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China's Zhipu AI claims that full artificial superintelligence is unlikely to be achieved by 2030
The head of one China's most popular AI startups, said that artificial superintelligence could be available in 2030. However, its capabilities will only surpass humans on some levels, he added. AI is buzzing with speculation as to when technology will surpass human intelligence. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last week that ASI might arrive by the end decade. SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi son speculated last year that it could be here by 2035. Zhang Peng said that the concept is too vague for a timeline to be determined. SURPASSED IN PARTS, FALL SHORT OF MANY He said that people reach different conclusions about this issue when they discuss it. The company had just released its latest large-language model, GLM-4. 6. "I believe that achieving or surpassing human intelligence levels by 2030 could mean exceeding humans in some aspects but still likely falling far behind in many other areas." Zhipu AI, a Tsinghua University-based spin-off founded in 2019, has become a leader in China's AI race. In April, it filed documents indicating its intention to list on mainland Chinese market. OpenAI singled it out in June as a rival on the rise and described its efforts as a continuation of Beijing's push to export Chinese-developed AI overseas. Zhang, the CEO of the company, said that while they were "flattered", their overseas expansion was just "normal business". Zhang acknowledged that overseas revenue was beginning to gain traction but admitted the company wouldn't compete directly with U.S. subscription models yet. He said Zhipu AI competed with OpenAI to serve enterprise clients. As part of its efforts to increase direct-to consumer revenue streams, the company launched a subscription plan for developers. Zhang believes that this could change within a few short years due to the growing acceptance of AI in China and the falling costs. He said that the GLM 4.6 model is an updated version of GLM 4.5, released in July, and has enhanced capabilities in coding and reasoning, as well as writing and agent applications.
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Gold prices in Hong Kong reach record levels as China's Zijin Gold debuts
Zijin Gold International, a Chinese company that raised $3.2 billion through the largest IPO of the year in Hong Kong on Tuesday, saw its share price surge up to 72%. This boosted the sentiment towards new listings in this financial hub. The impressive debut coincides with a sustained rise in the gold price and a fundraising boom in September in Hong Kong where more than 16 billion dollars was raised via listings, follow-ons, and convertible bonds. Zijin Gold is a unit within China's Zijin Mining, which operates all the gold mines of the group outside China. It sold 349 millions shares for HK$71.59 per share. After a day of rising as high as HK$123, the company's shares ended at HK$120.6. This is 69% higher than its initial public offer (IPO). The market value for this company is HK$316.45 Billion ($41 Billion). According to Dealogic, the jump was one of the most successful debuts in Hong Kong over the last decade. GOLD BOOM LIFTS ZIJIN"S MARKET DEBUT The debut of Zijin Gold is expected to prompt other companies to accelerate their plans to list in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been leading the global markets for initial and secondary listing so far this season, driven by Chinese AI and tech stock demand. Over the last year, a number of Chinese firms, some of which had already been listed on the mainland but were now selling their shares in Hong Kong, have seen the demand for Chinese technology and artificial intelligence stocks soar. The Zijin Gold IPO retail tranche was 241-times oversubscribed. Institutional investors, however, bid 20.4-times more than the number reserved for them. Gold prices have risen by 11.4% in September so far, and are on track to be at their highest level since August 2011. The yellow metal has risen by about 42% in the past year. In a research report published on Tuesday, Xinyao Wang is an analyst at SmartKarma who said that a sustained and rising gold price would drive performance growth for mining enterprises such as Zijin Gold, which are upstream in the gold industry. The rise in gold prices directly increases revenue and profit. NEW LISTINGS Zijin Gold, with 97.9 millions shares valued at HK$11.2 Billion changing hands on Tuesday, was the fourth-most actively traded stock in terms of turnover. The Hang Seng Index, the benchmark index, was up 0.9% Tuesday. Zijin Mining Hong Kong's shares rose up to 8.2% following Zijin Gold debut, but they have since pared their gains and closed 1.4% higher. Shanghai-listed company shares rose 3.1%. According to Dealogic, Hong Kong has seen IPOs and second listings totaling $23.2 billion so far this year, making it the busiest since 2021. Dealogic data shows that Zijin Gold's IPO is the biggest Hong Kong IPO since JD Logistics' floatation in May 2021 which raised $3.6 Billion, according to Dealogic. The listing was the second-largest new listing worldwide, but it fell short of Chinese Battery giant CATL who raised $5.3 billion with its second Hong Kong listing in May. If the Zijin deal is subject to an overallotment, the company would be able to raise $3.7 billion. This would make it the largest IPO ever since Kuaishou Technology raised $6.8 billion in January 2021. Zijin Gold stated in its prospectus that it plans to use the proceeds of the mines over the next five-years to upgrade them. It also added that they expect global gold demand will grow steadily, at a rate of 3,2% compound annual growth from 2024 until 2030.
