2024-03-13 19:01

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Wednesday investigators still do not know who worked on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug involved in a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines midair emergency and that video footage was overwritten. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a letter to senators that investigators sought security camera footage when the door plug was opened and closed in September but were informed the material was overwritten. "The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward," Homendy said. "To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft." The NTSB said previously four key bolts were missing from the door plug that blew out on the plane. Last week, Homendy said she spoke to Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab CEO David Calhoun "and asked for the names of the people who performed the work. He stated he was unable to provide that information and maintained that Boeing has no records of the work being performed." Boeing said it "will continue supporting this investigation in the transparent and proactive fashion we have supported all regulatory inquiries into this accident. We have worked hard to honor the rules about the release of investigative information." A Boeing official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the planemaker standard practice is to overwrite security videos after 30 days but declined to answer additional questions. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the midair emergency. On Friday, Boeing said it believes required documents detailing the door plug removal were never created, adding its working hypothesis was "the documents required by our processes were not created when the door plug was opened." Homendy last week criticized what she called Boeing's lack of cooperation and failure to disclose some documents, including on the door plug opening and closing, as well as the names of 25 workers on the door crew at the 737 factory in Renton, Washington. After Homendy's comments, Boeing provided the 25 names. In the aftermath of the incident the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the MAX 9 for several weeks, barred Boeing from increasing MAX production and ordered the company to address "systemic quality-control issues" within 90 days after an audit found fault with Boeing's manufacturing processes. Separately, the NTSB wrote Boeing on Wednesday reminding them they face restrictions on information they can release publicly as a party to the investigation. "Releasing investigative information without context is misleading to Congress and the public and undermines both the investigation and the integrity of the NTSB," the agency wrote. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/ntsb-says-video-footage-boeing-737-max-9-door-plug-removal-overwritten-2024-03-13/

2024-03-13 17:35

March 13 (Reuters) - Nvidia-backed Together AI said on Wednesday it has raised $106 million in a new funding round, doubling its valuation since last fall as investors rushed to back startups capitalizing on the generative AI boom. Led by Salesforce Ventures (CRM.N) , opens new tab, the funding valued Together AI at $1.25 billion. Other investors in the round included Coatue Management and existing investors such as Lux Capital and Emergence Capital. Founded in 2022, Together AI quickly gained popularity as it offers access to Nvidia's sought-after graphics processing units (GPUs). Now it's trying to expand to a platform that helps developers to build or customize their open source AI models. Customers "come for the GPUs, but stay for the workflow services and research," said Rob Keith, managing director at Salesforce Ventures who led the investment. The new funding will be used to lease more computing power from cloud providers and for hiring researchers to build new model architecture, according to Vipul Ved Prakash, CEO at Together AI, who added the startup now has 45,000 registered users from AI startups and multinational enterprises. "We are really becoming one of the default places if you want to use open models or customized models, and deploy them for large scale applications," said Prakash. Together AI in November raised $102.5 million in a series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins at over $500 million, with participation from Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab. Investments in AI startups have accelerated since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT, as investors bet on firms that can benefit from the adoption of the technology and might challenge industry leaders. The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/together-ai-valued-125-bln-salesforce-led-funding-round-2024-03-13/

