BNP Paribas Completes Acquisition of Axa's Asset Management Unit
The newly formed business will have more than €1.5 trillion ($1.8 trillion) in assets under management, according to a release from the French bank on Tuesday. Return on invested capital is expected to exceed 14% in 2028 and 20% a year later.
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Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Voices: Can Mark Zuckerberg really be trusted to oversee the AI revolution?
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta was the belle of the ball on Wall Street after its latest results revealed a windfall driven by investments into AI. Leaning into artificial intelligence is one of the social media king's best bets – it is paying off handsomely, and it will likely do so for years to come. Revenue for the three months to the end of June leapt by 22 per cent to $47.5bn when compared with a year earlier. Profits surged by more than a third (36 per cent) to $18.3bn. If the price of Zuckerberg's AI ambitions is similarly dizzying – overall costs rose by 12 per cent to $27.5bn, with more spending promised – who cares? It's a smart investment and a good business move. Meta's vast resources mean that it will inevitably be at the forefront of this exciting, but potentially dangerous, new tech for years to come. That's more than a little troubling, especially if you've read the former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams' bestselling tell-all book Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism about her time at the company. If you only read one business book this year – if you only read one business book in your lifetime – this is the one. Wynn-Williams hasn't been shy about including gory allegations about the behaviour of the company's top staff. Her book is an exposé, and it does that job well. It is also a great, if sometimes horrifying read. But the important part is what she has to say about the thoughtless way Meta was prepared to use its groundbreaking tech. For example, Wynn-Williams alleges that the company actively targeted teenagers with ads based on their emotional state, including when they were depressed. Now add AI into that algorithmic mix. The implications are enough to make you shudder. The company's attempts to court China, and what was offered to the regime there, have also raised eyebrows. Wynn-Williams made the same allegations before US senators, when she was, remember, under oath. Now let's put this in context. The world is in the midst of a hell-for-leather AI race. Donald Trump claims the US has already won it. He might be right. Keir Starmer is determined that Britain should at least find a place on the podium, although government communications bods would probably prefer I use phrases like 'leading role' or 'pioneering', or some such. His latest wheeze is bigging it up with influencers (am I alone in hating the word 'influencer'?). On Thursday, the prime minister held a half-day session for around a 100 of them in Downing Street about how they can work more closely with the government – and vice versa, given the stratospheric rise of news intake on social media. AI has ministers drooling, and with good reason. The British state is in a mess, hamstrung by sparse resources and poor leadership, which often seems more interested in pet projects than it is in solving problems. AI could change that. Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood thinks it will be able to 'predict the risk an offender could pose' and inform 'decisions to put dangerous prisoners under tighter supervision', thus cutting prison violence. The struggling probation service could also benefit, with AI pilots showing 'a 50 per cent reduction in note-taking time, allowing officers to focus on risk management, monitoring and face-to-face meetings with offenders'. Over to the NHS, where we are told that an app using AI to provide physio for people with back pain has cut treatment waiting lists by 55 per cent. I don't know if I particularly want my back problems handled by a bot, but maybe that's a consequence of my reading too many dystopian books. We're already seeing some of the tech's negative effects through the elimination of junior positions in the tech industry and the City, exacerbating an already weak UK jobs market. But the government isn't so keen on talking about that. All this begs the question: is this the sort of tech we want to be controlled by Wynn-Williams' 'careless people', who are so obsessed with the bottom line that they never stop to think about what they're doing? This is not just a criticism of Meta. Britain's politicians are currently falling over each other to worship at the altar of the tech bros. They think it's the future. They might be right. Perhaps this tech fixes the NHS and gets a sclerotic state that is very visibly failing the British people working again. Lives would be improved as a result. The trouble is, if you mix careless people, they could just as easily combine to create a toxic brew.
