People & Profit

Global tech leaders and industry giants have descended on the French capital for the seventh edition of VivaTech, Europe's largest trade fair for new technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking centre stage this year. French President Emmanuel Macron announced €500 million ($543 million) in new funding to "create champions" in AI and praised projects targeting French speakers, as concern grows about Silicon Valley firms fuelling English-language domination of AI systems.

In the wake of an energy crisis triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the world has become a lot more energy efficient, according to a new study. Are we seeing a permanent, global shift in energy transition? Yuka Royer speaks with Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency.

South Africa's economy is at risk of going off the grid as recurring power cuts wreak havoc on the country's businesses and households. Alongside this energy crisis, the nation's central bank is sounding the alarm over potential threats to financial stability. These concerns stem from capital outflows and the possibility of sanctions due to South Africa's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Joining us from Johannesburg is Azar Jammine, the Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix (Pty) Ltd, the leading independent economic research consultancy in the country.

The leaders of the ChatGPT developer OpenAI have called for the regulation of "superintelligent" AIs, arguing that an equivalent to the International Atomic Energy Agency is needed to guard against the "existential risk" posed by the technology. What should regulators around the world do to control the expansion of AI technology while still encouraging innovation? Charles Pellegrin asks Dr Tim Scarfe, Innovation Chief Technology Officer of British start-up XRAI Glass, which uses generative AI in a mobile app and augmented reality smart glasses to help deaf or hard-of-hearing people transcribe conversations.

Progress has been made, but there's still a long way to go in achieving gender equality in the workplace. Women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions and are still earning less than their male counterparts. Yet studies show that diversity and inclusiveness bring more profits to businesses. For more, Yuka Royer speaks to Canadian businesswoman Caroline Codsi. She is the founder and chief equity officer of Women in Governance, an organisation set up to help women access decision-making roles.

Inflation is finally cooling in the US. But has the Federal Reserve really reached the end of its rate hikes? And what does that mean for other central banks? We speak to Susannah Streeter, Head of Money and Markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. She says the Federal Reserve is widely expected to pause its cycle of interest rate hikes, but that many households and businesses are still feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis. "Even though inflation is coming down, it doesn't mean to say that prices are dropping – they're just increasing at a slower rate."

For decades, the US dollar has been king on the global stage. But more and more countries are looking to reduce their dependence on the American currency, saying they want to "de-dollarize" their economies. How realistic are their plans, and how would they work? Kate Moody talks to Ruchir Sharma, chairman of Rockefeller International and founder of Breakout Capital.

Russian forces continue to wage war across Ukraine, but Volodymyr Zelensky's government is already looking ahead to the task of rebuilding. The European Commission and World Bank predict that this could come with a price tag of some $400 billion. Oleksandr Gryban, Ukraine’s deputy economy minister, admits that attracting investors is “a tough sell” as the fighting drags on, but says Ukraine could be "the next big thing for capital and investment markets, this fact is inevitable".

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings kicked off this week with concerns over high inflation, rising geopolitical tensions, climate change and financial instability. World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg told FRANCE 24 that "we need to stay engaged with developing countries. More than ever, problems that are getting worse in certain parts of the developing world will have spillover effects and that is also not good for richer countries".

They may rule the online universe, but how are influencers being regulated in the real world? And what's next for their business models? Kate Moody talks to Quentin Bordage, Founder and CEO of Kolsquare, an influencer marketing platform in France.