World Street | Microsoft to invest €4 billion in France; Indeed lays off 1000 employees; OpenAI unveils GPT update, and more

World Street offers a sneak peek into the world of business and economy.

French President Macron advocates for deeper EU financial integration by allowing major French bank takeovers. Microsoft invests €4 billion in France for AI and cloud infrastructure. OpenAI releases ChatGPT update. Indeed lays off 1,000 amid growth struggles. Walmart cuts jobs, recalls remote workers. All this and more on this edition of World Street.

Versailles Vision

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would be open to seeing a major French bank being taken over by a European Union rival in order to spur the deeper financial integration he sees as critical for the bloc’s future prosperity.

“Dealing as Europeans means you need consolidation as Europeans,” Macron said in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on the sidelines of the Choose France investment summit in Versailles near Paris.

Oui to AI

Microsoft said in a statement Monday that it’s committing 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) toward expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in France, in addition to funding AI skilling and support for France’s technology industry.

The company said it plans to bring up to 25,000 of the most advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) to France by the end of 2025. The tech giant will also train 1 million people and support 2,500 AI startups by 2027.

ChatGPT Gets Chatty

OpenAI has released a higher-performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its popular generative tool ChatGPT, making it free to all users. The update to OpenAI's flagship product landed a day before Google is expected to make its own announcements on Gemini, the search engine giant's proprietary AI tool that competes with ChatGPT.

The new model GPT-4o -- the "o" standing for omni -- will be rolled out in OpenAI's products over the next few weeks, with paid customers having unlimited access to the tool.

Bot Brakes Backfire

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a probe into Amazon-owned robotaxi venture Zoox after two Toyota Highlanders equipped with Zoox’s automated self-driving braked unexpectedly.

In both cases, motorcyclists collided with the Zoox vehicles, which led to minor injuries. Both collisions took place during the daytime and within the operational design limits of Zoox’s autonomous system.

Workforce Woes

The careers site Indeed says it will lay off about 1,000 employees — about 8 percent of its workforce — as it looks to simplify its organisation. In a memo released publicly on Monday, CEO Chris Hyams took responsibility for 'how they got here,' adding that the company is not yet set up for growth after last year's global slowdown in hiring caused multiple quarters of declining sales.

Unlike last year's across-the-board reduction of 2,200 workers, Hyams said the latest cuts will be more concentrated in the US and primarily affect the research-and-development and go-to-market teams.

Walmart Whirlwind

Walmart Inc. is axing hundreds of corporate jobs and asking most remote workers to return to offices, the Wall Street Journal reported. Employees in smaller offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto are being asked to switch to bigger hubs including the retail giant’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, the WSJ report said.

Yen Yields

Japanese sovereign bond yields are surging to the highest levels in more than a decade amid signs the central bank is ready to reduce debt purchases to ease pressure on the ailing yen. The yield of 20-year sovereign debt rose 3.5 basis points to 1.77 percent, the most since 2013.

While the yield on 30-year bonds reached its highest since at least 2011. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield increased to 0.96 percent, just shy of the peak level in more than a decade.