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More than 100 mayors attended Bloomberg CityLab’s Mayors Innovation Studio to learn about using artificial intelligence in city government.

Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies

More than 100 mayors descended on Washington, D.C. this week to learn how generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT could help them better run their cities.

The mayors sought to learn how the cutting-edge technology could help them do everything from better predicting which areas would be most affected by natural disasters to making it easier for residents to navigate city services.

The roughly four-hour Mayors Innovation Studio, hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ CityLab on Wednesday, is an example of how generative AI tools are making their way into many aspects of life and every level of government. While only 2% of cities surveyed by Bloomberg Philanthropies said they’re actively implementing the technology, 69% said they were actively exploring or testing it and 96% of surveyed mayors said they were interested in using it.

In Washington, where much of the discussion of AI has centered around how Capitol Hill should place broad guardrails on the technology, the session provided a glimpse into how local governments may be among the first to harness the power of AI to serve their constituents, even as federal lawmakers debate lofty principles.

“Cities are places of action, where new solutions hit the ground,” said James Anderson, who leads government innovation programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies, in a phone interview prior to the event. Cities are “the last mile and often the first mile in terms of the innovations,” he added.

James Anderson, head of government innovation programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies, introduces mayors to the Mayors Innovation Studio on AI.

Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies

Policies governing tech have increasingly become the domain of state and local governments as Congress has failed to pass many major tech bills, like those protecting digital privacy or creating guardrails for kids on the internet. Meanwhile, states have taken such matters into their own hands, which many tech companies fear creates a patchwork of regulation that’s difficult to comply with.

The focus of Wednesday’s session was primarily on how generative AI may streamline processes for cities or offer new insights to make them safer or more efficient. The pandemic showcased the power of local governments harnessing data, Anderson noted, when many built dashboards of local Covid cases and hospitalizations.

Early in the session, Mitch Weiss, a Harvard Business School professor and former chief of staff to a former Boston mayor, demonstrated how the group might use ChatGPT to better understand and solve a local issue. Weiss used the example of “storrowing” in Boston, when trucks scrape their tops off while going under a low-clearance bridge.

Weiss prompted the chatbot to channel various experts to give their opinions and come up with solutions to reduce the issue and asked the AI questions like why warnings for low-clearance bridges weren’t working. ChatGPT said drivers were distracted, unfamiliar with the area, or over-relying on GPS.

At one point, he prompted ChatGPT to create a line graph from an open dataset of such incidents in New York City, and many in the room wowed when a graph with a steep drop in incidents quickly materialized. He asked for a hypothesis for what may have improved New York City’s storrowing compared to Boston, and ChatGPT suggested improved infrastructure, better signage, modern GPS and awareness programs may have contributed to the decline.

In one instance, just for fun, he asked ChatGPT for wacky solutions to the problem. The AI chatbot suggested a truck catapult. He also asked for more realistic solutions inspired by the wacky ones, and ChatGPT suggested a designated detour route. 

Using AI for summer job programs and town halls

Later, Weiss prompted ChatGPT to create a form advertising a new summer jobs program with a city and target it in a way that would appeal to teens. The AI came up with the branding of a “Summer Hustle,” and Weiss then prompted it to create a colorful graphic to promote the program.

Weiss also showed mayors how the tool could be used to prep for community board meetings, by asking the AI to generate possible questions from community members, including follow-ups.

Some mayors who said they’ve already played around with generative AI tools said they’ve used it to anticipate town hall questions, summarize articles they haven’t had time to read, create draft job descriptions or draft responses to constituents.

CNBC agreed not to quote individual mayors who participated during the event, which was marketed as a place where mayors could come to learn and freely ask questions about a new technology.

More than 100 mayors attended Bloomberg CityLab’s Mayors Innovation Studio to learn about using artificial intelligence in city government.

Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies

The mayors also heard from several cities already deploying or thinking about the use cases of generative AI in their cities.

The city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, for example, is working on a generative AI model based on ChatGPT with its existing Boti chatbot that residents can text with using WhatsApp. The new generative AI version of Boti is trained to discuss culture and tourism — topics Melisa Breda, undersecretary for evidence-based policies, said they determined to be relatively low risk. Still, the tool hasn’t rolled out yet as Breda said it still needs fine-tuning to ensure its responses fit their criteria.