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Officials say 10 killed in suicide attack on Pakistani paramilitary
Officials said that a suicide bomber killed at least ten people Tuesday outside the headquarters for a paramilitary group in Quetta, a city located in southwest Pakistan. Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, said on televised that several gunmen stormed after the bombing and triggered a gunfight with the paramilitary. Bugti stated that the suicide bomber drove a pickup and security forces had killed four other attackers. He said: "These cowardly assaults cannot stop us from bringing prosperity and development to our people." Bakht Kakar, the provincial health minister, said that ten people were killed, including soldiers and civilians. He said that another 33 people were injured. He added that paramilitary troops were also among the dead, but it was not known how many. Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, is a restive province that borders Afghanistan and Iran. Gwadar Port is located in the mineral-rich region. It was built by China under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. The $65 billion investment is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. In recent months, both separatist and Islamist insurgents who operate in this region have intensified their attacks. The bombings have not been attributed to any group. Separatists who primarily target Pakistani security forces, Chinese nationals and their projects claim to be fighting for their fair share of regional resources. Islamist militants are fighting to topple the government and replace with their strict Islamic system. Islamabad claims that India, Pakistan's archrival, is funding militant groups to incite violence in the area where Pakistan seeks international investment in mines and mineral deposits. New Delhi denies this charge.
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WinGD will offer the first lower emission ethanol-fuelled ships engines in 2026
The Swiss manufacturer WinGD said that it will offer its first ship engine powered by ethanol next year. Ethanol is a fuel with lower emissions, which can be made from biomass like corn or sugarcane. The International Maritime Organization has set a goal of zero net emissions for the industry by the year 2050. To achieve this, the shipping industry is exploring ways to reduce pollution. One way to do so is by installing engines powered by low-carbon fuels. WinGD reported that the company was in discussions with several shipowners and ethanol fuel suppliers, as well as class societies, about its first commercial applications for its two-stroke ethanol-fueled marine engine. The company said that deliveries of the newbuild engine and retrofit applications will begin in 2027. Since 2014, the company has studied ethanol fuel which has similar combustion and emission profiles to methanol. Sebastian Hensel, WinGD's Vice-President of Research and Development, said that the engines represent "another lower-carbon option for shipowners". Other engine manufacturers are also looking at ethanol. Everllence, a German company, announced last week that the first two-stroke engines to run on ethanol were successfully tested in Japan. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Jeslyn Lerh)
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Hanoi is flooded by rains caused by Typhoon Bualoi, causing transport disruption
Authorities said that the most destructive storm in Vietnam this year caused heavy rains to cause floods throughout its northern region. Flights and train services were disrupted with Hanoi where many schools and homes were inundated. State media reported that the death toll had risen to 26 and 22 people were missing a day after Typhoon Bualoi, which brought huge sea swells as well as strong winds, downpours, and a landfall in central northern Vietnam. Hoang Quoc Uy, a 49-year old Hanoi resident, said "Water is flooding into my living-room." "I have never seen anything as strange before." The flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has cancelled or rescheduled a number of flights to the capital's Noi Bai International Airport "for the safety" of passengers, it stated. The weather in Hanoi has been evolving in a complex manner with heavy rainstorms that have affected visibility and operations. A company official confirmed that the state-run Vietnam Railways Corp. has suspended most of their services between Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City's business hub. The national weather agency warned that rains in some parts of Vietnam exceeded 300 mm (12 inch) over the last 24 hours. It also warned about the risk of flash floods and landslides. Thunder and lightning accompanied the persistent downpours which flooded streets and caused traffic to be paralysed in many parts of Hanoi. State media published photos of cars and motorbikes stranded in the floodwaters, some with dead engines. Many schools are closed before midday. Images on the state broadcaster VTV show that water was rising close to roofs in Nghe An Province villages. Ngo Thi Lon, 56, said that her belongings were all damaged and gone. The typhoon had blown off the roof, which left the home surrounded by floodwater a half a meter deep. The government reported that 105 people had been injured, and over 135,000 homes were damaged. Most of these homes were located in Nghe An Province and Ha Tinh Province. More than 25,500 hectares (63,00 acres) of crops and rice have also been flooded. Vietnam's long coastline, which faces the South China Sea is susceptible to typhoons. These typhoons are often accompanied by heavy rains and severe flooding. Bualoi, which struck the Philippines last week, killed at least ten people.
