NEWS ROUND UP

Gold prices edged higher helped by a softer dollar as slowing U.S. inflation cemented bets that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged later in the day.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,948.49 per ounce by 05:00 GMT.

U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $1,961.70.

The U.S. dollar eased, making greenback-priced bullion more appealing to overseas buyers. The U.S. consumer price index rose 4.0% in May, its least annual increase in more than two years, but stayed well above the U.S. central banks 2% target. Markets are pricing in a roughly 90% chance of the Fed keeping rates unchanged, according to CMEs Fedwatch tool. Growing realization that the Fed is unlikely to cut rates for the rest of this year, has seen a lot of investors exit the gold market of late. The price action in the recent range has been a cause for caution, but it does look as though the buying is more likely to win out in this epic struggle. Whereas gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, higher rates to tame cost pressures generally weigh on the non-yielding assets appeal.

Current AI systems like ChatGPT do not have human-level intelligence and are barely smarter than a dog, Metas AI chief claims, as the debate over the dangers of the fast-growing technology rages on. ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is based on a certain large language model. This means that the AI system was trained on huge amounts of language data that allows a user to prompt it with questions and requests, while the chatbot replies in language we understand. The fast-paced development of AI has sparked concern from major technologists that, if unchecked, the technology could pose dangers to society. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said this year that AI is one of the biggest risks to the future of civilization. At the same panel, Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Facebook parent Meta, was asked about the current limitations of AI. He focused on self generative AI trained on language models, saying they are not very intelligent, because they are solely programmed on language. Metas AI chief said the company is working on training AI on video, rather than just on language, which is a tougher task. While looking at the dangers and opportunities of AI, it is concluded ethics and regulation of A.I. should be followed, that there need to be guardrails in place for the development of the technology. But everyone is unsure who would do that.

The Vegas Golden Knights, in just their sixth season in the NHL, won the leagues championship, completing a 4-1 series victory over the Cinderella Florida Panthers. Vegas meteoric rise to the top of hockey has surprised the sports world, but its exactly what owner Bill Foley intended when he plunked down the $500 million expansion fee in 2016. Its a remarkable accomplishment for an expansion team in any sport, but especially for an ice hockey team in a desert city that had, until recently, also been a desert for professional team sports.

On Golden Knights game days, MGM properties surrounding the teams home, T-Mobile Arena, are crowded with customers. The Golden Knights have been contenders since their first season. They quickly accumulated a fierce fanbase while making it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in 2018, losing to the Washington Capitals. In both the championships, the Golden Knights made the conference finals twice and missed the playoffs only once. The team often sells out its home games, drawing locals and tourists alike. The city dons black and gold during hockey season. The community spirit surrounding the NHL team is felt throughout the citys sports scene. For now, though, Las Vegas is firmly enamored with the Golden Knights, a pride that compels locals to brave the dreaded Strip tourists and traffic to support their team. And now the Knights are the kings of hockey.

Short video app TikTok, owned by Chinas ByteDance, said it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security. Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630 million half of them under 30 is one of TikToks biggest markets in terms of user numbers. Chew said content on its platform is becoming more diversified as it adds more users and expands beyond advertising into e-commerce, allowing consumers to buy goods through links on the app during livestreaming. TikTok has 8,000 employees in Southeast Asia, and 2 million small vendors selling their wares on its platform in Indonesia, the regions biggest economy, he added.

TikTok facilitated $4.4 billion of transactions across Southeast Asia last year, up from $600 million in 2021. Its investment plan comes as the Chinese-owned company faces scrutiny from some governments and regulators because of concerns that Beijing could use the app to harvest user data or advance its interests. TikTok has repeatedly denied that it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and has said the company would not do so if asked. The app has not faced major bans on government devices in Southeast Asia, but it has been under scrutiny over its content. Indonesia presented one of its first major global policy challenges in 2018, after authorities briefly banned TikTok for posts they said contained inappropriate content and blasphemy. In Vietnam, regulators said it would probe TikToks operations in the country because toxic content on the platform poses a threat to its youth, culture and tradition.