The price of lithium batteries is dropping as demand for electric vehicles continues to fall. The price of the commodity is down more than 30 percent in 2023, ending a two-year rally that pushed the price of the key battery material to new heights. In addition, prices for other metals that go into batteries, such as cobalt and nickel, are also sliding. The reversal comes as electric auto makers such as Tesla and Ford cut vehicle prices to attract more customers.
Microsoft has announced that it's hired Sam Altman and another co-founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI after they unexpectedly departed the company days earlier in a corporate shakeup that shocked the artificial intelligence world.
Many factors lie behind the disconnect, but economists increasingly point to one in particular: The lingering financial and psychological effects of the worst bout of inflation in four decades.