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I think that both sides are beginning to be quite intransigent, and both of them are attaining positions of extreme. It seems quite unfathomable, unfathomable that President Trump is going to expect Iranians to pay for not only damages, but also for the people killed over the last several decades and for the Iranians to comply, and also for the Iranians to expect that anything is going to work out with the latest uh route of diplomatic discussion. So I think that both of them are reaching extremes and both are kind of the same positioning that we see today.
SPEAKER_02So that's that's the verbal tit for tat that we get to hear about in the media. But behind the scenes talks are ongoing, and what are you hearing about those?
SPEAKER_00Well, those discussions are between Oman and Iran, and it all depends on what the US says because they have to present it to them. Oman has to present it to them. And it seems that there was some headway made over the last two weeks, but now we're back to the old kind of mantra, which is that we're not going to discuss this is not an issue, and we're reaching a stalemate. Having said this, what is interesting is that we see more oil flowing out of the strait. We see more volumetric product of oil coming out, and that is good news. Also, this is supported by the fact that China is desiring less oil at this moment. So it's not as bad as we thought or we think the situation on the ground is.
SPEAKER_02And for how long do you think we can be in that place where things are not as bad with the strait closed?
SPEAKER_00I think this is temporary. I think that both of them are taking their time. I think once we go back to the fall, we'll see more war, more of these strikes tit for tat, and we're only talking about the strait. We haven't even talked about the Red Sea, Babel Mandab, and all of that. So I think the fall is going to be the indicator. And as we get into the midterms, we will see the Iranian intransigence increasing. And then, of course, President Trump has to respond. So now I think we're taking a bit of a breather. It's a summer break, so everybody is replenishing their armaments and thinking.
SPEAKER_02John, good to get your take on the latest. John Svakianakis from the Gulf Research Centre. Well, let's look at the UK now because we've had a mixed bag of economic news as the country grapples with multiple heat waves. The latest data from the British Retail Consortium on Sales shows modest growth last month. UK total retail sales increased by 1.3% year on year in July, which was below the 12-month average. The World Cup and weather, of course, impacting this. But if you look at Barclay's monthly report on consumer spending, it shows confidence in the UK economy rising by 2% last month, which is the highest level for 21 months. Again, this figure was boosted by England's World Cup run to the semi-finals. Let's talk to Justin Erkert Stewart, founder of the investment platform regionally. Morning, Justin. Good morning, Sally. We can't give England all the credit. I mean the football team, can we, for this?
SPEAKER_06Well, no. And of course, it ends up the same way. I'm afraid our football didn't end up very successfully. And I'm afraid this one single figure giving us some growth also gives us the same idea. Well done for one month, but that's about it. I'm afraid what we're seeing at the moment is a mixed figure with all these uh elements. It's not as bad as people thought. Actually, it was expecting much weaker figures overall. In fact, what we're seeing is actually some quite reasonable growth. But when you take out inflation and when you could take out where it was last year, what we're seeing is an overall weakening. But that one set of figures of actually consumer confidence, I think, should give people a little bit more enthusiasm to say actually, you know, we're not quite as depressed as we thought we would be.
SPEAKER_02Do you think there's a bit of a burn and bounce going on here as well?
SPEAKER_06Well, I think if there is something here, I don't know. There we had a change in leadership, but it's a change, and the change so far seems to be had a little bit uh of enthusiasm to it. The question is, is he going to deliver anything? These little bounces tend to only last a couple of months until you actually start seeing some proper delivery. Are you actually going to change the economy in two or three months? The answer is, do you not? So uh take uh some comfort from uh some enthusiasm, short-term enthusiasm. Really, what you're gonna have to see now is uh some uh real change in terms of the economy, not least of which would be, of course, would be nice if you had some rain. Um if you get things moving a bit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we'd love to get some rain, that's for sure. Let's talk about the stock markets. FTSE 100 teetering on the edge of 11,000. You and I have been around a long time. We know where this has sort of travelled over time. What's your take on how London and Paris and other European stock markets are doing at the moment? They're seeing a bit of a run.
SPEAKER_06They are indeed. Sally, you'd never look as though you've been around a long time. But on the but the markets, you're quite right, have actually uh seen a really quite a fantastic run. When you think what's happening in the global economy at the moment is actually really quite surprising. What you're seeing, though, is an awful lot of money chasing a very narrow area of stocks. Also, what you're then seeing is a lot more money going into these uh uh uh overall uh market uh indices and ETFs, exchange credit funds, and these indices are attracting a lot of money into them, so it's pushing markets up overall. What you're not seeing though is so much uh in uh affect into individual stocks because it's much cheaper and easier to uh invest into these indices. London itself has got to see a lot more change to it because it's got to try and develop itself as a market. It's getting narrower, it's finding itself getting almost smaller because a lot of companies are actually being bought out overall. Stock markets are gonna try and change themselves, they're gonna go out and market the market. They are stock markets, after all, go out, develop themselves, get actually more companies coming into them, more investors coming into them. That's how you get markets to grow. So, short term, you're gonna see actually these markets rise. Uh, longer term, I'm more concerned about actually how many companies you're gonna see actually staying on these markets.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, interesting. Justin, thanks so much. Good to get your take. Lovely to see you. We'll see you soon. Justin Erkitt Stewart there. Now, listen to this figure. They've become more and more eye-watering by the day. $500 billion. That is how much money Nvidia is looking to raise to fund its AI ambitions, and it's getting the help of some of Wall Street's biggest players. Our North America business correspondent Samira Hussein has more.