TechCrunch
3 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
OpenAI to launch AI data center in Norway, its first in Europe
OpenAI said Thursday that it plans to launch Stargate Norway, its first AI data center in Europe, in partnership with British AI cloud infrastructure provider Nscale and Norwegian energy infrastructure firm Aker. Nscale will design and build the site, and it will be a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. OpenAI will be an 'off-taker' in the project, buying capacity from the data center. The announcement comes as Europe races to achieve AI sovereignty and invest in data centers and compute power. Earlier this week, the bloc unveiled details of its multi-billion-dollar investment into AI infrastructure, including 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) to set up 13 AI factories and 20 billion euros as an initial investment in the factories. Data sovereignty is key to that mission, due to the sensitive nature of business and government data. It's not clear if OpenAI's data center is a part of the European Union's plans to scale AI at home, and OpenAI did not immediately comment when contacted by TechCrunch. Nscale CEO Josh Payne told CNBC that part of the purpose of this project is to 'leverage European sovereign compute' for the benefit of the continent. Norway's AI ecosystem, like startups and scientific researchers, will get priority access to the center. CNBC also reported that Nscale and Aker have each committed around $1 billion to the initial 20 megawatt (MW) phase of the project. OpenAI says Stargate Norway will initially deliver 230 MW capacity, with plans to expand to 290 MW, and will run on 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026. The site will be located near Narvik, a small town in northern Norway. OpenAI said in a blog post the region is notable for its access to hydropower, a cool climate, and a 'mature industrial base.' 'The facility will run entirely on renewable power and is expected to incorporate closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling to ensure maximum cooling efficiency,' said OpenAI. 'Additionally, excess heat from the GPU systems will be made available to support low-carbon enterprises in the region.' Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Per the EU AI Act, which took effect in August 2024 and bans systems with 'unacceptable risk,' companies building data centers must take steps to protect the environment and be transparent about the energy consumption of AI models. Additionally, the bloc's Energy Efficiency Directive emphasizes energy efficiency in the ICT sector, which includes data centers. The directive also directs data centers exceeding certain energy input thresholds to recover waste heat. The Stargate Norway announcement comes seven months after OpenAI announced it would invest $500 billion into 10 gigawatts of AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years, in partnership with Oracle and Softbank. The deal also follows the launch of Stargate UAE earlier this year, and a recently signed deal with the UK government to accelerate AI adoption and boost infrastructure.
Associated Press
4 minutes ago
- Associated Press
European Union assumes its faces 15% tariffs in the US from Friday. But a key text still isn't ready
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is working on the assumption that the United States will impose a 15% tariff on most EU exports from Friday, even though the two sides have yet to complete a key document clarifying how the agreement will operate. Last weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement that would see 15% duties imposed on around two-thirds of EU produce, worth around 380 billion euros ($434 billion). The tariffs are set to enter force on Friday, but as of Thursday the two sides were still working on a joint statement that would lay out the terms of their understanding, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said. The document wouldn't be legally binding. 'It is the clear understanding of the European Union that the U.S. will implement the agreed across the board tariff ceiling of 15%,' Gill said. The commission negotiates trade terms on behalf of the the EU's 27 member countries. Carve outs were agreed for a range of 'strategic' goods like aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, some drug generics or natural resources. Gill said that 'it is also our clear understanding that the U.S. will implement the exemptions to the 15% ceiling.' 'The U.S. has made these commitments. Now it's up to the U.S. to implement them. The ball is in their court,' Gill said. European wine and spirits won't escape the 15% levy on Friday, but may do later as negotiations on additional exemptions to the new tariff regime continue, he said. Before Sunday's meeting, Trump had threatened the bloc with 30% tariffs, which the EU's top trade official said would effectively mean the end of trade between them. Over the last three months, the commission drew up retaliatory measures worth tens of billions of euros to enact should the talks fail. Those countermeasures are due to take effect on Aug. 7, but Gill said that 'if everything goes as expected,' they would be frozen. 'If we have reached a deal, we don't need the retaliatory tariffs,' he said.
