Become informed in minutes...

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has argued that artificial intelligence (AI) could strengthen U.S. prosperity and global influence, while warning that regulation that slows American AI development could allow foreign competitors, particularly China, to pull ahead. In a 6,500-word manifesto, Mr. Zuckerberg presented a vision of “personal superintelligence” that would expand individuals’ capabilities, making it easier to start businesses, create art, and conduct medical research. He described Meta as a potential U.S. champion in the AI race and said the company remains committed to releasing technology through open-weight models that others can build on and modify. The manifesto comes amid growing skepticism toward AI, mounting political pressure for regulation, and recent incidents in which experimental AI systems have behaved unexpectedly, including hacking into other companies during testing. The Trump administration, which previously favored limited oversight, has also taken steps toward tighter controls on some advanced AI systems.

 

Bloomberg

NBC News

Washington Post

Wall Street Journal

4 Key Debt Risks for CFOs & Controllers

Every asset acquisition alters your leverage profile. Relying on manual spreadsheets creates mid-period blindness, exposing your business to technical defaults that freeze credit access. Protect your enterprise with proactive oversight. Download our guide to eliminate manual spreadsheet time bombs, maintain  continuous covenant tracking, and align every asset strategy with lender constraints.

Get the Guide

 

Lululemon Athletica chief strategy officer Rachel Acheson has left the retailer after more than 14 years, around a month before former Nike executive Heidi O’Neill takes over as chief executive on 8 September. The departure comes as Ms O’Neill prepares to lead efforts to revive sales and the company's share price, following recent product missteps and a proxy battle with founder Chip Wilson that was settled earlier this year.

 

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump has revived his threat to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg in which Ms. Cook was told that Mr. Trump is “considering removing” her and gave her until August 26th to respond to allegations made by the White House. In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to block the President's attempt to fire Ms. Cook. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the President didn't provide Cook enough process to contest allegations of mortgage fraud. Ms. Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said of the new threat: “These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve . . . No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent - there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”

 

Bloomberg

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok and other social media companies over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users. The San Francisco-based court rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling forcing them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits over the claims filed in federal court, concluding that the appeal came too early in ​the litigation. The defendants had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which typically protects ​online platforms from claims over content posted by their users, also bars lawsuits claiming they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature ⁠of their offerings.

 

Techcrunch

NBC News

The Globe and Mail

U.S. News

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index rose to 107.71 in July from an upwardly revised 106.74 in June, suggesting that U.S. employment could continue to grow despite a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market. Initial unemployment claims fell to their lowest level since September 2022, indicating that layoffs remain limited, while the share of consumers saying jobs were hard to get declined to 21.5% from 21.7%. However, the index was just 0.6% above its year-earlier level, suggesting that payroll growth could remain modest in the coming months. 

 

Wall Street Journal

EY is creating an artificial intelligence (AI) value realization office and hiring a head of “agent economics” to oversee its growing AI-powered workforce, control technology costs, and assess whether its investments are generating tangible business benefits. The move comes as companies face increasing pressure to demonstrate returns from AI spending, particularly as technology providers shift toward usage-based pricing models that can result in rapidly escalating costs. EY has already introduced AI token budgets for employees in areas with heavy AI usage, such as software development, requiring additional approval when allocated limits are exceeded. It has also developed AI routers that direct employees to the most appropriate model for each task, helping avoid unnecessary use of more expensive, advanced models. The new unit will provide EY’s leadership with greater visibility into AI spending and performance across different business functions, rather than leaving oversight to individual technology, finance, or human resources teams.

 

Bloomberg

GameStop is considering withdrawing its $56bn takeover bid for eBay and instead proposing a partnership or joint venture that would allow eBay to use its roughly 1,600 U.S. retail locations, potentially helping both businesses expand in higher-margin categories including trading cards and collectibles. GameStop, which has increased its eBay holding from 5% to 9.75% and is now its second-largest shareholder, would seek board representation under any partnership. The potential change of approach follows a sharp decline in GameStop’s shares since its $125-per-share offer was made in May, while the company has $8.4bn in cash against a market value of $8.6bn; no final decision has been made, and other options remain under consideration.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

The IRS’s Compliance Assurance Process (CAP), a voluntary program designed to help large corporate taxpayers resolve tax issues before filing returns, is facing renewed scrutiny after TIGTA questioned whether its benefits justify its costs. TIGTA found that the IRS lacks adequate financial metrics and has not conducted the cost-benefit analysis previously recommended in 2013, leaving it unable to fully assess CAP’s value or impact on tax compliance. CAP labor costs averaged $10m annually from fiscal years 2019 through 2024, prompting TIGTA to recommend reconsidering a user fee for participating companies. The issue has become more pressing following significant IRS staffing reductions, with 25,386 employees, or 25% of the agency’s workforce, departing through various programs since last year, including 19% of staff in the Large Business and International division. TIGTA also identified performance concerns, finding that nearly half of CAP participants received partial acceptance letters from tax years 2019 through 2023, indicating that some issues remained unresolved when returns were filed. As of March 2025, 83% of tax year 2023 CAP cases remained open, despite a goal of closing cases within 60 days of return filing.

 

Bloomberg Law

Accounting Today

The SEC has clarified that a major subset of data-center securitizations is exempt from certain disclosure and investor-protection requirements that apply to traditional asset-backed securities, including rules requiring issuers to retain some of the debt they sell. SEC staff determined that data centers are physical assets rather than financial assets that liquidate over time, meaning bonds backed directly by them are not subject to the same post-financial-crisis requirements as securities backed by assets such as auto loans and residential mortgages. Although the guidance is not a formal rule change, it is expected to reduce compliance costs and remove structural obstacles for data-center operators that had been following the requirements as a precaution. The exemption does not extend to all data-center securitizations. Commercial mortgage-backed securities secured by data centers, for example, remain subject to the existing rules because their collateral consists of mortgages rather than the physical data-center assets themselves.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Beijing has launched a cybersecurity review of products ‌sold in China by U.S. company Palo Alto Networks. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said the review was needed “to ensure the safe and stable operation of critical information infrastructure, prevent cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, and safeguard national security.” Reuters notes that Beijing has increased ⁠scrutiny of foreign technology suppliers while promoting domestic alternatives, saying imported products used in sensitive ​networks could expose data or critical infrastructure to overseas risks.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

South China Morning Post

The Register

Daimler Truck CEO Karin Rådström has said the company could face €1bn ($1.2bn) in fines if it is unable to comply with the European Union's emission rules. The world’s biggest truckmaker can expect a penalty of about €120m for every percentage point by which it misses the 2030 target, Rådström said. The company would fall some 10% to 15% short of the target with the current trajectory, and that would equate to a total fine of around €1bn, she said, adding that “I think these penalties aren’t fair,” because Daimler Truck has “done its homework” by developing several emission-free truck models - but a lack of charging infrastructure and affordability is limiting demand.

 

Bloomberg

JBS has appointed Wesley Batista Filho as global chief executive from January, returning leadership to the founding Batista family for the first time in around eight years, with incumbent Gilberto Tomazoni remaining as vice chairman. The meat producer has also reported a $102m net loss for the second quarter, including one-time charges, while its North American beef business narrowed its loss before interest and taxes to $78m from $233m a year earlier.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Reuters

Wall Street Journal