AI On Trial; BlackBerry Beat; Hyundai Accelerates Pivot

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AI On Trial in US and UK

Earlier this week, 11 nonfiction authors joined a lawsuit in the US, accusing OpenAI and Microsoft [MSFT] of using their books to train the models behind ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) software. Then, on Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court rejected a bid by a US computer scientist to register patents for inventions made by his AI “creativity machine”, DABUS. The court’s ruling was that “an inventor must be a natural person”.  

Cybersecurity Boost for BlackBerry

Growing demand for cybersecurity enabled BlackBerry [BB] to post a quarterly profit on Wednesday. Reuters reported that, while IT spending has dropped, cybersecurity spending has been stable. BlackBerry earlier this month dropped plans for an IPO of its Internet of Things (IoT) business, but still expects both its IoT and its cybersecurity units to split off. “Work has commenced to fully separate and significantly rightsize our businesses”, said CEO John Giamatteo.

Hyundai Plant Closure; Honda Recall

On Thursday Hyundai Motor [HYMTF] announced it is to wind up operations at two South Korean forging plants — part of the firm’s broader pivot away from petrol. Honda [HMC] is recalling some 106,030 CR-V hybrid vehicles due to the risk of fire or crashes from a faulty battery cable. Lastly the Wall Street Journal reported that the US is weighing an increase in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Intervention Revives Telefonica Stock

The Telefonica [TEF:MC] share price jumped on Wednesday after the Spanish government announced it was to buy a 10% stake in the firm in order to balance a similar acquisition on the part of Saudi Arabia’s STC [7010:SR]. Spanish state holding company SEPI said the shares would be purchased in such a way that the impact on market price would be minimised.

Fujitsu Aims to Speed AI Pivot

Fujitsu [FJTSY] is moving to divest itself of its consumer-oriented businesses and move into AI services, Bloomberg reported. To this end, it has restarted negotiations to sell a $730m, 44% stake in its air conditioning business. Talks with potential buyers — among them Bain Capital and KKR — had broken down over price. “A quick decision followed by a speedy process is absolutely critical,” CEO Takahito Tokita said.