Twitter Inc Is Officially Defunct, Alibaba Plans to Integrate ChatGPT Like Chatbot Across Products, Moderna's Flu Shot Study Misses 'Early Success' Criteria: Today's Top Stories

Author: Vandana Singh | April 11, 2023 09:16am

Benzinga

Twitter Inc Is Officially Defunct As Elon Musk Pursues' Superapp' Goal

• Twitter Inc, the parent company of the namesake social media platform, has ceased to exist, and it has now been merged into X Corp., court filings show.
• 'Chief Twit' Elon Musk also appeared to acknowledge the change early on Tuesday by tweeting out "X."
• The development came to light in a court filing of Twitter's corporate disclosure statement in connection with a lawsuit brought about by right-wing activist Laura Loomer. She is fighting against Twitter banning her account in 2019. 

Hyundai's Electric Vision: $18B Investment Paves Way for Company's Commitment To Electric Cars

• Hyundai Motor Company (OTC:HYMTF) plans to invest 24 trillion won ($18.2 billion) by 2030 to boost electrification.
• The group, including Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Genesis electric models, expects to expand the annual EV production in Korea to 1.51 million units and global volume to 3.64 million units by 2030.
• The investment will be used to upgrade Korea's EV ecosystem and to promote domestic EV production, R&D, infrastructure, and related industries.

Moderna's Vaccine Day: Influenza Vaccine Candidate Testing To Continue As It Misses' Early Success' Threshold

• Moderna Inc's (NASDAQ: MRNA) first vaccine candidate against influenza is mRNA-1010, which is being developed in adults.
• The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has completed the first interim efficacy analysis for the second Phase 3 trial (P302) conducted in the Northern Hemisphere to evaluate the safety and non-inferior efficacy compared to a licensed flu vaccine.
• The DSMB said mRNA-1010 did not meet the statistical threshold to declare early success.

Disclosure Violations Cost Goldman Sachs $15M as Settlement in Swap Business

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) agreed to pay $15 million to settle U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges that it failed to make proper disclosures and communicate fairly to swap customers.
• In 2015 and 2016, Goldman opportunistically solicited or agreed to enter into same-day swaps only on days and at times that were financially advantageous to Goldman and disadvantageous to its clients. 

Newmont Raises Bid For Newcrest Takeover, Offers 46% Premium to Feb 3 Price At $19.5B Valuation

• Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) submitted a final revised takeover offer to Newcrest Mining Limited (OTC:NCMGY), bidding a 46% premium to the closing price of Newcrest shares as on Feb 3, 2023. 
• The latest offer values Newcrest Mining at $19.5 billion, making it the largest-ever M&A deal in the gold-mining industry.
• Newcrest is Australia's largest gold miner, which had rejected the previous offer from Newmont at a $17.5 billion valuation. The company initially proposed the acquisition in February 2023.

 

CNBC

ChatGPT Rivalry Gets Bigger: Alibaba Plans to Integrate Chatbot Across Products at Low Cost

• On Tuesday, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) cloud computing unit shared plans to launch its ChatGPT counterpart Tongyi Qianwen.
• Alibaba Cloud initially proposed to deploy Tongyi Qianwen with Chinese and English language capabilities on Slack counterpart DingTalk, Alibaba's workplace communication software, and Tmall Genie, a provider of smart home appliances.

 

Nikkei

Warren Buffett 'Very Proud' Of Japanese Investments: 5 Tokyo-Listed Stocks Berkshire Has Stakes In

• Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has set his sights on the far east to put his money to work.
• Buffett, who runs the investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B), is "very proud" of his investments in Japanese stocks, the billionaire told in an interview with Nikkei.
• Berkshire, in Aug. 2020, picked up more than 5% stake in each of Japan's five trading houses, namely Itochu Corp (OTC: ITOCY), Mitsubishi Corp (OTC: MSBHF), Mitsui & Co., Ltd (OTC: MITSY), Sumitomo Corp (OTC: SSUMY), and Marubeni Corp. (OTC: MARUY).

 

Reuters

AMC Britain Rival Cineworld Files Restructuring Plan in Bankruptcy Court, Shareholders to be Wiped Out

• On Tuesday, Cineworld Group PLC (OTC:CNNWQ) (OTC:CNWGQ) said it had filed a reorganization plan in a Texas bankruptcy court to dissolve existing shareholdings effectively.
• The filing formalizes the cinema chain operator's Apr 3 deal that includes plans to cut debt by about $4.53 billion and raise $2.26 billion to emerge from bankruptcy.
• Cineworld, which expects to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2023, said any transaction resulting from the marketing process might delay emergence beyond that point.

Boeing Aims To Reach Pre-Crisis 737 MAX Production Rates In 2025

• Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) expects its 737 MAX jet to return to its 2019 production rate of 52 per month in 2025.
• The aircraft maker's bestselling jet demand nosedived following two deadly crashes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Boeing currently builds 31 737 MAX jets per month. The company aims to increase monthly MAX production to 38 in June, 42 by January 2024, and 47 by June 2024.

Drugmakers Stand Up for Reproductive Rights: Pfizer and Biogen Among 300 Condemning Abortion Pill Approval Suspension

• Last week Friday, a U.S. judge suspended the FDA's approval of mifepristone, effectively banning sales. Executives from over 300 companies, including Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), signed an open letter calling to reverse a federal judge's decision.
• The abortion pill has been available since 2000. The letter's authors wrote that the ruling ignores scientific evidence and legal precedent.

Clear Skies Ahead: Chinese Airlines Resume Boeing 737 MAX Operations

• Boeing (NYSE:BA) reportedly disclosed that 11 Chinese airlines had resumed 737 MAX operations as of Apr 10, a positive indication of its efforts to rebuild its business in the world's second-largest aviation market.
• The number of 737 MAX returning to commercial service reached 43, accounting for approximately 45% of the Chinese 737 MAX fleet.
• Boeing didn't name the airlines, but Hainan Airlines Holding Co Ltd, Fuzhou Airlines, Lucky Air, and Air China have all flown the jets in the months.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Pockets $2.8B Missile Contracts From Japan

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (OTC:MHVYF) has reportedly secured contracts worth $2.84 billion (378 billion yen) from Japan.
• Under the contract, Mitsubishi Heavy will develop and build a new missile force to deter China from using military force in East Asia.
• The four contracts include land, sea, and air-launched missiles and a hypersonic ballistic warhead that it wants to begin deploying in 2026, the report quoted Japan's Ministry of Defense.

 

Bloomberg

Antitrust Penalty: South Korea Hits Google with $32M Fine for Anti-Competitive Mobile App Behavior

• South Korea penalized Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google 42.1 billion won ($32 million) for exploiting its influence in the mobile app market to drive away a local rival.
• Google tried to block Korean platform rival One Store Co's growth, Bloomberg cites Korea's Fair Trade Commission's statement.
• Google has denied offering benefits to developers who put their apps only on Google Play.

Photo by Ljupco Smokovski via Shutterstock and Wikimedia Commons

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