Biden Rolls Out Red Carpet For Modi, Businesses Pay Attention
The White House is rolling out the red carpet for the state dinner of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. Key Agenda: Talks to strengthen economic and security ties as the Biden administration develops partners to counter China. Businesses are also watching closely as they pour money into one of the world’s fastest growing economies, despite challenges in operating there.
Elon Musk is also participating. The chief executives of Tesla and SpaceX said India has more potential than any other major power in a meeting with Modi in New York on Tuesday. Attracted by the country’s sustainable energy potential, Mr Musk said He hoped his electric car maker could start operations there “as humanely as possible”.
India is growing rapidly. Mr. Modi successfully kept the West’s bounty and Since the Kremlin declared war on Ukraine, Russia. Russia is a huge beneficiary of cheap Russian oil, which has propelled it into a prominent position on the world stage with high growth and (relatively) low inflation.
the investor flocked to the country as before commercial giant. And his IPO market is booming, thanks to a vibrant entrepreneurial scene and tech sector.
But Musk did not mention Indian pressure on his other companies. co-founder of twitter Jack Dorsey He accused India of trying to shut down domestic platforms in 2020-2021, before Musk bought them, for refusing to remove content critical of the government. The government denied the accusations, but India plummeted. democracy ranking.
There are many big questions about India, Inc. Apple has ramped up production domestically, but the transition has reportedly gotten off to a rocky start. According to the Financial TimesiPhone makers have seen a spike in factory defect rates this year compared to their production volumes in China.
And Hindenburg Research’s short-selling attack on Indian conglomerate Adani Group, founded by Modi’s aides, has raised concerns about crony capitalism and opaque accounting standards. Adani Group denies the accusations.
None of this applies to Modi’s opinion. popular at home. The secret is to keep a firm grip on the flow of information. As The Times’ Mujib Mashal reports, “This is especially true for the broadcast media, where the bulk of the evening news consists of anchors proclaiming Modi’s greatness and defending him against all criticism.” I have.”
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A reconnaissance plane searching for a missing submarine picks up underwater noises. Rescue teams are searching for the source of the sound, worrying about the oxygen levels inside the submarine Titan. The ship’s operator, Oceangate, was warned years ago of a potentially “catastrophic” safety hazard.
The UK is dealing with persistently high inflation. Consumer prices rose 8.7% in May, holding flat amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The Bank of England is expected to raise rates to 4.75% for the 13th consecutive time on Thursday.
Samuel Alito is under heavy scrutiny for his trip with hedge fund mogul Paul Singer. supreme court judge It did not disclose the 2008 flight. ProPublica reported that Singer was involved in a legal case in court with Elliott Management, and that Singer went on an Alaska fishing trip on a private jet provided by Singer. Alito took the unusual step of defending his actions. Opinion article in the Wall Street Journal Before the ProPublica article was published.
TV super-producer Ryan Murphy is poised to make the jump from Netflix to Disney. Murphy, whose hits include “Monster: The Geoffrey Dahmer Story,” has five years after signing a $300 million production deal with five Netflix companies, including early productions like his “American Horror Story.” Negotiations are underway to reinstate the team that contributed to the successful production. years ago.Separately, Netflix is reportedly in negotiations over some licenses. Warner Bros. Discovery Content.
Masayoshi Son is back
SoftBank’s outspoken founder Masayoshi Son has been silent for months as his tech conglomerate suffers huge investment losses.
But as the world races to adopt artificial intelligence (something that has fascinated him for years), Mr. annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, on a special day, restate his determination To be a leader in cutting-edge technology.
“We are ready to switch to attack mode.” “I want SoftBank to lead the AI revolution,” Son added to investors and analysts. It brings back the kind of spectacular presentation he has long favored. “Coronavirus Valley” slides Will there be flying unicorns in 2020? — Asked the head of SoftBank.What is mankind?“
The answer is clearly something that could benefit from the technology behind chatbots, which have already sparked an investment boom. (To be fair, the potential of AI was one of several central themes behind SoftBank’s first vision of his $100 billion fund.) It’s the sum of all wisdom,” he said Wednesday. SoftBank is best suited to try to “be the architect of the future of mankind,” he added.
