Global Edition

Asia markets diverge on heels of Apple, Amazon earnings

  • Amazon also reported earnings that were better than expected, driven by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
  • Asian stock markets presented a mixed bag on Friday, with falls in China and gains in Japan and South Korea coming after better-than-expected earnings reports from US tech behemoths Apple and Amazon.
  • Amazon also reported earnings that were better than expected, driven by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
Asian stock markets presented a mixed bag on Friday, with falls in China and gains in Japan and South Korea coming after better-than-expected earnings reports from US tech behemoths Apple and Amazon.
Investor confidence in artificial intelligence has fuelled a rally in global stock markets this week that made California-based chip designer Nvidia the first $5 trillion firm.
Rosy sentiment was further boosted by a detente in the US-China trade war, with leaders agreeing on Thursday to walk back punitive measures that had disrupted international supply chains and manufacturing sectors.
But that boom showed signs of flagging on Thursday as investors processed comments by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell the previous day that cast doubt on another interest rate cut in December.
The three major Wall Street indices retreated on Thursday, with the Nasdaq dropping the most at 1.6 percent.
An earnings report released by Apple after US markets closed showed quarterly revenue that beat estimates, powered by iPhone and services revenue.
Amazon also reported earnings that were better than expected, driven by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
Tokyo's main benchmark gained more than two percent on Friday while Seoul added half a percent, with both reaching record closes.
Japan's climb came despite a sharp plunge in Nissan shares after the automotive giant said it expected to suffer an operating loss in its current fiscal year ending in March.
Trading in Seoul ended just after an announcement by US tech giant Nvidia that it will supply 260,000 of its most cutting-edge chips to South Korea.
The statement came as CEO Jensen Huang met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the APEC summit. Also in attendance on Friday were leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada.
Taipei finished slightly down and Sydney closed flat.
In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese electric vehicle powerhouse BYD tumbled after results announced on Thursday evening showed a 33 percent year-on-year slump in third-quarter profit.
Hong Kong's main benchmark was down by more than one percent in the final hour of trading. Shanghai closed the day 0.8 percent lower.
"While (BYD's) near-term domestic growth may face headwinds from ongoing price discipline and evolving government policies, the international segment offers a robust counterbalance," HSBC analyst Yuqian Ding said in a report.
Challenges in the Chinese economy were further highlighted by official data on Friday that showed factory activity shrinking in October for the seventh successive month.
Xi and US President Donald Trump struck several key deals during Thursday's meeting that had been anticipated by observers.
Washington agreed to cut some tariffs on Chinese goods, while Beijing committed to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.
Trump and Xi have not yet signed a comprehensive trade agreement, and experts say the meeting amounted to a tentative one-year truce in the trade war between the world's top two economies.

Key figures at around 0720 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 52,411.34 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 25,986.71
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,954.79 (close)
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $60.30 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $64.80 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1560 from $1.1564 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3135 from $1.3142
Dollar/yen: UP at 154.28 yen from 154.06 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 88.01 from 87.98 pence
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 47,522.12 (close)
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,760.06 (close)
pfc/pbt

diplomacy

Nvidia to supply 260,000 cutting-edge chips to South Korea

BY CLAIRE LEE AND HIEUN SHIN

  • - Chicken and chips - Huang has sought to forge closer ties with South Korean tech giants in his visit to the country this week.
  • US tech giant Nvidia said on Friday it will supply 260,000 of its most cutting-edge chips to South Korea, as CEO Jensen Huang met President Lee Jae Myung and the heads of Korea's biggest companies on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
  • - Chicken and chips - Huang has sought to forge closer ties with South Korean tech giants in his visit to the country this week.
US tech giant Nvidia said on Friday it will supply 260,000 of its most cutting-edge chips to South Korea, as CEO Jensen Huang met President Lee Jae Myung and the heads of Korea's biggest companies on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
South Korea is home to two of the world's leading memory chip makers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix -- which manufacture chips essential for artificial intelligence products and the data centres that the fast-evolving industry relies on.
President Lee has also expressed his hope the country can become a leading AI power.
Nvidia said it was "working with South Korea to expand the nation's AI infrastructure with over a quarter-million Nvidia GPUs across its sovereign clouds and AI factories".
Under Friday's deal, 50,000 of the graphics processing units will go towards a new "AI factory" being built by Samsung Electronics.
"By deploying more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs, AI will be embedded throughout Samsung's entire manufacturing flow," the Korean tech giant said.
SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group will also receive 50,000 chips for use in AI facilities.
NAVER Cloud -- which operates South Korea's largest search engine -- will receive 60,000 to expand its AI infrastructure.
A further 50,000 will be deployed across Seoul's National AI Computing Center and to cloud service and IT providers.
"Korea's leadership in technology and manufacturing positions is at the heart of the AI industrial revolution -- where accelerated computing infrastructure becomes as vital as power grids and broadband," Nvidia CEO Huang said.

Chicken and chips

Huang has sought to forge closer ties with South Korean tech giants in his visit to the country this week.
He met Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Eui-sun on Thursday for "chimaek" -- a beloved South Korean pairing of fried chicken and beer -- in the capital Seoul.
The restaurant, Kkanbu, was reportedly chosen by Nvidia because the term -- popularised by Netflix's megahit "Squid Game" and meaning "friend" -- was intended to highlight the spirit of friendship underpinning their AI and chip collaborations.
Nvidia in July became the first company to top $4 trillion in market capitalisation, and followed that up by becoming the first to hit $5 trillion following a company event on Tuesday where it announced new ventures building on its AI technology.
Its chips drive much of the global AI industry and even featured in talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Gyeongju this week.
Beijing has ramped up its chip industry to beat Washington's export restrictions on the critical component used to power AI systems.
Nvidia has been caught in the middle of that geopolitical tussle. Its chips are currently not sold in China due to a combination of Beijing government bans, US national security concerns and ongoing trade tensions.
Huang has urged the United States to allow the sale of US-made AI chips in China in order to ensure Silicon Valley companies remain a global powerhouse in providing artificial intelligence.
"We did discuss chips," Trump said after meeting Xi, adding that Huang would speak to Beijing about the dispute.
"We're sort of the arbitrator or the referee," Trump said.
hs-cdl-oho/pbt

earnings

Sales of 'services' help Apple beat earnings forecasts

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • "Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
  • Apple on Thursday reported profit of $27.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, powered by iPhone and services revenue.
  • "Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
Apple on Thursday reported profit of $27.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, powered by iPhone and services revenue.
The net income, along with revenue of $102.5 billion, beat market expectations, despite a hefty financial hit from US tariffs and a slight ebbing of revenue in China when compared with the same period a year earlier.
"Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
Apple shares were up more than 2 percent in after-hours trade that followed release of the earnings figures.
Overall sales of iPhones, the heart of Apple's business, fell shy of market expectations, bringing in $49 billion in an increase from the same quarter last year.
The slight miss in iPhone revenue was still "encouraging given the successful iPhone 17 line-up launch" in September, CFRA Research vice president Angelo Zino said in a note to investors.
Apple's services business, which sells digital content and subscriptions to users of its coveted gadgets, generated $28.8 billion in revenue, an increase of some $3 billion from the same quarter last year.
Analyst Zino described the performance of Apple's services business as "standout."
"These results come at the close of an extraordinary year for Apple in which we achieved an all-time revenue record of $416 billion for the fiscal year," Cook said.
"We set an all-time revenue record for iPhone, and in services we achieved all-time records across every geographic segment."
Cook predicted that the current fiscal quarter would be the best ever for Apple.
Cook touted the latest Apple devices and the tech giant's custom chips and efforts to enhance products and services with artificial intelligence.
"As we continue to expand our investment in AI, we're bringing intelligence to more of what people already love about our products and services," Cook said on an earnings call.
"At the heart of it all is Apple silicon...these incredibly advanced chips make Apple products the very best place to experience the power of AI."

