Business

By Jeffrey Dastin (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc plans to pilot a new carbon-removal material for data centers, which are at risk of worsening emissions from artificial intelligence systems they power, a startup behind the deal said on Monday. In a twist, AI itself, from the startup Orbital Materials, is what designed the carbon-filtering substance, its Chief Executive Jonathan Godwin said. “It’s like a sponge at the atomic level,” Godwin told Reuters. “Each cavity in that … Read more…

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Energy Department said Monday it is planning to loan up to $7.54 billion to a joint venture of Chrysler parent Stellantis and Samsung SDI to help build two electric vehicle lithium-ion battery plants in Indiana. The conditional commitment award must still be finalized and includes $6.85 billion in principal and $688 million in capitalized interest for the StarPlus Energy joint venture. The venture will build batteries in Kokomo, … Read more…

By Siddarth S (Reuters) – After a disappointing 2024, Latin American companies are expected to see earnings rebound around 16% next year, JPMorgan calculations showed, with almost all countries except Colombia set for double-digit growth. This year, earnings at companies in the region are estimated to have contracted by 24%, JPMorgan analyst Cinthya Mizuguchi said in a note to clients. “For 2024, LatAm stands as the worst region both in terms of performance but also … Read more…

(Reuters) – European and American carmakers are set to lose up to 17% of their combined annual core profits if the U.S. imposes import tariffs on Europe, Mexico and Canada, S&P Global said in a report on Friday, warning of potential credit downgrades. Premium automakers Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover, who mostly produce in Europe, and groups General Motors and Stellantis, who assemble high volumes of cars in Mexico and Canada, are most exposed to … Read more…

By Anmol Choubey and Brijesh Patel (Reuters) – Oil prices could stall in 2025 as economic weakness in China clouds the demand picture and ample global supplies outweigh support from an expected delay to a planned OPEC+ output hike, a Reuters monthly poll showed on Friday. The survey of 41 economists and analysts predicted that Brent crude would average $74.53 per barrel in 2025, down from a forecast of $76.61 in October. That is the … Read more…

By Gianluca Lo Nostro (Reuters) – Orange has struck a multi-year partnership with OpenAI in Europe that will give the French telecoms operator access to pre-release AI models, group chief artificial intelligence officer Steve Jarrett said on Wednesday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Orange will become the first telecoms firm in Europe to have direct access to OpenAI’s models. KEY QUOTES “OpenAI’s models are the most popular. And so it made financial sense for us to have … Read more…

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday opened London’s first Google-funded AI Campus which aims to help young people develop skills in the rapidly developing technology. The centre, based in Camden, an area which Starmer represents in parliament and which is also home to Google’s future offices in Kings Cross, has already started a two-year pilot project for local students. An first cohort of 32 people aged 16-18 will … Read more…

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors in the world’s largest cryptocurrency are anticipating a significant downward move after bitcoin failed to hit an all-time peak of $100,000, according to a crypto trading platform citing recent options activity. Bitcoin hit a record high of $99,830 on Nov. 22, but it has since fallen more than 8% to a one-week low of 91,377.32 on Tuesday. The best-known cryptocurrency has soared 120% so far this year … Read more…

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – Netflix won the dismissal on Tuesday of a shareholder lawsuit accusing the streaming company of downplaying the impact on subscriber growth of account sharing, where paying members share user names and passwords with nonpaying members in other households. The proposed class action led by a Texas-based trustee began after Netflix revealed in April 2022 it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the prior quarter, the first decline in a decade, and … Read more…

By Jody Godoy NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook owner Meta Platforms will face trial in April over the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s allegations that the social media platform bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush emerging competition, a judge in Washington said on Monday. The FTC sued in 2020, during the Trump administration, alleging the company acted illegally to maintain a monopoly on personal social networks. Meta, then known as Facebook, overpaid for Instagram in 2012 … Read more…