Recently, researchers from the University of Hawaii investigated the Moon’s permanently shaded regions, examining how visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy can locate and quantify water ice in these regions, as well as how factors such…
Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T. N. Receptive fields, binocular interaction and functional architecture in the cat’s visual cortex. J. Physiol.160, 106–154 (1962).
The AI upscaling upgrade for AMD graphics cards is nearly here. On Tuesday, AMD said it will reveal FSR “Redstone,” its answer to NVIDIA’s DLSS, on December 10.
Upscaling tech has been a big sticking point in comparisons between NVIDIA and AMD…
Uber has been hit with legal demands to stop using its artificial intelligence driven pay systems, which have been blamed for significantly reducing the incomes of the ride hailing app’s drivers.
A letter before action – sent to the US company by the non-profit foundation, Worker Info Exchange (WIE), on Wednesday – is understood to allege that the ride hailing app has breached European data protection law by varying driver pay rates through its controversial algorithm.
James Farrar, the director of WIE, said: “Uber has leveraged artificial intelligence and machine learning to implement deeply intrusive and exploitative pay-setting systems that have damaged the livelihoods of thousands of drivers.
“Through this collective action, we intend to get a fairer deal for drivers and ensure Uber is held financially accountable for the harm caused by this unlawful use of AI.
“This case is … about securing transparent, fair and safe working conditions for all platform workers.”
The proposed legal case is expected to be filed in Amsterdam, where Uber is based in Europe. The moves come after the WIE partnered with Oxford University during the summer to publish research on Uber driver pay.
The academic paper found that many Uber drivers were earning “substantially less” an hour – while the company was taking a significantly higher share of fares – since the ride hailing app introduced a “dynamic pricing” algorithm in 2023. Dynamic pricing variably sets pay for drivers and fares for passengers and is a later iteration of Uber’s “surge pricing”, which increased fares during periods of peak demand.
The Oxford University research said: “Our findings suggest that post-dynamic pricing, many aspects of Uber drivers’ jobs have gotten worse. Average pay per hour on the app is stagnant, and is lower in real terms in the year following the introduction of dynamic pricing.”
The WIE argued that Uber had trained its algorithms “by using the drivers’ own historic personal data by observing their working practices.
“Under the GDPR, drivers are entitled to demand that Uber stop using this technology, revert to the previous method of transparent pay-setting with a human in the loop, and compensate the drivers for their losses.”
An Uber spokesperson said:“Drivers choose Uber because we offer flexibility over where and when they work, and transparency over every trip they take – including the fare, destination, and their own earnings, before they decide whether to accept. The study WIE collaborated on is not accurate and relies on incomplete and selective data.
skip past newsletter promotion
after newsletter promotion
“The researchers themselves admit that their analysis ‘does not enable [them] to isolate the causal effect of dynamic pricing on pay’, making any conclusions about driver earnings misleading. We are proud that thousands of drivers continue to make the positive choice to work on Uber as passenger demand and trips continue to grow.”
The WIE alleges that, while Uber announced dynamic pricing in 2023, the “legal harm” commenced in 2020 with “upfront pricing” – where a passenger would be quoted a set fare for a trip.
The workers’ foundation added that if Uber failed to comply with its “demands to cease these practices and compensate affected drivers”, it intended to “bring collective proceedings before the Amsterdam district court under the Netherlands’ collective redress law”.
Recruiters speak to job seekers at the Appalachian State University internship and job fair in Boone, North Carolina, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
Allison Joyce | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday it will not release a full U.S. jobs report for the month of October, following the longest government shutdown in the history of the country.
Instead, the agency said October payroll data will be released along with a full report for November. An unemployment rate for October will not be included in those figures because the data “could not be collected,” the BLS said, citing the shutdown.
The BLS also pushed back its November jobs data release to Dec. 16 from Dec. 5. The new date is six days after the Federal Reserve concludes its final policy meeting of the year — leaving the Fed with less intel on the state of the economy.
Without the full October data — and following recent hawkish commentary from some Fed officials — traders may be pricing in a lower chance of another rate reduction.
The CME Group’s FedWatch tool on midday Wednesday showed there’s a 63.8% chance that the central bank keeps its overnight benchmark rate steady in the 3.75%-4% range. That’s up from around 50% earlier in the day.
In Belém at COP30 on November 11 and 14, UNEP FI welcomed two new banking members–Banpará and Banco do Noreste—as signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB). This moment represented the expansion of PRB’s growing responsible banking community in Latin America and is a testament to the regional leadership of Brazil’s banking sector in advancing climate and nature goals.
Pictured above: PRB signing ceremony for newest signatories Banpará and Banco do Noreste
PRB members took part in great numbers in Belém to emphasize progress on decarbonization in real estate and agriculture, transition planning, and resilience. ING, Itaú, Bradesco, FAB, Standard Chartered, Caixabank, Credit Agricole, BBVA, MUFG, and many other banks showcased their approaches and demonstrated leadership on the global stage. In support of the Brazil Presidency’s focus on adaptation at this COP, UNEP FI highlighted the PRB Practical Guidance on Implementing Adaptation and Resilience for other interested financial institutions.