Smarter Siri?

Apple has been under pressure to show it is not being left behind when it comes to artificial intelligence, with the potential to change how people engage with the internet and computers.
Cook touted new "Apple Intelligence" features such as real-time language translation during iPhone calls and promised to release a more personalized Siri digital assistant next year.
Demand for several iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models outstripped supply, in the quarter, and Apple remains "constrained" on some models, according to executives.
Not being able to meet demand was cited by Cook as among reasons for sales in China coming in lower that the market expected.
Cook expects sales in China to pick up in the current quarter as supply improves.
"That is largely based on the reception of the iPhone there," Cook said.
"I couldn't be more pleased with how things are going (in China)."
Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said the company's gross margin was higher than forecast in the quarter, despite about $1.1 billion in tariff-related costs.
Trump's tariffs have cost Apple near $2 billion in the last two fiscal quarters, according to earnings figures.
Apple kept prices of iPhones unveiled last month unchanged from last year's equivalent models, raising concerns about its profit margin given the added expense.
gc/sla

Venezuela

Caught between Venezuela and US, Trinidad fishermen fear the sea

BY ESTELLE PÉARD

  • But he does not dare venture far in the current political climate, fearing he will be caught and sent back. esp/pgf/ms/mlr/mlm
  • A stone's throw from Venezuela, in the eye of a political storm fueled by a US naval deployment, fishermen from the archipelago of Trinidad and Tobago fear getting caught up in the tumult.
  • But he does not dare venture far in the current political climate, fearing he will be caught and sent back. esp/pgf/ms/mlr/mlm
A stone's throw from Venezuela, in the eye of a political storm fueled by a US naval deployment, fishermen from the archipelago of Trinidad and Tobago fear getting caught up in the tumult.
Between Venezuelan military preparations in response to muscular US "provocation" on the one hand, and Trinidad-backed American strikes on alleged drug boats on the other, people who normally ply their trade in the sea told AFP they are keeping a low profile.
In Cedros, a village in the extreme southwest of the island of Trinidad, a group of them chatted in hammocks on the beach, their boats unusually idle.
The fishers eyed the Venezuelan coast, about a dozen kilometers (seven miles) away, as they discussed their dilemma.
Barefoot and dressed in shorts, Kendrick Moodee told AFP he and his comrades were taking "a little more caution," with the Venezuelan coast guard "a bit tense" these days.
There has been closer policing, the 58-year-old said, of fishing in Venezuelan territorial waters where boats from Trinidad and Tobago were previously left to operate undisturbed.
Several Cedros fishermen said Venezuelan patrols have been violently repelling Trinidadian vessels, and beatings and extortion have increased.
Their territory curtailed, the fishermen have seen their yields and income dwindle.

'Anything can happen'

US strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed at least 62 people on boats Washington claims were ferrying drugs in recent weeks. Family members and victims' governments have said some of them were fishermen at sea.
Earlier this month US President Donald Trump hailed the success of the operation, saying: "We're so good at it that there are no boats. In fact, even fishing boats –- nobody wants to go into the water anymore."
At least two of those killed were Trinidadians, according to mourning loved ones, though the government of the US-aligned nation of 1.4 million people has refused to confirm the identities.
"This (fishing) is the only thing we have to... make a dollar," 42-year-old Rakesh Ramdass told AFP, saying he was afraid of the diplomatic fallout, but without an alternative.
"You have to take a chance," he said. But at sea, "anything can happen."
Fishermen said the Trinidadian coast guard was also making life more difficult for them in an area known as a hotspot for the trafficking of drugs, arms and people -- including Venezuelans fleeing dire economic straits in their own country.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a fierce critic of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a friend of Trump, and has welcomed the US strikes.
Maduro accused her of turning Trinidad and Tobago into "an aircraft carrier of the American empire" after Washington sent a guided-missile destroyer there for four days for a joint military exercise within striking distance of the Venezuelan mainland.
Caracas fears the US deployment of war vessels is part of a regime change plan under the guise of an anti-drug operation.
- 'Everyone becomes suspect' - 
The diplomatic standoff has meant that "everyone becomes suspect, even simple fishermen," a Western diplomat in Trinidad and Tobago told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Those who fish "find themselves caught in the crossfire," said the diplomat, and "normal economic life is disrupted."
In Icacos, a village near Cedros, Alexsi Soomai, 63, lamented that fishermen like him were going out to sea less frequently. 
"Better safe than sorry," he said. 
Icacos is the arrival point for many undocumented Venezuelans seeking a better life elsewhere.
A few steps from the beach, a hamlet with houses made of salvaged wood shelters several families, including that of Yacelis Garcia, a 35-year-old Indigenous Venezuelan who left that country six years ago. 
In Venezuela, she recounted, "sometimes we ate, sometimes we didn't."
Her brother-in-law Juan Salazar said he now lives "solely from fishing."
But he does not dare venture far in the current political climate, fearing he will be caught and sent back.
esp/pgf/ms/mlr/mlm

AI

Amazon shares surge as AI boom drives cloud growth

  • Amazon's major rivals in the cloud computing space, Microsoft and Google, on Wednesday also reported sales increases in their cloud computing business, with all companies pointing to adoption of AI services as the main driver.
  • Amazon's share price skyrocketed by more than ten percent on Thursday after the online retail behemoth reported better than expected earnings, powered by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
  • Amazon's major rivals in the cloud computing space, Microsoft and Google, on Wednesday also reported sales increases in their cloud computing business, with all companies pointing to adoption of AI services as the main driver.
Amazon's share price skyrocketed by more than ten percent on Thursday after the online retail behemoth reported better than expected earnings, powered by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
Quarterly sales rose 13 percent to $180.2 billion across the company, it said. Net income climbed to $21.2 billion from $15.3 billion a year earlier.
Stoking investor sentiment, the company forecast fourth-quarter sales of $206-$213 billion, representing growth of 10-13 percent.
The e-commerce giant's Amazon Web Services division, which recently suffered a global outage, saw revenues jump 20 percent to $33 billion in the third quarter, marking its fastest growth rate since 2022 as companies race to build AI capabilities.
Amazon's major rivals in the cloud computing space, Microsoft and Google, on Wednesday also reported sales increases in their cloud computing business, with all companies pointing to adoption of AI services as the main driver.
The tech giants are all making huge investments to build up their AI computing capabilities, money that the companies insist will be justified by increasing adoption of AI tools and applications by customers across the globe.
While the company did not break out its specific investment in AI capabilities, Amazon said it increased year-on-year purchases of property and equipment by $50.9 billion, which is a massive jump in spending.
"The significant acceleration of AWS growth should help dispel some of the concerns that Amazon has been failing to keep up with (Microsoft) Azure and Google Cloud," said Emarketer principal analyst Sky Canaves.
"A key question will be whether Amazon plans to further increase its already massive (capital expenditure) spending on AI infrastructure in light of the recent announcements from its rivals."
Amazon also said it added 3.8 gigawatts of power capacity over the past year to support AI infrastructure -- more than any other cloud provider -- and launched a massive computing cluster with nearly 500,000 custom AI chips.
AI computing demands enormous amounts of electricity, far more than traditional computing, and can put a strain on local resources, notably water supplies needed for cooling data center activity.
"In our view, Amazon is right to make these investments as they will help provide the company with new avenues for growth and ensure it remains competitively sharp," said Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData.
Operating income, however, remained flat at $17.4 billion after Amazon took two major charges: $2.5 billion for a legal settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and $1.8 billion in severance costs tied to planned job cuts.
Amazon said Tuesday it was reducing its workforce by 14,000 posts to streamline operations as it invests in artificial intelligence.
The cuts are expected to target areas such as human resources, advertising, and management in a group that has 350,000 office positions, out of a total of more than 1.5 million employees.
The settlement with the FTC was over long-running allegations from the US regulator that it used deceptive practices to enroll consumers in Amazon Prime and made it difficult to cancel subscriptions.
The online retail giant, which admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, paid $1.5 billion into a consumer fund for refunds and $1 billion in civil penalties.
Shortly after the results landed, Amazon's share price was up by 11 percent in after-hours trading.
arp/sla