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Nigerian oil union strikes nationwide after Dangote refinery fires workers
The Nigerian oil workers' union is on strike, closing the offices of Nigeria's oil regulator as well as the state oil company. This has put fuel supplies and trade in West Africa at risk after the Dangote Refinery. More than 800 employees are unionized The walkout that began on Monday has escalated tensions within Africa's largest oil producer. Analysts warn that if this dispute spreads to another union, it may disrupt oil field operations and halt product flow, as well as cause fuel shortages in petrol stations. PENGASSAN (the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria) announced on Friday that the workers at the Dangote Oil Refinery, Africa's largest refinery with a crude-processing capacity of 650,000 barges per day, were fired on Thursday because they had unionised. Officials at Dangote Oil Refinery said that the dismissals took place as part of an internal reorganisation. They also accused the affected employees of sabotage. AFRICA'S LARGEST Refinery Fire Union Members PENGASSAN president Festus Osifo announced that the talks mediated by officials of the government to resolve this dispute on Monday ended in a deadlock and would be reconvened later on Tuesday. You must reinstate them. We will stop our action if you reinstate these people tonight. Unfortunately, this reinstatement didn't happen and we weren't able to come up with a conclusion on the matter," Osifo stated. The refinery obtained a court order prohibiting the union from blocking crude and gas supplies to it. PENGASSAN stated that the union had not received the notice in a formal manner. Lumumba Okugbawa, a union executive, said that court orders are not served through social media but by bailiffs. Since Monday, the strike has forced the closure of offices of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. In a Sunday statement, the regulator called on the parties to resolve the dispute amicably. NNPC said it was committed in maintaining a safe and stable operating environment. In a press release, Andy Odeh, a spokesperson for the company, said: "We closely monitor the situation and are engaged with relevant stakeholders in order to encourage a positive resolution." This year, the refinery that belongs to Africa's richest person Aliko Dangote started operations. It has been hailed as a game changer for Nigeria's imports of fuel. However, the dispute raises concerns about labour protections and investor confidence in Nigeria's private industry. (Additional reporting from Camillus Eboh, Abuja. Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Elisha Bala Gbogbo and Clarence Fernandez)
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New York Times Business News - September 30,
These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. A court filing on Monday revealed that Alphabet, which owns YouTube, has agreed to pay the $24.5 million settlement to settle the lawsuit brought by U.S. president Donald Trump against the company for the suspension of the account after the January 2021 U.S. Capitol Riots. Trump announced that he would impose 10% tariffs on imported wood and lumber, and 25% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, as well as upholstered furniture. This is part of his ongoing tariff war against global trading partners. CSX Corp. has appointed veteran executive Steve Angel as its CEO. He replaces Joe Hinrichs. The U.S. rail operator is fighting off pressure from activist investors in light of the rapid consolidation of the industry. Electronic Arts, the developer of videogames such as "Battlefield", "Madden NFL", and others has agreed to sell to a private group of investors. The deal values Electronic Arts at $55 billion. If completed, it would be the biggest leveraged buyout ever.
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Bousso: Big Oil's long-term bullish outlook is despite the short-term doom.
