This January, DeepSeek made an announcement that changed the artificial intelligence landscape. The Chinese start-up said that it had trained the latest in a series of competitive AI models, which appeared to be built much more cheaply than those of Silicon Valley competitors. The FT’s China technology correspondent, Eleanor Olcott, first wrote a story about the company last summer. She’s on today to discuss how DeepSeek’s founder Liang Wenfeng was able to finance and grow his company at a time when start-up funding is scarce in China, and often comes with too many strings attached. 

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For further reading:

Liang Wenfeng, the DeepSeek founder panicking the tech world

The global AI race: is China catching up to the US? 

Xi Jinping seizes DeepSeek moment to restore China tech chiefs to spotlight

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Follow Eleanor Olcott on X (@EleanorOlcott). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New York Stock Exchange wants to get in on a growing trend amongst investors: overnight stock trading. The largest exchange in the world recently submitted a proposal to allow shares to trade for 22 hours a day. US markets editor Jennifer Hughes looks into the thorny questions this proposal raises about how equity markets function. 

Clips from New York Stock Exchange 

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For further reading:

Is Wall Street ready to stay up all night?

US regulators approve first round-the-clock stock exchange

What does Robinhood want to be when it grows up?

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Follow Jennifer Hughes on X (@jennhughes13). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump wants energy producers to drill for more oil. He claims it will lower prices for consumers and tackle inflation. But oil companies have a different set of priorities — and those could send them on a collision course with Trump. Clips from C-Span, Fox, ABC 

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For further reading:

When peak Chinese oil demand meets ‘drill, baby, drill’ 

A shale boom is not Donald Trump’s gift to give 

Wall Street will stymie Donald Trump’s US oil surge plan, say shale bosses

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Follow Amanda Chu (@amandalanchu) and Jamie Smyth (@jamiesmythft.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.bsky.social), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Mexico’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum is pursuing an ambitious agenda for her country. It promises a better standard of living for Mexicans. But investors in the country’s economy have their concerns – and now there’s a new threat on the horizon: US President Donald Trump. The FT’s Mexico and Central America correspondent Christine Murray explains how Sheinbaum will navigate the nation’s economic path forward.  

Clip from Global News 

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For further reading:

Mexico’s new president digs in with radical ideas as Trump threat looms

Mexico pledges to shrink trade deficit with China in nod to Donald Trump

Mexico’s first female president to take power under mentor’s shadow

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Follow Christine Murray on X (@chrissiemurray). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.bsky.social), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every so often a cool new financial innovation springs up and gains popularity on Wall Street, promising juicy returns for investors. That’s why “synthetic risk transfers” or SRTs are in fashion. But ever since the financial crisis, trendy acronyms have also made some people nervous. And it’s recently caught the attention of organisations such as the IMF. The FT’s Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth explains why he’s been following this and whether regulators should be raising the alarm. 

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For further reading:

Inside Wall Street’s booming $1tn ‘synthetic risk transfer’ phenomenon

Private credit is even larger than you think

Make Europe (securitisation) great again 

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Follow Robin Wigglesworth on Bluesky (@robinwigglesworth.bsky.social) or on X (@RobinWigg). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.bsky.social), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wall Street dealmakers are itching for an M&A revival during president-elect Donald Trump’s second term. But as he prepares to move back to the White House, the picture appears more complicated. The FT’s head of Lex, John Foley, explains what dealmaking over the next four years might look like and the surprising similarities it could share with Joe Biden’s administration. 

Clips from Bloomberg, CNBC, DW News, FOX Business

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For further reading:

US Steel’s tortuous un-merger is a deal for the ages

Playing the M&A Trump card

Deals are back, baby (for real this time?)

Will Trump’s new antitrust enforcers help make M&A great again?

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Follow John Foley on Bluesky (@johnsfoley.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.bsky.social), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Pro-crypto investors spent millions to re-elect Donald Trump to the US presidency, after he told voters he wanted to make America the “crypto capital of the planet”. As the second Trump administration begins, what does the crypto sector want most? And, what are the risks if they get it?

Clips from Sky News, Bitcoin Magazine

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For further reading:

Crypto industry dreams of a golden era under Trump

The crypto crown princes who could ‘win, win, win’ under Trump 

The grim ghost of crypto future

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Follow Nikou Asgari (@nikasgari) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07) on X, Bluesky (@mtindera.bsky.social) or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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In early December, the Financial Times and Schroders selected the 2024 winner of the Best Business Book of the Year. That book is called Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the race that will change the world, and it’s written by tech journalist Parmy Olson. In this special episode of Behind the Money, the FT’s senior business writer Andrew Hill interviews Parmy Olson about her book and the importance of oversight as artificial intelligence becomes more intertwined with our work and society. 

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For further reading:

Winner Parmy Olson on AI: ‘It’s not uncontrollable’

FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2024 — the shortlist

Business Book of the Year Award 2024: winners pick their favourites

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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From Slate Money: South Korea and France are the latest governments to fall apart. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the public conversation around the failures of the US healthcare system that was sparked by the shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Then, South Korea and France follow Germany in having a governmental meltdown. What’s going on with all of this political chaos? And finally, the hosts discuss a piece in The Ringer about why headlights are just way too bright and what, if anything, is being done about it.

This episode originally aired on December 7th. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

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Tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft need loads of electricity to power their artificial intelligence goals, and they are looking into all options, including nuclear power, to achieve them. That’s why Microsoft has partnered with a utility company to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in US history. The FT's US energy editor Jamie Smyth explains what challenges lie ahead with a 2028 deadline looming.

Clips from CBS News, ABC News, WNEP

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For further reading:

Restart of Three Mile Island tests US appetite for nuclear revival

Resurgent US electricity demand sparks power grid warnings 

Big Tech’s dash for nuclear power

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Follow Jamie Smyth and Michela Tindera on X (@JamieSmythF) (@mtindera07), on Bluesky (@jamiesmythft.bsky.social), (@mtindera.bsky.social) or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.