The heat is rising during COP28

Climate concerns are boiling

Tensions will rise on Monday about controversial comments by Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, the Emirati oil executive and politician chairing the COP28 climate summit.

His skepticism about the world’s ability to halt the rise in global temperatures by reducing hydrocarbon use raises new doubts about the UAE’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

Al Jaber hit back at critics of fossil fuels, who want them phased out over the coming decades in an effort to prevent global temperatures from rising by 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level seen by many experts as disastrous. “There is no science, or no scenario, that says phasing out fossil fuels will deliver 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said at an event before the summit.

The controversy revived concerns about his role as leader of COP28, as he is also chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Al Jaber has long argued that fossil fuel companies must play a prominent role in the world’s energy transition to bring down global temperatures.

His words struck a chord with climate hawks. Critics and scientists mentioned Al Jaber’s statement ‘farcical’ and ‘alarming’. And John Kerry, the US climate envoy, dismissed his position as disconnected from the latest scientific research: “Every decision we make should be about saying, ‘Is this going to improve by 1.5 degrees or will it be more destructive and kill us? in the wrong direction?’” he told CNBC.

Other experts wonder whether the 1.5 degree target is even achievable. Bill GatesFor example, it is thought that it is unlikely that the increase in global temperatures will even be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

Other news from COP28:

• Fifty oil giants, including Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco, pledged this weekend limit methane emissions from operations. The catch: None of the companies plan to cut oil and gas production, and the planned reductions in methane, a potent greenhouse gas, will be largely voluntary.

• The Biden administration has announced regulations requiring energy companies to detect and repair methane leaks from their operations.

• Kerry said that’s what the world should do stop building coal-fired power stations.

• More than 20 countries, including the US, Britain and South Korea, have pledged to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, citing the importance of cutting carbon emissions. The cost of building nuclear power plants has skyrocketed recently, partly due to high interest rates and inflation, forcing some developers to withdraw from these expensive projects.

• Artificial intelligence has played a prominent role at COP28, with providers pitching their technology as ways to help countries meet their emissions targets.

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on a sweeping OxyContin settlement. The justices will consider whether the pact between Purdue Pharma, the bankrupt maker of the opioid, and the victims violates federal law. The settlement would protect members of Purdue’s controlling Sackler family from civil lawsuits; Its removal could have wider implications for other corporate insolvencies linked to mass damage claims.

Alaska Airlines is testing regulators’ tolerance for industry consolidation. The airline agreed to buy a rival, Hawaiian Airlines, for $1.9 billion, creating a regional titan for the western US and the South Pacific. Antitrust watchdogs, which have tried to block deals with JetBlue and other airlines, may focus on whether the partnership unfairly reduces competition in areas like Hawaii.

Spotify is laying off another 1,500 employees. The job cuts, which represent nearly a fifth of its workforce, are the streaming giant’s third and largest round this year. It’s Spotify’s latest attempt to cut costs and make money more consistently, as investors push streaming services to prioritize profitability over growth.

China Evergrande gets a lifeline. The bankrupt Chinese property developer was given a two-month extension to work out a deal with foreign investors, narrowly avoiding a widely expected liquidation. It could only be a short reprieve, however, as Evergrande still faces the challenge of resolving $300 billion in defaulted debt.

How close is too close?

The return of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI after his drama-filled departure ended with a shake-up of the startup’s corporate board. One of those changes was the appointment of interim directors – at Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, which provides a non-voting observer role on the board. But some antitrust experts say this could be problematic.

It’s a matter of competition. The two companies say they are working together, as evidenced by the extent to which Microsoft is integrating OpenAI services into products such as Bing and Office 365. But Microsoft is also developing its own artificial intelligence capabilities; the urgency of these efforts became clear amid the uproar over Altman’s removal and reinstatement, demonstrating the need for the tech giant to leverage in-house capabilities.

With access to the OpenAI board’s deliberations, Microsoft could face increased scrutiny from watchdogs.

This raises questions about how the observer role is structured and what guardrails have been set up. to avoid running afoul of the rules for interlocking directorates or shared directors. According to a broad interpretation, companies could be seen as competitors if they operate independently in the same sector Maurice Stuckeprofessor of law at the University of Tennessee and former senior advisor to the FTC

Regulators may also be concerned about broader issues surrounding the concentration of power in the AI ​​industry. “The evolution of AI will entrench the dominance of a few players,” Stucke told DealBook; government agencies can try to anticipate this.

Elon Musk’s tumultuous relationship with AI

Elon Musk has repeatedly made clear his concerns about artificial intelligence and the dangers it could pose to humanity. (One of the less notable things he said at the DealBook Summit last week was his prediction about how quickly AI might evolve.)

But Musk has also been deeply invested in AI for years and has sometimes even been an advocate for faster technological progress in this area. In a comprehensive investigation into the beginnings of today’s AI arms race, The Times looks at how he came to invest in DeepMind, a research lab later acquired by Google, after meeting its co-founder, Demis Hassabis, at a conference. organized by tech investor Peter Thiel:

Dr. Hassabis arranged a tour of SpaceX headquarters. Then, with the rocket fuselages hanging from the ceiling, the two men had lunch in the cafeteria and talked.

Mr. Musk explained that his plan was to colonize Mars to escape overpopulation and other dangers on Earth. Dr. Hassabis replied that the plan would work – as long as super-intelligent machines did not follow and destroy humanity on Mars.

Mr Musk was speechless. He hadn’t thought of that particular danger. Mr. Musk soon invested in DeepMind with Mr. Thiel so he could get closer to creating this technology.

The Times also reports that Musk left OpenAI after trying to wrest control of the operation to help commercialize products faster. When an OpenAI employee told him his plans were foolhardy, the billionaire called him a “son of a bitch.”

The coming week

The jobs report and a little bit of profit will be in the spotlight this week. Here’s what you need to check out.

Tomorrow: The health of the auto market will be key, with AutoZone and Nio, the Chinese electric vehicle maker, set to deliver.

Wednesday: Earnings reports are emerging from GameStop and C3.ai, with the latter’s shares up about 175 percent this year amid investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.

Thursday: Lululemon and Dollar General report results.

Friday: It’s the jobs report. Economists estimate that employers added roughly 200,000 jobs last month, which would leave the unemployment rate unchanged at 3.9 percent. Market watchers will pay particular attention to wage increases and revisions to previous months’ data to get an indication of whether the labor market is cooling, or if October’s tepid report was just a fluke.

READING THE SPEED

Offers

• Roche agreed pay up to $3.1 billion for Carmot Therapeutics, as drug makers rush to get their hands on a new class of weight-loss drugs. (Bloomberg)

• The proposed sale of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and others associated with the Sands Corporation underscores the growing ties between professional sports teams and gambling giants. (NYT)

• AI startup CoreWeave has secured a fundraising round from investors including Fidelity and State Street, reportedly at a valuation of $7 billion. (Bloomberg)

Policy

The best of the rest

• The life and untimely death of a Disney executive changed self-help influencer. (WSJ)

• HBO is developing a movie about it George Santos, the recently ousted New York congressman accused of ethics violations, will be overseen by Frank Rich, the former Times columnist and executive producer of “Veep” and “Succession.” (Deadline)

• How to grow older disrupts the “sleep architecture” and makes a good night’s sleep more elusive as we get older. (Salon)

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