The Week in Numbers: a chatbot wants your job

STORY: From signs of relief for U.S. banks, to the first tremors of an AI jobs cull, this is the Week in Numbers. First up…

Around 27% was the surge in shares for Western Alliance Bancorp this week.

The U.S. lender reported a big rise in deposits, easing concerns over the country’s battered regional banks.

But GraniteShares ETFs chief Will Rhind says high interest rates mean lenders aren’t out of the woods:

“There’s concern that there will be a gradual bleed out of the deposit base as depositors take money from regional banks and put that with the Fed at 5% or a much higher interest rate”.

Just over $30 billion was the quarterly revenue at Alibaba.

That was less than forecast.

Economists say China’s uncertain recovery held back demand, while the e-commerce giant also faces new rivals like the Chinese version of TikTok.

55,000 is how many jobs will be cut at UK telecoms giant BT over the next few years.

Of those, 10,000 are posts set to be replaced by automation and artificial intelligence, marking one of the first big signs of an AI upheaval for the jobs market.

1.6% was the growth in Japan’s economy over the first quarter.

That was far more than expected, and marked the country’s exit from recession.

The end of lockdown curbs helped boost tourism and service-sector spending.

And almost 4,000 is the number of movies and other projects in the shop window at the Cannes film festival this week.

Industry experts say there’s a strong lineup of movies at the event, with hundreds of millions in rights deals to be done.

Cinema chains hope blockbusters like a new Indiana Jones film will tempt people off their sofas.