Today’s news covers a variety of topics from technology to politics, with major stories emerging from China, the United States, and around the world.
Bloomberg News Agency reports that both UBS Group and Credit Suisse Group are opposing a forced merger of the two.
Baidu Inc.’s shares surged almost 9% after the company tested Ernie Bot, a GPT-style AI chatbot. Microsoft Corp. announced that it will begin using GPT-4, a new version of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence platform, in its Office suite.
New Zealand government officials announced that they will ban the TikTok app on devices that have access to the parliament’s network, citing cybersecurity concerns. Similarly, Britain and other countries have also banned the use of the popular short-form video platform.
In political news, North Korea claimed that its recent intercontinental ballistic missile drill was a warning to its adversaries amid joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. The US Department of Defense also released a video suggesting that Russian fighter jets damaged a US spy drone propeller in the Black Sea, which Russia has denied.
In business news, Indian start-ups have deposited approximately $1 billion at collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and President Xi Jinping of China is set to visit Russia next week for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finally, Vietnamese electric car manufacturer VinFast announced that three senior sales and customer service employees have left the company this week. Baidu has also obtained a license to provide driverless taxi services in Beijing, the capital city of China.