2024-03-13 16:42

BUENOS AIRES, March 13 (Reuters) - Argentina's central bank purchases of foreign currency since libertarian President Javier Milei took office in December are set to top $10 billion on Wednesday, Reuters calculations show, as the government looks to erase a deep net reserves deficit. The milestone in just three months underscores how Milei, an outsider economist, is making stabilizing public finances his priority, helping the country beat reserve accumulation targets with major lender the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "It's an encouraging data point in terms of managing international reserves," said consulting firm EcoGo. "The IMF's reserve accumulation goal has already been met for March and is only $2 billion away from December's target." The central bank has bought dollars almost every trading day - aside from two days selling - since Milei's Dec. 10 inauguration, with purchases accelerating in March. Net reserves overall still remain in negative territory around -$1.5 billion. That accumulation has also come amid a tough austerity and cost-cutting drive by Milei, which has dampened economic activity, growth and production, weighing on demand for dollars from companies and individuals. Inflation is also over 275%. "The deepening of the recession and inflation promotes sales of foreign currency hoarded by companies and individuals," said consulting firm GMA Research, adding this was helping spur the central bank build-up of hard currency. Milei recorded a shock election win last year pledging a major overhaul of Argentina's economy after years of crises, which he has blamed on regular deep fiscal deficits from over-spending by the state. He has pledged a "zero" fiscal deficit this year. The build-up of dollars is also important to his longer-term goal to remove currency controls and eventually dollarize the economy, though that still remains some way off. "Beyond the positive aspect of the accumulation of reserves, I don't believe the controls will be lifted yet as they need to wait and see how the central bank's balance sheet keeps improving," said Buenos Aires-based economist Gustavo Ber. Mediterranean Foundation said the improvement in reserves and calmer markets had pushed up dollar deposits at banks, which fell last year during election uncertainty. They have climbed to $16.5 billion from $14.1 billion when Milei took office. The government is also hoping the upcoming harvests of soy and corn - Argentina's main exports - will bring in a new wave of foreign currency, though some analysts warned a recent rally of the peso in parallel markets could cause farmers to hold off on sales as they get less local currency for their dollars. "In a worst case scenario, we could get to a point where exporters are tempted to delay exports," said Portfolio Personal Inversiones. "That would play against reserves accumulation." Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/argentinas-fx-reserves-buys-hits-10-bln-under-milei-2024-03-13/

2024-03-13 16:37

MILWAUKEE, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she expects the cost of rental housing - the single largest contributor to inflation - to move lower this year as new leases are signed. In an interview with Fox Business, Yellen said it took a while for changes in rent levels to filter through into the consumer price index, but she expected that to occur this year. "I have every expectation that the single biggest contributor to inflation is going to be moving down over this year," she said. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/yellen-says-expects-rents-biggest-contributor-inflation-move-down-this-year-2024-03-13/

2024-03-13 15:24

March 13 (Reuters) - Binance is working with Nigerian authorities to bring back the senior executives detained last month on undisclosed charges as part of a country-wide crackdown, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange posted on X. "We will continue to work with Nigerian authorities to bring our friends and colleagues home. They are professionals with the highest integrity and we will provide them and their families all the support we can," it said. The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-plans-bring-colleagues-home-even-nigerian-crackdown-grows-2024-03-13/

2024-03-13 14:18

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Sterling steadied on Wednesday, after declines this week, as data showed Britain's economy had returned to growth in January after entering a shallow recession in the second half of 2023. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2% month-on-month - boosted by a rebound in retailing and house-building - after a fall of 0.1% in December, in line with economists' expectations in a Reuters poll. GDP shrank by 0.3% in the final quarter of 2023 and 0.1% in the quarter before - meeting the technical definition of recession widely used in Europe. "This (latest GDP) data suggests that the UK economy merely dipped its toe into recession, and is quickly returning back to growth, although it is still fairly lacklustre at this stage," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. "This GDP report has not shifted the dial for UK rate cuts, after rate cuts were pushed forward on the back of the UK labour market data." Money markets now see a 50% chance of a BoE rate cut in June. Last week they had expected a first cut only in August. Markets expect 68 basis points of interest cuts by December. Labour figures on Tuesday showed British wages excluding bonuses grew at their slowest pace since October 2022, while the unemployment rate edged up unexpectedly. The data may slightly ease the BoE's inflation worries. Sterling was last flat against the dollar at $1.2788, but it is already set for its biggest weekly decline since early December after sharp declines earlier this week. Last week, it climbed to its highest since July. Against the euro , sterling was 0.1% lower at 85.52 pence. "Admittedly, the recession is expected to be shallow and institutions have been warning for a while that the UK economy would likely be weak, which may therefore already be priced in," said Stuart Bennett, head of G-10 FX Strategy at Santander CIB. The GDP data offered some relief to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an election expected this year. Get a look at the day ahead in European and global markets with the Morning Bid Europe newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/sterling-steadies-uk-economy-returns-modest-growth-2024-03-13/