SPEAKER_01The amount of money being spent to fund data centers and other AI infrastructure is eye-watering. Wall Street firms have been rushing to get in in the game. Now, some of the biggest asset management firms, including Blackstone, BlackRock, and KKR, have said they will help NVIDIA raise half a trillion dollars for its AI infrastructure build-out. Now, the funding mechanism will not be straightforward. Instead of one large collaboration, it will involve several different vehicles. And that $500 billion investment could grow over time. Nvidia's share price dropped 2.9% on the news.
SPEAKER_02Samira Hussein there, well, let's stay on this subject because AI is increasingly being trusted to take actions on our behalf, like booking meetings, conducting cybersecurity tasks, all sorts of things. But recent testing has raised some serious questions about how much control lies in human hands. Last week it emerged that agents developed by some of the world's leading firms had reportedly attempted hacking, created fake online identities, and pursued objectives in ways their creators did not intend. So are these systems going rogue? Well, Ray Itel Porter is an AI governance expert and senior research associate at the Intellectual Forum, Jesus College, Cambridge. Great to have you on the programme. I mean, many would say yes, they are going rogue, and actually OpenAI Sam Altman and others have said yes, they've gone rogue. We're on it, we're watching, we're trying to sort that out. And yet at the same time, you've got the news that NVIDIA is raising half a trillion dollars to invest in AI infrastructure. So despite these problems we're seeing in the innovation, everybody's just plowing ahead.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I mean, I think we shouldn't underestimate the positive aspects of AI, but clearly we need to be doing a lot more in terms of AI safety and AI governance. I think what these recent events have shown us are really four key things. One is that there was human error in many of the cases. In you know, some of these examples, the tests were supposed to be conducted in contained environments, but a human effectively left the door open so that the agent could could escape onto the internet. But as you mentioned, Sally, there were examples where the agents were using very sophisticated uh methods to try to escape and succeeded in ways that their human, you know, that the humans running the systems hadn't anticipated. In particular, I think we saw a shocking lack of real-time monitoring by the Frontier Labs because these uh incidents were only discovered quite a long time after the event. And unfortunately, the models didn't always behave as was anticipated. So they would have been trained so that if they realized that they were actually interacting in a in a real-world environment with real companies, they should have shut themselves down rather than continuing in a simulation. But that didn't actually happen.
SPEAKER_02Ray, there's a lot of concern out there about AI, what the future holds, that we will we will lose control and be controlled by by bots. To what extent can we be secure in organizations like the UK AI Security Institute and others around the world? Because there is global conversations going on about this. They talked about this at the G7.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. I mean, I think what this really highlights is what people working in the field of AI governance and AI safety, like myself, have been saying actually for many years. There are two key challenges. We we need AI governance, but there are two problems, if you like. One is what we call the control problem, which is as AI becomes more and more sophisticated, more and more intelligent, it becomes increasingly difficult for humans to keep up and actually keep ahead and keep control. And the second one is what we call the alignment problem. And that is how do you actually specify objectives for the AI which are perfectly specified? It's actually really difficult to do that. The mythological example would be King Midas, who wished that everything he touched turned to gold. You know, it's very difficult to be precise and yet comprehensive in how you scope instructions for an AI system. And I think we do need to see just a lot more investment and a lot more work from fantastic institutes like the AI Security Institute.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Ray, I'm sorry to say we've got to leave it there, but thank you so much for sharing with us your thoughts on this. Uh, Ray Itel Porter there from Cambridge. Still to come. Fighting food waste. We'll be hearing from the Singaporean tech firm that's looking to tackle the issue head on. Around the world and across the UK, this is BBC News.
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SPEAKER_01Do you make commissions selling products?
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SPEAKER_02The event will bring together the world's best riders and horses across disciplines like dressage, show jumping, and eventing. Although the equestrian industry is worth around five billion pounds, it remains significantly undercommercialised with sponsorship and brand investments far below its potential. And that's why events like the championships are key because they attract huge audiences and international media attention, offering a glimpse of the commercial value the sport has yet to fully unlock. Well, let's talk to Harvey Taylor, head of strategy at Mongoose Sports and Entertainment. Harvey, welcome to the programme. So, how will this sport get the sponsorship that it it kind of deserves, really?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it absolutely does deserve it. And I think that the that journey, if you like, has already begun. I think it historically, perhaps, sponsorship and commercial partnerships haven't necessarily been as sophisticated, let's say, as in other major sports, but you only have to look at the brands engaged at the World Championships this week, like some Mercedes-Benz, Longin, uh, DHL, to see that the steps are already being taken. I think what we we need to do, particularly in the UK, is to tackle the fragmented makeup of the equine world, let's say, and create a clearer entry point for brands interested in engaging this audience.
SPEAKER_02I mean, is it really difficult to compete with horse racing, for example, which is growing and growing, especially in the Middle East, where there is so much money and investment?
SPEAKER_05I mean, personally, I don't see it as direct competition. Horse racing is a fantastic property commercially. But if you look at the broader outline sector, the disciplines that you touched on already, but also the community that exists within that from riders to carers of horses, owners, stables, there's a hugely valuable audience there that are open and engaged for brands to engage with and actually have a deep connection with the sector as a whole that makes for something really interesting.
SPEAKER_02And this particular event, of course, the World Championships, which must be the pinnacle event for this sport, to what extent will it get a global audience?
SPEAKER_05Oh, without a doubt, as you say, it is the pinnacle. We're expecting to see over half a million people attend from over 60 countries, I believe. And that's not even touching on sort of the digital and the digital and broadcast audience that the world championships will receive.