Boston’s Chief Information Officer Santiago Garces shared the city’s basic guidance to its employees for using the technology: review any outcomes, disclose the use of AI and don’t input sensitive data. Garces said such guidance should weigh the risks with the opportunity for employees in different parts of the government to experiment with it to determine how it can make their jobs more efficient.

Garces also said Boston is exploring how to use generative AI to translate information into specific regional dialects to help enroll residents in services.

Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University announced at the session a new City AI Connect platform, where city staff could continue to share ideas and resources on using AI in their governments.

The event sought to give mayors a starting point for how to think about implementing generative AI into their processes.

“We were hearing … oh my god generative AI, everyone’s talking about it everywhere,” said Anderson. “We understand it could mean a lot for local government. We have no idea where to begin.”

Mayors who spoke with CNBC around the event recognized the potential of generative AI to solve problems in ways that weren’t previously possible.

More than 100 mayors attended Bloomberg CityLab’s Mayors Innovation Studio to learn about using artificial intelligence in city government.

Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies

“This is not a trivial thing,” said Chattanooga, Tennessee Mayor Tim Kelly in a phone interview ahead of the event. “If we can get this right and people can use AI to better access city services, I think it could move the needle.”

Kelly imagined that AI could help residents become more connected to their local governments, by surfacing open board seats that match their interests or simply making it easier for them to get information about recycling.

Columbus, Ohio Mayor Andrew Ginther hopes the technology can someday be used to better predict natural disasters and areas of high traffic accidents as well as streamline the process for residents to obtain government benefits for food.

“There’s great promise with AI really to help us transform local government operations and service delivery,” Ginther said. “We think it’ll allow us to help for better frontline decision-making, more real time information … We think those efficiencies are going to save city staff time and money and we think there are going to be dramatic improvements in resident customer experience. But we’re also going to have to invest in it.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, in an interview after the event, envisioned that AI could help the city identify forgotten and contradictory laws on the books, so they could work on clearing unnecessary regulatory hurdles for things like housing.

“We can’t approach it from a place of fear,” Breed said of AI. “It’s coming whether we want it to or not. The question is, are we going to move with it and stay ahead of it to a certain extent, or are we going to fall behind and get run over? … My hope is that we don’t get to that place where we allow this technology to run away from us.”

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Tesla’s earnings miss, Meta job cuts, U.S. sanctions Russian oil and more in Morning Squawk

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Tesla's earnings miss, Meta job cuts, U.S. sanctions Russian oil and more in Morning Squawk

Elon Musk, during a news conference with President Donald Trump, inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on May 30, 2025.

Tom Brenner | The Washington Post | Getty Images

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Flat tire

All eyes were on Tesla yesterday, when the electric vehicle maker became the first Magnificent Seven company to report earnings for the new season. Investors weren’t impressed: Though quarterly revenue was higher than a year ago, snapping two down quarters, earnings per share came in below Wall Street’s expectations amid rising capital expenditures.

Here’s what happened on the earnings call:

  • CEO Elon Musk and other executives offered little forward guidance or insight into the auto business. Instead, the focus was on Tesla’s work in Robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots, CNBC’s Lora Kolodny reports.
  • Musk also discussed the company’s expected artificial intelligence chip, but acknowledged that Tesla is “not about to replace Nvidia.”
  • Heading into the report, a group of unions and watchdogs launched the “Take Back Tesla” campaign to urge investors to oppose Musk’s new compensation plan. The highly publicized pay package would give the billionaire entrepreneur an opportunity to rake in almost $1 trillion in stock.
  • Musk addressed the pay plan at the end of the earnings call, calling proxy advisors who oppose the package “corporate terrorists.”
  • “If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army?” Musk said on the call. “I don’t feel comfortable building that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”
  • Tesla shares fell more than 3% in premarket trading this morning. Follow live markets updates here.

2. Ready for takeoff

A Southwest aircraft takes off as an American Airlines Boeing 737-823 is seen at gate at Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, V, on July 21, 2025.

