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20260806 033000 UTC
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[00:00:00] MUSIC
[00:00:03] Live from Singapore now on BBC News,
[00:00:09] News, Business Today. Google announces
[00:00:17] announces a major shake up at the the top of its artificial intelligence intelligence division, as the company
[00:00:21] company seeks to keep up with big big tech rivals in the AI race. The
[00:00:25] The Dow reaches an all-time high high thanks to strong earnings and
[00:00:28] and hopes for a deal to reopen shipping shipping in the Strait of Hormuz
[00:00:31] Hormuz and shares of Disney Jump Jump as the entertainment giant sees
[00:00:34] sees a major profit bump ahead of
[00:00:36] of a plan to launch a new streaming
[00:00:39] streaming product. Hello and welcome
[00:00:44] welcome to Business Today with me, me, Steve Lai. Now we begin with
[00:00:47] with a major shake-up at Google's Google's artificial intelligence
[00:00:50] intelligence business, which seems seems to have got investors nervous
[00:00:52] nervous sending shares of alphabet alphabet down 4%. Jeff Dean, a long
[00:00:56] long time Google employee central central to the development of the the company's AI strategy, is departing
[00:01:00] departing to launch a start-up, taking taking several high profile colleagues
[00:01:03] colleagues with him. Demis Hassabis, Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind,
[00:01:06] DeepMind, will now assume the dual dual title of chairman of the lab
[00:01:09] lab and chief scientist of alphabet, alphabet, our North America business
[00:01:13] business correspondent Samira Hussain Hussain has more insight into what
[00:01:14] what this means for the company. Google is under immense
[00:01:18] immense pressure as it competes with
[00:01:20] with the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI.
[00:01:23] OpenAI. It is why this big shake-up
[00:01:25] shake-up of their AI leadership has has investors just so nervous. There
[00:01:29] There are worries that alphabet has
[00:01:31] has actually fallen behind in the
[00:01:33] the AI race, even though it created
[00:01:36] created some of the key technologies technologies that are underpinning
[00:01:40] underpinning current AI models. Now Now also remember like other tech
[00:01:43] tech firms, Google continues to spend
[00:01:45] spend big on AI data centres and
[00:01:47] and such to the tune of somewhere
[00:01:51] somewhere between 195 to $205. That's That's an awful lot of money to spend
[00:01:55] spend on a division of a company company that is going through such
[00:01:58] such a massive shake up. The Dow
[00:02:00] Dow climbed to new all-time highs highs on Wednesday thanks to another
[00:02:04] another day of strong earnings and and signs of progress towards peace
[00:02:08] peace in the Middle East. Nvidia Nvidia was among the stocks that that rallied, jumping more than 3%
[00:02:11] 3% after Elon Musk announced an exclusive
[00:02:14] exclusive partnership to use Nvidia's Nvidia's chips for its AI infrastructure.
[00:02:17] infrastructure. SpaceX, however, however, dropped 13% over investor
[00:02:21] investor fears about its surge in in spending. Meanwhile, an agreement
[00:02:24] agreement between Iran and Oman is is in its final stages to reopen
[00:02:27] reopen a route for shipping through through the Strait of Hormuz, sending
[00:02:30] sending oil prices lower. Brent crude, crude, the international benchmark,
[00:02:33] benchmark, is currently just under under $80 a barrel. The US benchmark
[00:02:37] benchmark is also down to around
[00:02:39] around $76 a barrel. The Janiv Shah Shah is Vice President of commodity
[00:02:42] commodity markets and oil at Rystad Rystad Energy. He's been giving me
[00:02:45] me his take on the state of play play as an agreement on the state
[00:02:48] state approaches. Of course, it's it's a very interesting and intriguing
[00:02:52] intriguing 24 to 48 hour period that that we're set in the middle of with, with, of course, the potential for
[00:02:56] for Iran and Oman to have engaged engaged within a deal to allow vessels
[00:02:59] vessels to flow. But as you correctly correctly mentioned, right. We have have to look at the flow metric and
[00:03:03] and what we are seeing from a real real time tracking perspective is,
[00:03:07] is, yes, around 4 to 5 million barrels barrels a day worth of, worth of
[00:03:10] of fuel and crude rather that has has been exiting the Straits. But
[00:03:14] But importantly, it is week on week
[00:03:15] week up from last week's, state of
[00:03:18] of play of operations. It is trending trending upwards in the correct direction
[00:03:21] direction as per potential deal could could signal. But of course much
[00:03:24] much of this rests on, on how the the US President and Iran continue
[00:03:27] continue their negotiations to actually actually open from a long-term perspective. Yeah. So it's encouraging,
[00:03:31] encouraging, I suppose, that we have have seen oil able to get through. through. That'll be welcome news
[00:03:35] news to customers, particularly in
[00:03:37] in Asia. Absolutely correct. Asia Asia has been starved of its crude.