Energy companies may be retrenching due to a poor outlook for oil and natural gas in the near future, but their investment plans indicate that they are confident the situation will change dramatically by the end decade. The spending plans of energy companies are a good indicator of their confidence about the long-term prospects for this sector, as it can take years to develop a new oil or gas field. It also takes many years before any profits come from these investments. In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to accurately predict the future fortunes of the oil and gas industry. The energy transition has raised concerns about the future demand for fossil energies. The renewed focus of governments on energy security following the war in Ukraine in 2022 has revived the investment appetite. Companies such as BP, Shell, and others have redirected their strategies from renewable energy to their core oil-and-gas businesses. Even though prices are expected in the short term to drop, the current investment and expenditure plans of the top Western energy companies suggest that bullish arguments regarding the future of fossils fuels have gained ground. SHORT-TERM CAUTIONS The price forecasts for crude oil in the next two-year period are rather gloomy. Many agencies and investors expect a significant glut of oil due to increased production by OPEC and non OPEC countries. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Brent prices will fall from $68 per barrel on average this year to $50 in 2026. A surge in liquefied gas capacity, mainly from the U.S., Qatar and other countries, in the next few years is expected to place pressure on a key growth market in the sector. The oil and gas industry has responded to the bleak outlook by cutting jobs, costs and most importantly - buying back shares. In recent years, the majors have increasingly used share repurchases as a way to attract investors. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the scale of share buybacks increased dramatically. This was mainly due to the rise in energy prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Calculations show that the top five western energy giants BP, Chevron Exxon Mobil Shell TotalEnergies repurchased a combined $61.5 billion in shares by 2024. This is more than they paid out as dividends of $51 billion. This trend is now stagnant. TotalEnergies announced last week that it would slow down the pace of its stock buyback program from $2 billion per quarterly this year to between $750 million and $1.5 billion each quarter in 2019. Justifications for this move included "economic and geopolitical uncertainty" and the need to "retain room to maneuver". Chevron and BP slowed down their buyback rates earlier this year. Reduced share repurchases come with deep cost reductions. Chevron has announced a $3 billion budget-cutting initiative by 2026, which will result in it laying off up to 20% (or 9,000) of its employees. ConocoPhillips, a rival company in the United States, plans to reduce its workforce by up to 25%. BP announced plans earlier this year to cut more than 7,000 jobs. Last month, a cost review was added on top of a $4-5billion cost-cutting goal for 2023-2027. Exxon, Shell and other companies are cutting expenses aggressively. The cuts are the most significant in recent times, even during the pandemic. This shows a greater focus on the competitiveness of the industry and an increasing pessimism about the outlook for the energy price near term. LONG-TERM FINANCE Big Oil is more optimistic about the future, as evidenced by their willingness to invest in mega projects and acquire huge companies. BP announced on Monday that it would proceed with a $5 billion offshore project in the Gulf of Mexico. The Tiber-Guadalupe Project, which is expected to start oil and gas production by 2030, will feature a floating platform that can produce 80,000 barrels per day. TotalEnergies announced on Monday that it acquired assets in the U.S. producing gas onshore. Exxon is the largest western major and has maintained its capital expenditure plans for 2025 at $27-29billion as it continues to grow output in the U.S. Shale Basins and Guyana. In August, it said that the company was prepared to make acquisitions and take advantage of lower prices for oil. This confidence is backed up by forecasts that indicate the strong growth of oil production in the next decade will reverse itself. The International Energy Agency predicts that world oil production will grow by 4.5 millions bpd from 2024 to 2028, to 107.6million bpd. It then stagnates in 2029 before declining by 400,000bpd by 2030. The natural decline in oilfields, along with the slower growth rate, means that companies must invest significantly to maintain their production. Oil demand growth will also slow down in the next few years, largely due to the rise of electric cars. Even if oil supply grows slower, a faster-than-anticipated slowdown in demand could impact oil prices. For now, however, the willingness of companies to ignore a possible downturn indicates that they believe crude oil prices will continue to rise through the decade. Subscribe to my Power Up newsletter to receive my weekly column, plus additional energy insights and links trending stories in your mailbox every Monday and Thursday. Subscribe to my Power Up Newsletter here. You like this column? Open Interest (ROI) is your essential source for global commentary on financial markets. ROI provides data-driven, thought-provoking analysis. The markets are changing faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X.
WinGD will offer the first lower emission ethanol-fuelled ships engines in 2026
The Swiss manufacturer WinGD said that it will offer its first ship engine powered by ethanol next year. Ethanol is a fuel with lower emissions, which can be made from biomass like corn or sugarcane. The International Maritime Organization has set a goal of zero net emissions for the industry by the year 2050. To achieve this, the shipping industry is exploring ways to reduce pollution. One way to do so is by installing engines powered by low-carbon fuels.
WinGD reported that the company was in discussions with several shipowners and ethanol fuel suppliers, as well as class societies, about its first commercial applications for its two-stroke ethanol-fueled marine engine.
The company said that deliveries of the newbuild engine and retrofit applications will begin in 2027.
Since 2014, the company has studied ethanol fuel which has similar combustion and emission profiles to methanol.
Sebastian Hensel, WinGD's Vice-President of Research and Development, said that the engines represent "another lower-carbon option for shipowners".
Other engine manufacturers are also looking at ethanol. Everllence, a German company, announced last week that the first two-stroke engines to run on ethanol were successfully tested in Japan. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Jeslyn Lerh)
(source: Reuters)