Speaker 1: It's time now for your business update with Peter O'Brien, who joins me on the set. Hi Peter. Hi Jeannie. You're going to start with a Chinese newcomer who is shaking up the AI market.

Speaker 2: Yep, it's got a whale as its logo and it's becoming a bit of a whale in the AI game. DeepSeek is a Chinese company with an app that's now shot to the top of the iPhone App Store Downloads leaderboard in the US, overtaking ChatGPT. In France, it's currently sitting in second place. When I talked to you just an hour ago, Jeannie, it was in third place. It's free to use and open source, with the Chinese company saying it used computer chips that were cheaper and less data than its American rival OpenAI.

Speaker 1: All right, how are the markets reacting then?

Speaker 2: Well, to say that it's been disruptive is an understatement. Tech giants like Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into AI. But now, the supply chain that everyone's been investing in looks like it has serious competition, and that has spooked tech stocks worldwide. Tech in Europe slid more than 4% its worst day since October, with the key French data center player Schneider Electric losing more than a tenth. In Japan, the Nikkei shed nearly 1% before close, falling over 8%. There was SoftBank, an investor in an AI megaproject announced by Donald Trump last week. And it's not going to be pretty when the tech-heavy Nasdaq opens in the US in a couple of hours either. Futures there are trading down at about 4%. All right, well, thank you for keeping an eye on that for us.

Speaker 1: That sounds quite dramatic. And we're going to go to West Africa next now, Peter, where people are

Speaker 2: fearing for their jobs for a different reason. Yeah, so this is changing tack a little bit. Just two days before Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso leave the West African community, ECOWAS. There's still a lot of uncertainty, but it's not good news for trade. Emily Boyle takes us to a Malian market in Senegal.

Speaker 3: As allies Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger prepare to withdraw from the economic community of West African states, these Malian vendors in Senegal are worried for the future of their businesses.

Speaker 4: Uncertainty is on the horizon. What we want is commercial stability between Senegal and Mali because we are the same people.

Speaker 3: Others, though, are more hopeful.

Speaker 2: We're all neighbours, we're all brothers, so I hope that between states they'll try to sort it out.

Speaker 4: The withdrawal takes effect on Wednesday. After overthrowing civilian governments between 2020

Speaker 3: and 2023, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger form the Confederation of Sahel States and withdrew from ECOWAS after refusing the bloc's demand to restore democratic rule. On Thursday, the three countries announced that their own common passport will also come into effect on the 20th of October. The move has significant consequences in the region, with ECOWAS losing 76 of its 446 million people and more than half its total geographical land area. ECOWAS is also a significant trading partner for the three Sahel countries and experts have warned that an increase in domestic prices could add pressure to their already poor economies.

Speaker 1: Finally, Peter, you're going to wrap up business now with not your usual drug bust.

Speaker 2: No, in France, customs police are dealing with a massive influx of illegal aphrodisiac-laced honey. It's a kind of black market viagra with potentially dangerous side effects if taken with other substances and it's mixed into honey and sold in small doses. To give you an idea of the growth of this thing, five years ago police seized the stuff 18 times and last year there were 130 police interceptions, including an impoundment weighing 14 tonnes in Marseille in November alone. That's around 800,000 doses. Let's hear from the police in Marseille.

Speaker 4: We've gone from small imports destined for individuals to professionals and organised criminal groups that have logistics allowing for multiple containers full of contraband to be distributed around the country.

Speaker 2: Yep, the culprits, it seems, are largely university-aged men here in France. Maybe it's something to investigate for the next French Constituent Union.

Speaker 1: I'll pass that message on to Frans Wilma now. Thanks for that, Peter. Peter O'Brien.