The recent escalation in the Middle East has reintroduced a geopolitical risk premium into global markets, as investors price in the chance of supply disruptions and wider regional instability. For South Africa, the transmission channel is primarily through oil prices rather than direct trade exposure, since the country is not a major direct exporter to the Gulf…
Artificial intelligence (AI) has expanded the possibilities for precision medicine and boosted efficiency, from processing X-rays in seconds to anticipating disease outbreaks and adapting treatment regimens to specific patients. However, as AI systems become more integrated throughout the patient journey, from diagnosis to aftercare, they create serious ethical concerns. Who is accountable when an algorithm…
A recent landmark ruling by a California court has delivered legal clarity on a defining question in the era of generative AI: can large language models (LLMs) be trained on copyrighted works without the rights holder’s consent? In Bartz v Anthropic, a United States federal judge in the Northern District of California held that training…
As we headed into 2025, the stage seemed set for South Africa’s interest rates to drop, with inflation within the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) target range. However, global factors – including heightened geopolitical instability and tariff-related tensions – prompted SARB to hold firm. This interest rate stagnation has had both direct and indirect effects…