[00:03:41] crude. If you consider what Chinese Chinese refinery run rates are, as
[00:03:44] as well as exports for products going going to the wider region, they've
[00:03:47] they've been significantly lower
[00:03:49] lower around 30. Now Air India has
[00:03:53] has named former Ethiopian Airlines
[00:03:56] Airlines chief Tewolde Gebremariam Gebremariam as its new CEO. He takes
[00:03:59] takes over from Campbell Wilson, Wilson, who resigned four months
[00:04:02] months ago. Ghebremariam tenure will
[00:04:05] will begin as Air India faces scrutiny
[00:04:07] scrutiny over last year's crash that that killed 260 people. Our India
[00:04:11] India business correspondent Archana Archana Shukla joins me now. For For more on this, Archana, tell us
[00:04:14] us more about the man himself, but but also about this appointment and
[00:04:16] and the timing of it. Well, it took
[00:04:20] took more than 4 or 5 months for
[00:04:23] for the Tata Group to actually zero
[00:04:25] zero in on tell World Day as the
[00:04:28] the new CEO. And it really shows shows that the Tata Group was looking
[00:04:32] looking at somebody who has an experience experience of managing an airline
[00:04:36] airline through a difficult time time because that is where Air India
[00:04:39] India is. There is a deadly crash crash which is still being investigated.
[00:04:42] investigated. There are mounting mounting losses. And this is also
[00:04:44] also a very difficult time for the the airline industry considering
[00:04:48] considering the geopolitical uncertainties, uncertainties, the longer routes
[00:04:50] routes that they have to take. And And international operations under
[00:04:54] under severe pressure. So, with,
[00:04:57] with, you know, this experience of of turning around Ethiopian airline
[00:05:00] airline that comes in to help Air Air India and possibly that's one
[00:05:04] one of the biggest reasons. Remember, Remember, he has led the airline
[00:05:07] airline through two major crises. crises. One is the Covid-19. The
[00:05:10] The second is the fatal 2019 Boeing
[00:05:14] Boeing 737 Max accident. The deadly deadly one, which, you know, which
[00:05:17] which also led to the grounding of
[00:05:20] of the 737 Max's. And, and, and they've they've already led Ethiopian airline
[00:05:24] airline through that. And during during his tenure, Ethiopian airline
[00:05:26] airline also grew in terms of revenues. revenues. It grew more than four
[00:05:30] four times. It also tripled in size
[00:05:32] size in terms of its fleet. And all all that. Would, you know, that experience
[00:05:35] experience would come for Air India India at this point in time, Air
[00:05:38] Air India is really dealing with with a cash burn. And that would
[00:05:41] would be one of the first priorities priorities that the new CEO will
[00:05:44] will have to focus on and also to
[00:05:47] to steady the international, you you know, operations where many of
[00:05:50] of the routes have been cut because because of the geopolitical tensions tensions in the Middle East. And
[00:05:54] And that is leading also to cash cash burn. Remember very recently
[00:05:58] recently the Tata Group chairman chairman also said that the company
[00:06:01] company is pushing the profitability profitability timeline, which was was for five years. They are pushing
[00:06:05] pushing it now to about ten years. years. So there will be a there is
[00:06:08] is a difficult period now for the the new CEO. But there is a hope
[00:06:12] hope and especially even amongst
