In less than a week after Deutsche Bank DB and HSBC HSBC partnered with other companies for digital asset custody, Citigroup IncC has now turned to the digital asset space to launch tokenized digital assets using its own wallet and blockchain.
Citi's Token Service will provide cross-border paymentsand liquidity all around the clock.
Read More: Deutsche Bank Joins Crypto Wave: Partners With Taurus For Digital Asset Custody
What Happened: Citigroups Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions launched Citi Token Services for delivering digital asset solutions to institutional clients using blockchain and smart contract technologies. For better cash management and enhancing trade finance capabilities, the service will integrate tokenized deposits and smart contracts into Citis global network.
Citi Token will convert customer deposits into digital tokens which can be transferred anywhere in the world. The client will not have to set up their own digital wallet and will be able to access the service through the banks existing systems. The bank will depend on a private blockchain owned and managed by the bank.
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In the first week of September, JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM was looking at developing a blockchain-based digital deposit token for enhancing international transaction settlements. The bank is likely to introduce this product to corporate clients within 2024.
The Regulated Liability Network: The offering cameamid Citis participation in a month-long test of a Regulated Liability Network wherein a unit of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other global banks also participated. The test will allow banks to simulate issuing digital money representing their customers own funds before settling through central bank reserves on a distributed ledger.
The result led to the finding that the use of digital dollars can improve wholesale payments.
Frictions related to cutoff times and gaps in the service window will be reduced, the global head of digital assets at Citigroups treasury and trade solutions division commented.
Also Read: Third Largest US Bank Citigroup In Layoff Talks After Management Restructure
As a pilot program, Citi served Maersk and a canal authority by digitizing solutions such asbank guarantees and letters of credit. The solution used in the pilot program led to instant payment capabilities to buyers and sellers which reduced transaction processing times from days to minutes.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 7, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is expanding its robotaxi service area and bringing xAI’s Grok to vehicles as it rolled out a new iteration of the artificial intelligence chatbot.
Shares gained about 3%.
Musk said on X that Grok, his AI chatbot that praised Adolf Hitler and posted a barrage of antisemitic comments recently, will be available in Tesla vehicles “next week at the latest.”
xAI officially launched the Grok 4 update overnight as the company continued to face backlash for the vitriol written by the chatbot.
In response to a user post on his social media platform X, Musk said the company is expanding its Austin, Texas robotaxi service area this weekend. He also said Tesla is awaiting regulatory approval for a launch in the Bay Area “probably in a month or two.”
Read more CNBC tech news
The expansion of robotaxi and Grok integration comes at a fraught time for Musk and his empire.
Tesla set its annual shareholder meeting for Nov. 6, a Thursday filing showed. A group of investors recently called on the electric vehicle company to schedule the meeting.
Its last shareholder meeting was in June 2024, as Musk established himself as a major backer of President Donald Trump‘s reelection campaign. Musk later led the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
After stepping down from DOGE at the end of May, Musk has openly feuded with Trump on social media over the major tax bill, with the president suggesting the government look at cutting contracts for Musk’s companies.
Shares have tanked from their post-election high over investor concerns that the public fight could hamper Tesla. Slowing sales and rising competition also stifled some investor appetite.
Tesla shares fell Monday, with the company losing $68 billion in value after Musk continued to blast Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and said he was establishing his own political party, the “America Party.”
The world’s richest man suffered another blow Wednesday when Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of his social media platform X, leaving the role after a turbulent two years for the company.
The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is finally here, and it delivers. Hyundai’s electric sports car is loaded with fun new features, a sleek design (including a massive rear wing), 641 horsepower, and much more.
Meet the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N
After teasing the new model for the first time last month, Hyundai created quite a buzz. Now, we are finally getting our first look at the upgraded high-performance EV.
Hyundai unveiled the new IONIQ 6 N at the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday in West Sussex, England. The upgraded model follows Hyundai’s first high-performance EV, the IONIQ 5 N.
