Clarity AI buys sustainability fintech ecolytiq
0
US-based Clarity AI uses artificial intelligence to provide data-driven environmental and social insights to investors, corporates, governments, and consumers. The firm works with a host of financial services giants and, within the investment sector, serves a direct network of clients managing around $70 trillion in assets.
The deal to buy Berlin-based ecolytiq expands Clarity AI's climate engagement offering for global retail and commercial banking financial institutions.
Ecolytiq's platform specialises in analysing real-time transaction data to quantify environmental footprints and deliver high-impact sustainability content, powered by behavioural science and designed for measurable impact.
Its white-label solutions have been used by firms such as HSBC to offer millions of consumers and business clients climate insights. This has been amplified through a long-term strategic partnership with investor Visa, which now becomes an investor and partner of Clarity AI.
Rebeca Minguela, CEO, Clarity AI, says: "We are transforming sustainability insights into a catalyst for action. ecolytiq's platform aligns perfectly with our mission to embed sustainability intelligence into every decision—from multi-billion-dollar portfolios to everyday purchases."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
The sacrifices parents make to afford children's school uniform
A survey indicates that over a quarter of parents will go without food or heating to afford school uniform, with many relying on credit cards or 'buy now, pay later' schemes. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has called on schools to reduce branded uniform items, ahead of a new law capping compulsory branded items to three from September 2026. The Children 's Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to alleviate financial strain on families, with 85 per cent of parents believing schools could cut costs by reducing branded items. While parents largely support the cap, some schoolwear retailers caution that it could lead to higher overall costs if unbranded items prove less durable. School leaders recognise the financial pressures on families, with some already relaxing uniform rules, though one headteacher suggested the cap might hinder behaviour management.
Reuters
14 minutes ago
- Reuters
Asia shares flat, oil falls before Fed gathering; European futures up on Ukraine hopes
TOKYO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Stocks in Asia were flat and oil slid on Tuesday before a key meeting of central bankers and as traders evaluated promising diplomatic signals toward ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. European equity futures posted modest gains after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for his nation will likely be worked out within 10 days after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders. Japan's Nikkei share gauge set a new intraday record high before heading lower. The U.S. dollar held on to gains from the previous session as traders awaited policy hints from the Federal Reserve ahead of its annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "The Jackson Hole Symposium looms as one potential source of volatility, and going into the event, the markets remain cautious," Kyle Rodda, an analyst at wrote in a note to clients. "A dovish shift is being priced in, with further strength in equity markets – and weakness in the U.S. dollar – reliant on the Fed meeting these expectations." MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab slid 0.1% after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild losses. Pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.2%, while contracts for the German DAX and FTSE both crept up 0.1%. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Fox News on Monday that Trump's meeting with Zelenskiy and other European and NATO partners was very successful. The meeting followed a summit in Alaska between the U.S. president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which did not result in an agreement on ceasing hostilities in the 3-1/2-year-old war. In a social media post late on Monday, Trump said he had called Putin and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents. While traders are keeping an eye on geopolitical developments, another key focus for the week is the Fed's August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, where Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework. Money markets reflect an 83.6% chance of a quarter-point rate cut at the Fed's meeting on September 17, according to CME FedWatch. "Central banks seem to be easing even though inflation is creeping a little bit high in many countries," Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank, said in a podcast. Bond investors may be "demanding a little bit more compensation for duration, just given the potential for the inflationary risk out there." Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225), opens new tab rose at the open before sliding 0.1%, dragged lower by a 2.5% plunge in SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab after the company announced a $2 billion stake in struggling U.S. chipmaker Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab. The dollar slid 0.1% to 147.78 yen. The euro was steady at $1.1663, while the dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was little changed after a 0.2% gain in the previous session. Oil slipped as market participants contemplated a potential end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to an end to sanctions on Russian crude. U.S. crude sank 0.8% to $62.92 a barrel. Brent crude fell 0.7% to $66.15. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,337.41 per ounce. Bitcoin slid 1% to $115,257.59, while ether dropped $2.7% to $4,224.33.
