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00:00:02MUSIC
00:00:03Live from Singapore. Now on BBC News,
00:00:09News, Business Today. Google announces
00:00:17announces a major shake up at the the top of its artificial intelligence
00:00:21intelligence division, as the company company seeks to keep up with big
00:00:23big tech rivals in the AI race. The
00:00:25The Dow reaches an all-time high high thanks to strong earnings and
00:00:28and hopes for a deal to reopen shipping shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
00:00:32Hormuz. And shares of Disney Jump Jump as the entertainment giant sees
00:00:35sees a major profit bump ahead of
00:00:37of a plan to relaunch a new streaming
00:00:40streaming product. Hello and welcome
00:00:45welcome to Business Today with me, me, Steve Live. We begin with a major
00:00:48major shake up at Google's artificial artificial intelligence business,
00:00:51business, which seems to have got got investors nervous sending shares
00:00:53shares of alphabet down 4%. Jeff
00:00:55Jeff Dean had long time Google employee employee central to the development
00:00:58development of the company's AI strategy strategy is departing to launch a
00:01:02a start up, taking several high profile profile colleagues with him. Demis
00:01:05Demis Hassabis, the head of Google Google DeepMind, will now assume
00:01:08assume the dual titles of chairman chairman of the lab and chief scientist
00:01:12scientist at alphabet. Our North North America business correspondent correspondent Samira Hussain has
00:01:14has more insight into what this means means for the company. Google is
00:01:19is under immense pressure as it competes
00:01:21competes with the likes of Anthropic
00:01:23Anthropic and OpenAI. It is why this
00:01:25this big shake up of their AI leadership
00:01:28leadership has investors just so so nervous. There are worries that
00:01:31that alphabet has actually fallen
00:01:33fallen behind in the AI race, even
00:01:36even though it created some of the
00:01:38the key technologies that are underpinning
00:01:41underpinning current AI models. Now Now also remember like other tech
00:01:44tech firms, Google continues to spend spend big on AI data centres and
00:01:48and such to the tune of somewhere
00:01:52somewhere between 100 and 90 5 to to $205 billion. That's an awful
00:01:55awful lot of money to spend on a a division of a company that is going
00:01:59going through such a massive shake shake up. The Dow climbed to new
00:02:02new all-time high on Wednesday thanks thanks to another day of strong earnings
00:02:05earnings and signs of progress towards towards peace in the Middle East.
00:02:09East. Nvidia was among the stocks stocks that rallied, jumping more
00:02:11more than 3% after Elon Musk announced announced an exclusive partnership
00:02:14partnership to use Nvidia chips for for its AI infrastructure. SpaceX,
00:02:18SpaceX, however, dropped 13% over over investor fears about its surge
00:02:22surge in spending. Meanwhile, an an agreement between Iran and Oman
00:02:25Oman is in its final stages to reopen reopen the route for shipping through
00:02:29through the Strait of Hormuz, sending sending oil prices lower. Brent crude,
00:02:32crude, the international benchmark, benchmark, is currently just under
00:02:35under $80 a barrel. The US benchmark
00:02:37benchmark is also down to around around $75 a barrel. Well, for more,
00:02:40more, let's speak with Vivek Dhar, Dhar, the head of commodities and
00:02:44and sustainability research at Commonwealth Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Vivek, Vivek, good to get your thoughts
00:02:48thoughts today while we wait to see see if a meaningful deal emerges. emerges. What's the current state
00:02:51state of play when it comes to oil oil shipments through the Strait?
00:02:55Strait? Sure. So look, in terms of
00:02:58of what we've seen just in the last
00:03:00last week, we've seen oil flows hit
00:03:03hit about 30 to 45% of pre-war levels.
00:03:06levels. And that's without a US-Iran US-Iran deal written. And so it really
00:03:09really tells you that we are still still getting flows through the Strait
00:03:13Strait of Hormuz, even despite the the rising tensions and the situation
00:03:16situation we're currently in. The The reason why that's so relevant
00:03:19relevant in terms of oil prices and
00:03:20and why we are now in the 70s, is
00:03:24is we only need about 50 to 60% of
00:03:27of pre-war flows through the Strait
00:03:29Strait of Hormuz to actually get get back to the oversupply fears
00:03:32fears the market had at the start start of this year. And that is simply
00:03:35simply a calculation based on The
00:03:37The Pipeline bypasses the structurally
00:03:39structurally lower Chinese imports imports as well as the supply growth
00:03:43growth outside the Middle East. We've We've seen so far this year. So that that is why the market is so prone
00:03:47prone to price in oversupply risks risks right now is we do not need
00:03:51need to return to pre-war levels levels through the strait, given given all the bypasses that we're
00:03:55we're seeing. That will be welcome welcome news for customers, particularly
00:03:58particularly here in Asia. Absolutely.
