In today’s top stories, the EU is said to be funding Huawei to run cutting-edge research projects on next-generation AI, despite a proposed ban. AWS, Amazon’s cloud division, could soon be using AI chips made by AMD. Elsewhere, shares in Renault rose more than 3% as the automaker unveiled a concept car (above) that could offer cyber protection. Swedish investment firm EQT is considering a €2bn sale of Danish software maker Sitecore. Lastly, debt-riddled French grocer Casino Guichard-Perrachon could be rescued by billionaire Xavier Niel, who together with two partners has made an offer worth €1.1bn.
EU sees low threat of extinction from AI
The EU is said to be funding Huawei to run cutting-edge research projects on next-generation AI, cloud computing and 5G, despite proposing a mandatory ban last week, according to the Financial Times. The news will no doubt raise concerns about the company’s involvement in tech that is deemed critical to the future of EU infrastructure. The bloc’s chief commissioner has told the BBC that the threat of extinction from AI is “small”.
Renault and Toyota shares accelerate
Shares in Renault [RNO.PA] rose more than 3% on Wednesday morning as the French automaker unveiled a concept car that could offer cyber protection. The vehicle has been designed and developed in collaboration with Thales [HO.PA], STMicroelectronics [STM], Dassault [DSY.PA] and Orange [ORA.PA]. Meanwhile, Toyota’s [7203.T] share price closed 6% higher as shareholders threw their support behind the board at the AGM after governance criticism.
EQT considers selling Sitecore, buying Alfa
Swedish investment firm EQT is considering a €2bn sale of Danish software maker Sitecore, which it bought for €1bn back in 2016, reported Bloomberg. Last week, UK financial software provider Alfa Financial [ALFA.L] said it had received a number of takeover offers from EQT, the latest being 208p per share. Elsewhere in the space, the co-founder of SAP [SAP.DE] is set to sell 1.46 million shares, according to Reuters.
AMD shares up on AWS AI chip news
AWS, Amazon’s [AMZN] cloud division, could soon be using AI chips made by AMD [AMD], an AWS executive told Reuters. Shares in the chipmaker were up 2% pre-market Wednesday. The company’s CEO Lisa Su told the news agency: “We’re betting that a lot of people are going to want choice, and they’re going to want the ability to customise what they need in their data centre.”
French grocer receives rescue plan offer
Debt-riddled French grocer Casino Guichard-Perrachon [CO.PA] could be rescued by billionaire Xavier Niel. According to Bloomberg, Niel, along with retail entrepreneur Moez-Alexandre Zouari and banker Matthieu Pigasse have sent a preliminary letter of intent. The offer is worth €1.1bn and would see the three partners invest €300m directly. Casino Guichard-Perrachon’s shares soared 16% Wednesday morning.
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