27/05/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | MAY 27, 2026

READ OUR

HERE

18

Malaysian Paper

/thesun

AI unlikely to lead to ‘jobs apocalypse’: Altman

Germans wary of VAT rise to fund income tax cuts, survey shows BERLIN: Germans are largely opposed to raising value-added taxes to finance income tax relief, with many saying such a move would make them save more rather than spend, a survey by the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) showed yesterday. In the study, respondents were presented with a scenario in which income tax was cut by €100 (RM428) per month while higher VAT added €40 in monthly costs. Only one in four viewed such a reform positively, while 42% assessed it negatively. Germany plans an income tax reform from early 2027, with some experts proposing a VAT increase from 19% to 21% to help finance it. Opposition was strongest among older people and those on low incomes. Among respondents with less than €2,000 available per month, 18% supported the idea and 48% opposed it. Even among those with incomes of €4,000 or more, opposition outweighed support. “A VAT increase would be the nail in the coffin for private consumption in Germany,“ the institute said. More than half of respondents said such a reform would not boost consumption but increase their propensity to save. “Many people notice rising prices in everyday life immediately and react sensitively to them – much more strongly than to additional income leeway,” NIM study leader Katharina Gangl said. – Reuters UK shop price inflation picks up, LONDON: British shop price inflation sped up this month on the back of disruption and higher energy costs caused by the Iran war, according to a retail industry group which said the government had to do more to keep costs down. The British Retail Consortium’s monthly survey of major chains published yesterday showed that prices in May were 1.2% higher than a year earlier, up from a 1% rise in April. Food price inflation slowed to 2.7%, its lowest in a year, from 3.1%. Furniture and health and beauty products rose by the most reflecting rising raw material and shipping costs. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said the government – which has pressed supermarkets to slow price increases and flirted with the idea of demanding price caps this month – had to play its part in bringing down costs for retailers. “Reducing the non-commodity charges, taxes and levies that make up more than two-thirds of energy bills, and cutting red tape would help keep inflation down,“ Dickinson said. Britain’s broader official consumer price inflation index fell to 2.8% in April but is expected to rise again to around 4% in the coming months due to the energy price shock. – Reuters retailers ask for govt help

o Human interaction in many roles limits how far tech can replace workers SYDNEY: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ( pic ) said yesterday the rapid development and adoption of AI would not lead to a global “jobs apocalypse” and the technology had not claimed as many white-collar jobs as he had feared. Speaking at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) conference in Sydney, Altman said he was initially concerned about the impact AI would have on global employment levels. Altman said he and his executives had been “roughly right” on the technological predictions made by OpenAI when it launched ChatGPT in 2022. But he said they were “pretty wrong” on the social and economic implications. “I’m delighted to be wrong about this, I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened,” Altman told CBA chief executive Matt Comyn in an interview. “I now think I understand more about why it hasn’t, and I’m obviously grateful but that is an area where my intuitions were just off. “People are like ‘oh you could have saved the world a lot of fear mongering and a lot of doom and gloom’ but at the time I was like ‘I see this is a real risk we should probably talk about it’ and it still may.” Altman did not cite any jobs numbers yesterday but has previously talked about potential industry-wide job cuts due to AI’s advancement. A growing number of global companies, The four-door Luce, Italian for “light”’, was developed with the help of former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his collective LoveFrom, and is Ferrari’s first five-seater. Ferrari aims to appeal to families with deep pockets, offering them comfortable seats, high-end tech and a 600-litre boot. Deliveries of the long-awaited Luce, priced at €550,000 (RM2.5 million), are due to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. “It’s the result of five years of work,“ CEO Benedetto Vigna told more than 200 reporters gathered in Rome. The Luce, which amplifies natural vibration sounds from its EV powertrain to maintain the visceral appeal of a traditional Ferrari, marks a gamble that a generation steeped in technology and AI, and less attached to its trademark 12- and 8-cylinder engine legacy, will shift to high-tech luxury EVs. Ferrari is hoping that will also give it the opportunity to move further into markets such as China, where EVs are already widespread and big petrol cars are heavily taxed. “In our client base there are many ... who are still looking for something completely different, to be used in different moments of life,“ said Ferrari’s chief marketing and commercial officer

“I had it reply to messages, saying ‘this is Sam’s AI’ and it was an amazing example to me of we really do care about people,” he said. “We really do care about our interactions with people and this thing, which is a huge amount of my time, is not something that I can imagine myself outsourcing to an AI anytime soon.” That realisation, he said, had made him believe the human interaction required in many jobs would not be replaced by AI. “It really, in both positive and negative ways, updated me to thinking that the jobs picture is likely to be very different than we thought,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have the kind of jobs apocalypse that some of the companies in our space advocate or talk about.” – Reuters

including HSBC , Amazon, Standard Chartered and CBA have announced some jobs within their companies were being replaced by AI. OpenAI is preparing to confidentially file for a US initial public offering in the coming weeks, Reuters reported last week, citing a source familiar with the matter. The company could be aiming for a US$1 trillion valuation and raising at least US$60 billion, Reuters reported in October. Altman said he had realised that even though AI was taking on an increasingly active role in many industries and jobs, there was still a “human part” of employment that could not be replaced. He said he had been using AI to respond to Slack and e-mail messages but had reverted to answering some himself.

Ferrari unveils first fully electric car ROME: Ferrari presented its first fully electric car on Monday, marking a high-stakes shift by the luxury sports car maker as competitors including Porsche and Lamborghini scale back their EV ambitions, citing weak demand.

This handout picture by Ferrari shows the fully electric ‘Luce’ in Rome. – AFPPIC / FERRARI PRESS OFFICE Enrico Galliera.

which mark a break from the carmaker’s aggressive, muscular, signature sporty style with a larger body and expansive, glass-led design. The Luce interior defers to traditional Ferrari luxury, with leather, glass and anodised aluminium surfaces as well as several physical controls which differ from the all-digital, touch-led approach of Tesla and some Chinese EV makers. – Reuters

“It’s absolutely stunning,“ Galliera added of the car, which features four electric motors – one per wheel – which help deliver more than 1,000 horsepower, a top speed above 310 kph, and increased agility for a car weighing more than 2.2 tons. Ferrari said the Luce has a range of over 500km. A light show launch featured five Luces, painted from Ferrari-red to white and light blue,