By Sheila Dang and Katie Paul

(Reuters) – A group of 20 tech companies announced on Friday they have agreed to work together to prevent deceptive artificial-intelligence content from interfering with elections across the globe this year.

The rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which can create text, images and video in seconds in response to prompts, has heightened fears that the new technology could be used to sway major elections this year, as more than half of the world’s population is set to head to the polls.

Signatories of the tech accord, which was announced at the Munich Security Conference, include companies that are building generative AI models used to create content, including OpenAI, Microsoft and Adobe. Other signatories include social media platforms that will face the challenge of keeping harmful content off their sites, such as Meta Platforms, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter.

The agreement includes commitments to collaborate on developing tools for detecting misleading AI-generated images, video and audio, creating public awareness campaigns to educate voters on deceptive content and taking action on such content on their services.

Technology to identify AI-generated content or certify its origin could include watermarking or embedding metadata, the companies said.

The accord did not specify a timeline for meeting the commitments or how each company would implement them.

“I think the utility of this (accord) is the breadth of the companies signing up to it,” said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta Platforms.

“It’s all good and well if individual platforms develop new policies of detection, provenance, labeling, watermarking and so on, but unless there is a wider commitment to do so in a shared interoperable way, we’re going to be stuck with a hodgepodge of different commitments,” Clegg said.

Generative AI is already being used to influence politics and even convince people not to vote.

In January, a robocall using fake audio of U.S. President Joe Biden circulated to New Hampshire voters, urging them to stay home during the state’s presidential primary election.

Despite the popularity of text-generation tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the tech companies will focus on preventing harmful effects of AI photos, videos and audio, partly because people tend to have more skepticism with text, said Dana Rao, Adobe’s chief trust officer, in an interview.

“There’s an emotional connection to audio, video and images,” he said. “Your brain is wired to believe that kind of media.”

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Katie Paul in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

By Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were subdued on Friday after a hotter-than-expected producer prices report pushed back market speculations of imminent interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

A Labor Department report showed producer prices increased more than expected in January amid strong gains in costs of services, heightening fears that inflation was picking up after months of cooling.

The producer price index data gave Fed policymakers fresh validation for their wait-and-see approach to cut rates after a hot consumer prices report sparked a selloff in equity markets earlier this week, although a slump in January retail sales provided some relief on Thursday.

“The PPI print really confirms the high reading from CPI and really throws some cold water on those that were hoping for cuts sooner rather than later,” said Jeffrey Schulze, director and investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments.

“The earliest time frame for the Fed to potentially embark on a cutting cycle is going to be the June meeting.”

Treasury yields spiked after the report, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note last at 4.291%, as traders added to bets that the Fed may defer the first rate cut until after June.

Most megacap stocks dropped, with Meta Platforms falling 1.8% and dragging the S&P 500 communication services index down 1.1%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq is set to snap a five-week winning streak, while the benchmark S&P 500 also lost some steam this week after jumping more than 5% so far this year.

Robust corporate earnings and a surge in enthusiasm around the potential for artificial intelligence has helped the S&P 500 close above the 5,000-point mark for the fourth time this year.

Focus will be on remarks by San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly during the day after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic noted more data is needed to convince him inflation pressures are truly falling, but he is open to lowering rates at some point in the next few months.

At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31.97 points, or 0.08%, at 38,741.15, the S&P 500 was up 1.65 points, or 0.03%, at 5,031.38, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 19.62 points, or 0.12%, at 15,886.56.

Applied Materials jumped 8.5% to a record high after the semiconductor equipment supplier forecast better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on strong demand for advanced chips used in AI.

Vulcan Materials gained 6.9% after forecasting a higher full-year profit, aiding a 1.1% rise in the S&P 500 materials sector index.

Roku slumped 22.5% after forecasting a bigger first-quarter loss, while crypto exchange Coinbase Global jumped 15.8% on posting its first quarterly profit since 2021.

DoorDash dropped 9.6% as the delivery firm forecast a quarterly profitability metric below expectations, hurt by higher labor costs.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.34-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 52 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 86 new highs and 40 new lows.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Maju Samuel)

By Lananh Nguyen

(Reuters) -Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon was awarded $31 million in compensation for 2023, up 24% from $25 million in 2022, the company said in a filing on Friday.