earnings

Sales of 'services' help Apple beat earnings forecasts

  • "Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
  • Apple on Thursday reported profit of $27.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, powered by iPhone and services revenue.
  • "Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
Apple on Thursday reported profit of $27.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, powered by iPhone and services revenue.
The net income, along with revenue of $102.5 billion, beat market expectations, despite a slight ebbing of revenue in China when compared with the same period a year earlier.
"Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record," chief executive Tim Cook said in a release.
Apple shares were up more than 4 percent in after-hours trade that followed release of the earnings figures.
Overall sales of iPhones, the heart of Apple's business, fell shy of market expectations, bringing in $49 billion in an increase from the same quarter last year.
Apple's services business, which sells digital content and subscriptions to users of its coveted gadgets, generated $28.8 billion in revenue, an increase of some $3 billion from the same quarter a year earlier.
"These results come at the close of an extraordinary year for Apple in which we achieved an all-time revenue record of $416 billion for the fiscal year," Cook said.
"We set an all-time revenue record for iPhone, and in services we achieved all-time records across every geographic segment."
Cook predicted that the current fiscal quarter would be the best ever for Apple.
Cook touted the latest Apple devices and the tech giant's custom chips and efforts to enhance products and services with artificial intelligence.
"As we continue to expand our investment in AI, we're bringing intelligence to more of what people already love about our products and services," Cook said on an earnings call.
"At the heart of it all is Apple silicon... these incredibly advanced chips make Apple products the very best place to experience the power of AI."
Apple has been under pressure to show it is not being left behind when it comes to artificial intelligence with the potential to change how people engage with the internet and computers.
gc/ksb

Global Edition

Stocks mostly fall as investors digest Trump-Xi talks, earnings

  • The Bank of Japan also held interest rates steady on Thursday, sending the yen higher, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut. 
  • Stock markets wobbled Thursday as traders digested a high-stakes meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, mixed company earnings and uncertainty over further US interest rate cuts.
  • The Bank of Japan also held interest rates steady on Thursday, sending the yen higher, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut. 
Stock markets wobbled Thursday as traders digested a high-stakes meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, mixed company earnings and uncertainty over further US interest rate cuts.
US President Donald Trump described his meeting in South Korea with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping -- their first since 2019 -- as "amazing."
The two leaders agreed to calm the US-China trade war that has shaken global markets, with Washington cutting some tariffs and Beijing committing to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.
But the two sides have yet to produce a signed agreement, which means "continued uncertainty about how that relationship will play out, because both sides, the US and China, have shown that they're kind of willing to ruffle some feathers when they think it's necessary," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Anticipation of the meeting had helped lift stocks to new records. But momentum has faded.
Wall Street indices retreated, with the Nasdaq dropping the most of the three major indices at 1.6 percent. 
"The market was vulnerable to this," said CFRA's Sam Stovall, alluding to lofty equity valuations that positioned equities to drop at the "one two punch" of Wednesday's Federal Reserve decision and disappointing tech earnings.
Asia markets ended mostly lower, while in Europe both Frankfurt and London ended the day flat after wobbling in afternoon trading. 
Shares in Meta dove around 11.3 percent after it reported an 83 percent drop in profits to $2.7 billion following a roughly $16-billion hit from a one-time accounting shift due to a US fiscal overhaul legislation favored by Trump.
Microsoft shares shed 2.9 percent and shares in Google-parent Alphabet rose 2.5 percent.
Analysts described the market reaction as stemming from the investor understanding that the AI boom may not be without bumps.
"The business models of the big technology firms are becoming more capital intensive, as they build out their AI capabilities," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. 
If AI fails to deliver revenue streams, "the effect on share prices could be brutal," he added.
However Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada said that "unless there's a significant negative surprise from the remaining tech giants yet to report, equities could well have further room to climb."
Amazon and Apple report after US markets close on Thursday.
Seoul's stock market got a lift from tech giant Samsung Electronics posting a 32-percent rise in on-year profits for the third quarter, driven by AI-fueled market demand for memory chips.
The European Central Bank held interest rates steady, as expected, as inflation hovers around its target and the eurozone economy holds up. 
Data on Thursday showed the eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of 2025. 
The Bank of Japan also held interest rates steady on Thursday, sending the yen higher, after the US Federal Reserve delivered a second quarter-point rate cut. 
Fed chair Powell's announcement, however, cast doubt on an additional cut in December, jolting US markets and lifting the value of the dollar on Wednesday.

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 47,522.12 (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.0 percent at 6,822.34 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.6 percent at 23,581.14 (close)
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,760.06 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,157.29 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,118.89 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 51,325.61 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,282.69 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,986.90 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1564 from $1.1601 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3142 from $1.3194
Dollar/yen: UP at 154.06 yen from 152.73 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.98 from 87.92 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $65.00 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $60.57 per barrel
burs-jmb/des

investment

Saudi chases AI ambitions with homegrown firm pitched to global investors

BY HAITHAM EL-TABEI

  • - Deals - On Tuesday, state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco announced plans to acquire a "significant minority stake" in Humain to scale up operations and "accelerate its growth in the AI sector", according to a joint press release.
  • Powered by its sovereign wealth fund of nearly $1 trillion, Saudi Arabia is backing its new AI firm Humain, entering a highly competitive sector some fear is a bubble ready to burst.
  • - Deals - On Tuesday, state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco announced plans to acquire a "significant minority stake" in Humain to scale up operations and "accelerate its growth in the AI sector", according to a joint press release.
Powered by its sovereign wealth fund of nearly $1 trillion, Saudi Arabia is backing its new AI firm Humain, entering a highly competitive sector some fear is a bubble ready to burst.
The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in financing the kingdom's so-called gigaprojects -- major developments aimed at boosting and diversifying its oil-reliant economy. 
Humain this week signed a number of deals during the Future Investment Initiative conference (FII) in Riyadh, where its CEO doubled down on the stated goal of Saudi Arabia becoming the third-largest provider of AI infrastructure, behind the United States and China.
But Riyadh's ambitions to become a global AI hub face fierce competition from the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, which have invested in AI for years, as well as challenges over acquiring advanced US technology, including powerful chips.
"Our ambition is really, really massive," Humain's CEO Tareq Amin told delegates at the FII conference.
Humain has vowed to offer a wide range of AI services, products and tools, along with a powerful Arabic large language model.
In August, the company unveiled its debut Arabic chatbot that boasted of being able to comprehend the language's myriad dialects while also being mindful of Islamic values.  

