Starting Thursday, users of ChatGPT’s Pro, Plus and Team tiers can activate the chatbot’s agentic capabilities

International News via Reuters:

OpenAI launched an artificial intelligence agent for its popular chatbot ChatGPT on Thursday that can complete complex tasks as the Microsoft-backed startup looks to get ahead of competitors in the AI race.

AI agents — considered to be an evolution of an assistant — have been embraced across the tech world with large firms, including Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle, spending billions on the technology to boost productivity and make operations more cost efficient.

OpenAI’s agent will combine aspects of its previous agentic features, operator, which can interact with websites, and deep research that can conduct multi-step research for advanced tasks.

Starting Thursday, users of ChatGPT’s Pro, Plus and Team tiers can activate the chatbot’s agentic capabilities.

ChatGPT’s agent can complete tasks such as ordering an outfit for a wedding while taking into account factors like dress code and weather.

The chatbot does this by using its own virtual computer equipped with a number of tools that can interact with the web. It also allows the user to connect apps such as Gmail and Github so ChatGPT can find information relevant to a prompt.

Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

Around 865 billion euros of EU funding will be available under these national spending plans

International News via Reuters:

The European Commission wants to open up part of its proposed 2 trillion euro EU budget for 2028-2034 to nuclear energy, a move likely to divide the bloc’s member states, which Germany immediately rejected.

In an annex to its mammoth budget proposal published on Wednesday, the Commission listed nuclear power as an activity countries can fund through their national share of the budget – specifically, “new or additional fission energy capacity installed in GW”.

Around 865 billion euros of EU funding will be available under these national spending plans. 

The move would be a sea change for the EU, whose current budget does not fund conventional nuclear power plants – reflecting a long-running conflict between pro-nuclear EU members like France and Sweden and traditionally anti-nuclear countries like Germany and Austria.

“Germany rejects any subsidization of nuclear power from the EU budget,” its environment minister Carsten Schneider said on Thursday, adding that Berlin respected the choice of other countries to build reactors.

“However, respect for national sovereignty in energy matters also means not claiming EU funds for this expensive path, a quarter of which comes from German taxpayers’ money,” Schneider said.

France’s energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch declined to comment.

The Commission’s budget proposal marks the start of years of intense negotiations among EU nations, which must all approve the final budget.

EU countries have long been at loggerheads over whether to promote atomic power to reduce CO2 emissions, a dispute which has delayed policymaking on climate change and energy in the bloc.

That dynamic had appeared on the cusp of a shift earlier this year, when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalled Berlin would no longer object to treating nuclear power on a par with renewable energy in EU policies. 

Countries including Denmark and Italy had also signalled a shift in their past opposition to nuclear power. 

However, some EU diplomats said that this softening of positions had not extended into support for EU funding. 

“There is no chance EU money goes to new nuclear,” one EU country diplomat said.

The EU’s current budget explicitly bans member states from building nuclear power plants using their share of hundreds of billions of euros in regional development funds – although the budget offers some limited funds for nuclear research and decommissioning of old reactors.   

Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Simon Johnson, Holger Hansen, America Hernandez, Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Instone will replace Pavel Hajman, who has been at the garden equipment maker’s helm since May 2023

International News via Reuters:

Sweden’s Husqvarna on Thursday named insider Glen Instone as its new chief executive effective August 11.

Instone will replace Pavel Hajman, who has been at the garden equipment maker’s helm since May 2023. Hajman had expressed his intention in April to step down once a successor was appointed. Instone has been with Husqvarna since 2002, and is currently the president of Husqvarna’s forest and garden division. Prior to that he was the company’s chief financial officer.

The company in April reported first-quarter operating profit below expectations hit by soft demand in North America, currency headwinds and lower prices.

The company had said that its earnings before interest and tax fell 21% to 1.53 billion Swedish crowns ($156.96 million), missing analysts’ average forecast of 1.71 billion crowns.

($1 = 9.7475 Swedish crowns)

Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

The talks aim to identify specific areas of cooperation between the parties from this summer onwards

International News via Reuters:

Japan and the European Union will consider joint public-private partnerships as they look to reduce their reliance on China in areas such as the procurement of rare earths, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

As China, the dominant supplier of rare earths, tightens export controls, global manufacturers are concerned that Beijing’s decision to curb exports of rare-earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could slow production and disrupt supply chains.

Globally, countries have been trying to secure rare earth supply chains to loosen China’s grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.

Japan and the EU will launch a new “economic two-plus-two” dialogue to bring together their foreign and economy ministers, expected to be announced at the Japan-EU leaders’ summit scheduled for July 23, according to the report.

The talks aim to identify specific areas of cooperation between the parties from this summer onwards, it said.

The countries will jointly develop supply chains for critical minerals such as rare earths, after the two sides agreed to a new dialogue at the working level.

They will focus on simplifying EU regulations and discuss how Japanese companies can take part in EU projects under the new framework, which seeks to deepen Japan-EU ties, Nikkei said.

The framework will also add Stephane Sejourne, the European Commission’s executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy, to the talks.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a multibillion-dollar deal with MP Materials that will make the Pentagon its largest shareholder, to boost rare earths output.

India is holding talks with Chile and Peru to source critical minerals under ongoing free trade pact negotiations, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a trade ministry source.

Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai