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In order to license the startup's "aesthetic technology" for the social media company's upcoming models and products, Meta has inked a contract with generative AI lab Midjourney. Alexandr Wang, the chief AI officer for Facebook's parent company, stated on Friday that the technical partnership will connect the research teams of the two companies. As it seeks to revive its artificial intelligence endeavors in the face of fierce competition from competitors such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Google, the move signals Meta's push to differentiate its products on visual quality. Using a subscription model, Midjourney licenses its tools to users and creates images based on text prompts. "We are incredibly impressed by Midjourney," Wang wrote in a post on X, adding that Meta is bringing together top talent, a solid compute roadmap, and partnerships with top industry players to deliver the best products. Requests for comment from Reuters were not immediate...

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States would acquire a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opening a new tab under a deal with the financially troubled chipmaker that turns government grants into equity shares. This is the White House's most recent extraordinary intervention in corporate America. Following Trump's recent statement that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan should resign due to conflicts of interest, the agreement improves relations between the two men. It will guarantee that roughly $10 billion will be given to the chipmaker to build or expand factories in the United States. The deal calls for the U.S. to pay $8.9 billion, or $20.47 per share, for a 9.9% stake in Intel. This is roughly $4 less than Intel's closing share price of $24.80 on Friday. The $5.7 billion in unpaid grants from the Biden-era CHIPS Act and the $3.2 billion given to Intel for the Secure Enclave program—also given under Trump's predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden—will b...

will increase the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the US by about $50 starting on Thursday. The Japanese company is navigating a sluggish video game market recovery, and U.S. tariffs could drive up prices. The company announced in a blog post on Wednesday that the prices of all three PlayStation 5 consoles will increase in a similar manner, with the most costly PS5 Pro model anticipated to cost $749.99. The price adjustments follow U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of broad tariffs on imports from major global manufacturing hubs like China and Japan, which sparked concerns about high material costs and supply chain disruptions. In April, Sony increased the cost of its consoles in a number of European markets. A month later, rival Xbox increased the sticker prices of its systems and add-ons in the US, Europe, Australia, and the UK. With the release of high-end games like Take-Two Interactive's (TTWO.O), opens new tab "Grand Theft Auto VI" and Ninten...

On  Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department raised steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products, including wind turbines, mobile cranes, appliances, bulldozers, railcars, motorcycles, marine engines, furniture, and hundreds more. The department added 407 product categories to the list of “derivative” steel and aluminum products covered by sectoral tariffs, which apply a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum content and the country rate on non-steel and non-aluminum content. In a research note, Evercore ISI estimated the move will raise the effective tariff rate by 1 percentage point for more than 400 product codes representing over $200 billion in imports last year. The department is also adding imported parts for automotive exhaust systems and electrical steel for electric vehicles, buses, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, and dryers to the new tariffs. The department was advised not to add the parts by foreign automakers, who said the U.S. cannot meet demand. Tesla crea...

American shoppers looking for fake Christmas trees and holiday decor this year will have fewer options and higher prices due to Chinese import tariffs. Retailers will scale back orders as they assess customer budgets. A 90-day tariff reprieve extension agreed to by Washington and Beijing on August 11 will allow retailers to rush last-minute shipments, but most holiday purchases are done. Many seasonal goods require six-month lead times, so retailers import them early. "We're going to have a lower supply year," said Chris Butler, CEO of National Tree Company, a New Jersey-based artificial tree importer that supplies Walmart (WMT.N), Home Depot (HD.N), Lowe's (LOW.N), and Amazon (AMZN.O). Butler said the company, which sources half its trees from China and the rest from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, will raise Carolina pine, Nordic spruce, and Dunhill fir prices by 10% to 20%. According to the US International Trade Commission, China exported 87% of Christmas decora...

In order to enter the premium tequila market, Radico Khaitan (RADC.NS), the company behind "Magic Moments" vodka, plans to invest up to $4.56 million and collaborate with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha. The Indian liquor manufacturer, which is well-known for high-end products like Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin and Rampur Indian Single Malt, will launch D'YAVOL Añejo, a high-end agave-based spirit that is aged in wine casks for roughly two years. The Amsterdam-based luxury brand D'YAVOL, which was established in 2022 by Aryan Khan, the son of Shah Rukh Khan, Leti Blagoeva, and Bunty Singh, sells blended malt Scotch whisky, vodka, and high-end streetwear. Radico Khaitan Managing Director Abhishek Khaitan told Reuters on Tuesday that D'YAVOL Añejo is scheduled to launch by December and will cost between 20,000 rupees ($228.21) and 30,000 rupees, depending on state excise duty. The launch coincides with wealthy Indians spending mo...

A fter the image-sharing site warned of lower ad spending in the United States, its largest market, as a result of the elimination of the "de minimis" trade loophole, Pinterest's stock fell roughly 15% on Friday. Some Asian e-commerce companies have been forced to reduce their U.S. marketing budgets due t o uncertainty caused by tariffs and the suspension of the exemption that allowed packages va lued at or under $800 to be shipped to the U.S. without incurring import duties. T he company, known for curating links to lifestyle products such as home decor, fashion accessories, and beauty items, saw a 25% decline in advertising prices in the second quarter. With U.S. tariffs in place, the trend is expected to continue. "Management's comments on tariff concerns extending into the third quarter likely spooked the Street," Roth Capital Partners analysts said. According to Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, the stalled user growth is a "sig...

In   an effort to retain the billionaire entrepreneur at the helm during a pivotal shift from its faltering core auto business to robotaxis and humanoid robots, Tesla (TSLA.O) has awarded CEO Elon Musk shares worth approximately $29 billion. The "interim award" of the 96 million new shares was characterized by the company as a first-step, "good faith" payment to honor Musk's 2018 compensation package, which was over $50 billion and overturned by a Delaware court last year. If Musk stays in a high-level executive position for two more years and the court does not reinstate the 2018 package that is currently being appealed, he is eligible to receive the new award. He can purchase the shares for $23.34 each, which is the same as the 2018 award's exercise price, and he must hold them for five years. At its annual investor meeting on November 6, Tesla will also vote on a longer-term CEO compensation plan. The goal of the move is to keep Musk, who is the public fa...

Exchange of cryptocurrency The company launched its roadshow to take advantage of the momentum created by digital assets in the face of regulatory clarity, and Bullish stated in a filing on Monday that it is aiming for a valuation of up to $4.23 billion in its US listing. Businesses that use cryptocurrency and associated technologies have embraced the Donald Trump administration's pro-crypto policies, like the GENIUS Act, which was recently passed and offers a preliminary stablecoin regulatory framework. With the help of one or more issuers of such tokens, Bullish, which is supported by billionaire Peter Thiel, intends to convert a sizeable amount of the IPO proceeds to stablecoins denominated in US dollars, the filing stated. Circle Internet, a significant stablecoin issuer, made a spectacular NYSE debut in June and is now trading at over 400% of its initial public offering price. Bullish is making its second attempt to go public in four years, offering 20.3 million shares at pric...

In a filing on Thursday, Meta Platforms (META.O) revealed plans to sell $2 billion worth of data center assets as part of its ongoing efforts to find outside partners to help finance the enormous infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence.  As they struggle with the skyrocketing cost of constructing and powering data centers to support generative AI, tech giants, who have historically been known for self-funding growth, are adopting a different approach. In order to help fund its significant capital expenditure for the upcoming year, the social media behemoth announced earlier this week that it was looking into ways to collaborate with financial partners to co-develop data centers. On a conference call following Wednesday's earnings, Meta Chief Finance Officer Susan Li stated, "We're looking into ways to collaborate with financial partners to co-develop data centers." According to Li, the company still anticipates funding a large portion of its capital ...

Elon Musk's electric vehicle company may face additional legal action after a Florida jury on Friday found Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, liable to pay $243 million to victims of a fatal crash in 2019 involving a Model S equipped with Autopilot.  For victims of Autopilot-related accidents, the verdict is an uncommon victory. Based on a more sophisticated version of its driver assistance software, Musk has been pushing for a quick expansion of Tesla's recently launched robotaxi business.  Tesla's stock is down 25% so far this year after dropping 1.8% on Friday.  According to a verdict sheet, jurors in a federal court in Miami granted the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon and her ex-boyfriend Dillon Angulo $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages .  33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, were attributed to Tesla.  Although George McGee, the driver, was not a defendant and will not be required to pay his share, jurors fou...

