Apple is welcome to expand investment in China, commerce minister tells CEO

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s commerce minister told Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday that the company is welcome to expand investment in the country, a ministry statement showed. Wang Wentao, the minister, and Cook exchanged views on topics such as Apple’s business development in China and China-U.S. economic and trade relations, according to the statement. Foreign CEOs were attending the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday and Monday, with some expected to meet President … Read more…

OpenAI COO to spearhead global growth, partnerships in expanded role, Altman says

(Reuters) – OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will oversee global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed startup seeks to cement its dominance in the fast-growing AI industry. The ChatGPT-maker is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. “Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, … Read more…

Tesla jumps as possible tariff leeway, lower share price draw investors

By Deborah Mary Sophia and Akash Sriram (Reuters) -Tesla shares surged 10% on Monday after this year’s steep decline following reports the Trump administration is likely to exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on April 2. Traders also took advantage of the near 40% decline in the stock so far this year to buy into the EV maker. The tariff optimism set off a rally on Wall Street, with technology stocks … Read more…

Airbus says it is in defence and space talks amid spending surge

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) -Airbus is in discussions with European nations on new defence and space orders as the continent increases spending and is seeing an improvement in supply chains for its core jetliner business, senior executives said at a company event on Monday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT European nations are interested in space assets in part to replace Elon Musk’s Starlink, as well as aerospace assets including strategic airlift, he added. KEY QUOTES “I think you’re … Read more…

Barclays beats two lawsuits in US over $17.7 billion issuance blunder

(Reuters) – Barclays won the dismissal on Friday of two U.S. securities fraud lawsuits stemming from the British bank’s unauthorized sale of $17.7 billion more securities than U.S. regulators allowed. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan said investors who acquired Barclays’ iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Future exchange-traded notes (“VXX”) could not sue over general assurances the bank made about its internal controls even as it issued the notes without the required … Read more…

Yahoo strikes deal to sell TechCrunch to investment firm

(Reuters) – Yahoo has signed a deal to sell its 20-year-old technology news website, TechCrunch, to media investment firm Regent, the companies said on Friday. TechCrunch, a popular online platform providing news and analysis on global tech companies, startups and entrepreneurs, was among the media assets of Verizon Communications, including Yahoo. In 2021, private equity firm Apollo Global Management acquired the media assets for $5 billion, subsequently rebranding the combined assets under the Yahoo name. … Read more…

Exclusive-Former Cruise CEO Vogt’s robotics startup valued at $2 billion in new funding, sources say

By Anna Tong, Krystal Hu and Kenrick Cai (Reuters) – Kyle Vogt, former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has raised $150 million in a new funding round led by Greenoaks for his robotics startup The Bot Company, valuing the firm launched less than a year ago at $2 billion, sources told Reuters.  This capital injection follows a previous $150 million raised from investors such as Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman that … Read more…

Nvidia to open quantum computing lab, CEO says

By Stephen Nellis SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) -Nvidia will open a quantum computing research lab in Boston, where it plans to collaborate with scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CEO Jensen Huang said on Thursday. Huang made the announcement at Nvidia’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, California, where Nvidia held a day of events focused on quantum computing. Nvidia added the program after Huang in January said useful quantum computers … Read more…

Eli Lilly launches weight-loss drug Mounjaro in India, beats Novo Nordisk to major market

By Rishika Sadam HYDERABAD (Reuters) -Eli Lilly launched its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drug Mounjaro in India on Thursday, beating rival Novo Nordisk for a much-awaited entry into the world’s most populous country grappling with increasing rates of obesity and diabetes. U.S.-based Lilly and Danish Novo Nordisk have seen skyrocketing global demand for their innovative weight-loss drugs, with investor interest also boosting the drugmakers’ valuations. Mounjaro, a once-weekly injection approved by India’s drug regulator, is … Read more…

Apple shakes up AI executive ranks in bid to turn around Siri, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) – Apple is shaking up its executive ranks to get its AI efforts back on track after months of delays, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the situation. Some AI improvements to voice assistant Siri will be delayed until 2026, Apple had said earlier this month without giving any reason for the delays. Mike Rockwell, vice president in charge of the Vision Products Group, will now be in charge of the … Read more…