[00:06:14] amongst the airline's own employee employee strength, they are also
[00:06:17] also looking forward to this new new appointment to see how the leaf
[00:06:20] leaf turns for Air India. Arjuna, Arjuna, thanks so much for joining joining us across that Archana Shukla
[00:06:24] Shukla in Mumbai. Let's take a look look at some other stories making
[00:06:27] making the news. The Trump administration administration has paid back $100
[00:06:30] $100 billion in tariff refunds to to businesses. The refunds represent
[00:06:34] represent roughly 60% of all tariff tariff revenue collected by the government
[00:06:38] government under the Trumps. Under Under Trump's Liberation Day policy,
[00:06:40] policy, but a good amount still remains remains unpaid. Nearly 29 billion
[00:06:44] billion in potential refunds is still still under review by trade authorities. authorities. The repayments follow
[00:06:48] follow a major Supreme Court decision decision where judges ruled that
[00:06:50] that this round of tariffs were unlawful.
[00:06:53] unlawful. Meta is rolling out its
[00:06:55] its first coding agent to help developers
[00:06:58] developers write software as it tries tries to challenge firms like Anthropic
[00:07:01] Anthropic and OpenAI. Titled Muse Muse Code, the tool makes it easier
[00:07:05] easier to build apps while utilising utilising AI powered agents to support
[00:07:08] support the software development development process. The new coding
[00:07:11] coding agent is viewed as a new way way for Meta to generate revenue
[00:07:15] revenue from artificial intelligence. intelligence. The American gaming
[00:07:17] gaming giant Electronic Arts Electronic
[00:07:20] Electronic Arts has been sold for for $55 billion in what is believed
[00:07:23] believed to be the largest leveraged leveraged buyout in history. The
[00:07:26] The company has been bought by a a consortium including Saudi Arabia's
[00:07:29] Arabia's Public Investment Fund and and Affinity Partners, led by President
[00:07:33] President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Jared Kushner. EA, which is known
[00:07:35] known for blockbuster games like like The Sims and Fifa, will now
[00:07:39] now be taken private, removing it it from the Stock Exchange. Now,
[00:07:43] Now, shares of Disney have jumped
[00:07:46] jumped nearly 4% after expecting expecting after beating a profit
[00:07:50] profit expectations income for its its experiences division, which includes
[00:07:52] includes theme parks and cruises, cruises, jumped 20% from a year ago,
[00:07:56] ago, easing investors concerns about about travel disruption from the
[00:07:59] the war in Iran. But advertising advertising was a major topic of
[00:08:03] of discussion during Wednesday's Wednesday's earnings call with investors,
[00:08:06] investors, CEO Josh D'Amaro said said the company is now exploring
[00:08:09] exploring a free ad supported streaming streaming product for consumers.
[00:08:12] consumers. He also said Disney sold sold out ads spots for the Super
[00:08:16] Super Bowl in February. I've been been speaking with Mike Prue, Vice Vice President and research director
[00:08:20] director at the tech firm Forrester. Forrester. He told me what stood
[00:08:23] stood out from Disney's latest report. report. We now have two quarters
[00:08:26] quarters under the new CEO's belt,
[00:08:29] belt, and he is showing strong profitability profitability because he's aggressively
[00:08:32] aggressively managing costs but also
[00:08:34] also seeing new revenue streams.