Daniel Slim | AFP | Getty Images

On the other hand, Southwest Airlines beat expectations on both lines. Of note: The Dallas-based carrier posted a profit for earnings per share, while the Street had penciled in a loss. Still, shares are more than 1% lower before the bell this morning.

American Airlines also reported better earnings than analysts forecasted and gave an upbeat outlook for the remainder of the year. Shares rose nearly 4% following the release.

Next up on airline investors’ agendas: Alaska earnings due after the bell today.

3. Putin’s punishment

Oil storage tanks stand at the RN-Tuapsinsky refinery, operated by Rosneft Oil Co., in Tuapse, Russia. Oil prices were mixed on Monday as investors balanced expectations the OPEC will cut output to support prices against concerns sparked by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying the United States will face slow growth “for some time.”

Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The White House yesterday placed more sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil — Russia’s two largest crude oil companies. Oil prices surged as a result, with the global benchmark Brent jumping more than 5%.

The Treasury Department cited Russia’s “lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the Treasury could take “further action if necessary.”

These sanctions are related to plans for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin falling through, a senior White House official told NBC News.

4. AI layoffs

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

While many tech companies race to hire AI talent, Meta appeared to take the opposite approach yesterday.

The Facebook parent is cutting around 600 roles from its AI business, which people familiar with the matter described to CNBC as bloated. No one from TBD Labs — the division that includes many of Meta’s major AI hires this summer — is on the chopping block, the people said.

Meanwhile, several big names in technology are calling for a pause on one form of AI development called “Superintelligence.” As CNBC’s Dylan Butts notes, the buzzy term refers to a hypothetical form of AI that would essentially outperform humans on basically everything. Signatories of the statement calling for a pause included Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

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5. Percolators and picket lines

Barista Andy Acevado prepares a drink inside a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in New York.

Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Breaking news this morning: The Starbucks Workers United union will start voting tomorrow on whether to authorize a strike. The group also said it will also organize rallies and pickets across the country with member baristas and their allies.

The union and Starbucks are not currently in negotiations over a contract after talks broke down late last year, CNBC’s Kate Rogers reports. The union said it wants higher pay, improved hours and resolutions on outstanding labor disputes. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC that the union “chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk.”

Starbucks is slated to report earnings next week.

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CNBC’s Lora Kolodny, Leslie Josephs, Dan Mangan, Kif Leswing, Ashley Capoot, Dylan Butts, Kate Rogers and Courtney Reagan contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

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Alibaba prices AI glasses at $660 to rival Meta and launches ChatGPT challenger

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Alibaba prices AI glasses at 0 to rival Meta and launches ChatGPT challenger

Alibaba announced plans to release a pair of smart glasses powered by its AI models. The Quark AI Glasses are Alibaba’s first foray into the smart glasses product category.

Alibaba

Alibaba on Thursday announced pricing for its upcoming artificial intelligence glasses and launched a new chatbot powered by its latest AI models.

The Chinese technology giant said the Quark AI Glasses will go on pre-sale on Oct. 24 on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall. The pre-sale price will start at 4,699 Chinese yuan ($659.4) but after applying various discounts, will cost 3,999 yuan.

Alibaba will begin shipping the product from December.

The Hangzhou-headquartered firm also unveiled AI Chat Assistant, a new chatbot mode within its existing Quark app.

The latest moves are part of Alibaba’s aggressive AI push this year which has seen the company release updated models and a drive to reinvigorate sales at its cloud computing business through which it sells much of this technology to businesses.

But the glasses and chatbot product highlight an increasing area of focus for Alibaba — AI that is aimed at consumers.

Alibaba’s shares closed nearly 1.7% higher in Hong Kong and its U.S.-listed stock also rose in premarket trade.

Alibaba AI glasses

Alibaba first announced the Quark AI Glasses in July. It’s the first product of its kind from the Chinese giant and the eyewear is powered by the company’s Qwen large language model and its Quark AI assistant.

The glasses support functions such as hands-free calling, music streaming and real-time language translation.

