CommBank Teams Up with OpenAI to Roll Out Advanced AI Tools
The multi-year partnership will focus on AI-driven fraud prevention, customer experience, and workforce upskilling. The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with random binary data in Boston on March 9, 2023. Michael Dwyer/AP Photo 8/14/2025 | Updated: 8/14/2025
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) has entered a multi-year partnership with U.S.-based artificial intelligence leader OpenAI, becoming its strategic banking partner in Australia.
The collaboration will focus on using advanced AI solutions to improve scam and fraud detection and deliver more personalised customer services. Naziya Alvi Rahman is a Canberra-based journalist who covers political issues in Australia. She can be reached at [email protected]. Author's Selected Articles
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That said, I can't ignore Walmart's impressive cash flow generation. So, I'm still leaning toward a Buy rating, supported by solid economic tailwinds and pricing resilience, with the stock likely to make another run toward those all-time highs. Tariff Absorption and Walmart's Advantage Over the past few months, the rise in U.S. import tariffs has been a key theme supporting Walmart's thesis, given how sensitive the company is to pricing. The relevant concept here is 'tariff absorption,' where exporters choose to absorb some of the tariff costs so they don't lose share in the valuable U.S. market. For Walmart, as a price leader and inflation fighter with around 200 million customers, the chain manages to keep prices low even in inflationary scenarios. Its extensive physical footprint and high customer traffic let it combine scale and convenience, allowing the company to absorb costs much better than smaller competitors. Walmart also has a history of pressuring suppliers to keep prices down. For suppliers, it often makes sense to absorb part of the extra tariff costs to continue selling to Walmart—losing Walmart as a customer would mean giving up huge volumes. That said, CEO Doug McMillon has noted that tariff increases are likely to push prices higher for consumers eventually, and these changes are expected to roll out throughout the second half of 2025. Even so, my take is that Walmart will likely continue benefiting from high import tariffs, with suppliers bearing most of the cost—especially as customers keep buying and reinforcing the company's value proposition. Strong Consumer Demand Should Drive Walmart Forward In addition to tariffs likely being absorbed, another factor supports the idea that Walmart should post amiable numbers for Q2. June and Q2 2025 retail data show that consumer demand remains solid, with retail and food services up 3.9% year-over-year and Q2 sales up 4.1%. Growth is robust in essentials like groceries and food services, while digital retail continues to expand, up 4.5% YoY. This combination of healthy spending creates a bullish backdrop for Walmart's Q2, which should translate into solid same-store sales, steady traffic, and overall earnings momentum. On top of that, the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' of 2025 temporarily doubled the income tax credit for families with children, raising the maximum to $2,500 per child through 2028. The goal is to stimulate consumption, especially among low- and middle-income families. Naturally, this injection of funds tends to benefit retailers like Walmart, which serve this audience and sell essential products. Given these factors, it wouldn't be surprising to see U.S. comp sales growth in Q2 match or even exceed the 4.5% posted in Q1. Additionally, Walmart's net income margin is currently 2.75%, slightly below past levels above 3%, suggesting room for expansion. The company has grown EBIT margins for six consecutive quarters, and the trend is likely to continue in Q2, especially with management expressing confidence in navigating tariff pressures and growing profits faster than sales. Valuations are one of the most sensitive parts of the broader market thesis, with Walmart currently trading at 44x earnings. The market is essentially projecting that the company will double its profits over the next six years if the business continues at its current pace. While this multiple seems high compared to the industry average of 17.5x, a key attraction of the thesis is Walmart's stable cash generation—with free cash flow close to $10 billion over the last twelve months—and sustainable growth, offering both capital protection and upside. Even with a free cash flow yield of just 1.2%, it's reasonable to accept a lower yield in exchange for low volatility and predictability. 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an hour ago
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As a lifelong learner who is constantly challenging myself, I have found ChatGPT's Study mode and Claude's learning modes are perfect companions for students of all levels and abilities. Current students and those who want to continue their education can benefit from these features because they help grow skills by leaning on AI as a what happened when I put the latest study features from OpenAI and Anthropic to the test with 7 prompts. I kept them fairly easy (high school level) to keep from dusting off the old textbooks in the attic. One thing is clear, these learning modes are very different. Prompt: 'I'm learning how to calculate the standard deviation of a dataset. Teach me step-by-step, ask me questions along the way, and only reveal the final answer when I'm ready.'GPT-5 understood the prompt fully and the model immediately engaged me in the first calculation step (finding the mean) with a specific question and using a provided dataset. This perfectly set up the sequential, interactive learning experience demonstrated the ability to teach by building conceptual understanding first and focused on preliminary discussion and abstract questions before starting any GPT-5 wins for an overall better answer for this specific prompt. It started teaching the calculation method step-by-step immediately, asking a relevant question during that step, and withheld the final answer (standard deviation) as required. Claude's approach, though instructionally sound in a broader sense, didn't prioritize the step-by-step calculation process the user requested. Prompt: "Walk me through the key causes of the Great Depression, asking me to connect each cause to its economic impact before moving to the next step.' GPT-5 dove right into the first cause and forced me to connect it to its impact, just as the prompt requested. Claude acknowledged right away that we were switching subjects, but the follow up questions might be better used in a broader tutoring context. They ignored the prompt's specific directive to walk through causes immediately and demand connections before proceeding. For me, this felt like it interrupted flow compared to GPT's action oriented and structured GPT-5 wins for an action-oriented and structured response that executed the prompt's instructions precisely. Prompt: 'I have an idea for a science fair project testing if music affects plant growth. Guide me through designing the experiment, asking me questions about controls, variables, and how I'd collect data.' GPT-5 broke down the prompt by asking just one primary question. It let me know that we would be working together building the project piece by asked several questions to help move the idea along. However, all the questions at once felt a little GPT-5 wins for directly addressing the prompt, starting the experimental design process immediately and asking a precise, necessary question one at a time. Claude's response, while friendly, focused on preliminaries and didn't effectively guide me through the core experimental design and overwhelmed with way too many questions out of the gate. