Become more informed in minutes...

OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar has dismissed concerns about missed internal targets, saying the company is “beating” its overall plan and experiencing a “vertical wall of demand” for its products, even as rapid growth strains computing capacity. Friar acknowledged that ambitious internal “stretch goals” may not always be met but said strong user growth, including rising adoption of tools like Codex, underscores continued momentum, with constraints largely driven by limited data center and chip capacity rather than weak demand. The comments follow reports questioning OpenAI’s ability to meet revenue and user targets, though the company highlighted ongoing expansion, including $2bn in monthly revenue, while continuing to invest heavily in infrastructure amid intensifying competition from rivals such as Google and Anthropic.

 

Bloomberg

Most Finance Teams Are Piloting AI But Seeing Little Return  

52% of finance teams are in active AI pilots, yet only 1 in 5 report meaningful integration of AI into core processes. For CFOs, the pressure to move fast is real, but so is the risk of stalling in experimentation mode. A new CFO AI Roadmap outlines a structured path from pilot to practice, covering AI maturity assessment, governance, and prioritizing use cases across planning, forecasting, reporting, and close.  

Get the CFO AI Roadmap

 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the Facebook parent firm's planned ​layoffs are the consequence of increased capital spending for AI, and in comments to staff at a company town hall on Thursday he declined to rule out further job cuts. “We basically have two major cost centers in the company: compute infrastructure and people-oriented things," Zuckerberg said. "If we’re ​investing more in one area to serve our community, then that means we ​have less capital to allocate to the other. So that means we ⁠do need to take down the size of the company somewhat." He added: "Getting everyone internally to use AI tools and getting to do the work more efficiently is not the thing that's driving layoffs."

 

Reuters

Elon Musk’s compensation from Tesla reached $158.4bn for 2025 as part of a shareholder-approved long-term incentive plan that could be worth up to $1tn if ambitious operational and valuation targets are met. The package is tied to milestones including an $8.5tn market cap, 20m vehicle deliveries, and major advances in AI, robotaxis and robotics, with payouts dependent on performance and aimed at securing Musk’s continued focus on the company.

 

Wall Street Journal

Best Buy has announced that senior vice president Marie Grable will leave the company on July 31st, ahead of her husband Jason Bonfig assuming the role of chief executive on November 1st. Ms Grable, an executive since 1997, resigned last week. The move comes as the retailer seeks to avoid potential conflicts of interest, particularly given past scrutiny over executive relationships, although the company noted the pair's relationship had been previously disclosed.

 

Bloomberg

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn says its hiring ​products using agentic AI ‌are set to generate $450m in sales in the coming year. The social network's systems work by having an AI agent ​take instructions from a human recruiter and then sifting through LinkedIn profiles to find the best ones for follow-up. "Recruiters told us half their day ​was low-value work, so we made a bet ​on understanding ⁠their pain to get our solution right," said LinkedIn chief executive Dan Shapero.

 

Reuters

Cigna has announced it will withdraw from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace next year, becoming the second major insurer to exit after Aetna, amid declining enrollment and rising premiums following the rollback of federal subsidies. The ACA market has seen membership fall as higher monthly costs push consumers - particularly younger, healthier individuals - out of coverage, creating a riskier and more expensive pool of remaining policyholders. This dynamic has led insurers to raise premiums further, fueling a cycle of declining participation and pricing uncertainty. Cigna, which covers around 369,000 ACA members across 11 states, said the segment has been consistently unprofitable and too small to materially impact its overall business, prompting a strategic shift toward more sustainable areas.

 

Hartford Business Journal

Modern Healthcare

Wall Street Journal

PwC has told U.S. staff it will no longer cover the cost of weight-loss drugs for employees unless they have diabetes, citing the need to manage rapidly rising costs.

 

Financial Times

Saks Global has cut around 16% of its corporate staff, equating to approximately 640 roles, as part of an ongoing restructuring following its bankruptcy filing, with reductions driven by business exits, operational streamlining and integration of the 2024 Neiman Marcus acquisition. The retailer has significantly reduced its physical footprint, closing most Saks Off Fifth stores, halving Saks Fifth Avenue locations and shutting several Neiman Marcus sites, while reporting that sales and inventory are outperforming internal plans and that sufficient liquidity is in place to support its emergence from bankruptcy later this year.

 

Wall Street Journal

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office joined seven other states in suing over Nexstar's $6.2bn acquisition of rival broadcaster ​Tegna in March, has said five other states - Massachusetts, Vermont, Indiana, Kansas, and Pennsylvania ⁠- are joining the antitrust lawsuit challenging the deal, making the suit a bipartisan effort. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley ​in Sacramento said in an April 17 ruling that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that the deal will substantially ​lessen competition in dozens of local television markets. “This is not controversial stuff - this merger is illegal and will give Nexstar and Tegna the ability to control and raise prices, fire journalists, and dominate the media landscape,” Bonta said. “We welcome our sister states into the fray and look forward to fighting alongside them.”

 

NBC News

Reuters

The Senate has unanimously approved a bipartisan resolution to prohibit its members from participating in prediction markets. The decision follows concerns about senators using sensitive information for personal gain. Senator Bernie Moreno, who sponsored the resolution, said: “United States senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck, period.” The resolution also extends to staff members. Additionally, Senators Todd Young and Elissa Slotkin have proposed a bill to ban all federally elected officials from using insider information for betting.

