NEWS ECONOMY - German government plans cooperation with US chip manufacturer Nvidia +++ Inflation in the Euro

German government plans cooperation with US chip manufacturer Nvidia +++ Inflation in the Eurozone rises due to energy costs The latest news. High investments in AI planned – Friedrich Merz wants to cooperate with chip manufacturer Nvidia (dpa) The German government plans a cooperation with the American chip manufacturer Nvidia. A corresponding report was confirmed in government circles on Friday (October 16th) by the "Handelsblatt". This concerns the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in industry. According to the "Handelsblatt", German companies such as Siemens also want to participate in a project. An investment summit with numerous investors from inside and outside the country will take place in Berlin on Monday and Tuesday. The government's goal is to have more private investments in Germany. To start on Monday evening with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also expected. Then the cooperation between the government and Nvidia could be announced. According to the "Handelsblatt", the project concerns the use of "physical AI". Under "physical AI", Nvidia understands artificial intelligence that interacts with the real world – such as robots, self-driving cars, and technology in automated industrial facilities. A typical example of the group is humanoid robots that, with sensors like cameras, perceive their surroundings, analyze them with AI, and perform assigned tasks based on this. Furthermore, according to the "Handelsblatt", powerful AI models for the factories of the future are to be developed. The Merz government is ready to invest a three-digit million amount. Nvidia is the central engine of the AI boom with its data center products. The company produces the key technologies for training large AI language models as well as operating them with chips and chip systems. High energy prices are pushing inflation in the Eurozone upwards (dpa) Inflation in the Eurozone has risen to the highest level in three years due to high energy prices. In comparison to the previous year, consumer prices rose by 3.8 percent in September, as reported by the statistical office Eurostat in Luxembourg on Friday (October 16th). This is the highest inflation rate in the countries with the Euro since September 2023. In August, the inflation rate was 3.2 percent and in July 2.9 percent. Thus, the increase is getting stronger above the target of two percent pursued by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the medium term, where the ECB considers price stability to be guaranteed. Recently, the central bank raised the key interest rates in September due to the increased inflation. The deposit rate, important for banks and savers, rose by 0.25 percentage points to 2.50 percent. Energy was a strong price driver. In September, the rise in energy prices accelerated again. Eurostat reports a plus of 18.9 percent in comparison to the previous year. The background is the consequences of the war between Iran and the USA with a hindrance of oil transport from the producing areas in the Persian Gulf. A sustainable opening of the Strait of Hormuz is still not in sight. The core rate of inflation, excluding particularly volatile components such as energy and food, rose only from 2.4 to 2.5 percent in the previous month. In Germany, the inflation rate according to the European Consumer Price Index HVPI also rose significantly in September to 3.3 percent. Prices rose particularly strongly in Spain, where the rate increased to 5.0 percent. In Italy, it climbed to 4.2 percent, and in France to 3.4 percent. The streaming service Netflix is apparently shedding six percent of its jobs (Reuters) Netflix is shedding around six percent of its jobs; apparently, about a thousand employees are affected by the largest job cut in the streaming service's history. This comes from an internal announcement from Wednesday (October 14th), which is available to the news agency Reuters and other media. According to the announcement, the product, technology, legal, and personnel departments are particularly affected. Netflix justifies the cut according to the reports by saying that it wants to concentrate on the most important business areas. The business is still strong and growing, explained co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos in the announcement. The group is sticking to its annual forecast. However, Netflix is increasingly under competitive pressure. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok attract viewers with free content. In addition, investors doubt whether the streaming service can maintain its previous growth. Therefore, Netflix is trying to open up new sources of revenue through advertising, live broadcasts, and video games. At the beginning of the year, an attempt to acquire parts of Warner Bros. Discovery failed. Already in 2022, Netflix reduced about 450 jobs following a decline in subscriber numbers. Lufthansa acquires around 45 percent of Portuguese airline (dpa) Lufthansa is acquiring 44.9 percent of the Portuguese airline Tap. The government in Lisbon chose the German group as the preferred buyer. Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced this on Wednesday (October 14th). Lufthansa offered 1.2 billion euros and thus prevailed over Air France-KLM. The Portuguese state retains the majority stake in Tap, up to five percent of the shares are allocated for the employees. Due to outstanding approvals, the completion of the deal is expected only in 2028. Lufthansa wants to expand the business of Tap in Brazil and strengthen the airport of Lisbon as a hub. The Portuguese airline has more than one hundred aircraft and employs around 9400 employees. It plays a particularly important role in air travel between Europe and South America. Tap is under economic pressure: in the first half of 2026, the airline recorded a net loss of 99.2 million euros after four years. Operating revenues nevertheless increased by 4.3 percent to around 2 billion euros. Swiss beauty company Galderma buys US company ZO Skin Health jsc. The Swiss dermatology group Galderma is acquiring the company ZO Skin Health from the USA for 1.5 billion dollars, as Galderma announced on Wednesday (October 14th). With this, the group based in Zug is massively expanding its market position in the USA. Galderma is one of the world's leading dermatology companies and is known for anti-aging products. The company employs around 7600 employees worldwide. ZO Skin Health has around 700 employees. Dating app Bumble sold for 1.3 billion dollars (dpa) The dating app Bumble was sold for 1.3 billion dollars. The buyer of the app is the investment firm Ithaca Holdings, as Bumble announced on Wednesday (October 14th). It will take the company through a stock market takeover. The price of approximately 1.16 billion euros is also a fraction of the former stock market value – and a significant premium to the current prices. Bumble and competitors like Tinder are struggling because interest in online dating has declined, especially among younger users. At the IPO in early 2021, Bumble still had a market value of around fourteen billion dollars. Last week, the company was worth around 340 million dollars. FBI investigates Open AI employees after discovery of listening device (dpa) An employee of the ChatGPT developer OpenAI is suspected of having placed a listening device in a conference room at the company where business secrets are often discussed. The 35-year-old Saudi citizen was arrested, as the AI company and the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday (October 14th). The FBI is investigating the case. The recording device discovered two weeks ago was reportedly placed in the conference room in San Francisco about two days earlier. It was inserted into the USB port of a television, wrapped in toilet paper. The arrested employee was filmed by security cameras near the conference room by the Department of Justice at the end of September, to which he actually had no access. The investigators also published a picture showing how he later tried to look behind the television. According to the Department of Justice, inquiries were made through a chatbot account belonging to the Open AI employee's wife regarding recording devices. The employee was threatened with up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 250,000 euros if convicted. The US intelligence coordinator Jay Clayton said the case shows how important it is for the national security of the USA to win the race in the development of artificial intelligence.