Apple Jumps Movie Production Bandwagon, Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe Bids For Manchester United, Elon Musk Seeks Funding For SpaceX From Middle-Eastern Fund: Today's Top Stories
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Bloomberg
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) eyes splurging $1 billion annually to produce movies likely for theatrical release to draw subscribers to its streaming service.
- Apple has approached movie studios about partnering to release a few titles in theaters this year and a slate of more films in the future.
- The list of potential releases includes Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio; the spy thriller Argylle, from director Matthew Vaughn, and Napoleon, Ridley Scott's drama about the French conqueror.
Toshiba Accepts $15B Acquisition Bid From JIP Group
- Toshiba Corp (OTC: TOSYY) has reportedly accepted an acquisition offer from a Japanese consortium.
- The company's board approved a bid of $15.3 billion from a group led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners Inc. The offer price represents a 9.6% premium to Toshiba's closing price on March 23.
- The group comprises about 20 Japanese companies, including Orix Corp (NYSE: IX), Rohm Co, and Chubu Electric Power Co.
Wall Street Journal
- Online content publishers see a threat from artificial intelligence technology's capabilities since the arrival of chatbots capable of conversations, making up sonnets, and acing the LSAT.
- Lately, publishing executives have begun examining the extent of their content use to "train" AI tools like ChatGPT to evaluate compensation and legal options.
- Whether AI companies have the legal right to scrape content off the internet and feed it into their training models became a major debatable point.
Financial Times
Manchester United Attracts Record Takeover Bid From British Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe
- British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe's bid could value England's Manchester United Ltd (NYSE:MANU) Manchester United Football Club at a record of over £5 billion.
- Ratcliffe, the founder of the Ineos chemicals empire, is contending against Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani for the takeover.
- In 2021, Glazers said they would consider selling United as part of a strategic review involving raising capital or finding partners to invest in Old Trafford after Chelsea Football Club buyout for £2.5 billion.
- Several investment firms are keen on bagging a minority stake in Manchester United.
British Chip Designer Arm Proposes To Charge More For Chip Designs To Boost Topline Ahead Of IPO
- British chip designer Arm Ltd is seeking to raise prices for its chip designs.
- The Softbank Group Corp (OTC: SFTBF) (OTC: SFTBY)-owned group aims to boost revenues ahead of a hotly anticipated U.S. initial public offering in 2023.
- Arm has recently informed several of its biggest customers of a shift to its business model.
Reuters
Meta Loses Veteran Ad Official Amid Current Organizational Restructuring
- Meta Platforms Inc's (NASDAQ:META) veteran advertising product executive Dan Levy prepares to depart in May amid a months-long pruning of projects and staff.
- Levy, currently Meta's vice president of business messaging, said in Meta's internal social network post on Monday that he wanted to focus on family after losing a child to leukemia.
- "I made this decision slowly (over the last 2+ years), and then all of a sudden," he wrote.
The Information
Elon Musk Now Rumored To Seek Funding For SpaceX From Middle East After Infamous Tesla Snub
- Elon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly looking at investment from a unit of Saudi Arabia's investment fund and an Abu Dhabi-based company.
- Badeel — Saudi Arabia's Water and Electricity Holding Company, part of the country's Public Investment Fund — and the United Arab Emirates' Alpha Dhabi are involved in SpaceX's multibillion-dollar funding round.
- The funding round is expected to value SpaceX at about $140 billion.
Benzinga
- Following the highly anticipated release of ChatGPT's successor GPT-4 earlier this month, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman has raised concerns regarding the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).
- This isn't the first time a tech mogul has voiced support for regulating AI. Billionaire polymath Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI along with Altman in 2015, has advocated for the same over the past decade.
Not Biden, Bill Ackman Says This Corporate CEO More Likely To Win Against Trump In Presidential Race
- Bill Ackman shared his choice of presidential candidate in a recent podcast.
- If the choice is between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, then Trump will likely win, the founder of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management said in the 20VC podcast published on Monday.
- Suppose Biden decides to run for office again, which is approaching certainty. In that case, it's an interesting opportunity for someone not inside the political system to run for office on the Democratic side, Ackman said.
- "My favorite version of events is Jamie Dimon," Ackman said. Dimon is currently serving as the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc (NYSE:JPM).
Sanofi-Regeneron's Blockbuster Drug Aces Pivotal COPD Trial
- Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's (NASDAQ: REGN) Phase 3 trial of Dupixent (dupilumab) for uncontrolled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) met its primary and secondary endpoints.
- Dupixent exhibited a 30% reduction in moderate or severe acute exacerbations compared to the placebo.
- The Phase 3 trial involving 939 current or former smokers also showed improvements in lung function, quality of life, and COPD respiratory symptoms.
Apple Bulks Up Autonomous Car Program With More Test Drivers In California
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly ramped up hiring drivers registered for testing autonomous driving features on public roads in California.
- According to the California DMV, Apple has increased the number of drivers for testing its autonomous vehicles to 201 while keeping its fleet size steady at 67 as of March 17.
- Amazon.com Inc's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Zoox presently has the most number of drivers, while General Motors (NYSE: GM) Cruise has the most number of vehicles with a 709 vehicle-wide fleet.
Instagram Reels Share Counts Could Soon Be Available To All Users, Not Just Businesses And Creators
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) seems to be working on showing Instagram Reels share counts to all users and not just business or creator accounts.
- Some Instagram users have started spotting the platform showing share numbers on the screen alongside Likes and Comments numbers.
- Benzinga also independently verified the same and found out that some users who own smartphones running on Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) operating system, Android, can see the share count.
Japan Airlines Orders 21 Boeing 737-8 Jets
- Japan Airlines Co JAPSY has ordered 21 super-efficient Boeing Co BA 737-8 jets. Terms were not disclosed.
- Japan Airlines seeks to strengthen its domestic and regional network as passenger traffic continues to return to pre-pandemic levels. It intends to begin introducing the airplanes into its fleet from 2026.
Moderna, Generation Bio Collaborate To Develop Non-Viral Genetic Medicines
- Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Generation Bio Co (NASDAQ:GBIO) have collaborated to combine the application of each company's platform by developing novel nucleic acid therapeutics, including those capable of reaching immune cells, to accelerate their respective pipelines of non-viral genetic medicines.
- Generation Bio will receive a $40 million upfront cash payment and a $36 million equity investment.
- Moderna will fund all collaboration work, including a research pre-payment.
United, Delta Agree With FAA To Trim Flights To Ease Congestion And Delays
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily limit slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) due to post-pandemic effects on Air Traffic Controller staffing at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control facility.
- Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) offered to cut flights by up to 10% under the condition that they could get them back.