At the event, the company boasted that its new electric sports car marks “a pivotal milestone in Hyundai N’s electrification journey,” adding “Hyundai N is once again redefining the boundaries of high-performance electrification with the debut of the IONIQ 6 N.”
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The IONIQ 6 N delivers an impressive 641 horsepower (478 kW) and 77 Nm of torque, enabling a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint in just 3.2 seconds. Its top speed is about 160 mph (257 km/h).
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)
That’s when using Hyundai’s Launch Control, one of the many performance features the new EV offers. Like its other N models, the IONIQ 6 is based on three pillars: Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability, and, of course, an Everyday Sportscar.
Powered by two electric motors, a 223 hp (166 kW) at the front and another 378 hp (282 kW) motor at the rear, for a combined 600 hp (448 kW).
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)
Redefining the EV driving experience
The upgraded IONIQ 6 “redefines the EV driving experience,” according to Hyundai, thanks to its advanced in-house vehicle control software.
Central to this is Hyundai’s N Active Sound + system, which mimics the feel and sound of a traditional engine. An added N e-Shift simulates shifting gears.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N interior (Source: Hyundai)
And that’s just the start. Other performance features, such as N Drift Optimizer, N Grin Boost, and N Torque Distribution, give you even more control over the vehicle while delivering increased power.
The IONIQ 6 N is powered by an 84 kWh battery, providing a WLTP range of up to 291 miles (469 km). However, EPA figures will be revealed closer to launch. Given the IONIQ 5 N has an EPA-estimated range of up to 221 miles, you can expect it to be slightly higher when it arrives.
With a 350 kW DC fast charger, Hyundai’s new performance EV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes.
With a length of 4,935 mm, a width of 1,940 mm, and a height of 1,495 mm, the IONIQ 6 N is about the size of the Porsche Taycan.
Hyundai will showcase the new high-performance EV during the hillclimb event alongside other models like the IONIQ 5 N, IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec, and IONIQ 6 N with N Performance parts. Hyundai promises each vehicle brings unique capabilities to the event, “guaranteeing a dynamic and thrilling on-track experience for all attendees.” Check back soon for more info.
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric sports car? Would you buy one over the Porsche Taycan? Let us know in the comments.
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Elon Musk said that Tesla owners will “soon” have access to Grok, a large language developed by Musk’s xAI startup, days after the AI started calling itself ‘MechaHitler’.
Yesterday, xAI launched Grok 4, the latest version of its large language model.
The new model is benchmarking very well, but that’s generally the case with the latest model to come out. It edges the latest models from Google and OpenAI on intelligence by a few points, but it falls behind on speed:
At the launch event, Musk announced that Grok will “soon” be integrated into Tesla vehicles.
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This is something that the CEO has been discussing since founding xAI, which has been controversial because Musk has also positioned Tesla to compete in the AI space. He even stepped down from his role at OpenAI due to a “conflict of interest with Tesla.”
The announcement of the imminent integration of Grok into Tesla vehicles comes just days after the language model went haywire on X and started praising Hitler, referring to itself as ‘MechaHitler’, and made several antisemitic comments.
xAI acknowledge the issue and put Grok on timeout while they fixed it:
We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.
The “bug” came just a few weeks after Musk stated that he was displeased with Grok supporting left-wing narratives, even though it didn’t say anything inncurate, and that he would update Grok to “fix” it.
Now, the large language model (LLM) is expected to power the new voice assistant inside Tesla vehicles.
LLMs are becoming quite common in cars, especially premium vehicles. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and a few others have all integrated Chat-GPT in some models.
Many Chinese automakers have also developed their own and deployed them in cars, even entry-level ones.
Tesla is playing catch up on that front.
Electrek’s Take
As I have previously stated, I think Musk is setting up Tesla to invest or even merge with xAI at a ridiculous valuation – making Tesla shareholders virtually pay twice for Twitter, which is now part of xAI.
This is how he will be able to gain wider control over the company’s share.