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Worldwide business developments today featured a pair of major stories: a boost for British AI ambitions and a significant increase in global trade tensions.

Google DeepMind's Automated Research Laboratory

Google DeepMind has announced plans to build its inaugural “robotic research facility” in the United Kingdom. This decision is seen as a boost to the nation's AI goals.

The lab will be mainly dedicated to advanced materials research. It will employ “advanced robotics” to synthesize and characterize many hundreds of substances each day. The main aim is to significantly shorten the timeframe for identifying transformative new materials.

The organization stated that the lab, set to be built in 2026, will “help turbocharge research breakthroughs”. They elaborated:

Identifying new materials is a vital endeavors in science, offering the potential to reduce costs and unlock entirely new innovations.

To illustrate, superconductors that function at room temperature and pressure could enable affordable diagnostic scans and minimize power loss in electrical grids. Other novel materials could help us tackle critical energy challenges by unlocking advanced batteries, next-generation solar cells and more efficient semiconductors.

The lab is part of a broader collaboration with the British government. As part of the deal, British researchers will get early access to a suite of cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools for scientific research.

Mexico's Tariff Move

In another development, international trade tensions intensified further after the Mexican legislature approved tariff hikes of as high as 50% next year on goods from the People's Republic of China and several other Asian countries.

The new levies are designed to protect domestic industry. They will apply new duties of up to 50 percent from next year on certain products such as automobiles, auto parts, textiles, clothing, plastic goods and steel.

The measures will affect goods from countries that lack trade deals with the country, including China, India, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Most of products will see duties of up to thirty-five percent.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry has criticised the move, calling on Mexico to correct “one-sided, protectionist measures” as soon as possible.

Other Market News

Russia's energy export earnings reached their lowest level since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022. A global energy watchdog reported that exports declined again in November due to reduced shipments and weaker prices.

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 0%. The bank pointed to inflation that was slightly lower than expected, but added that medium-term inflationary pressure remained largely the same.

The AI sector experienced pressure following weaker-than-expected earnings from the software giant Oracle. The company's shares slid in extended dealing after it missed revenue and profit expectations and raised its expenditure forecast for AI data centers. The news raised concerns about the profitability of substantial spending on AI.