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Chief communications officers (CCOs) are becoming increasingly influential within corporate leadership teams, with many now reporting directly to chief executives and playing a broader role in business strategy, product development, reputation management, and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. Nearly half of CCOs reported directly to their CEO in 2025, up from 37% a decade ago, reflecting the growing importance of managing corporate narratives in an era of social media scrutiny, polarized audiences, and AI-driven information discovery. Companies including Gap, Peloton, Reddit, State Farm, and Accenture have recently created chief communications officer roles, while some communications executives have moved into senior operational positions.  The growing influence of communications leaders has been accompanied by rising compensation, with median base salaries increasing by more than 10% over the past two years and a growing number of CCOs earning $2m or more annually.

 

Wall Street Journal

Expense Fraud Is Evolving Beyond Traditional Audits

Finance teams are under growing pressure to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and do more with fewer resources, all while financial activity becomes harder to monitor across fragmented systems and rising transaction volumes. At the same time, expense fraud is becoming more sophisticated through AI-generated receipts, subtle policy abuse, and tactics designed to evade traditional audits.

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FedEx pilots have ratified a new deal that ‌would raise their wages by about 40% this year, the Air Line ​Pilots Association (ALPA) has said. The agreement follows almost five years ​of negotiations. Eighty-three percent of the parcel delivery ⁠company's pilots ​voted in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement ​that will also provide annual increases of 3% from 2028 through 2030. The contract takes effect from June 29.

 

Reuters

A strike at Dauch, a major supplier for General Motors formerly known as American Axle, has entered its second week ​with the two sides still unable to reach a deal, according to a local union official. "Unfortunately, we just walked away from the table. The ​company is trying to play games with words and ​not providing anything productive," Josh Jager, bargaining chairman ⁠for Local 2093, said. “General Motors is closely monitoring the situation involving Dauch Corp. at its Three Rivers, Michigan, plant,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in an emailed statement last week. “We are assessing any potential impact while staying closely aligned with our teams.” 

 

Detroit Free Press

Reuters

A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy that made it more difficult for wind and solar projects to qualify for federal tax credits, ruling that the Internal Revenue Service failed to adequately justify the change. The decision restores a long-standing provision that allowed renewable energy developers to preserve eligibility for tax incentives by incurring at least 5% of a project’s total costs before a credit deadline. The IRS had removed that pathway for most projects in rules issued last August, a move critics argued would increase electricity costs and discourage clean energy investment. The lawsuit was brought by environmental groups, consumer advocates, the City of San Francisco, and a clean energy consulting firm, which contended that the policy would hinder renewable energy development. The ruling sends the IRS guidance back for further review and represents another legal setback for the administration’s efforts to slow the expansion of clean energy technologies.

 

Bloomberg Tax

U.S. News

Judge Richard Eaton of the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade has called on the Trump administration to expedite refunds of more than $10bn in revenue from tariffs that were ‌collected and later deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. Eaton, who stopped short of issuing a new order compelling White House officials to speed up the refunds, observed that delays were leading to a "growing inequity" between large importers who hired customs brokers to help them navigate ​a government system for seeking refunds, and smaller businesses which had not.

 

Reuters

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $55.9bn in April, beating expectations, as record exports of petroleum products and capital goods helped offset continued strength in imports. Exports rose 2.6% to a record $327.1bn, driven by a surge in petroleum exports to $36.7bn, up from $27.6bn in March, as higher oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict boosted export values. Capital goods exports also reached a record high, supported by strong demand for computers and civilian aircraft. Imports increased 2.0% to $383bn, reflecting continued business investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Capital goods imports, including computers, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment, hit record levels, suggesting tariffs have had limited impact on import demand. The U.S. goods trade deficit with China narrowed by $2.6bn to $12bn, as both exports and imports declined. Meanwhile, services exports weakened due to softer travel and transportation demand.

 

New York Times

Reuters

U.S. wholesale inventories increased 0.6% in April, slightly above the initial estimate of 0.5%, marking the third straight month of growth as businesses continued building stockpiles amid supply concerns and higher commodity prices linked to the ongoing conflict with Iran. The Commerce Department said the increase was driven primarily by a 0.9% rise in durable goods inventories, including professional equipment and electrical products, while nondurable goods inventories edged up 0.2%, supported by gains in groceries and petroleum products. Wholesale sales climbed 2% in April, following a 3.0% increase in March, indicating solid demand despite higher inventory levels. On a year-over-year basis, inventories were up 3.6%. At the current sales pace, it would take wholesalers 1.19 months to clear inventory, the lowest level since December 2013, highlighting continued strength in sales relative to stock levels.