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Prompt: "Help me learn 10 essential travel phrases in French. Introduce them one by one, ask me to repeat them, quiz me, and correct my pronunciation.'GPT-5 assumed I was a beginner and told me that we were going was overly verbose, praising me for learning practical and rewarding skills. It then asked several questions before getting started. I appreciated the initial setup as the AI wanted to target my skills (or lack thereof) before beginning. Winner: GPT-5 wins for diving into the task without excess comment. It understood the context, assuming that because I was asking for 10 essential travel phrases that I was a beginner. Claude didn't assume and instead overloaded me with questions. For me, GPT-5's approach was better because I just wanted to get started. Others may prefer extra hand-holding when learning a language, and prefer Claude's approach. Prompt:'Here's a short JavaScript function that isn't returning the correct output. Teach me how to debug it step-by-step without giving me the fix right away.'GPT-5 treated me like a developer needing action. As someone who learns by doing, I prefer this assumed I was a student who needed theory. Basically asking me to tell me about myself before beginning to debug. Winner: GPT-5 wins for delivering a focused, actionable first step that launches the debugging process. Claude's response would be ideal for "Explain debugging concepts," but fails this prompt's call to immediate action. Prompt: 'I'm studying for a high school physics exam. Give me one question on Newton's Second Law, let me attempt an answer, then guide me through the correct solution.'GPT-5 understood the assignment, acting like a practice test and starting to drill me acted like a first-day tutor: Prioritizes diagnostics over GPT-5 wins for following the prompt. The prompt demands practice, not customization. Claude's approach would be ideal for: "Help me understand Newton's Second Law from scratch." But for exam prep, GPT's structure is objectively superior. Prompt:'Coach me through creating a monthly household budget. 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For someone who likes to spend more time on theory and learning through concepts, Claude might be recommendation is to give both of these capable bots a try and experience them for yourself interactively. The right study partner for you truly comes down to learning style and how you prefer to Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
New York Post
2 hours ago
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Air Canada cabin staff go on strike, grounding hundreds of flights
Air Canada's unionized flight attendants walked off the job early on Saturday morning after contract talks with the country's largest carrier stalled, in a move that could disrupt travel plans for more than 100,000 passengers. The union representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants confirmed the action in a social media post at around 1:00 a.m. in the first strike by cabin crew since 1985. Attendants are currently paid when the plane is moving and the union was seeking to also be compensated for time on the ground between flights and helping passengers board. 5 Air Canada union activists interrupt a press conference by airline executives on Aug. 14, 2025. REUTERS Montreal-based Air Canada, which is expected to respond quickly by locking out the workers, has said it anticipated canceling 500 flights by the end of Friday during the busy summer travel season. It expected around 100,000 people to be affected on Friday alone. Flight attendants are likely on Saturday to picket at major Canadian airports, where passengers were already trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week, as the carrier gradually wound down operations. Passenger Freddy Ramos, 24, said on Friday at Canada's largest airport in Toronto that his earlier flight was canceled due to the labor dispute and he had been rebooked by Air Canada to a different destination. 'Probably 10 minutes prior to boarding, our gate got changed and then it was canceled and then it was delayed and then it was canceled again,' he said. 5 Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada on Aug. 14, 2025. Getty Images 5 Air Canada flight attendants walk through the terminal of Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, Quebec on Aug. 15, 2025. AP Air Canada and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge normally carry about 130,000 customers a day. Air Canada is also the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the US. While the dispute has generated support from passengers on social media for the flight attendants, Canadian businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the United States urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on both sides, which would end the strike. Air Canada has asked the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to order both sides into binding arbitration although the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the attendants, said it opposed the move. The Canada Labour Code gives Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu the right to ask the country's Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration in the interests of protecting the economy. Hajdu has repeatedly urged the two sides, which are not bargaining, to return to the table. The union has said Air Canada offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid but only at 50% of their hourly rate. 5 Flight attendants are likely on Saturday to picket at major Canadian airports, where passengers were already trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week, as the carrier gradually wound down operations. AP 5 A passenger looks at the canceled and delayed Air Canada flights on a departure board at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. AP The carrier had offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the union said was insufficient. In a note to clients on Friday, analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen urged the carrier to 'extend an olive branch to end the impasse,' adding that investors are worried that any cost savings on labor are outweighed by lost earnings in the airline's most important quarter. 'We think it would be best for AC to achieve labor peace,' the note said. 'Not budging on negotiations risks being a Pyrrhic victory.'
