. It's content creation backed by data, not just instinct. Social media moves fast, and missing a trend—or worse, being late to a crisis—can cost brands dearly. AI enables marketers to spot micro-trends before they go mainstream. By continuously scanning millions of posts, comments, and hashtags, AI tools detect spikes in conversation volume and keyword usage. This real-time pulse helps brands jump on viral moments or correct course during negative publicity. Instead of reacting days later, AI allows for proactive, real-time brand positioning. Moreover, AI's ability to filter out noise from actual threats or opportunities streamlines decision-making, especially during high-stakes moments like product launches, PR mishaps, or viral campaigns. With great power comes great responsibility. The use of AI in social media marketing must be aligned with ethical standards and data privacy laws like GDPR and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act. AI tools rely on data—often personal—to make decisions. Ensuring that this data is collected and used transparently is critical to maintaining user trust. Marketers should also avoid the temptation to over-automate, which can make their brand feel impersonal. AI is a tool, not a replacement for genuine human connection. Transparency in how AI is used, giving users control over their data, and maintaining authenticity are crucial to successful and ethical implementation. As AI becomes the new foundation of digital strategy, there is a growing demand for upskilling in this domain. Enrolling in an AI Marketing Course can help professionals stay updated with evolving tools and frameworks. These courses offer hands-on experience with platforms like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Jasper, and more—equipping marketers to drive campaigns with data-driven precision. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marketer, learning how to integrate AI into social strategies can significantly boost your ROI and career prospects. AI is not just supporting social media marketing—it's reinventing it. From enhanced targeting and predictive engagement to smarter content and conversational bots, AI empowers brands to be more strategic, efficient, and human-centric. Yet, the success of AI in social media marketing hinges on balance—between automation and authenticity, personalization and privacy, innovation and ethics. Marketers who embrace this balance will find themselves not just keeping up but leading the wave of next-gen brand storytelling. As we progress through 2025 and beyond, one thing is clear: the brands winning on social media are the ones that understand AI isn't just a tool—it's a team member. A strategic ally that listens, learns, adapts, and scales in ways humans alone never could. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