These engagements followed PRI In Person and the Climate Action summits the week prior in São Paulo, which convened the finance sector around COP30 goals. On November 3, Itaú and UNEP FI hosted a roundtable -including asset owners, commercial banks, banking associations, policymakers and companies- to discuss the critical role of finance in advancing sustainable food systems.
At PRI In Person, UNEP FI and MSCI Institute joined leaders from Harvard, Amundi, and Itaú to explore how banks embedding sustainability outperform peers—paying less for capital, gaining resilience, and attracting investor confidence. For more, access UNEP FI’s Principles for Responsible Banking Third Biennial Progress Report and/or review panel session highlights in the short article “How are banks translating sustainability commitments into measurable financial and operational advantages.” Additional events on this topic to come in Q1 2026.
On 11 November, UNEP FI, ING and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) hosted a session on how financial institutions and policymakers can drive buildings decarbonisation, including ING and FAB as panellists. The discussion highlighted real-world collaborations across government, finance, industry and homeowners and identified key success factors for scaling up finance for green buildings.
Pictured above (L-R): Roundtable on “Finance Leadership for the Future of Agriculture and Food,” hosted by UNEP FI and Itaú , UNEP FI’ panel event on “ESG Leadership and Financial Performance: What Investors Can Learn from Responsible Banking.” Panel event on “Decarbonising Buildings: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach for Financing the Transition.”
On 18 November, Crédit Agricole and Rabobank will participate in FAO’s high-level COP30 event: “Unlocking Climate Finance for Agrifood Transformation and Climate Action.” The session will explore practical solutions and innovative financing approaches to advance sustainable agrifood system transformation.
Progress Report – Responsible Banking: A Six Year Journey of Systemic Change
Launched on 15 October, the PRB’s third biennial report showcases a sector-wide shift in banking practices. The report provides bespoke data and analysis demonstrating how PRB signatories are increasingly moving from commitment to action, embedding sustainability into core business strategies, governance, and client relationships to manage risk, meet stakeholder expectations and remain competitive in an evolving economy.
Highlights include:
Banks representing circa 50% of global banking assets embedding sustainability into strategy, governance and client relationships
MSCI analysis shows PRB banks paid one percentage point less, on average, for equity and debt capital
Growing regulatory momentum for market practices pioneered by UNEP FI
An international randomized clinical trial has shown that closed-loop insulin delivery improves glycemic control during pregnancy for individuals with type 1 diabetes, according to findings published in JAMA and summarized in a new announcement…
Simply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Saudi Arabia is backing a $900mn funding round in US video start-up Luma AI, as the Gulf state steps up efforts to become a global force in the development of artificial intelligence.
The deal, led by Humain, the AI-focused venture backed by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, values Luma at more than $4bn, according to people close to the negotiations.
The deal will be announced in Washington at this week’s US-Saudi Investment Forum, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a number of new deals with US companies. Those follow a wave of tie-ups announced during Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh in May.
Saudi Arabia wants to use the financial muscle of its near-$1tn Public Investment Fund to become an international leader in AI. Prince Mohammed said during his meeting with the US president in the Oval Office on Tuesday that his country planned to spend about $50bn on AI “in the short term”.
Luma, which is based in Burbank, California, creates generative video models that can respond to prompts to create movies or simulate reality. The new funding will accelerate Luma’s efforts to train large-scale “world models” that learn from videos and robotic data rather than just language.
Big Tech groups such as Google DeepMind and Meta, as well as start-ups such as Fei Fei Li’s World Labs, are spending billions of dollars in the race to build these new “spatial intelligence” systems.
Amit Jain, co-founder of Luma, said: “To create AI that can help humanity in the physical world and expand our understanding of the universe, we need to build systems that can learn from a quadrillion tokens of information — roughly the collective digital memory of humanity — contained in video, image, audio and language.”
Meanwhile, Humain is building Project Halo, one of the world’s largest data centre clusters that will provide some computational power for Luma. The deal includes an initiative to build AI models trained on Arabic and regional data to create “culturally aligned” AI.
Existing investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Amplify Partners and Matrix Partners have also participated in Luma’s new funding round, alongside new investors including AMD Ventures.
Saudi Arabia and PIF have recalibrated their spending and priorities as lower oil prices put pressure on the kingdom’s budget in recent years. But AI remains one of the main areas where it is willing to spend as part of wider plans to diversify the economy away from its dependence on oil revenues.
Humain chief executive Tareq Amin told the Financial Times earlier this year that the company had allocated $10bn for AI investments through a venture capital fund, while it continued talks with Nvidia and other semiconductor companies to secure the chips needed to build data centres in the kingdom.
