🧠 AI passes elite finance exam in minutes

Also: Techgiant Accenture cuts 11,000 jobs

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Evolving AI
September 29, 2025

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Welcome, AI enthusiasts

For humans to pass the prestigious, three-part chartered financial analyst exam, it typically takes around 1,000 hours of studying over the course of several years. New research found that AI is now advanced enough to pass even the most difficult (Level III) mock exams in a matter of minutes. Let’s dive in!

In today’s insights:

  • AI passes elite finance exam in minutes

  • Accenture cuts 11K jobs, will exit workers who cannot retrain for AI

  • Grok undercuts ChatGPT in government deal

Read time: 4 minutes

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Evolving AI: New research shows that several top AI models can now pass the world’s hardest finance exam, CFA Level III.

Key Points:

  • OpenAI’s o4-mini scored 79.1% on CFA Level III, above the 63% passing mark.

  • Less than half of human test-takers passed the same exam this year.

  • The study tested 23 models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, xAI, and others.

Details:

AI models from OpenAI and Google have cleared the final and toughest part of the CFA exam, which tests advanced financial reasoning through complex essays and case studies. The Level III exam is notoriously difficult. Most human candidates spend over 1,000 hours across several years preparing, yet only 49% passed this year. In this study, most AI models did well on multiple-choice questions, but only a few succeeded on the essays. OpenAI’s o4-mini and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash led the pack. These results suggest AI can now handle tasks that demand high-level judgment and analysis. Still, human advisors offer strengths AI lacks, like reading body language and context.

Why It Matters:

AI is closing in on work that used to feel safe, like high-level analysis and decision support. When machines can crunch numbers, write nuanced arguments, and spot hidden risks (as some already can), humans will need to shift roles toward oversight, ethics, storytelling, and relationships.

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Evolving AI: Accenture is laying off workers it can’t retrain for the AI era, while still planning to grow its team next year.

Key Points:

  • CEO Julie Sweet said reskilling is the top strategy, but those who can't be retrained are being "exited".

  • Accenture’s AI and data team has grown to 77,000; 550,000 employees trained in generative AI.

  • Despite layoffs, overall hiring is expected to grow in the US, Europe, and globally.

Details:

Accenture is reshaping its workforce to meet growing demand for AI skills. On its latest earnings call, the firm confirmed it's cutting staff who can’t be reskilled quickly enough, while continuing to hire in high-growth areas like AI, data, and cloud. The company booked $615 million in restructuring charges tied mostly to severance, and expects this to rise to $865 million. Even with these cuts, Accenture plans to expand head count next year. Since 2023, it has nearly doubled its AI specialist team and trained more than half a million employees in generative AI fundamentals.

Why It Matters:

Companies aren’t just cutting jobs anymore, they’re rebuilding teams around AI. Accenture letting go of people it can’t retrain, while hiring thousands for AI roles, shows how quickly the skill gap is growing. It’s not about how many people you have but whether they can keep up. As more companies double down on AI, those without the right skills are being pushed aside. The ones who can adapt are suddenly the most valuable.

Source: Reuters

Evolving AI: Elon Musk’s xAI will sell its chatbot Grok to the U.S. federal government for just 42 cents, undercutting OpenAI and Anthropic.

Key Points:

  • xAI struck a deal with the GSA to offer Grok for 42 cents per user for 18 months.

  • OpenAI and Anthropic are offering government access to ChatGPT and Claude for $1 per year.

  • The deal includes engineering support to help integrate Grok into federal systems.

Details:

The agreement gives executive branch agencies access to Grok for less than half the cost of its competitors. Some believe the 42-cent price is a Musk joke, either tied to 420 or a reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Earlier this year, Grok was almost approved but blocked after it generated antisemitic content and referred to itself as “MechaHitler.” Then in August, internal emails showed the White House pushed the GSA to approve it quickly. The company is also part of a $200 million AI contract with the Pentagon, alongside Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Why It Matters:

This deal flips the whole narrative. Just months after Grok was blocked for generating antisemitic content, it’s now greenlit by the White House and offered at 42 cents with full engineering support. Musk is turning controversy into access, while OpenAI and Anthropic stick to safer playbooks. It shows how fast reputations shift in AI and how price, politics, and persistence can beat caution.

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