Solomon’s pay comprises a $2 million base salary, unchanged from the previous year, and a bonus of $8.7 million in cash and $20.3 million in performance-linked stock, the bank said.

The pay bump comes after the bank’s profit fell 24% to $8.52 billion in 2023.

“The Compensation Committee believes that the actions of senior management were critical to reorienting the firm with a much stronger platform for 2024 and beyond,” Goldman disclosed in its regulatory filing, in reference to the pay hike.

Among peers on Wall Street, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s compensation climbed 4.3% in 2023, while Morgan Stanley’s former CEO James Gorman earned 17% higher in the same period.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Shinjini Ganguli)

(Reuters) -OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is working to secure approval from the U.S. government for his new AI chips venture, which could potentially raise national security and antitrust concerns, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Altman, who is reportedly working on a new business that could boost global chip manufacturing, has told potential investors and partners that he cannot move forward without a green light from Washington, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

He also met with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and was working to arrange meetings with other officials in an effort to get them on board with his business plan that could be partly financed from the Middle East, the report said.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment, while the Department of Commerce declined to comment on “individual conversations”.

Altman has been in talks with investors and chip companies in the United States, Middle East and Asia for his new venture.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury yields jumped and the U.S. dollar edged up while global stock indexes were mixed to near flat on Friday after data showed U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in January, adding to the view that any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are not imminent.

The producer price index for final demand rose 0.3% last month after declining by a revised 0.1% in December, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI rebounding 0.1% following a previously reported 0.2% drop.

A U.S. consumer prices reading earlier this week was also stronger than expected.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 5.3 basis points to 4.293%, from 4.24% late on Thursday.

The greenback also gained after the data. Against the yen, the dollar climbed 0.5% to 150.57 yen.

The dollar/yen has been trading near levels that have been typically seen as potential catalysts for official intervention.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday that monetary policy would most likely remain accommodative, even after ending negative interest rates, echoing recent reassurances from BOJ officials that have weighed on the yen.

The dollar was last up 0.17% versus the yen at 150.16. The dollar index gained 0.06% at 104.32, with the euro up 0.01% at 1.0772.

“A number like this, it definitely pushes off the Fed for another month or two,” said Tom di Galoma, co-head of global rates trading at BTIG in New York, referring to the PPI data.

On Friday, market expectations the Fed will start cutting rates in June were dialed back, with CME’s FedWatch Tool now showing a 69.9% chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points, down from the nearly 90% in the prior session.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.15 points, or 0.11%, to 38,730.97, the S&P 500 gained 0.03 points to 5,029.76 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 23.60 points, or 0.15%, to 15,882.57.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.22 points, or 0.30%, to 752.77. The STOXX 600 index rose 0.62%.

Earlier on Friday, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei rallied to a 34-year high and was on the cusp of eclipsing the all-time peak reached during the heyday of the nation’s bubble economy in the 1980s.

Figures on Thursday showed that Japan and Britain slipped into recession at the end of last year.

With the dollar gaining, gold has been under pressure this week. Gold eased on Friday and was on course for a second straight weekly fall.

Spot gold was down 0.3% to $1,997.87 per ounce.

U.S. crude gained 0.19% to $78.18 a barrel and Brent rose to $82.92 per barrel on the day.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Stella Qiu in Sydney and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York. Editing by Sam Holmes, Gerry Doyle, Nick Macfie, Susan Fenton and Deepa Babington)

By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley slammed Donald Trump on Friday for maintaining an amiable relationship with Vladimir Putin, after Russian officials said opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a prison colony on Friday.

“Donald Trump continues to side with Vladimir Putin – a man who kills his political opponents, holds American journalists hostage, and has never hidden his desire to destroy America,” Haley said in a statement.

Trump has praised Putin on and off for years, calling the Russian leader a “genius” in 2022 for his decision to invade neighboring Ukraine, igniting a war that is still raging.

The 47-year-old lawyer, whose death was reported by the Russia prison service, rose to prominence more than a decade ago by speaking publicly about what he said was the vast corruption and opulence among the “crooks and thieves” who ran Putin’s Russia.

Many Western leaders accused the Kremlin of murder regarding Navalny. They produced no evidence, but Putin’s enemies have a history of dying under opaque circumstances.

