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The National
an hour ago
- The National
US dollar will remain king, Trump says
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US dollar will retain its status as the world's reserve currency despite its decline this year. The US dollar, to which most Gulf currencies are pegged, has been the world's reserve currency for decades. Recent data from the International Monetary Fund showed that the share of US dollar holdings in foreign allocated reserves was at 57.80 per cent in the fourth quarter last year. The portion of global payments involving the dollar also passed 50 per cent at the start of this year, according to Swift. 'If we lost the standard … that would be like losing a war, a major world war. We would not be the same country any longer. We're not going to let that happen,' Mr Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Mr Trump made the comments after being asked about a previous remark on social media in which he threatened to issue an additional 10 per cent tariff on any country that aligns itself 'with the anti-American policies of Brics". Brics is an intergovernmental organisation comprising emerging market countries that have experienced significant economic growth and play a major role in the world economy. It is named after its founding members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Mr Trump, who maintained the 'the US dollar is king', said others can challenge the currency's status, 'but they're going to have to pay a big price'. 'And I don't think any of them are willing to pay that price,' he said. Mr Trump also repeated his threat to issue additional tariffs on Brics countries. The value of the US dollar has dropped more than 10 per cent this year, its worst sixth-month stretch at the beginning of the year in more than five decades. The dollar's dip comes as Mr Trump has shaken investor confidence with his shifting trade policies, notably through tariffs. Mr Trump this week began sending out so-called trade letters to countries informing them what the US will charge on imports if a deal is not struck by August 1. Mr Trump has also frequently attacked Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates, threatening the central bank's independence that underpins confidence in financial markets. Mr Trump on Tuesday again called for Mr Powell's resignation. Mr Powell has maintained he will serve out the remainder of his term which expires next year. And the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill last week will add trillions of new dollars to the US debt, which has already grown to more than $36 trillion. Foreign investors have responded by selling government bonds and US stocks. One survey from the Bank of America showed that 23 per cent of fund managers now prefer American stocks, compared to 54 per cent for international stocks. The US dollar index was trading 0.03 per cent higher on Tuesday.
Khaleej Times
3 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Welcome to your job interview. Your interviewer is AI
When Jennifer Dunn, 54, landed an interview last month through a recruiting firm for a vice president of marketing job, she looked forward to talking to someone about the role and learning more about the potential employer. Instead, a virtual artificial intelligence recruiter named Alex sent her a text message to schedule the interview. And when Dunn got on the phone at the appointed time for the meeting, Alex was waiting to talk to her. 'Are you a human?' Dunn asked. 'No, I'm not a human,' Alex replied. 'But I'm here to make the interview process smoother.' For the next 20 minutes, Dunn, a marketing professional in San Antonio, answered Alex's questions about her qualifications — though Alex could not answer most of her questions about the job. Even though Alex had a friendly tone, the conversation 'felt hollow,' Dunn said. In the end, she hung up before finishing the interview. You might have thought AI was coming for your job. First it's coming for your job interviewer. Job seekers across the country are starting to encounter faceless voices and avatars backed by AI in their interviews. These autonomous interviewers are part of a wave of artificial intelligence known as 'agentic AI,' where AI agents are directed to act on their own to generate real-time conversations and build on responses. Some aspects of job searches — such as screening resumes and scheduling meetings — have become increasingly automated over time, but the interview had long seemed to be the part of the process that most needed a human touch. Now AI is encroaching upon even that domain, making the often frustrating and ego-busting task of finding a job even more impersonal. Talking to AI interviewers has 'felt very dehumanising,' said Charles Whitley, 22, a recent computer science and mathematics graduate from Santa Clara University who has had two such conversations in the past seven months. In one interview, for a software engineering job, he said, the AI voice tried to seem more human by adding 'ums' and 'uhs.' It came across as 'some horror-movie-type stuff,' Whitley said. Autonomous AI interviewers started taking off last year, according to job hunters, tech companies and recruiters. The trend has partly been driven by tech startups like Ribbon AI, Talently and Apriora, which have developed robot interviewers to help employers talk to more candidates and reduce the load on human recruiters — especially as AI tools have enabled job seekers to generate resumes and cover letters and apply to tons of openings with a few clicks. AI can personalise a job candidate's interview, said Arsham Ghahramani, the CEO and a co-founder of Ribbon AI. His company's AI interviewer, which has a customizable voice and appears on a video call as moving audio waves, asks questions specific to the role to be filled, and builds on information provided by the job seeker, he said. 'It's really paradoxical, but in a lot of ways, this is a much more humanizing experience because we're asking questions that are really tailored to you,' Ghahramani said. Propel Impact, a nonprofit in Vancouver, British Columbia, that teaches young people about financial investing, began using Ribbon AI's interviewer in January. That allowed the organization to screen 500 applicants for a fellowship program it offers, far more than the 150 applicants who were interviewed by people last year, said Cheralyn Chok, Propel Impact's executive director. 'There's no way we would have been able to successfully recruit and set up offers to 300 people to join our program,' she said. Chok said the AI interviews also saved applicants the hassle of doing multiple interviews with outside financial firms to determine their fellowship placements. Instead, Propel Impact sent the recorded AI interviews to those companies. And there was still a human element, she said, since the organization told applicants that they could ask her team questions at any point. Humans cannot ultimately be taken out of the hiring process, said Sam DeMase, a career expert at ZipRecruiter, an online job board. People still need to make the hiring decisions, she said, because AI may contain bias and cannot be trusted to fully evaluate a candidate's experience, skills and fitness for a job. At the same time, more people should expect AI-run interviews, DeMase said. 