Deals

On Tuesday, state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco announced plans to acquire a "significant minority stake" in Humain to scale up operations and "accelerate its growth in the AI sector", according to a joint press release.
Aramco's President and CEO Amin Nasser gushed over the potential of AI, saying the technology and digitalisation had the ability to double an oil well's productivity. 
Humain also signed a $3 billion deal with private equity giant BlackStone's AirTrunk to build data centres in Saudi Arabia and struck an agreement with US chipmaker Qualcomm.
For Robert C. Mogielnicki, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Humain, like other "nascent" Saudi tech entities, seeks "to assure audiences that the kingdom's tech ambitions are very real, feasible, and exciting".
"The fast pace of the tech agenda in the neighboring UAE, which is a key regional investment hub, heightens the need to do this," he added.

'Our goal'

AI-related spending is skyrocketing across the globe, with total investments in 2025 alone expected to reach nearly $1.5 trillion, according to US research firm Gartner.
The Gulf's two largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are vying to secure access to US technology.
The oil-producing countries have an advantage in the race to build sprawling data centres -- offering ample land, abundant energy supplies and ready access to finance along with backing from authorities.  
But many challenges remain. 
"The kingdom's capital means little if it doesn't have permission from Washington buy the advanced chips needed for its data center ambitions -- either for training or operating AI," Vivek Chilukuri, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told AFP. 
Chilukuri added that Saudi is also facing an acute shortage of AI talent and is competing not only with "more established and well-capitalized US firms" but also with the UAE.
There are also concerns over the impact of AI, with companies across the globe shedding tens of thousands of jobs, while economic returns remain uncertain. 
The spending spree has also prompted painful memories of the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s, when vast investments were wiped out.
Yet optimism was in no short supply this week in Riyadh. 
"It's exciting to be in this region now because there is so much motivation from the very top levels of government to want to be leaders in AI," said Adam Jackson, the head of Middle East operations with the tech firm CIQ. 
"We are not in the AI race to compete," added a female employee from Humain, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity because she did not have permission to speak to the press.
"We are there to be at the top with the US and China. That's our goal and vision."
ds-ht-sar/aya/jw

GCF

UN climate fund posts record year as chief defends loans

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • The new projects include $295 million for the Jordan Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project, described as "life or death" by the country, which is grappling with water scarcity. 
  • The head of the UN's flagship climate fund has announced a record-breaking year for approving projects in vulnerable countries, crediting red-tape-cutting reforms for the achievement that includes a major desalination project in Jordan.
  • The new projects include $295 million for the Jordan Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project, described as "life or death" by the country, which is grappling with water scarcity. 
The head of the UN's flagship climate fund has announced a record-breaking year for approving projects in vulnerable countries, crediting red-tape-cutting reforms for the achievement that includes a major desalination project in Jordan.
In an interview ahead of the COP30 talks in Brazil next month, Mafalda Duarte, executive director of the Green Climate Fund, also defended the use of loans -- a touchy topic given concerns about raising lower income nations' debt.
Headquartered in Songdo, South Korea and operational since 2015, the GCF is the world's largest multilateral climate fund and has now committed $19.3 billion -- with a goal of reaching $50 billion by 2030.
It announced a record $3.26 billion in greenlighted projects this year, significantly more than the $2.9 billion from its second-best year in 2021.
"In this current geopolitical environment, of course, you know having such a significant, record commitment from the largest multilateral Climate Fund is a positive signal among many less positive signals," Duarte told AFP.
The GCF was created to channel funds from the world's rich countries, historically most responsible for climate change, to developing nations, helping them adapt to a warming world and transition to low emissions economies. 
But US disengagement from the Paris climate process and infighting in Europe, where some countries have slashed foreign aid, have cast a pall over global funding efforts.
Even so, said Duarte, "with relatively small amounts of money, we can actually accomplish a lot in terms of private sector capital mobilization."
The new projects include $295 million for the Jordan Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project, described as "life or death" by the country, which is grappling with water scarcity. 
It is the GCF's largest single financing package to date and aims to catalyze a project valued at roughly $6 billion by offsetting risk for larger lenders.  

Accountability, not announcements

Duarte, a Portuguese national who worked in international development but shifted to climate after witnessing its impacts in Africa,  credited the stronger financing pace to bureaucratic reforms she has pursued since stepping in to lead the GCF in 2023.
"I came with a reform agenda to try to place GCF as a benchmark, an example of what it could look like: an institution that is efficient, agile and much more aligned with the speed and scale of investments that are needed," she said.
Her goals include cutting project review times from two years to nine months, and reducing the time to accredit partner institutions, like national agencies and banks, from three years to nine months.
The Jordan funding, like much of the work of the GCF, combines loans and grants.
Countries in the Global South and international nonprofits have long criticized loans, saying they deepen debt burdens and leave low-income countries repaying more than they receive.
But Duarte said that while grants were appropriate for the most vulnerable nations, they couldn't always be justified, for example when assisting private sector partners to turn a profit.
In Jordan's case, the project is expected to be eventually profitable, while the grant funding is for the initial stages so that households can access water affordably once the system is operational.
When it does give loans, the GCF prides itself on "concessionality," meaning very low interest rates -- far better deals than middle income countries with poor investment ratings could hope to get on the commercial market. 
It argues that grants, which account for around 45 percent of its outlay, cannot achieve the scale of financing required to deliver the Paris accord goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.
Duarte, who stopped eating meat to help align her personal life with her climate work, said that for her a successful COP would be one that centered on "accountability" -- not flashy new pledges, but delivering on existing promises.
Otherwise, she warned, future generations would look back unkindly. 
"They will look at us and really think, how could you guys be so slow to get it?"
ia/ksb

metal

G7 to launch 'alliance' countering China's critical mineral dominance

BY BEN SIMON

  • - Production alliance - With concern growing about China's overwhelming dominance in rare earth refining and processing, G7 leaders announced a "Critical Minerals Action Plan" at a summit in western Canada in June.
  • G7 energy ministers meeting in Canada on Thursday planned to launch a new alliance to counter China's critical mineral dominance, in a push for more reliable access to the resources that power advanced technologies.
  • - Production alliance - With concern growing about China's overwhelming dominance in rare earth refining and processing, G7 leaders announced a "Critical Minerals Action Plan" at a summit in western Canada in June.
G7 energy ministers meeting in Canada on Thursday planned to launch a new alliance to counter China's critical mineral dominance, in a push for more reliable access to the resources that power advanced technologies.
The two-day Group of Seven meeting in Toronto opened hours after US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed an extendable one-year deal on China's supply of rare earths.
Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Katherina Reiche, told reporters the Trump-Xi deal marked "a good sign," noting German reliance on Chinese critical mineral exports.
But she stressed the agreement "can't prevent us" from moving forward on broadening supply chains for the materials used in everything from solar panels and mobile phones to precision missiles.
"We need diversification of our import routes on raw materials," Reiche said.

