Alphabet to combine AI research units Google Brain, DeepMind

(Reuters) -Alphabet Inc is combining Google Brain and DeepMind, as it doubles down on artificial intelligence research in its race to compete with rival systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. The new division will be led by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and its setting up will ensure “bold and responsible development of general AI”, Alphabet CEO…

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Lockheed and Rheinmetall to develop German version of HIMARS rocket launchers

BERLIN (Reuters) – Arms makers Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall will team up to develop a German rocket artillery system, they said on Thursday, a weapon in the same category as the HIMARS rocket launchers Lockheed has been supplying to Ukraine. HIMARS is a missile launcher mounted on a truck that can fire multiple guided missiles…

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Renault chooses banks for planned listing of electric car unit Ampere – source

PARIS (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault has picked BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan among the investment banks slated to work on the planned listing of its electric car business, Ampere, a source close to the matter said on Thursday. The three banks will act as joint global coordinators on the initial public offering (IPO)…

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Brazil plans ‘digital tax’ on shipments from e-commerce giants -minister

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s finance minister said on Thursday the country would implement a “digital tax” on shipments from e-commerce giants, after backtracking earlier this week from a decision to tax individual-to-individual shipments of up to $50. “We will follow the example of developed nations, a digital tax,” Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters. “Consumers…

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Russia´s Lavrov in Havana on Latam drive to shore up support

By Dave Sherwood HAVANA (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met on Thursday with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in Havana, the latest in a series of visits to shore up support among Russia’s closest allies in Latin America. Russia, hit by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, is…

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Argentine peso hits record low in black market as economy creaks

By Walter Bianchi BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s peso currency sank in widely used parallel markets on Thursday, hitting a record low against the U.S. dollar as concerns grew about the Latin American country’s economy, with 104% inflation, reserves dwindling and drought hitting exports. The black market peso, one of several unofficial rates that have…

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