'Organisations are trying to become more efficient and trying to scale faster, and as a result, they're looking to AI,' she said. That's bad news for people like Emily Robertson-Yeingst, 57, of Centennial, Colorado. In April, she was interviewed by an AI named Eve for a role as vice president of product marketing at a software company. Robertson-Yeingst was required to keep her camera on during the call, with Eve showing up as a little gray box in a corner of the screen. Eve asked Robertson-Yeingst to talk about herself, and then later asked her to 'tell me about a time you had to build a team from scratch,' among more than half a dozen questions. After almost an hour, Robertson-Yeingst asked Eve about next steps in the hiring process. Eve was unable to answer, she said. In the end, Robertson-Yeingst never heard back — from a human or an AI — about the job, which she later saw posted again on LinkedIn. The entire experience left her feeling 'used,' she said. 'It starts to make you wonder, was I just some sort of experiment?' she said. 'Were you just using me to train the AI agent? Or is there even a job?' Others said they liked talking to AI interviewers. James Gu, 21, a college student majoring in business in Calgary, Alberta, spoke to a robot interviewer for a summer analyst position through Propel Impact in February. Being drilled with questions by someone stresses him out, he said, so part of him was relieved not to speak with a person. During the interview, the AI asked Gu to 'tell me more' about his experience running an entrepreneurship club on campus. He said he had felt freer to 'yap' to the AI. 'It felt like it was interested in learning about me,' said Gu, who landed the job. Dunn has had about nine job interviews over the past two months, she said. Only one was with an AI like Alex, she said, for which she was 'grateful.' Given the choice, she never wants to interview with AI again. 'It isn't something that feels real to me,' she said.
Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Bitcoin wavers amid Trump's tariff shock, but bulls eye long-term breakout
Bitcoin slid on Tuesday, reflecting renewed investor caution after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on 14 countries, dampening global risk sentiment. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency, which briefly touched $110,000 last week on upbeat US jobs data, pulled back to hover around $108,000 amid geopolitical and policy uncertainty. Market participants expect choppy trading in the short term, but analysts remain largely optimistic about Bitcoin's long-term trajectory. The tariff decision, which imposes duties of up to 40 per cent on imports from countries including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan, will take effect from August 1. Trump also left the door open for revisions, stating the deadline was 'not 100 per cent firm.' The sudden move added a fresh layer of uncertainty to global financial markets, impacting sentiment across both equities and digital assets. 'Cryptocurrencies thrive on clarity and risk appetite,' said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus. 'With global trade tensions resurfacing, investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach.' He expects Bitcoin to test lower levels around $104,000 in the near term before staging a potential rebound. 'A retracement may flush out bearish sentiment and create conditions for a sharp rally by late July,' Subburaj noted. As of the latest data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was trading at $108,016, down 1.04 per cent over the past 24 hours, with a trading volume of $46.36 billion. Its market capitalisation stood at $2.14 trillion, having moved in a narrow range between $107,500 and $109,200. Edul Patel, co-founder and CEO of crypto investment platform Mudrex, remains bullish on the medium-term outlook. 'The aggregated open interest in Bitcoin futures has climbed by 7 per cent over the past 30 days, marking the first sustained uptick since May. If Bitcoin can close above $110,500, we could see a breakout toward $120,000,' Patel said. He identified $107,100 as the new support level. Crypto markets were generally muted on Tuesday, with major altcoins showing marginal losses. Ethereum (ETH) declined 1.2 per cent to $2,544, while Solana (SOL) slipped 2.05 per cent. Cardano (ADA) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) were down 1.66 per cent and 6.28 per cent respectively. Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.29 per cent, and Ripple (XRP) was largely flat. Stablecoin Tether (USDT) held steady at $0.99, indicating a lack of immediate panic selling. Analysts also point to macroeconomic developments as a factor underpinning demand for Bitcoin. Simon Peters, a crypto analyst at eToro, said, 'The passing of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'— expected to add $3.4 trillion to US federal deficits — could reinforce Bitcoin's appeal as a hedge against currency debasement. Investors are watching for fiscal overspending risks, which tend to strengthen the case for deflationary assets.' Peters added that the expiration of a 90-day tariff pause on July 9 may trigger further market movement depending on the outcome of ongoing trade negotiations. Looking further ahead, global investment bank Standard Chartered has released a bullish price forecast, projecting Bitcoin could reach $135,000 by the end of the third quarter—up 25 per cent from current levels. Geoff Kendrick, head of Digital Asset Research at the bank, said in a recent note, 'Institutional demand via ETFs and corporate treasury allocations has disrupted historical halving-related price patterns. Bitcoin is demonstrating resilience beyond previous market cycles.' Traditionally, Bitcoin's price has experienced post-halving downturns around 18 months after the event. However, Kendrick argues that fresh capital inflows from institutional investors have rewritten the narrative, making a new all-time high more likely in 2025. Investors are also eyeing a crucial legislative week beginning July 14, dubbed 'Crypto Week' on Capitol Hill. US lawmakers are expected to debate at least three major digital asset bills— the Clarity Act, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and the Genius Act. The proposed laws could significantly shape the future of the crypto regulatory landscape in the US and influence global sentiment. Analysts said the broader crypto market has entered a phase of guarded optimism, shaped by evolving geopolitics, regulatory developments, and institutional participation. While short-term volatility remains a concern, the combination of macroeconomic shifts and legislative clarity may pave the way for a more robust and sustained crypto rally in the months ahead, they predicted.