Following a stellar earnings report that demonstrated its enormous bets on AI are paying off, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, became the second publicly traded company after Nvidia (NVDA.O) to surpass the $4 trillion milestone in stock market value on Thursday. The market value of the four major AI companies increased by more than half a trillion dollars as a result of strong results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META.O), which opened a new tab late on Thursday and fueled gains in Amazon (AMZN.O). Additionally, the chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) reached a record high. According to LSEG data, the major AI players on Wall Street, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), open a new tab, and Meta Platforms, now hold a quarter of the S&P 500. In order to meet the growing demand for AI, Microsoft projected a record $30 billion in capital expenditures for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. It claimed that its Copilot AI tools had more than 100 million monthl...

Adidas (ADSGn.DE), a sportswear company, opened a new tab on Wednesday and warned that it might have to raise prices in the US after revealing that US tariffs would increase costs by about $200 million ($231 million) in the second half. Adidas' stock fell 11% on the worst day since U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs in April, increasing the stock's losses since the year's beginning to 26%. Adidas claimed that trade uncertainty was preventing it from raising its yearly guidance and that it had not yet made a decision regarding potential price hikes in the US to lessen the impact. CEO Bjorn Gulden stressed during a call with analysts that the ultimate tariff levels were still unknown, but he expressed concern about how higher prices would affect U.S. consumer demand. "To be honest, I'm more concerned about how consumers will react to the price increases that I believe will occur not only in our industry but also in the United States as a whole than ...

Under their rob taxi agreement, Uber will invest $300 million into electric-car manufacturer Lucid, with plans to launch rob taxi services late next year in at least one big US city. The new partnership was just announced on Thursday.  From 2026 and for over six years, Uber will buy and deploy a fleet of more than 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs fitted with AV technology from startup Nuro, according to a statement from the three companies. This renewed agreement puts the revival of plans and fundraising for driverless cabs into perspective. The first wave of autonomous driving investment ultimately yielded only a handful of vehicles, whereas Tesla has launched its rob taxi pilot in Austin, and Waymo, the driverless taxi arm of Alphabet, is now expanding its operations. Under the announced deal, Uber will invest hundreds of millions of dollars into Lucid and Nuro, which provide self-driving technology to car manufacturers, the joint statement said. Of that sum, $300 million will go to Luc...

In a surprising move, the CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation just a few months after the social media platform became the property of the billionaire's AI startup xAI.  In a statement on the platform Wednesday, the former NBCUniversal advertising chief said she had "decided to step down as CEO of X" after what she characterized as "two incredible years" at the help of one major transformation. Yaccarino's resignation from the social media company will only add to the turbulence in Musk's sprawling business including plummeting sales at his electric car company, Tesla, and AI-related controversies. Musk is also engaged in a war of words with United States President Donald Trump. She gave no details as to why. X and Yaccarino did not respond to requests for comment. The resignation came a day after Grok, the AI chatbot created by xAI, made posts on the platform mentioning Adolf Hitler. Posts were deleted after the worsening public backlas...

Goldman Sachs, with its senior department already crowded with a multitude of policymaking luminaries, now has the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom added as a senior advisor, a move that combines uncertainty regarding geopolitical and regulatory matters. Named on Tuesday was the appointment of Sunak by the investment bank. Sunak, who remains a member of Parliament, representing a seat in northern England under the Conservative Party, was a Goldman analyst in the early 2000s before transitioning to work for several hedge funds. In his former career in financial service and the wealth of his wife, at a time when her father was a co-founder of Indian IT services company Infosys, Sunak became the richest-ever British prime minister, thus rendering him susceptible to criticism that he "cannot understand" most voters in the UK. He has stayed out of the limelight since resigning as leader of the Conservative Party following its worst electoral defeat in over a century in...