A representative for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Biden’s reelection campaign on Friday released a new minute-long advertisement blasting Trump for wanting to “walk away” from NATO and accusing him of giving “Putin and Russia the green light to attack America’s allies.”

Over the weekend, the former president drew swift rebukes from Western leaders for saying that he would encourage Putin to invade NATO member states that were not spending enough on defense.

Haley’s comments come as she has ratcheted up her criticism of Trump, in a bid to eat into the former president’s overwhelming lead in all national and state-level primary polls. In recent weeks, she has unleashed acid attacks on his character and his mental competency, and blasted him for cozying up to dictators.

In a separate post on X, formerly Twitter, Haley blamed Putin for Navalny’s death and took another jab at Trump.

“Putin did this,” she wrote. “The same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends.”

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Stefano Rebaudo

NEW YORK/MILAN (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar edged higher on Friday after data showed producer prices in the world’s largest economy came in higher than expected, affirming expectations the Federal Reserve will hold off the start of its interest rate-cutting cycle to the middle of the year, or even later.

The U.S. currency’s gains were higher following the producer price index (PPI) data, but have since come off ahead of a long holiday weekend.

Tuesday’s report showed the PPI gained 0.3% in January, up from forecasts of a 0.1% rise. On a year-on-year basis, the PPI increased 0.9%, compared with expectations of a 0.6% rise.

The PPI data followed a stronger-than-expected consumer price index (CPI) as well last month, suggesting the Fed would be in no rush to cut rates.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback’s value against six major currencies, was on track for a fifth straight week of gains. It was last up 0.1% at 104.32. On the week, the index rose 0.2%.

“Year to date, the dollar has been stronger. But if you consider the strong jobs, inflation, and GDP (gross domestic product) numbers, you could make the argument that the U.S. dollar should be way higher than it is,” said Eugene Epstein, head of structuring for North America at Moneycorp in New Jersey.

“I just see sideways trading or a slow grind higher for the dollar as a more likely scenario,” he added.

Fed funds futures have priced in no rate cut in March and a 74% chance of easing at the June meeting, according to LSEG’s rate probability app. That was more than 80% on Thursday.

Two weeks ago, markets had expected the first rate cut to happen in May. Futures are also pricing in about three rate cuts of 25 basis points each this year, down from about five cuts two weeks earlier.

Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.2% to 150.22 yen. The currency pair has touched 150 the last few days, putting the market on high alert to possible Japan intervention to weaken the yen.

The Japanese currency, which is highly sensitive to U.S. rates, was down 6% against the dollar this year as investors pare back their expectations of rate cuts from the Fed.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that while a weak yen has merits and demerits, he was “more concerned” about the negative aspects of a weak currency.

A separate report showed that U.S. single-family homebuilding dropped in January, likely due to harsh weather, but a rise in permits for future construction suggested a rebound is likely in the coming months.

Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, dropped 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.004 million units last month.

“With the Fed likely cutting rates by the end of the year and demand resilient, the housing activity should stay supported,” Citi’s U.S. economics team wrote in a research note.

The U.S. consumer sentiment survey was also released on Friday, but the currency market showed little reaction.

U.S. consumer sentiment was little changed in February while one-year inflation expectations inched up.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index of consumer sentiment came in at 79.6 this month, compared with 79.0 in January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a preliminary reading of 80.0.

The survey’s reading of one-year inflation expectations edged up to 3.0% this month from 2.9% in January.

The euro was flat at $1.0771.

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Alison Williams and Jonathan Oatis)

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) – Amazon.com has joined rocket maker SpaceX and grocery chain Trader Joe’s in claiming that a U.S. labor agency’s in-house enforcement proceedings violate the U.S. Constitution, as the retail giant faces scores of cases claiming it interfered with workers’ rights to organize.

Amazon in a filing made with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Thursday said it plans to argue that the agency’s unique structure violates the company’s right to a jury trial.

The company also said that limits on the removal of administrative judges and the board’s five members, who are appointed by the president, are unconstitutional.

The filing came in a pending case accusing Amazon of illegally retaliating against workers at a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, where employees voted to unionize in 2022. Amazon, which has faced more than 250 NLRB complaints alleging unlawful labor practices across the country in recent years, has denied wrongdoing.

