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Reuters
an hour ago
- Business
- Reuters
Zuckerberg says Meta will invest hundreds of billions in superintelligence
July 14 (Reuters) - Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday that Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on computing power to build superintelligence, intensifying his pursuit of a technology he has chased with a talent war for top AI engineers. The announcement comes as tech giants such as Meta aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of artificial intelligence. "We have the capital from our business to do this," Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads. The Facebook and Instagram parent has recently unveiled its new division, Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), to unify the company's AI efforts, following setbacks with its Llama 4 model and key staff departures. The MSL will be led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman, after Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale and ramped up efforts to recruit top AI talent.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Australia fires first HIMARS long-range rocket in war game with US
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia, July 14 (Reuters) - Australia's army fired a truck-mounted long range rocket system that has become a priority for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific for the first time on Monday, alongside U.S. and Singapore forces firing the same system in joint war games. Armoured trucks with HIMARS - High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that can reach 400 km (250 miles) - are in high demand in the Ukraine conflict and are also being acquired by U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, which is reshaping its forces to respond to China's military build-up. On the first day of Australia's largest war games, "Talisman Sabre", the U.S., Australia, Japan, France, South Korea and Singapore held a live-fire exercise in northern Queensland involving U.S. F-35B fighter jets and land-based long-range strike rockets and missiles. Up to 40,000 troops from 19 nations are taking part in Talisman Sabre, across thousands of kilometres from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast. Australian Army Brigadier Nick Wilson, director general of the combined live-fire exercise, said it was the first time Australia, Singapore and the United States had fired HIMARS together, and the first firing by Australia on home soil. "HIMARS will be utilised in conjunction with a number of other weapon platforms ... to ensure we have a strategy of denial for security, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific," he told reporters on Monday. The joint exercise at Shoalwater Bay in north Queensland was watched by Australian Governor General Sam Mostyn and Chief of Defence Admiral David Johnston. Australia has previously said army regiments with HIMARS can be transported to neighbouring island states with defence agreements to protect its northern approaches in a conflict. Lockheed Martin delivered the first two of 42 HIMARS launcher vehicles ordered by Australia in April. Australia has said it will spend A$74 billion ($49 billion) on missiles over the next decade, including a new domestic manufacturing capability. U.S. Army Lieutenant General Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for the Pacific, said on Sunday the U.S. needed to work with partners in the Indo-Pacific, and that Talisman Sabre was "a deterrent mechanism because our ultimate goal is no war".
Reuters
an hour ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Volvo Cars books $1 bln impairment charge due to launch delays, tariffs
STOCKHOLM , July 14 (Reuters) - Sweden-based Volvo Cars ( opens new tab will book a one-off, non-cash impairment charge of 11.4 billion Swedish crowns ($1.19 billion) in the second quarter, it said on Monday. "Volvo Cars is adjusting the financial assumptions for the EX90 and ES90 platform, due to previous launch delays and new import tariffs in several markets," it said in a statement. ($1 = 9.6103 Swedish crowns)
Reuters
an hour ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
GM to produce lower-cost battery cells at Tennessee plant
DETROIT, July 14 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab is planning to produce lower-cost battery cells at its joint-venture plant with South Korea's LG Energy Solution ( opens new tab in Tennessee. The Detroit automaker is rolling out production of lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, a technology that is gaining popularity at other automakers in the U.S. including at cross-town rival Ford Motor(F.N), opens new tab. GM will begin converting battery cell lines at its Spring Hill, Tennessee facility later this year, and commercial production is expected to begin by late 2027, the company said Monday. GM and other automakers have pulled back some of their goals around electric vehicle production as demand for the models has been weaker-than-anticipated. Still, auto companies are investing billions in future battery technology and EV production facilities, with the expectation that shoppers will eventually make the switch from traditional gasoline vehicles. GM currently produces nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum cells at the factory, and will continue to do so at a plant in Ohio. The cells produced in Tennessee are used for EVs made at the neighboring assembly plant, including the Cadillac Lyriq. The factory employs about 1,300 people, GM said. Workers at the Ultium Cells joint-venture factory earlier this year approved their first contract with the United Auto Workers union. Ford is planning to produce LFP batteries at a factory in Michigan using technology from Chinese battery giant CATL ( opens new tab. The plant, announced in 2023, has drawn scrutiny from some lawmakers for its ties to the Chinese company. It is expected to begin production in 2026. Both automakers are also working on production of lithium manganese-rich (LMR) chemistries, which are intended to provide drivers with more mileage on their EVs before needing to charge. Concerns around battery range, as well as high vehicle prices, are some of the top barriers keeping customers from buying electric vehicles, auto executives have said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Business
- Reuters
Fed's Hammack sees no urgent reason to lower rates
July 14 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on Monday she sees no imminent need to lower interest rates right now given that inflation is still too high, amid ongoing uncertainty about how trade tariffs will affect price pressures. 'We're pretty close to where the neutral rate is and so I see an economy that's resilient, I see one that's working really well, and I don't see a need to really reduce (interest rates) unless we see material weakening on the labor side,' Hammack said in an interview on Fox Business. For Hammack, inflation levels that stand above the 2% target remain the main obstacle to cutting the cost of short-term credit. When it comes to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for July 29-30, Hammack told the television channel that "I walk into every meeting with an open mind, waiting to see where the data is going to take us, where the conversation takes us." "But from where I sit and what I see, what I see is that we're hitting on our employment side of the mandate, we're not there yet on the inflation side of the mandate," Hammack said. With inflation still too high, "I think it's important for us to maintain a restrictive posture of monetary policy to make sure that we're getting inflation down to our target of 2%" for inflation. Most Fed officials who have spoken over recent weeks appear on board with the notion that the current federal funds target rate range, now between 4.25% and 4.5%, will remain in place at the end of the month. At the Fed's June meeting officials penciled in two cuts later this year and investors generally expect that easing to start at the September meeting. There is however a minority of Fed officials who are open to cutting rates in June, on the basis of the idea that the Trump administration's aggressive and ever-shifting import tax hikes will have a one-time impact on inflation and can be ignored as part of setting monetary policy. Speaking last week, Fed governor Christopher Waller said "we're just too tight and we could consider cutting the policy rate in July." Waller added his take on rates is "not political." The Fed has been facing substantial pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates but officials have so far resisted this pressure and focused on the economic data. In her interview, Hammack cautioned that it remains unclear how the tariffs will play out. Given the still unfolding influence of the tariffs, "I think wait and see is the best place for us to be, because I think we don't know exactly what those impacts are going to be."