Son argues SoftBank has better days ahead. The company’s Vision Fund has suffered heavy paper losses from declining valuations of startups, but SoftBank has since amassed more than $35 billion in cash in “defensive mode,” which it invests. said he was ready to do so. (The company also plans to benefit from his upcoming IPO of its self-owned chip design company, Arm.)
And Son said that after a slowdown last year, he is excited again. “There were times when it felt very empty,” he told investors. “Is this enough?” ‘ I cried and cried for days and couldn’t stop crying. ‘ Now he added, ‘It’s too much fun.
Justice Department’s New Banking Strategy
After the spring turmoil in local banks, Washington officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, suggested that the United States: May need integration To create a stronger bank that can withstand future crises.
But in a speech at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Jonathan Cantor, said the department could take a more critical look at bank M.&A. suggested.
Justice Department plans to change how bank mergers are reviewedThis includes resuming “competitive factors reports” to key regulators overseeing such transactions, such as the Fed and FDIC (the sending of such reports had been suspended decades ago).
More importantly, the ministry will look beyond concentration of deposits and duplication of branches to consider more broadly the potential impacts of transactions, including fees, interest rates and customer service.
And if a bank goes ahead with a deal that Kanter’s team opposes, the department could sue just as it blocked it. Efforts of the National Bank of Philadelphia Merged with Girard Trust Corn Exchange Bank in 1963.
That could chill U.S. bank consolidation efforts. The country has fewer regional financial institutions than in the past, down from about 10,000 in 1990 to about 4,100, but some industry insiders still think there are too many. Canada has about 30 banks.
Bank executives and business associates have stressed that smaller banks face additional challenges in complying with capital controls designed to avoid a bank run like the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley. (Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that regulatory pressure could erode small banks’ return on equity by 3% to 6%.)
“Do you want us to exist?” Ken Vecchione, CEO of Western Alliance, which has been hit by the recent crisis, said he recently asked regulators to Stated.
“We are running water through a pipe that has been dry for a long time. So where is the leak?”
— Jennifer Christie, Chief Human Resources Officer of software maker DocuSign. The company plans to test adjustments to its hybrid work system this summer as American companies urge workers to return to the office full-time.
DC heads to Detroit as car war rages on
Lawmakers traveled to Detroit on Tuesday for a fast-moving “fact-finding mission” over auto companies’ ties to China.
Ford and General Motors CEOs Jim Farley and Mary Barra at a rally with right-wing and left-wing congressmen sent a message He showed that decoupling from China is becoming an economic and security imperative.
Ford faced a tough situation. member of parliament I was asked about plans announced in February to build a $3.5 billion factory in Michigan to produce electric vehicle batteries using technology licensed from Chinese manufacturer CATL. Difficulty of decoupling supply chain.
Ford may qualify for a special tax credit. The anti-inflation law is intended to encourage domestic battery manufacturing, and Ford could benefit even if its partners have close ties to the Chinese government.
Ford argued that CATL would not be profitable, adding that domestic manufacturing was good for the economy. Critics, however, argue that the deal would undermine the IRA. I want to be sure,” Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin said. It recently created a House Committee on Competition with China.
The Democratic head of the commission, Raja Krishnamooti of Illinois, also left the conference with similar concerns. He said the U.S. should do more to favor U.S. companies in this emerging sector and invest heavily in innovation to break its dependence on Chinese supplies.
Politicians said they didn’t go to Detroit to pressure Ford, they went to the CATL Alliance of automakers. become a hot political topic. Florida’s Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a longtime Chinese hawk, introduced the bill in March. block tax deductions Battery produced using Chinese technology. He called for an immediate review of the Ford acquisition by the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Neither Ford nor the Treasury Department responded to requests for comment.
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Newspaper publisher Gannett sued Google for abusing the tech giant’s dominance in advertising technology. (New York Times)
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Drawn by Chris Christie famous corporate donors But his most high-profile ally, investor Steve Cohen, has remained silent for now. (CNBC)
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Federal judges plan to unseal the name Of the three who helped bond in the criminal case against New York Republican Rep. George Santos. (CBS News)
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