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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at a company event on artificial intelligence technologies in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLONDON — Microsoft will allow businesses to start making their own autonomous artificial intelligence agents starting next month, taking the fight back to Salesforce, which introduced its own configurable agentic AI tools in September.At its "AI Tour" event in London on Monday, Microsoft revealed plans to allow organizations to create their own autonomous agents within Copilot Studio, the U.S. tech giant's platform for customizing and building so-called "copilot" assistants.AI agents can act as virtual workers that can carry out a series of tasks without supervision. They are touted as a major evolution of large langua...

Warby Parker's promising outlook justifies its premium valuation, according to Goldman Sachs. The bank upgraded shares of the eyeglass retailer to buy from neutral and raised its 12-month price target to $18 from $15. Goldman's forecast implies roughly 9% upside from Friday's close. Shares popped more than 4% in the premarket after the rating change. Analyst Brooke Roach noted that while the stock's valuation "remains somewhat elevated," Warby Parker's strong fundamentals and margin growth outlook justifies outperformance from here. Warby Parker trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 69, well above the S & P 500's 24.6 ratio. WRBY YTD mountain WRBY YTD chart "This multiple represents a premium to our sector average multiple, which we believe is appropriate due to WRBY's stro...

Peter Cade | Stone | Getty ImagesThe vast majority of Europeans support the use of artificial intelligence for police and military operations, according to a new report by Madrid's IE University shared with CNBC."European Tech Insights," which measured the attitudes of over 3,000 people in Europe, found that 75% support the use of AI technologies such as facial recognition and biometric data by the police and military for surveillance purposes.The extent of the support is perhaps surprising, as Europe holds some of the strictest data privacy regulations in the world. In 2018, the European Union introduced the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR — a framework that governs the way organizations store and process users' information.Firms face hefty fines for violating the rules. A com...

Tthe Robinhood logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.Rafael Henrique | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesLONDON — Robinhood said Monday that it's rolling out margin investing — the ability for investors to borrow cash to augment their trades — in the U.K.The U.S. online investment platform said that the option would allow users in the U.K. to leverage their existing asset holdings as collateral to purchase additional securities.The launch of margin trading follows the recent approval of the product, after Robinhood held conversations with Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Margin trading is a rarity in the U.K., where regulators see it as more controversial because of the risks involved to users. Some platforms in the country limit margin trading ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) enters the hall during the meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (not pictured), October 11, 2024, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesIran has been one of Russia's few staunch allies throughout the war against Ukraine, but Tehran now faces the strain of indirectly fighting its nemesis Israel on two fronts.Under pressure — but still defiant — Iran could start looking to Russia for help, given its need for greater air defense capabilities and military intelligence to detect a highly-anticipated but yet-to-materialize direct Israeli attack on Iran, analysts told CNBC.Russia is well-positioned to provide Tehran with such capabilities, but the extent to which it will assist the Islamic Republic remains uncertai...