Production alliance

With concern growing about China's overwhelming dominance in rare earth refining and processing, G7 leaders announced a "Critical Minerals Action Plan" at a summit in western Canada in June.
Canada's Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said the Toronto meeting will aim to formally launch a new initiative designed to curb China's market influence.
The Critical Minerals Production Alliance will "secure transparent, democratic, and sustainable critical mineral supply chains across the G7," he said.
Under the alliance, the governments of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States would mobilize private investment to expand critical mineral production that bypasses China.
The head of the critical minerals division at the International Energy Agency, Tae-Yoon Kim, told AFP the Toronto meeting offers "a major opportunity... to start shifting market power."
"The high concentration of critical minerals refining in a single country creates economic and national security risks," Kim said in an email ahead of the G7 talks.

Distorted markets

A central complaint about China's conduct is that it does not adhere to market principles.
Since a high proportion of material moves through Chinese-controlled businesses, Beijing can build stockpiles and control global supply.
"For decades, we've been facing a competitor who has very consistently distorted free markets, used industrial subsidies, created overcapacity, and undermined fair trade," said Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Critical Minerals Strategy.
Hunter noted that within the G7 there are contrasting energy policy priorities.
The Trump administration, in particular, is seen as less concerned about the transition to clean energy.
G7 unity on critical minerals may also be undermined by Trump's protectionist trade policies, which have caused global economic upheaval.
But given G7 alignment on "security of supply," Hunter said she saw space for cooperation.
"I'm an optimist. I have to be, because this sector is very painful at times." 
For her, progress at the Toronto meeting would include concrete action on the issue of traceability -- tracking raw materials from mining to refinement and ensuring suppliers follow global market rules.
Hunter said that "opaque" Chinese-controlled companies exist across the supply chain, which the G7 should strive to "box out of the market" with new policies on traceability and transparency.
"I'm really interested to see what they do on that," she said, adding that processing still includes a "spider web of entities" where Chinese officials maintain outsized control.
"We have a short window of opportunity to fix this. The window is still open -- it's just very, very small," Hunter said.
bs/des

diplomacy

Fentanyl, beans and Ukraine: takeaways from Trump-Xi's 'great meeting'

  • Trump told reporters the subject came up "very strongly" during his talks with Xi. "He's going to help us, and we're going to work together on Ukraine," Trump said.
  • From a crippling trade conflict to the Ukraine war, here's what Beijing and Washington say was achieved during Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's first face-to-face talks in six years: - Fentanyl, tariffs - The fentanyl trade has long been a sore point: Washington accuses Beijing of turning a blind eye to exports of chemicals used to make the drug, a charge China denies.
  • Trump told reporters the subject came up "very strongly" during his talks with Xi. "He's going to help us, and we're going to work together on Ukraine," Trump said.
From a crippling trade conflict to the Ukraine war, here's what Beijing and Washington say was achieved during Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's first face-to-face talks in six years:

Fentanyl, tariffs

The fentanyl trade has long been a sore point: Washington accuses Beijing of turning a blind eye to exports of chemicals used to make the drug, a charge China denies.
Trump hit China with a 20-percent levy early this year over fentanyl, but said it would be reduced to 10 percent after Xi agreed at their Busan summit to "work very hard to stop the flow" of the powerful opioid, which has killed thousands of Americans.
The reduction would bring average US tariffs on China to 47 percent.
Washington would also suspend for a year steeper "reciprocal" tariffs that targeted China, Beijing's commerce ministry said, ahead of a trade truce set to expire next month. China will make corresponding adjustments.

Hill of beans

Beijing has retaliated against the US tariffs with levies on American agricultural products, including soybeans, hurting a key source of Trump's political support: farmers.
More than half of US soybean exports went to China last year, but Beijing halted all orders as the trade dispute deepened.
Trump said China had now agreed to purchase "tremendous" amounts of soybeans and other farm products.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of the crop "during this season".

Rare earths, ships

A strategic field dominated by China that is essential for manufacturing in defence, automobiles and consumer electronics, rare earths were expected to occupy a central role in the Busan talks.
Beijing imposed sweeping export controls on the materials and related technology this month. 
Trump swiftly announced retaliatory tariffs of 100 percent on all Chinese goods, which he threatened would start this weekend.
But the US leader insisted Thursday that "that whole situation, that roadblock is gone now".
China's commerce ministry confirmed the rare earths restrictions had been suspended "for one year".
Washington in turn agreed to suspend for one year a move imposing "Entity List" export restrictions on affiliates of blacklisted foreign companies in which they had at least a 50 percent stake, a Chinese spokesperson said.
The United States also agreed to halt for a year measures targeting China's shipbuilding industry that led to both sides applying port fees against each other's ships, they said.
China would suspend its "countermeasures" after the US action, they added, for one year too.
- Ukraine - 
Trump said the United States and China agreed to cooperate more on seeking an end to war in Ukraine.
China says it is a neutral party, but Kyiv and Western governments have long accused Beijing of providing political and economic support to Moscow.
Trump told reporters the subject came up "very strongly" during his talks with Xi.
"He's going to help us, and we're going to work together on Ukraine," Trump said.

Chips

Beijing has ramped up its chip industry to beat Washington's export restrictions on the critical component used to power artificial intelligence systems.
US chip giant Nvidia has been caught in the geopolitical tussle. Nvidia's chips are currently not sold in China due to a combination of Beijing government bans, US national security concerns and ongoing trade tensions.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has urged the United States to allow the sale of US-made AI chips in China to ensure Silicon Valley companies remain a global powerhouse in AI development.
"We did discuss chips," Trump said, adding that Huang would speak to Beijing about the dispute. "We're sort of the arbitrator or the referee."

TikTok

The talks failed to result in a final deal for TikTok's US operations to be transferred to American ownership, despite Bessent saying beforehand that Xi and Trump may "consummate" an agreement in Busan.
Washington has sought to wrest the popular social media app's US operations from the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns.
aue-oho-mya-bys/des

