Your commercial news round-up: AI chatbots with personality, video games, Rosebank, mortgage rates

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As you move into the start of a new academic year, there’s no better time to start building your commercial acumen. This week’s commercial news round-up takes a look at the latest AI developments at Meta, the future of video games, the controversial decision to give the go-ahead to develop Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil site – and a mortgage rate update.

• Tech giant Meta has revealed plans to introduce new chatbots that have “personality” to be used in its Messenger service. The chatbots, although still a work in progress, will be designed to specialise in subjects such as holidays and cooking advice. Mark Zuckerberg said that the chatbots aren’t just about answering queries but are rather a form of “entertainment”, with a number of celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner and NFL star Tom Brady having signed up for their personalities to be used. There are still “a lot of limitations” around the chatbots but there are plans to roll them out in the US over the next few days.
   
• Sticking with tech, head of video game publisher Ubisoft has predicted that the video game industry will be transformed as it moves into streaming following a cloud-gaming deal with Microsoft. Last month Ubisoft agreed a deal to acquire the streaming rights for Activision Blizzard’s portfolio of games as part of Microsoft’s bid to obtain final approval from the UK regulator for its proposed $75 billion takeover of Activision. Referencing the success of streaming service Netflix and its transformation of the TV and cinema industry, Ubisoft Chief Executive Yves Guillemot told the Financial Times: “It’s going to be the same with video games but it’ll take time. But when it takes off, it’ll happen very quickly.” Guillemot added that in the next five to 10 years, “many games will be streamed” and “produced in the cloud”, citing this as a reason for moving forward with the Microsoft deal.
   
• As oil prices rise in the US, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil site – Rosebank – has received the green light from regulators in a contentious decision that’s been described as “morally obscene” by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas. Rosebank, which lies 80 miles west of Shetland, reportedly contains around 300 million barrels of oil. With production anticipated to kick off in late 2026, it’s expected that the site will pump about 69,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak (around 8% of the UK’s daily output) and 44 million cubic feet of gas each day, according to Sky News. Despite debates over whether the UK should continue to develop new oil and gas fields, and plans to move towards net zero, Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said that oil and gas are required “as part of that mix on the path to net zero and so it makes sense to use our own supplies”. Meanwhile Tessa Khan, executive director of campaign group Uplift, said: “[Rosebank’s] immense size, its location relative to marine protected areas, and the threat it poses to the climate have made it a lightning rod for criticism.”
   
• For the first time in approximately three months, the interest rate on the average five-year fixed-term mortgage has dropped below 6%. Around three-quarters of mortgage customers hold fixed-rate deals, with around 800,000 of these due to end in the second half of 2023 and around 1.6 million ending in 2024, according to UK Finance. Despite the drop in interest for the five-year fixed-term deals, mortgage holders will likely still have to pay a huge amount more each month than their previous deal required. To put this into perspective, the average rate on a five-year deal in October 2021 was 2.55%.

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