 

U.S. News

Apple shares rose nearly 4% on Thursday after the company forecast stronger-than-expected revenue growth of 14%-17% for the current quarter, supported by strong demand for the iPhone 17 and the launch of its lower-cost MacBook Neo. While iPhone sales of $56.99bn slightly missed expectations due to chip supply constraints, overall quarterly revenue of $111.2bn and earnings of $2.01 per share beat forecasts, with Mac sales exceeding estimates and services revenue reaching $30.98bn. The MacBook Neo, priced at $500 for students, is seen as a key driver in expanding Apple’s presence in the lower-priced laptop market, while China sales also came in ahead of expectations at $20.5bn. Apple warned that supply chain constraints and rising memory chip costs will pressure margins in the near term, but announced a new $100bn share buyback and signalled confidence in demand, even as it increases R&D spending and navigates leadership and competitive pressures in AI.

 

CNBC

Financial Times

New York Times

Reuters

Mastercard shares declined on Thursday after the company reported a sharp slowdown in cross-border travel spending growth, which rose just 2% year-on-year in April compared with 8% in the first quarter, reflecting softer international travel demand amid geopolitical tensions and seasonal factors. Despite the slowdown, the group delivered strong financial performance, with adjusted net income of $4.1bn and net revenue of $8.4bn both exceeding expectations, supported by resilient consumer spending globally, while management maintained its revenue growth guidance and continued investing in areas such as digital assets and stablecoins.

 

Bloomberg

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that new jobless claims in the seven days to April 25th fell 26,000 from the week prior to a seasonally-adjusted 189,000, well below the 212,000 expected among economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. The four-week moving average of new filings fell 3,500 to 207,500, while the total number of claims for unemployment benefits, reported with a one-week lag, declined 23,000 to 1.79m. According to High Frequency Economics, this week’s number for new jobless aid applications was the fewest since September of 1969. “There is nothing to worry about in this report. YET!,” wrote Carl Weinberg, the group's chief economist, commented. “At some point, elevated energy costs and prices for materials will cause firms to lay off marginal workers to protect profit margins.”

 

AP News

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

The U.S. economy expanded at a 2% annualized rate in the first quarter, according to the Commerce Department, up from 0.5% in the prior quarter, reflecting solid momentum heading into the early stages of the Iran war, though slightly below economists’ expectations of around 2.3%. Growth was supported by resilient consumer spending, a sharp increase in business investment, particularly in AI-related equipment and software, along with higher exports and a rebound in government spending following the previous quarter’s shutdown. Business investment surged 10.4%, marking its strongest growth since mid-2023 and highlighting the continued importance of artificial intelligence-driven capital expenditure, while a key measure of underlying demand (core GDP) also strengthened to 2.5%. Consumer spending rose 1.6%, driven by services, although inflation-adjusted spending declined as rising prices, particularly from higher energy costs, eroded purchasing power.

 

AP News

CNN

Bloomberg

New York Times

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose sharply to 3.5% annually in March, the highest level in nearly three years, as a surge in energy prices driven by the ongoing Iran conflict pushed monthly inflation up 0.7%, above expectations. The Commerce Department said that core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3% on the month and reached 3.2% annually, indicating persistent underlying price pressures even beyond volatile fuel costs. The spike in gasoline and other energy expenses accounted for a significant share of overall consumer spending growth, with nominal spending rising 0.9% in March but only 0.2% after adjusting for inflation, highlighting how rising prices are eroding purchasing power. At the same time, real disposable income fell 0.1% for the second consecutive month, and the personal saving rate dropped to 3.6%, its lowest level in four years, signaling growing financial strain on households.

 

CNN

CNBC

Fox News

Global tax reporting and withholding functions are undergoing rapid transformation driven by new regulations, digital asset reporting requirements, and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, creating both efficiency gains and heightened compliance risks. AI is enabling organisations to automate data processing, validate taxpayer information, calculate withholding, and monitor regulatory obligations in real time, but requires strong governance to avoid errors, outdated logic, and overreliance on automated decisions, particularly as tax authorities such as the IRS also deploy advanced analytics to detect discrepancies. With expanding requirements including digital asset reporting frameworks and legislative changes such as the OBBBA, automation is becoming essential for managing complexity, supporting compliance, and reducing risk, especially in areas like documentation validation, cross-border reporting, and integration challenges arising from mergers and acquisitions.

 

The Tax Adviser

Europe's top banks, including BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered, have earmarked €610m ($710m) to brace for the expected impact of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. The total amount of disclosed war-related charges also includes BBVA, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and ING. “We have used this quarter to increase our provisions in anticipation of a potential deterioration in the economic environment due to the turbulent geopolitical situation surrounding the conflict in the Middle East,” Credit Agricole CEO Olivier Gavalda said. “We are being very cautious.”

 

Bloomberg

The U.S. has announced it will remove tariffs on Scotch whisky imports from the U.K., reversing a policy that had imposed a 10% duty and was set to rise to 25% in June. President Donald Trump said the decision had been made "in honor" of King Charles III following their recent meeting. The move restores preferential market access for a key U.K. export category worth approximately £1bn annually and comes after the Scotch whisky industry experienced a 15% decline in U.S. exports earlier this year due to trade barriers. Industry bodies and government officials on both sides of the Atlantic have welcomed the decision, highlighting its importance for producers, distributors and hospitality businesses. Under the revised arrangement, tariff relief applies specifically to whisky, while related goods such as barrels remain subject to existing duties. 

 

CNBC

Financial Times

Politico

Wall Street Journal