Apple is canceling its plans to build an electric car, according to multiple outlets, ending a secretive project that has consumed immense resources over the past decade. Executives from the company made the unexpected announcement during an internal team meeting on Tuesday, forecasting layoffs and telling employees that many of them would shift to working on generative artificial intelligence, per reports.Apple is believed to have spent billions of dollars attempting to develop an electric, semi-autonomous ...

Everyone wants to be like Apple. The largest publicly traded company in the world, with a flagship product that prints money, and a cultural footprint that has reached world-historical importance: the 21st-century Ford.On a surface level, the companies that get slapped with that comparison are obvious enough. If you pump out well-made, slickly designed consumer electronics that arrive in a nice box, someone somewhere will compare you to the Cupertino giant.Dig a bit deeper, and there’s more meaningful compa ...

Investor excitement over artificial intelligence reached a new peak this week when better-than-expected results from chipmaker Nvidia drove stock markets in three continents to record highs.The rally began on Thursday and continued into Friday, as Nvidia overtook Google’s parent group, Alphabet, to become the third most valuable company in the US. Its market capitalisation hit $2tn, surpassed only by Microsoft and Apple.The AI boom has raised many questions, not least over safety and the impact on jobs, but ...

The artificial intelligence boom is pushing demand for Nvidia’s products past Wall Street’s already lofty expectations.The chipmaker beat analyst expectations on Wednesday by leaps and bounds when it reported fourth-quarter earnings, posting $22.1bn in revenue on an expected $20.55bn and $4.93 in earnings per share against an expected $4.64. Revenue was 22% higher than the previous quarter, up 265% from a year ago. Nvidia’s most closely watched earnings figure – revenue from data centers – was up more than ...

Boeing has ousted the head of the 737 Max program as the planemaker fights to repair its reputation following a terrifying cabin panel blowout.Ed Clark, who was also general manager of Boeing’s Renton plant, is leaving the business with immediate effect, according to an internal memo. His exit was first reported by the Seattle Times.The company has scrambled to reassure regulators, airlines and passengers since a brand-new 737 Max 9 jet was forced into an emergency landing last month.The dramatic incident d ...

Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged regulators to block Capital One’s $35bn takeover of Discover Financial, arguing that combining two of the US’s largest credit card companies would harm consumers and challenge financial stability.The blockbuster deal would inevitably lead to higher costs and fees for cardholders, according to the leftwing senator.Richard Fairbank, chairman and chief executive of Capital One, has claimed the planned acquisition amounts to “a singular opportunity to bring together two very s ...

Microsoft-backed OpenAI has completed a deal that values the artificial intelligence company at $80bn or more, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing multiple people with knowledge of the deal.The company would sell existing shares in a so-called tender offer led by venture firm Thrive Capital, the report said. Employees will be able to cash out their shares of the company rather than a traditional funding round, which would raise money for the business, the report added.OpenAI did not immediately re ...

Group 1: Disney's Strategic Moves - Disney has announced a $1.5 billion partnership with Epic Games to enter the video game market, aiming to create a "games and entertainment universe" for its franchises like Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars [1][2] - Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, stated that this deal represents the company's "biggest entry ever into the world of games," highlighting significant growth opportunities [1][2] - The collaboration with Epic Games is expected to build a persistent, open, and interoperable ecosystem that connects the Disney and Fortnite communities [3] Group 2: Financial Performance - Disney reported a 49% increase in profits to $1.91 billion for the three months ending December 31, despite flat revenue of $23.5 billion [2] - The company is under pressure to cut costs and has announced a hefty dividend for shareholders, indicating a positive shift in financial performance [1][2] - Disney shares rose by 7% in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement and the news of the Epic Games deal [2] Group 3: Additional Ventures - Disney's ESPN is collaborating with Fox Corporation and Warner Bros Discovery to launch a sports-focused streaming platform, leveraging a wide range of sports rights [4]

Meta’s oversight board has found that a Facebook video wrongfully suggesting that the US president, Joe Biden, is a paedophile does not violate the company’s current rules while deeming those rules “incoherent” and too narrowly focused on AI-generated content.The board, which is funded by Meta – Facebook’s parent company – but run independently, took on the Biden video case in October in response to a user complaint about an altered seven-second video of the president.It ruled that Meta was right to leave t ...

Apple has ended the quarter with its first revenue gain in over a year, but the company still struggled to cope with a decline in global smartphone demand. The company posted $119.58bn in revenue and $2.18 in earnings per share (EPS), beating Wall Street expectations of $117.91bn in full-year revenue and $2.10 in EPS. Apple broke its four-quarter streak of declining revenue with a reported a 2% growth in sales. Shares dropped in after-hours trading.However, the news wasn’t all rosy for the iPhone maker. The ...