00:04:01Absolutely. In terms of what we're
00:04:04we're seeing, the fallen in Brent Brent prices and how that's translating
00:04:07translating across to inflation expectations expectations coming down, I think
00:04:10think that's providing a lot of relief. relief. But when we talk about what
00:04:13what hits the real economy, we have have to talk about refined products.
00:04:16products. And when we look at say say diesel or Singapore gas oil for
00:04:19for the Asian region, that is actually actually still quite elevated and
00:04:23and it has reduced. But when we talk talk about the last time Brent dropped
00:04:26dropped below 80 and we compare it
00:04:28it to right now where about 20 to
00:04:30to 30% higher on diesel prices alone. alone. And so it tells you that we
00:04:34we are seeing a structural premium premium increase for diesel. And
00:04:36And that's really a function of one
00:04:39one the Strait of Hormuz being closed closed and refineries not being able
00:04:42able to restart yet. But second, second, the attacks by Ukraine on
00:04:46on Russian refineries. So that diesel diesel aspect, which is for us key
00:04:49key in terms of that inflation picture picture that is still quite elevated.
00:04:53elevated. But at least the good news news is that has come down in the
00:04:56the last couple of weeks. Yeah. I I remember at the start of this conflict
00:04:58conflict there was talk that oil
00:05:00oil could hit $150 a barrel. That That seems very unwell. We're very
00:05:03very far away from that as we are are at the moment. Do you think that
00:05:06that fear was unfounded and despite despite the ongoing conflict and and lack of a deal, we're unlikely
00:05:10unlikely to get anywhere close to
00:05:12to that. Look, I think getting to
00:05:15to 150 would need the market to have have inventory depletion reached.
00:05:18reached. I think that was the major major unknown for the market was
00:05:21was can inventories run out at the the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
00:05:24closed. What we found is we have have been seeing dark transits. So
00:05:28So transponders off on ships and and oil flows happening. And that
00:05:31that is really mitigated the risk risk of inventory depletion. But
00:05:34But as we currently sit we estimate estimate we have probably 9 to 10
00:05:3710 weeks before we get to inventory inventory depletion. But that's 9
00:05:409 to 10 weeks of zero flows through through the strait. And right now
00:05:44now that doesn't look likely. So So we would need to see violence
00:05:47violence increase quite substantially substantially to justify 9 to 10
00:05:5010 week countdown starting. But you're you're right in terms of getting
00:05:54getting to that 150, it's looking looking like a tail risk as opposed
00:05:57opposed to something to really worry worry about. But it's a lot to do
00:06:00do with the flows that we're seeing seeing through the Strait of Hormuz. Hormuz. Yeah, really good to get get that perspective. Vivek, thanks
00:06:04thanks very much. Vivek Dhar Head Head of commodities and sustainability sustainability research at the Commonwealth
00:06:08Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Now, Now, shares of Disney have jumped
00:06:12jumped nearly 4% up after beating beating profit expectations. Income
00:06:16Income for its experiences division, division, which includes theme parks parks and cruises, jumped 20% from
00:06:20from a year ago, easing investors investors concerns about travel disruption
00:06:22disruption from the war in Iran. Iran. But advertising was a major
00:06:26major topic of discussion during during Wednesday's earnings call
00:06:28call with investors, CEO Josh D'amaro
00:06:31D'amaro said the company is now exploring
00:06:33exploring a free ad supported streaming streaming product for consumers.
00:06:36consumers. He also said Disney sold sold out ad spots for the Super Bowl
00:06:39Bowl in February, which will air air on the company's ABC and ESPN
00:06:42ESPN networks. Well, for more, let's let's speak with Mike Prue, a Vice Vice President and research director
00:06:46director at the tech firm Forrester. Forrester. Mike, good to get your your thoughts. Good numbers overall,
00:06:50overall, I suppose you could say say for Disney. What stood out to
00:06:53to you most? Yeah. What stood out out is we now have two quarters under
00:06:57under the new CEO's belt and he is
00:07:00is showing strong profitability because because he's aggressively managing
00:07:03managing costs but also seeing new
00:07:06new revenue streams. And if we look
00:07:08look at Disney Plus, which is of
00:07:10of course one of the company's big
00:07:12big North stars, it is not only seeing seeing increased subscriptions and
00:07:16and ad revenue, but growth overall
00:07:19overall and so much so that the company
00:07:21company sees Disney Plus as the hub
00:07:26hub of the member member ecosystem ecosystem for Disney overall, really
00:07:30really becoming a digital centrepiece centrepiece much more than just a
00:07:32a streaming service. And what should should we understand about Disney
00:07:35Disney agreeing this deal with TikTok TikTok to use its film and TV shows
00:07:39shows and videos? That's a quite quite a big change in its IP strategy,
00:07:43strategy, which it has always been been very protective over. That's
00:07:46That's exactly right. It is a huge
00:07:47huge departure. And so we're seeing
00:07:50seeing a modernisation in Disney's Disney's thinking and tapping into
00:07:54into the world of feeds, which is is where so much of entertainment
00:07:57entertainment is being consumed now now is not only being consumed, but but it's being generated by creators.