earnings

Chinese EV giant BYD says Q3 profit down 33%

  • The carmaker said its net profit for the third quarter was 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a decrease of 32.6 percent compared to the same period last year and its second consecutive quarterly decline. 
  • Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD said on Thursday its third-quarter profit had slumped by 33 percent year-on-year, with sluggish domestic consumption piling pressure on the carmaker as it looks to expand overseas.
  • The carmaker said its net profit for the third quarter was 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a decrease of 32.6 percent compared to the same period last year and its second consecutive quarterly decline. 
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD said on Thursday its third-quarter profit had slumped by 33 percent year-on-year, with sluggish domestic consumption piling pressure on the carmaker as it looks to expand overseas.
BYD -- which adopts the English slogan "Build Your Dreams" -- has emerged in recent years as the clear leader in China's highly competitive EV market, which is the largest in the world.
The carmaker said its net profit for the third quarter was 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a decrease of 32.6 percent compared to the same period last year and its second consecutive quarterly decline. 
The Shenzhen-based firm recorded revenue of 195 billion yuan over the same period, a slight decrease of 3 percent year-on-year.
China's EV industry is world-leading but a cutthroat domestic market has weighed on companies' profitability, with many including BYD turning to overseas markets in response. 
Scrutiny of the EV market is also growing, with a top industry group in May rebuking Chinese automakers for fuelling a price war, a week after BYD announced sweeping trade-in discounts. 
However, BYD's overseas bid appears to be gathering pace. 
In September, it sold more than 13,000 units in European Union countries, a year-on-year increase of 272.1 percent, according to a report by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
The recent slowdown comes after a period of sustained, intense growth, and its profit in the first quarter was a record for the company in that reporting period. 
In 2024, its annual revenue surpassed that of its American rival Tesla, and crossed the symbolic $100 billion mark.
aas-reb/rsc

banking

ECB holds rates steady with eurozone more resilient

BY TIZIANA FABI WITH LOUIS VAN BOXEL-WOOLF IN FRANKFURT

  • Inflation has settled around the central bank's two-percent target while ECB President Christine Lagarde on Thursday noted "downside risks" to eurozone growth had eased. 
  • The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged again Thursday, saying inflation was in check and risks to the eurozone economy had eased while warning of continued risks from trade and geopolitical tensions.
  • Inflation has settled around the central bank's two-percent target while ECB President Christine Lagarde on Thursday noted "downside risks" to eurozone growth had eased. 
The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged again Thursday, saying inflation was in check and risks to the eurozone economy had eased while warning of continued risks from trade and geopolitical tensions.
The decision, which was widely expected, marked the third straight meeting that the ECB has kept its key deposit rate steady at two percent, following an earlier string of cuts.
Inflation has settled around the central bank's two-percent target while ECB President Christine Lagarde on Thursday noted "downside risks" to eurozone growth had eased. 
This was due to factors including the EU-US trade deal, progress in US-China trade talks and the Gaza ceasefire, she said after the rate decision.
"From a monetary policy point of view we are in a good place," she told a press conference in Florence, Italy, where rate-setters had gathered on one of their regular tours away from the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters. 
She spoke shortly after data was released showing that third-quarter eurozone growth came in at 0.2 percent, which, while still weak by comparison with other major economies, was slightly above expectations.
"I would not complain too much about growth," she said.
Lagarde gave no hint about the central bank's next move on rates, reiterating the ECB's decisions would depend on the latest data.
Capital Economics however said it believed the ECB, which is the central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro, would hold off changing rates any time soon.
"There is little appetite on the governing council to change interest rates in the near term," Jack Allen-Reynolds, the group's deputy chief eurozone economist said.
In contrast to the ECB, the US Federal Reserve has started reducing borrowing costs again, and on Wednesday cut rates for its second straight meeting -- by a quarter point -- as concerns grow about the cooling labour market. 

Debate on future cuts

With the long-struggling eurozone economy on a better footing than some had feared, there was little immediate pressure for a rate cut. 
The eurozone economy still faces headwinds, from the French political crisis that has pushed up borrowing costs in the eurozone's second-biggest economy to the risk of a further flare-up in trade tensions and signs of slowing wage growth.
"The outlook for inflation continues to be more uncertain than usual," Lagarde said, stressing that the growth and inflation outlook were highly dependent on the outcome of trade disputes and geopolitical tensions.
"We are in a period of still great uncertainty. Many of those risks result from policies and implementation of policies," Lagarde said, although she welcomed signs that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had sought to calm trade tensions in their talks in South Korea.
As for Chinese export restrictions on rare earths disrupting supply chains and potentially driving up inflation, Lagarde said the ECB was in "wait and see mode".
"We will continue to be attentive to the risk," she said. "We are still to understand exactly what the outcome of the discussions between the US authorities and the Chinese authorities will deliver."
There are signs that the ECB governing council is divided over the next move on rates. 
Some have called for another rate cut as soon as the central bank's next meeting in December, when policymakers will be armed with updated inflation and growth forecasts to guide them.
Lagarde conceded that there are "different positions and different views and different analyses.
"But I'm happy to say that on the occasion of this meeting in Florence there was absolute unanimity on the part of all members."
vbw/sr/rl

AI

Universal says struck first licensing deal for AI music

  • AI firms from industry leader OpenAI to music specialists like Udio and competitor Suno have previously been accused by major record companies of using their songs to "train" artificial intelligence models which can produce music that apes human artists.
  • A deal struck between Universal Music Group and AI music creation startup Udio marks a new chapter for a recording industry buffeted by the emergence of artificial intelligence.
  • AI firms from industry leader OpenAI to music specialists like Udio and competitor Suno have previously been accused by major record companies of using their songs to "train" artificial intelligence models which can produce music that apes human artists.
A deal struck between Universal Music Group and AI music creation startup Udio marks a new chapter for a recording industry buffeted by the emergence of artificial intelligence.
"The new platform, which will be launched in 2026, will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music," the two companies said in a statement on Thursday.
As yet unnamed, the project will be a "new subscription service" that will allow users to "customize, stream and share music responsibly, on the Udio platform," they added.
The statement did not go into detail about how the new platform will function.
But obvious questions the partners must resolve include whether artists will have to opt in to their music being licensed, how creators will be compensated or how music generated on the platform will be distributed.
Thursday's deal is the first of its kind in the music industry, with heavyweight UMG -- the industry leader with a roster of beloved stars like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd or Lady Gaga -- granting valuable legal access to its catalogue.
UMG chief Lucian Grainge said the tie-up showed the way towards "a healthy commercial AI ecosystem in which artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies can all flourish," 
"Together, we're building the technological and business landscape that will fundamentally expand what's possible in music creation and engagement," Udio chief Andrew Sanchez said.
The two companies added that they had settled an outstanding copyright infringement case, without specifying the financial terms.

Infringement allegations

The agreement for legal licensing comes as artists, from authors to musicians and video game developers, fear being replaced altogether by AI models trained on decades of human-produced creative output.
Already, music streaming platforms report a rising flood of computer-generated songs.
AI firms from industry leader OpenAI to music specialists like Udio and competitor Suno have previously been accused by major record companies of using their songs to "train" artificial intelligence models which can produce music that apes human artists.
Rightsholders have demanded stricter limits on the AI developers' activities, including transparency on what source material they have used and guarantees for their revenue.
"The world's largest tech companies as well as AI-specific companies, such as OpenAI, Suno, and Udio, Mistral, etc. are engaged in the largest copyright infringement exercise that has been seen," John Phelan, director general of the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), told AFP last month.
And the Recording Industry Association of America, a US trade group, filed a lawsuit in June 2024 against both Udio and Suno.
For their part, AI firms often argue their work is covered by the American copyright loophole of "fair use", which does not require rightsholders' consent.
Broader talks between music companies and tech firms on how to license works for AI remain under way.
UMG said Thursday that it was also partnering with London-based startup Stability AI to develop new music creation tools.
And independent publisher Kobalt, licensing firm Merlin and AI company Eleven Music struck a deal of their own in August.
jt-fan/tgb/rl