[00:08:36] streams. And if we look at Disney Disney Plus, which is of course one
[00:08:40] one of the company's big North stars,
[00:08:43] stars, it is not only seeing increased increased subscriptions and ad revenue,
[00:08:47] revenue, but growth overall and so
[00:08:49] so much so that the company sees
[00:08:52] sees Disney Plus as the hub of the
[00:08:56] the member member ecosystem for Disney Disney overall, really becoming a
[00:09:00] a digital centrepiece much more than than just a streaming service. And
[00:09:03] And what should we understand about about Disney agreeing this deal with
[00:09:06] with TikTok to use its film and TV TV shows and videos? That's a quite
[00:09:10] quite a big change in its IP strategy, strategy, which has always been very
[00:09:14] very protective over. That's exactly exactly right. It is a huge departure.
[00:09:17] departure. And so we're seeing a
[00:09:20] a modernisation in Disney's thinking thinking and tapping into the world
[00:09:23] world of feeds, which is where so so much of entertainment is being
[00:09:27] being consumed now is not only being being consumed, but it's being generated
[00:09:30] generated by creators. So this partnership partnership will allow Disney to
[00:09:33] to work with creators on TikTok to
[00:09:36] to not only leverage Disney IP in
[00:09:39] in TikTok content, but it will take
[00:09:41] take the best of creator made content
[00:09:45] content and feature it on Disney's
[00:09:47] Disney's new verse feature on Disney
[00:09:50] Disney Plus mobile app. And so this
[00:09:54] this is really driving more value
[00:09:57] value into the mobile version of
[00:09:58] of Disney Plus and bringing new viewing
[00:10:01] viewing occasions and engagement engagement to the streaming app. app. Yeah. So do you think we'll
[00:10:05] we'll see more of these kinds of of deals? I mean, the CEO, he's not not been there for too long, but
[00:10:08] but he seems like he's quite progressive progressive and quite aggressive, aggressive, as you said, into moving
[00:10:12] moving into new areas. He's doing
[00:10:14] doing what he has to do based on on modern consumer behaviour. And
[00:10:18] And right now, Forrester data shows shows that the streaming industry
[00:10:22] industry really across all of our our other industries, has a customer
[00:10:25] customer relationship problem. And And so Disney seems to be understanding
[00:10:28] understanding the assignment to really really double down on trying to create
[00:10:32] create more always on engagement
[00:10:35] engagement moments with their subscribers. subscribers. And this idea of launching
[00:10:38] launching a free ad supported streaming
[00:10:41] streaming service also would allow
[00:10:44] allow much more upper funnel reach
[00:10:46] reach to price sensitive consumers. Yeah, and just quickly, quickly, I suppose this puts Disney
[00:10:50] Disney on the front foot when it it comes to a very competitive streaming
[00:10:53] streaming industry. It's pretty remarkable remarkable that they're doing so
[00:10:56] so well amid all of the competition competition and greater scale and
[00:11:00] and consolidation that's happening happening in the marketplace. That's That's it for this edition of Business
[00:11:03] Business Today. Thanks for joining joining me. See you again. Same time
[00:11:06] time tomorrow. Bye for now.
[00:14:29] MUSIC
[00:14:36] AI is dramatically increasing demand for energy in a way that the the current systems can't fully cope
[00:14:40] cope up. I want to listen to people
[00:14:44] people without it being transactional, transactional, without asking people
[00:14:47] people for their vote, but listening listening to them. Everything you
[00:14:50] you go through, you can surmount, surmount, you can endure and find
[00:14:54] find a good place for it. When the
[00:14:57] the big names talk, they talk to
[00:15:00] to us. Now on BBC News, a round up
[00:15:06] up of the day's sporting action plus plus talking points analysis and
[00:15:09] and original journalism. BBC Sport.
[00:15:21] Sport. Hello, I'm Mark Benstead and
[00:15:23] and here are your latest sports headlines.
[00:15:26] headlines. Infantino's carries on on the Fifa president remains in
[00:15:30] in position. Salah on the move. Mo
[00:15:32] Mo gets set to sign for Trabzonspor.
[00:15:38] Trabzonspor. And Joseph Parker can can return to the ring. The former
[00:15:42] former heavyweight champion has seen
[00:15:43] seen his ban lifted.