00:08:01creators. So this partnership will will allow Disney to work with creators
00:08:05creators on TikTok to not only leverage
00:08:08leverage Disney IP in TikTok content,
00:08:11content, but it will take the best
00:08:13best of creator made content and
00:08:16and feature it on Disney's new verse
00:08:19verse feature on Disney Plus mobile
00:08:21mobile app. And so this is really
00:08:25really driving more value into the
00:08:27the mobile version of Disney Plus
00:08:29Plus and bringing new viewing occasions
00:08:32occasions and engagement to the streaming streaming app. Yeah. So do you think
00:08:35think we'll see more of these kinds kinds of deals? I mean, the CEO, CEO, he's not been there for too
00:08:39too long, but he seems like he's he's quite progressive and quite quite aggressive, as you said, into
00:08:42into moving into new areas. He's He's doing what he has to do based
00:08:46based on modern consumer behaviour. behaviour. And right now, Forrester
00:08:49Forrester data shows that the streaming streaming industry really across
00:08:53across all of our other industries, industries, has a customer relationship
00:08:56relationship problem. And so Disney Disney seems to be understanding
00:08:59understanding the assignment to really really double down on trying to create
00:09:03create more always on engagement
00:09:06engagement moments with their subscribers. subscribers. And this idea of launching
00:09:08launching a free ad supported streaming
00:09:12streaming service also would allow
00:09:15allow much more upper funnel reach
00:09:17reach to price sensitive consumers. Yeah, and just quickly, quickly, I suppose this puts Disney
00:09:21Disney on the front foot when it it comes to the very competitive
00:09:23competitive streaming industry. It's It's pretty remarkable that they're
00:09:26they're doing so well amid all of of the competition and greater scale
00:09:30scale and consolidation that's happening happening in the marketplace. Yeah. Yeah. Mike, really good to get your
00:09:34your thoughts. Thanks very much as as always. Mike Prugh, a Vice President President and research director at
00:09:37at the tech firm Forrester. Let's Let's take a quick look at some other
00:09:40other stories making the news. The
00:09:42The Trump administration has paid
00:09:45paid back $100 in tariff refunds refunds to businesses. The refunds
00:09:49refunds represent roughly 60% of of all tariff revenue collected by
00:09:52by the government under the policy. policy. But a good amount still remains
00:09:55remains unpaid. The repayments follow follow a major Supreme Court decision
00:09:58decision where judges ruled this
00:10:00this round of tariffs were unlawful.
00:10:03unlawful. Meta is rolling out its its first coding agent to help developers
00:10:06developers write software as it tries tries to challenge firms like Anthropic
00:10:10Anthropic and OpenAI. Titled Muse Muse Code, the tool makes it easier
00:10:14easier to build apps while utilising utilising AI powered agents to support
00:10:17support the software development development process. The new coding
00:10:20coding agent is viewed as a way for for Meta to generate revenue from
00:10:24from AI. The American gaming giant
00:10:26giant Electronic Arts has been sold
00:10:29sold for $55 billion in what is believed believed to be the largest leveraged
00:10:33leveraged buyout in history. The The company has been bought by a
00:10:36a consortium including Saudi Arabia's Arabia's Public Investment Fund and
00:10:39and Affinity Partners, led by President President Trump's son-in-law, Jared
00:10:43Jared Kushner. EA, which is known known for blockbuster games like
00:10:46like The Sims and Fifa, will now
00:10:48now be taken private, removing it it from the Stock Exchange. That's
00:10:52That's it for this edition of Business Business Today. Thanks for joining joining me. I'll see you again at
00:10:56at the top of the hour. In the meantime, meantime, sport is coming your way
00:10:59way next.
00:14:28MUSIC
00:14:33AI is dramatically increasing demand
00:14:38demand for energy in a way that the the current systems can't fully cope
00:14:40cope up. I want to listen to people
00:14:44people without it being transactional, transactional, without asking people people for their vote, but listening
00:14:48listening to them. Everything you
00:14:50you go through, you can surmount, surmount, you can endure and find
00:14:54find a good place for it. When the
00:14:57the big names talk, they talk to
00:15:00to us. Now on BBC News, a round up
00:15:06up of. The day's sporting action action plus talking points analysis
00:15:09analysis and original journalism.
00:15:12journalism. BBC Sport. Hello, I'm
00:15:21I'm Mark Benstead and here are your
00:15:23your latest sports headlines. Infantino's
00:15:27Infantino's carries on the Fifa president
00:15:29president remains in position. Salah
00:15:32Salah on the move. Mo gets set to
00:15:35to sign for Trabzonspor. And Joseph
00:15:38Joseph Parker can return to the ring. ring. The former heavyweight champion
00:15:42champion has seen his ban lifted.
00:15:58MUSIC Come Come along Gianni Infantino