Telegraph
44 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How chatbots sent the jobs market into chaos
Excited about that graduate job opening? It's yours – if you can beat an army of other candidates, pass the automated CV screening system and ace your interview with the deepfake HR rep. The odds are stacked against you. The rise of generative AI systems such as ChatGPT has led to an explosion in job applications, leaving employers drowning in cover letters and applicants desperately fighting to be heard. In 2019, there were 50 applications for every graduate position, according to the Institute of Student Employers. Last year it was 140, a record level and up 59pc in just 12 months. For some roles, the number is far higher. Vacancies regularly receive thousands of applications within hours of being posted. Jobs site LinkedIn says it is processing 11,000 every minute. AI means that it takes just seconds to spin up a CV and cover letter, personalised to fit the job description perfectly. Some job-hunters claim to be applying for 100 roles a day. One online tool, LazyApply, goes a step further, allowing candidates to automatically apply for jobs after entering a few personal details. One software engineer used the tool to apply for 5,000 jobs in a week. He landed 20 interviews – a dismal hit rate of 0.4pc, but one that came with almost no effort. This surge in applications, many of them filled with generic, recognisably AI-generated text, is causing havoc for recruiters, who say they are finding it harder to find the best candidates. 'Companies are dealing with a tsunami of sameness in applications', says Estelle McCartney, the chief executive of employee screening company Arctic Shores. McCartney says that companies have always faced a large number of applications for entry-level jobs, where experience was not a barrier to entry, 'but with the advent of the AI-enabled candidate, we're now working with companies across a much broader range'. Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says candidates are increasingly taking a 'spray and pray' approach to applications. The job market has become worse both for jobseekers and recruiters, he says. 'On current trends it's harder both ways.' Normalising 'cheating' Some point the finger at employers. Well before ChatGPT was released in late 2022, companies were using CV-screening tools to whittle down their candidates, a practice critics say has encouraged conformity and box-ticking. For more than two decades, companies have used 'applicant tracking systems' to check for certain keywords, often to filter for experience or to check they have read the job description. Huw Fearnall-Williams, of Lancaster University, who has studied the use of technology in recruitment, says such systems would often punish candidates for incorrect formatting on CVs that were invisible to the naked eye. Turning such software back on recruiters might only be considered fair. 'Even before AI, a lot of students were taught how to use particular power words, how to give a model answer to certain questions,' Fearnall-Williams says. 'AI is obviously quite good at that.' Many managers say they can spot an AI-generated cover letter a mile away. For all the advances in large language models in the last few years, systems such as ChatGPT still write with a recognisable, middle-of-the-road tone that is obvious to the well-trained eye. Potential employers might see this as enough to discount a candidate, considering that anyone who cannot be bothered to write their own application is unlikely to be a star employee. But the practice is increasingly becoming the norm. According to the job site Adzuna, less than half of workers considered it cheating to write a CV or cover letter from scratch using AI. Almost two thirds have used AI to write their own resumé. James Neave, Adzuna's head of data science, says that AI 'holds immense potential to better match candidates' skills with the right roles and speed up the hiring process'. However, in practice the technology is often used to simply produce industrial levels of applications. 'Many of the AI tools in the recruitment market appear focused on application volume rather than doing what hiring truly requires,' he says. Game of cat and mouse The growing use of generative AI has raised concerns that candidates are exaggerating their capabilities. The Institute of Student Employers (ISE) say an increasing number of successful candidates are not meeting expectations on measures such as self-awareness, resilience and verbal communication. AI means that 'at best, the training process is disrupted, at worst, the candidate finds themselves in the wrong job', according to the ISE's Stephen Isherwood. While some employers have banned the use of generative AI, others allow or tacitly encourage it. The Civil Service now allows candidates to use AI to 'enhance' their applications or 'improve the clarity and quality' of written answers. The recruitment giant Michael Page said last year that AI helps take applications 'to the next stage'. Last week, the Government said it planned to develop an AI tool to help unemployed people find jobs. The Department for Science and Technology said it would work with the private sector to develop an AI agent that can fill in forms on people's behalf, including job applications. This means the use of AI in job-hunting is only likely to go one way. And as the applications roll in, employers are turning to new methods to separate the ideal candidate from the wave of low-effort chancers. Manchester-based Arctic Shores provides game-like psychometric tests that are used by employers including Amazon and Siemens, and which the company says AI systems cannot pass. The tests measure qualities such as critical thinking, problem-solving and appetite for risk, which can give a score out of 100 for a particular role. An increasing number are turning to 'one-way' video interviews, in which an animated executive asks a series of pre-recorded questions. These can then be assessed later by a human, although they may also be automatically transcribed, with answers assessed by AI software. Yet candidates are responding in turn, often running systems such as ChatGPT in the background during video interviews. The result is a cat-and-mouse game with recruiters who try to stop it, such as by demanding that prospective hires share their screen or asking curveball questions such as 'What did you have for breakfast' to flummox AI. A growing number are turning to tried-and-trusted methods. Carberry says that the recruitment industry is seeing a 'flight to quality', in which candidates are often brought in by specialist recruiters who know potential hires personally. Meanwhile, an increasing number of companies are bringing back in-person interviews. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai says the tech giant now hosts its final interview at its offices amid a flurry of cheating in coding tests. The AI arms race has turned into a nightmare of rapid-fire applications and low-quality candidates. Employers might be ready to de-escalate.