automobile

Shares in Jeep-maker Stellantis slump despite rising sales

  • But Stellantis also warned it expects to incur charges in the second half of the year.
  • Shares in Stellantis suffered a double-digit fall on Thursday as the US-European auto giant whose brands include Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot warned of financial bumps ahead. 
  • But Stellantis also warned it expects to incur charges in the second half of the year.
Shares in Stellantis suffered a double-digit fall on Thursday as the US-European auto giant whose brands include Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot warned of financial bumps ahead. 
The group -- whose 14 brands also include Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Chrysler -- reported a 13-percent rise in third-quarter sales as business improved in the United States, where it once struggled.
Sales reached 37.2 billion euros ($43.2 billion) in the three-month period as it reported growth in nearly every region except South America.
"As we continue to implement important strategic changes in order to provide our customers with greater freedom of choice, we have seen positive sequential progress and solid year-over-year performance in Q3, marked by the return of top-line growth," said chief executive Antonio Filosa.
"This is encouraging and we are continuing to build on these gains," Filosa said.
But Stellantis also warned it expects to incur charges in the second half of the year.
The company said the additional costs were due to the "important and necessary changes to our strategic and product plans" as well as "regulatory, geopolitical, macro-economic and other external and internal developments". 
It also said it had begun a review of how it estimates warranty costs, which it expects will lead to changes that result in one-off charges in the second half of the year.

Turned the corner?

Shares in Stellantis fell following the announcement, and briefly exceeded 10 percent as trading opened on Wall Street.
Since the start of the year Stellantis shares have lost more than 30 percent of their value.
"Given these uncertainties, we believe that it is too early to declare that the automaker is on a real path of recovery," said analysts at Oddo BHF bank. 
The automaker took the highly unusual step of releasing a second statement. 
"You can see that in Q3 we continued and accelerated the actions we started in January to correct past strategic and operational decisions," Filosa said in the statement.
Filosa took over Stellantis in June, six months after his predecessor, Carlos Tavares, was forced out following the company's woes in the United States.
"We quickly changed our organizational structure to restore proximity to our customers, dealers and suppliers," he added.
Shipments also improved in the third quarter, rising 13 percent to 1.3 million units, mostly thanks to 35-percent growth in North America.
The group said inventories have normalised in the United States after an effort last year to cut stocks at US dealerships temporarily curbed production.
Filosa said Stellanis's recent product actions and investments "have restored the freedom to choose to the very heart of our strategy."
Stellantis announced in October plans to invest $13 billion in US plants over the next four years, which will see the group offer more internal combustion engine vehicles as the Trump administration has relaxed vehicle emission rules.
It will expand production of the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass, and reintroduce an entry-level version of its Ram 1500 pickup. 
Large pickups generate half of Stellantis's profits in the United States.
fmp/rl/st

economy

No GDP data released as US shutdown bites

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • If the government shutdown lasts through mid-November, as predictions markets expect, most delayed data releases will still be unlikely to come out until December, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note.
  • A US federal data blackout deepened Thursday as a government shutdown halted the release of third quarter GDP figures, forcing policymakers, financial institutions and business owners to continue flying blind.
  • If the government shutdown lasts through mid-November, as predictions markets expect, most delayed data releases will still be unlikely to come out until December, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note.
A US federal data blackout deepened Thursday as a government shutdown halted the release of third quarter GDP figures, forcing policymakers, financial institutions and business owners to continue flying blind.
The world's biggest economy has already delayed reports on employment, trade, retail sales and others, only recalling some furloughed staff to produce key inflation figures needed for the government to calculate Social Security payments.
On Thursday, the shutdown entered its 30th day, with Republicans and Democrats still at an impasse.
Each assigns blame to the other side over the stoppage, with no quick solution in sight and food aid for millions now at stake.
While there were no official gross domestic product (GDP) numbers published on Thursday, economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal expected GDP growth of 2.8 percent in the July to September period.
This would be a cooling from second quarter economic growth of 3.8 percent.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow indicator -- a running estimate of real GDP growth based on available data -- pegs the figure at 3.9 percent.
But the ongoing information blackout means that companies and officials will have to wait to find out.
Experts warn that businesses could lower hiring and investment.
"This is the time of year where most organizations are finalizing their budgets for 2026," said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.
"So, almost any company is sitting there thinking: Do we think 2026 is going to be an uptick? Or a slowdown, or a recession?" she told AFP.
She added that industries are also trying to gauge if the Fed will keep cutting interest rates, a decision that depends on inflation and the jobs market, which has been weakening.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown could cost the economy up to $14 billion.
Matthew Martin of Oxford Economics added that business would likely "reduce their overall hiring to be on the safe side," until they see data pointing to rising demand or a stabilization in the economy.
If the government shutdown lasts through mid-November, as predictions markets expect, most delayed data releases will still be unlikely to come out until December, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note.
Such delays could distort October and November numbers.
Long warned that October's data could also be lost if the shutdown persists for too long -- as it might not be collected.
bys/bgs

earnings

Nissan says expects $1.8 bn operational loss in 2025-26

  • It also said it expected an operating loss of 30 billion yen for the first six months of the fiscal year, which runs through September.
  • Struggling Japanese carmaker Nissan said it expected to suffer an operating loss of 275 billion ($1.8 billion) in its fiscal year that ends in March as it faces further economic headwinds.
  • It also said it expected an operating loss of 30 billion yen for the first six months of the fiscal year, which runs through September.
Struggling Japanese carmaker Nissan said it expected to suffer an operating loss of 275 billion ($1.8 billion) in its fiscal year that ends in March as it faces further economic headwinds.
It also said it expected an operating loss of 30 billion yen for the first six months of the fiscal year, which runs through September.
Nissan reported a net loss of 671 billion yen for the financial year to March 2025, and launched an effort cut 20,000 jobs, some 15 percent of its workforce.
The first-half operating loss of 30 billion yen is better than the automaker had been forecasting. Nissan attributed it to one-time benefits including lower costs to emission regulations. It said it had also deferred some project costs to the second half of the year.
"While our first-half results reflect temporary benefits and payback from cost-saving initiatives, we anticipate ongoing challenging competitive environment in the second half, supply chain risks and the seasonality of business," said Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin.
The expected worsening of its performance in the second half of its fiscal year reflected "anticipated challenges in the second half due to supply chain risks, foreign exchange volatility, tariffs, and other external factors," the automaker said in a statement.
It said it now expected sales of 11.7 trillion yen in 2025-2026, down from its initial estimate in May of 12.5 trillion yen.
Nissan has faced numerous speed bumps in recent years -- including the 2018 arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who later fled Japan concealed in an audio equipment box.
A merger with Japanese rival Honda had been seen as a potential lifeline but talks collapsed in February when the latter proposed making Nissan a subsidiary.
Of Japan's major automakers, Nissan was seen by analysts as likely to be the most severely hit by US President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported vehicles. 
myr/rl/jj

