OpenAI Share Sale; Amazon Antitrust Trial; Indonesian Ecommerce Curb

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OpenAI Share Sale

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is reportedly talking to investors about a share sale that would value it at up to $90bn, or some three times what it was worth earlier this year, reported The Wall Street Journal. Rather than issuing new ones, it is anticipated that the deal will allow employees to sell existing shares. Microsoft [MSFT] owns 49% of the company, which expects to reach $1bn in revenue this year.

Proceedings Begin in Amazon Antitrust Trial

Alongside 17 US states, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched its court case against Amazon [AMZN] on Tuesday, contending that the tech giant has a monopoly, artificially keeping prices high and forcing sellers to use its platform. FTC Chair Lina Khan is a longstanding critic of Amazon, having come to prominence in 2017 with an article in the Yale Law Journal criticising its predominance.

German EV Subsidy Ends After Massive Demand

German state-owned bank KfW stopped an electric vehicle (EV) subsidy programme after just one day, due to high demand having exhausted its €300m budget. Elsewhere, Chinese EV battery makers, such as CNGR Advanced Material [300919.SZ], are choosing Morocco to invest in production facilities; CNGR Europe CEO Thorsten Lahrs told the Financial Times that the country hit a geopolitical “sweet spot” in terms of access to both the EU and the US

Indonesia Curbs Social Commerce

Social media sites such as TikTok or Meta’s [META] Facebook can no longer be used to sell goods or services in Indonesia. The Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan told media that social media and e-commerce must be decoupled “so that the algorithm is not all controlled”, and that this will prevent the use of personal data being used for business. Indonesia is TikTok’s biggest e-commerce market, according to DataReportal.

EU Urges Apple to Open Up Ecosystem

Thierry Breton, the EU’s European Commissioner for Internal Market, has called on Apple [AAPL] to open its technology ecosystem to competing firms. “The next job for Apple and other Big Tech… is to open up its gates to competitors,” Breton told Reuters following a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Brussels. “Consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers”, Breton added.