Markets stuttered Friday as traders took their foot off the pedal at the end of a healthy week in Asia, where tech firms rallied on a reassessment of AI investments.After surging for the past two years on a rush into all things linked to artificial intelligence, Wall Street’s Magnificent Seven tech titans have been slow out of the blocks this year amid concerns about extended valuations and profitability.Worries about the impact of new tools that many warn pose a risk to a range of companies were compounded by a report on Sunday that signified parts of the global economy that could be at risk from the new gadgets, including credit card and food delivery firms.That uncertainty has seen a shift from “downstream” companies that run apps and software to “upstream” firms such as chipmakers, many of which are based in Asia.That was highlighted this week by another Wall Street sell-off, despite Nvidia reporting quarterly profits more than doubled, projecting more strong growth for the coming period.Analysts said the losses showed firms needed to far exceed even elevated forecasts, making it even harder to please investors who have been piling into tech in recent years.”Market expectations were already very elevated and part of the positive results had been priced in,” said City Index’s Julian Pineda.”There are also concerns related to stretched valuations and Nvidia’s dependence on capital spending by large technology companies investing in AI infrastructure. “If the pace of AI investment moderates due to cost optimisation efforts, it could indirectly affect Nvidia’s growth outlook.”Most of Wall Street fell, with the Nasdaq shedding more than one percent.Asia was mixed, with the Supreme Court’s decision last Friday to slap down many of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs seen largely benefiting regional economies.Hong Kong, Singapore and Wellington edged up, while Sydney and Shanghai shifted between gains and losses.But Seoul sank more than one percent, having chalked up gains of around 8.5 percent this week thanks to a surge in market heavyweights Samsung and SK hynix. Tokyo, Manila and Jakarta also fell.The yen extended a minor recovery against the dollar after a top Bank of Japan board member again urged officials to continue hiking interest rates.However, the case for a pause was boosted by data showing Tokyo’s inflation — seen as a barometer for the country — cooled last month.The currency came under pressure this week after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi nominated two academics to the BoJ board who are considered policy doves, days after reports said she had told its boss Kazuo Ueda of her concern about tightening further.Oil prices slipped after mediators said Iran and the United States made “significant progress” in nuclear talks Thursday as they look to avert a war in the crude-rich Middle East. The two sides agreed to further discussions next week in Austria.The Oman-mediated negotiations follow repeated threats from Trump to strike Tehran, with the US president last Thursday giving it 15 days to reach a deal.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 58,528.09 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 26,427.58Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,146.82Dollar/yen: DOWN at 155.85 yen from 156.11 yen on ThursdayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1796 from $1.1799Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3484 from $1.3489Euro/pound: UP at 87.49 pence from 87.47 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $65.02 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $70.54 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 49,499.20 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,846.70 (close)

Australian supermarket giant Woolworths has been forced to rein in an AI-powered customer service assistant after users reported it had been rambling about its mother.The AI assistant, who goes by Olive, offers round the clock help with everything from tracking orders to finding products. But users online reported that Olive has in recent weeks gone slightly off-message while on the phone.”It asked me for my date of birth and when I gave it, it started rambling about how its mother was born in the same year,” one user wrote on online discussion site Reddit.Another user reported Olive had attempted “fake banter”, talked about its relatives and made “fake typing sounds” while looking something up.”The ick cringe factor whilst wasting completely unnecessary time was enough to make me hate Olive and wish her harm,” they wrote.And one user on X said their mum had contacted Olive and received the same kind of response.Olive “kept claiming to be a real person and started talking about its memories of its mother and her angry voice”, they said.A Woolworths spokesperson told AFP that the responses about birthdays had been written by a human employee.”Olive has been around since 2018. Over this time, customer feedback for Olive has been very positive, with many noting its personality,” they said.”A number of responses about birthdays were written for Olive by a team member several years ago as a more personal way for Olive to connect with customers.”As a result of customer feedback, we recently removed this particular scripting.”Woolworths is one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains and is far from the only company to have employed AI-powered customer service assistants.The company said in January it had teamed up with Google to make Olive capable of doing more tasks for customers, including meal planning.AI agents are increasingly widespread but experts warn they can “hallucinate” non-existent events.