politics

Italy court stalls Sicily bridge, triggers PM fury

  • Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, condemned Wednesday's ruling as "yet another encroachment on the jurisdiction of the government and parliament".
  • Italy's government said Thursday it would address concerns over a new bridge to Sicily, after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned a court ruling against the project as an "intolerable intrusion".
  • Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, condemned Wednesday's ruling as "yet another encroachment on the jurisdiction of the government and parliament".
Italy's government said Thursday it would address concerns over a new bridge to Sicily, after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned a court ruling against the project as an "intolerable intrusion".
Meloni's government in August approved the 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build what would be the world's longest suspension bridge connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.
But in a ruling late Wednesday, the Court of Auditors, which oversees public spending, refused to approve the decision. 
It said it would give its reasons within 30 days, but last month it had requested clarification about documentation used on the project, and on costs.
Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, condemned Wednesday's ruling as "yet another encroachment on the jurisdiction of the government and parliament".
"The constitutional reform of the justice system and the reform of the Court of Auditors, both under discussion in the Senate and close to approval, represent the most appropriate response to this intolerable intrusion, which will not stop the government's action," she said in a statement.
At the same time, Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League party who as deputy prime minister and transport minister has championed the bridge, said the ruling appeared to be a "political choice".
Yet on Thursday, after Meloni called an emergency meeting with her ministers, the government adopted a more conciliatory tone.
"We await with extreme calm the Court of Auditors' findings, to which we are confident we can respond point by point, because we have complied with the requirements," Salvini told reporters.
In a statement, Meloni's office confirmed the government would respond to each complaint, adding that "the objective... to proceed with the project remains firm".
Italian politicians have for decades debated a bridge over the Strait of Messina, a narrow strip of water between the Sicily and the region of Calabria, at the toe of Italy's boot.
"We have waited a century, and we will wait a century and two months," Salvini added.

'Respect for magistrates'

The approval in August by a government committee, CIPESS, is the furthest the project has ever got.
Advocates say the state-funded project will provide an economic boost for the impoverished south of Italy.
The government also hopes the bridge can be classified as a strategic asset, with its costs counting towards the money Italy has committed to spend on defence as part of the NATO military alliance.
However, critics warn that the project risks turning into a financial black hole.
It has also sparked local protests over the environmental impact, and complaints that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
The Court of Auditors on Thursday said its decision was based on legal aspects of the approval of the bridge, not on the merits of the project.
In a strongly worded decision, it added that any criticism of its decisions "must be conducted in a context of respect for the work of the magistrates".
In three years in office, Meloni and her ministers have repeatedly taken aim at the judiciary for decisions they assert are political.
Parliament on Thursday approved a reform to separate the training, careers and status of judges and prosecutors, whom right-leaning governments in Italy have long accused of colluding to the detriment of the defence.
The reform must now go to a referendum.
tsz-ar/ams/rl

Pfizer

Novo Nordisk launches bidding war with Pfizer for obesity drugmaker Metsera

  • Pfizer called Novo Nordisk's offer a "reckless and unprecedented proposal". 
  • Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, announced Thursday an unsolicited bid to acquire obesity treatment maker Metsera, topping an offer from US rival Pfizer which called the move "reckless".
  • Pfizer called Novo Nordisk's offer a "reckless and unprecedented proposal". 
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, announced Thursday an unsolicited bid to acquire obesity treatment maker Metsera, topping an offer from US rival Pfizer which called the move "reckless".
Novo Nordisk's bid valued the US biotech firm at $6 billion.
"Under the terms of the proposal, Novo Nordisk would acquire all outstanding shares of Metsera's common stock at a price of $56.50 per share in cash," Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
It added that the bid was "currently subject to review by the Metsera board of directors."
In September, Pfizer said it would pay $47.50 per share to acquire Metsera, valuing the company at $4.9 billion.
Following the announcement, Metsera said the offer from Novo Nordisk was "superior", as defined in its merger agreement with Pfizer, and gave Pfizer four business days to submit a new, higher offer. 
Pfizer called Novo Nordisk's offer a "reckless and unprecedented proposal". 
"It is an attempt by a company with a dominant market position to suppress competition in violation of law by taking over an emerging American challenger," it said.
Pfizer also said the offer was "illusory and cannot qualify as a superior proposal under Pfizer's agreement with Metsera".
It said it was "prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce its rights under its agreement."
Novo Nordisk said the acquisition of Metsera would give the Danish company "the opportunity to maximise the potential of Metsera's complementary portfolio and capabilities".

Increased competition

In addition to the upfront price, Novo Nordisk also committed to paying up to an additional $21.25 per share depending on the achievement of certain milestones for Metsera's treatments under development. Pfizer was offering an add-on of $22.5 per share.
The American and Danish giants are particularly vying for MET-097i, Metsera's most advanced treatment, currently in phase 2 clinical trials.
MET-097i is a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist which could potentially be administered via a single monthly injection.
Similar to Novo Nordisk's weight-loss treatments, it relies on a hormone secreted by the intestines that stimulates insulin secretion and suppresses appetite by inducing a feeling of satiety.
Shares in Novo Nordisk were down over two percent on the Copenhagen stock exchange following the announcement.
The popularity of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss injections had once made it a darling of investors, boosting its share price and at one point making it Europe's most valuable company.
But its share price has been tanking since last year as competition grows from rival treatments in its key market, the United States, notably with US giant Eli Lilly's Zepbound.
Novo Nordisk recently changed its CEO and announced it will lay off 9,000 employees.
Following a disagreement between the board and the majority shareholder over the company's future governance, it also announced earlier in October that it would replace more than half of its board, including the chair.
An extraordinary shareholders meeting has been scheduled for November 14.
Similarly, Pfizer had a hugely profitable breakthrough as it was one of the first companies to develop a Covid vaccine, but its stock price has fallen since the pandemic ended.
In its statement, Pfizer noted that "the Board of Metsera previously rejected Novo Nordisk's proposal due to 'a variety of risks' in its deal structure". 
ef/jll/po/lth

AI

Universal says struck first licensing deal for AI music

  • Universal and Udio said in a statement that their platform, as yet unnamed, "will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music".
  • Recording industry giant Universal Music Group said Thursday it had struck a licensing deal with AI music generation startup Udio, in an industry-first tie-up aiming to launch an AI creation platform next year.
  • Universal and Udio said in a statement that their platform, as yet unnamed, "will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music".
Recording industry giant Universal Music Group said Thursday it had struck a licensing deal with AI music generation startup Udio, in an industry-first tie-up aiming to launch an AI creation platform next year.
Universal and Udio said in a statement that their platform, as yet unnamed, "will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music".
They added that they had settled an outstanding copyright infringement case, without specifying the financial terms.
The agreement comes as artists, from authors to musicians and video game developers, fear eventual replacement by AI models trained on decades of human-produced creative output, while music streaming platforms already report a rising flood of computer-generated songs.
AI firms from industry leader OpenAI to music specialists like Udio and competitor Suno have previously been accused by major record companies of using their songs to "train" artificial intelligence models which can produce music that apes human artists.
Rightsholders have demanded stricter limits on the AI developers' activities, including transparency on what source material they have used and guarantees for their revenue.
Startups were "engaged in the largest copyright infringement exercise that has been seen," International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) boss John Phelan told AFP last month.
And the Recording Industry Association of America, a US trade group, filed a lawsuit in June 2024 against both Udio and Suno.
By contrast, Thursday's tie-up showed the way towards "a healthy commercial AI ecosystem in which artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies can all flourish," UMG chief Lucian Grainge said.
Broader talks between music companies and tech firms on how to license works for AI remain under way.
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