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Peter-Lucas Jones attending the TIME100 Impact Dinner in San Francisco. Photo: Peter-Lucas Jones / supplied A Māori tech innovator and language revitalist wants to see te reo Māori thrive in-person and digitally. Peter-Lucas Jones, chief executive of Far North-based Te Hiku Media, earlier this month was named in Time magazine's top 100 AI leaders list of 2024 for Te Hiku's 'Papa Reo' data science project. The company has been developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools that transcribe te reo Māori, give pronunciation feedback, and turn text into speech at a 92 percent accuracy rate, making it the best in the world. Jones (Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kahu, Te Rārawa, Te Aupōuri) attended an event in California this week - The TIME100 Impact Dinner - celebrating those who made the influencer lis...

Photo: 123rf Consumer confidence has picked up in recent months as pessimism about the economic outlook begins to ease. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence survey for the September quarter rose 9 points to 90.8 points. However, any reading under 100 indicated pessimistic households outweighed those who were optimistic. Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said the cost-of-living crisis continued to be a drag on retail spending, with an increases in the cost of household utilities, rates, insurance and a range of other financial pressures. While the recent tax cuts may have provided some relief, he said worries about job security continued. "But while many families have been doing it tough, they're now starting to feel a bit more optimistic about the outlook for their own...

Tory Whanau this week admitted that she was "feeling the crunch" and recently sold her car to help pay the bills. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone High interest rates and the rising cost of council rates and insurance are pushing many high-income earners into financial stress - even when they earn well into six figures. When Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said this week she had sold her car to help pay her bills, some questioned how she was under pressure when she earned $190,000 a year, and had previously won Lotto. But Angela Smart, customer service team lead at helpline MoneyTalks, said Whanau was far from alone. She said there had been a notable increase in higher-income people asking for help with their finances. She estimated 20 percent of clients were people who earned more than avera...

Photo: 123rf A consumer advocacy group is backing allegations against Jetstar, saying the law should make it mandatory for airlines to tell customers of their rights. The Commerce Commission is filing charges against Jetstar, saying it discouraged people from seeking compensation when flights were disrupted for reasons within its control in 2022 and 2023. Under the Civil Aviation Act, passengers affected by such disruptions are entitled to claim for costs incurred, such as accommodation, meals and alternative travel. Consumer New Zealand campaigns manager Jessica Walker said her organisation alerted the commission to the problem in 2022 after receiving numerous complaints. "Specifically with Jetstar, we were worried that it was not being upfront about its liability or perhaps throwing ca...