Many tech companies see wearables, specifically glasses, as the next frontier in computing, alongside the smartphone. The Quark AI Glasses are Alibaba’s answer to Meta’s smart glasses that were designed in collaboration with Ray-Ban. 

The Chinese tech giant will also now compete with Chinese consumer electronics player Xiaomi who this year released its own AI glasses.

New AI assistant

Quark is Alibaba’s main consumer-facing AI app. Alibaba on Thursday unveiled a product called AI Chat Assistant, which is a new AI chatbot powered by its latest Qwen3 models.

The new mode allows users to switch to a chatbot style interface and have conversations via text or voice. Alibaba said the new feature allows “AI search and conversation” in one interface. The idea is that users can do everything they need in one application.

Alibaba said some of the functions include photo editing, “photo-based problem solving” and AI writing.

The product is Alibaba’s answer to the growing number of chatbot products out there from OpenAI’s ChatGPT to DeepSeek.

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Europe’s big enterprise AI hope SAP books 85% of 2026 revenue as deals boom

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Europe’s big enterprise AI hope SAP books 85% of 2026 revenue as deals boom

The world of enterprise AI is dominated by U.S. names from Microsoft to Salesforce, but Europe has a major player that is pushing hard into the space: SAP.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition,” SAP CEO Christian Klein said that AI is “the number one reason” why customers are signing deals with the firm.  

“After we close Q4, actually, 80, 85% of our revenue for next year is already done. So, [a] good pipeline for Q4 and with that, when we close out the year, our customers, also our investors, can expect there’s also very positive output,” he said. 

SAP’s cloud backlog rose 23% in the third quarter to 18.8 billion, the company said in an earnings statement published late on Wednesday.

“I was pretty optimistic last night, and I’m still optimistic as the pipeline looks good,” Klein said. “We actually now have our biggest quarter.” 

Real AI adoption important, not just selling into hype: SAP CEO

Revenue rose 7% to 9.08 billion euros ($10.53 billion), slightly below expectations of 9.15 billion euros, according to consensus figures compiled by LSEG. However, it saw gains of 22% in its cloud revenue, with Klein citing increasing AI and data cloud market share as the reason for the revenue jump. 

Deutsche Bank said the firm remains a “top pick” in the European tech and global software sector, however it noted that SAP is now guiding toward the lower-end of its forecast for cloud revenue of 21.6 billion euros to 21.9 billions euros this year.

“Against an environment of lengthening deal cycles and pushouts … SAP continues to execute very well, in our view, even if delays in deal closings have led the company to guide to the lower end of its Cloud revenue growth range for FY25,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note led by Johannes Schaller.

SAP’s shares were initially 2% higher at the start of the trading session on Thursday, but later pared gains to trade 2.5% lower. The stock is down 3% year-to-date.

Europe’s AI playbook

SAP briefly became Europe’s most valuable company in March, riding the tailwinds of enthusiasm and gains in the German stock market.

The European Union has faced criticism for its legislative approach to AI, with some businesses calling for deregulation in efforts to catch up in the global AI race. Klein said he’s not sure if the bloc is adopting the right strategy compared with the U.S. approach of, “give me your AI, let’s test it, let’s refine it, let’s optimize it over time.” 

The chief executive said he is laser-focused on creating value, explaining that it is “100%” what customers are looking for. It echoes the message of other AI firms and investors in Europe, given that the U.S. and China currently dominate the training of large language models, which is the infrastructure needed for AI. However, the general sentiment is that Europe has a chance to be a leader in putting it to use.  

The training large language models is now a “commodity,” Klein said, adding that he expects the application of AI will become an increasing priority for businesses and SAP’s bet on this will be reflected in its share price in the future.  

“It’s super important that we are not only selling into a hype, but that we see real adoption,” Klein said.  

SAP has some exposure to China through partnerships that allow it to work “in China, for China,” due to geopolitical tensions, Klein noted. The country’s speed of AI development, low regulation and talent pool makes it hard to ignore, he said. 

The company offers cloud solutions, expenses, and supply chain management and analytics to corporates. It underwent a large restructure in 2024 and pivoted towards AI services, which is now being used across the likes of finance and supplier sourcing.

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