 

Reuters

A U.S. federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a revised $38bn settlement between Visa, Mastercard and merchants, marking a significant step towards resolving a long-running antitrust dispute over card processing fees that began in 2005. Under the proposed agreement, Visa and Mastercard will reduce interchange, or “swipe”, fees by 0.1 percentage points for five years, while standard consumer card rates will be capped at 1.25% for eight years. The settlement also gives merchants greater flexibility to apply surcharges and allows them to choose whether to accept certain categories of cards, including premium rewards cards. A key change is the effective removal of the long-standing “Honor All Cards” rule, which previously required merchants to accept all Visa or Mastercard cards if they accepted any card from those networks. Retail groups including the National Retail Federation opposed the deal, arguing it does not go far enough to address anti-competitive practices and still leaves merchants with limited ability to reject specific issuers’ cards.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is to file a complaint against Israeli spyware company, NSO Group, for failing to comply with a court order prohibiting the targeting of WhatsApp users. The company said the messaging service had disrupted new spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, an entity ​blacklisted in 2021 by the U.S. government, which said it “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.” WhatsApp won a permanent injunction against NSO last year in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; a jury awarded the service over $167m in damages.

 

Ars Technica

Jerusalem Post

Reuters

Mississippi residents have sued Elon Musk’s xAI and SpaceX. They say a power plant fueling nearby data centers is responsible for “omnipresent ​and inescapable” noise that is detrimental to their health and the values of their homes. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, claims Musk’s companies negligently failed to curb the disturbance and created a public nuisance through excessive ​and offensive noise. The case has been filed by the residents on behalf of ​a class estimated at more than 10,000 members. Robert Wiygul, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said: “Our homes are supposed to be a sanctuary for us against the world," but “when they are invaded by noise 24 hours a day, it takes that fundamental peace of a good and decent life away ​from us.”

 

Reuters

Sen. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican, and Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, have sent a request to the administration of President Donald Trump urging tighter rules on contract chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to prevent the production of advanced AI chips for overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies. “If this . . . remains unaddressed, it will significantly undermine every other restriction that the United States has imposed on China’s access to advanced computing capabilities. Export controls that can be bypassed through orders to manufacture chips at the world’s most advanced chip fabrication facility do not provide meaningful protection for U.S. national security or the competitiveness of American industry,” the bipartisan pair wrote.

 

Reuters

Supply chain leaders at London Tech Week said businesses are moving beyond visibility tools and dashboards toward artificial intelligence (AI)-powered orchestration platforms that can autonomously manage complex supply chain decisions. The shift is being enabled by years of investment in data infrastructure, allowing companies to treat data as a strategic asset rather than simply a reporting tool. FedEx executive Tony Kreager said the company spent six years modernizing its data foundations before deploying advanced AI capabilities, enabling significant operational improvements. He argued that supply chains should be managed as interconnected systems, with AI helping optimize hundreds of relationships and activities simultaneously rather than improving isolated processes. Other panelists emphasized that trust, change management, and strong data governance remain the biggest barriers to large-scale AI adoption. Estée Lauder’s Jamal Chamariq said successful implementation depends less on algorithms and more on organizational confidence in the data and decision-making processes.

 

Computing

OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO, setting the stage for one of the largest and most anticipated stock market listings in history, with a valuation expected to exceed $1tn. The move intensifies the race among leading artificial intelligence companies, following Anthropic’s recent IPO filing and ahead of SpaceX’s planned public debut. The ChatGPT creator said it has submitted a draft prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, although it has not yet decided on the timing of the offering. OpenAI noted that remaining private still offers advantages as it continues investing heavily in AI research, infrastructure, and expanding services for its 900m users. The company could begin trading as early as the fall, depending on regulatory review and market conditions.

 

Financial Times

New York Times

Reuters

Starbucks is evaluating strategic options for its Japan business, including a potential stake sale or an initial public offering, as the coffee chain continues its shift toward a more asset-light operating model in international markets. According to reports, Starbucks has held preliminary discussions with investment banks regarding its Japanese operations, which comprise around 2,100 stores, the majority of which are company-operated. A partial sale could value the business at ¥400bn-¥500bn ($2.5bn-$3.1bn) and may attract interest from both industry players and private equity firms. No decisions have been made, and the deliberations remain at an early stage. The review follows Starbucks’ recent transaction in China, where it sold a 60% stake in its retail operations to Boyu Capital, a move aimed at unlocking growth while reducing capital intensity.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Chinese employers are quietly cutting jobs as AI tools replace roles, avoiding mass layoffs to maintain stability. Labour laws - under which companies must seek government approval ⁠for job cuts exceeding 10% of their workforce - and political concerns are driving gradual, small-scale layoffs instead of large-scale redundancies. Reuters observes that the strategy contrasts with the massive AI-linked job cuts announced by major global companies that have precipitated a wave of anti-AI populism in ​the West. "Private companies will need to make room for some level of inefficiency in order ​to avoid mass layoffs that would prompt 'social instability' and could have political ramifications," a senior manager at a big Chinese fintech company told Reuters.

 

Reuters