SpaceX is making similar claims against the board in a lawsuit filed last month, one day after the labor board accused the company of firing eight engineers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk in a letter to company executives.

Trader Joe’s raised the arguments later in January at a hearing in an NLRB case, and two Starbucks baristas seeking to dissolve their unions have challenged the board’s structure in separate lawsuits.

An NLRB spokeswoman declined to comment.

The board’s general counsel issues complaints against employers alleging violations of federal labor law. Those cases are heard first by administrative judges and then the five-member board, whose decisions can be appealed in federal court.

The growing number of challenges to the labor board make it more likely the issue will reach the U.S. Supreme Court, whose conservative majority has signaled its skepticism of other U.S. agencies’ in-house proceedings, said Seth Goldstein, a lawyer who represents unions in the Amazon and Trader Joe’s cases.

Goldstein said the pending cases also could embolden other employers to refuse to bargain with unions on the belief that courts will strip the NLRB of its enforcement powers.

“I’m very concerned that this is going to cause real problems in collective bargaining for both new and established unions,” said Goldstein, a partner at law firm Julien Mirer Singla and Goldstein in New York.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil steadied on Friday as slowing demand forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) offset support from geopolitical tensions and optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve might cut interest rates sooner rather than later this year.

On Thursday, the IEA said global oil demand growth was losing momentum and trimmed its 2024 growth forecast, in contrast to the view held by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Brent crude futures were down 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $82.69 a barrel at 1500 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 59 cents, or 0.8%, to $78.62 with the nearby March contract expiring on Tuesday. The April contract rose 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $77.79.

“There was a tentative attempt to recover yesterday morning, but hopes were shattered after the IEA published its updated supply-demand outlook,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

Crude climbed over 1% on Thursday as a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. retail sales prompted hopes the Fed will soon start cutting rates, which could be positive for oil demand.

But U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in January amid strong gains in the costs of services, which could amplify worries that inflation was picking up.

“Hopes for U.S. rate cuts provided support on Thursday, but investors are now adjusting their positions ahead of a long (holiday) weekend in the U.S.,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.

Meanwhile, Middle East tensions persist, with the growing risk of a wider conflict in the region supporting prices.

Gaza’s largest functioning hospital was under siege on Friday in Israel’s war with Islamist group Hamas, as warplanes struck Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians in the enclave, officials said.

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli town in a “preliminary response” to the killing of 10 civilians in southern Lebanon, the deadliest day for Lebanese civilians in four months of cross-border hostilities.

“I would expect the latest gains from an increased Mideast risk premium to stick, especially going into the weekend,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil markets analysis provider Vanda Insights.

(Additional reporting by Natalie Grover in London, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; editing by David Evans, Jason Neely and Jonathan Oatis)

By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil slipped about 1% on Friday as slowing demand forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) offset support from geopolitical tensions and optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve might cut interest rates sooner than later this year.

Brent crude futures were down 81 cents, nearly 1%, at $82.05 a barrel at 1155 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 68 cents, also roughly 1%, to $77.35 in muted trade with the contract set to expire on Tuesday. The more active April contract slipped 74 cents, also about 1%, to $76.85.

On Thursday, the IEA said global oil demand growth was losing momentum and cut its 2024 growth forecast slightly, in contrast to the view held by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“There was a tentative attempt to recover yesterday morning, but hopes were shattered after the IEA published its updated supply-demand outlook,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

Both contracts climbed over 1% on Thursday as a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. retail sales prompted hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates, which could be positive for oil demand.

A producer inflation report expected later on Friday should also help inform the fate of U.S. interest rates.

“Hopes for U.S. rate cuts provided support on Thursday, but investors are now adjusting their positions ahead of a long weekend in the U.S.,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.

Meanwhile, Middle East tensions persist, with the growing risk of a wider conflict in the region supporting prices.

Gaza’s largest functioning hospital was under siege on Friday in Israel’s war with Islamist group Hamas, as warplanes struck Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians in the enclave, officials said.

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli town in a “preliminary response” to the killing of 10 civilians in southern Lebanon, the deadliest day for Lebanese civilians in four months of cross-border hostilities.

“I would expect the latest gains from an increased Mideast risk premium to stick, especially going into the weekend,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil markets analysis provider Vanda Insights.

(Additional reporting by Natalie Grover in London, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Susan Fenton and David Evans)