GPT Pulse

Friday, Sept 26th, 2025

World News — UAE Strikes Trade Deal With Canada

The United Arab Emirates is pursuing a trade partnership with Canada that would double bilateral trade to C$7 billion from about C$3.5 billion, according to Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, who spoke at a conference in Calgary. The initiative is part of the UAE’s broader effort to expand ties beyond oil, having signed more than two dozen partnership agreements worldwide. While Canada seeks to diversify exports away from heavy reliance on the U.S., the UAE hopes Canadian investment in agritech and agribusiness can support its goal of reducing food import dependence to 60% from 90%. Bilateral trade has been growing, with Canadian exports to the UAE rising 24% last year to C$2.6 billion, and the Gulf state already owns stakes in Canadian energy through Taqa North Ltd. and Nova Chemicals.

Tech — ChatGPT Pulse

Bloomberg

OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Pulse, a new feature that delivers personalized daily briefings to users based on their previous conversations and stated preferences, marking a shift toward a more proactive chatbot experience. Starting with select paid customers, including Pro users at $200 per month, the tool provides five to 10 visual cards each day with updates tailored to interests such as news, research, and lifestyle suggestions, potentially pulling data from linked apps like Gmail and Google Calendar. Designed to fit seamlessly into users’ routines without monopolizing attention, Pulse reflects OpenAI’s push to embed ChatGPT more deeply into everyday life while positioning it as a competitor to personalized news services from Google and others.

Business — More Troubles at Starbucks

FT

Starbucks will shut hundreds of stores, including its Seattle headquarters café and a flagship Reserve Roastery, while cutting 900 additional office jobs as part of a turnaround plan to address weak performance, the company announced Thursday. The closures and layoffs, which follow six straight quarters of declining same-store sales, will cost about $1 billion in severance and lease exits. CEO Brian Niccol, who has sought to improve service and update store design since taking charge a year ago, said locations unable to meet customer expectations or achieve financial targets would close, leaving the chain with roughly 18,300 North American outlets at month’s end, down from 18,734 in June. While offering transfers or severance to baristas, Starbucks faces high annual staff turnover and strong competition from lower-cost and drive-through rivals like Dutch Bros and 7 Brew. Shares of the coffee giant are down about 12% over the past year despite ongoing efforts to stabilize growth.

The Daily Spark

IMF data for global central bank FX reserves shows that the share of euros in global FX reserves is not going up and remains low at 20%, see chart below.

Quote of the Day

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”

― Martin Luther King Jr.