Disney Considers Different Strategies For Star India, Broadcom Wins Conditional European Approval For VMware Deal, Google Deprioritizes Gen Z Chatbot App: Today's Top Stories

Wall Street Journal

Disney's Dilemma With Star India Aggravated By Mukesh Ambani's Cricket Moves

• Walt Disney Co DIS is reportedly considering different strategies for its Star India business, which could include partnering with another company or even selling it, marking a shift in dynamics for a significant asset it acquired from Fox Corp. While Disney is still in early talks, there's no clear indication of the path they might take.
• The entertainment titan, along with its competitors, is focusing more on streaming services and moving away from traditional TV platforms, leading to considerable spending on deals, content, and tech across the globe.

Kim Kardashian Reportedly In Talks To Buy Back Beauty Business Stakes From Coty

• Kim Kardashian is reportedly in negotiations to buy back the minority stake in her beauty company, SKKN BY KIM, from Coty Inc COTY.
• The sale price and other details of the deal are yet to be finalized. Three years ago, Coty had acquired a 20% stake in the business, then known as KKW Holdings, valuing it at $1 billion. SKKN BY KIM offers a range of skincare products, with prices ranging from $43 to $95.

KPMG Plans To Generate $12B In Revenue Over Five Years With AI, Cloud Tech Boost

• One of the Big Four accounting organizations, KPMG, is reportedly looking to invest around $2 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services across its global business lines over the next five years.
• This investment is part of an expanded partnership with Microsoft Corporation MSFT, highlighting a trend among the Big Four accounting firms to embrace these technologies increasingly.
• KPMG, as part of the partnership expansion, will gain early access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI assistant, before its public launch.

System Issue At CVS Caremark Leaves Patients Stranded Without Medications

• Starting Monday morning, patients covered by CVS's Caremark business experienced a halt in prescription processing, leaving some without their medications.
• This issue affected all types of businesses managed by CVS Caremark, which funds prescriptions at thousands of drugstores, including those beyond the company's outlets.

 

Benzinga

Cathie Wood's Ark Offloads $12M Worth Of Bitcoin-Linked Stock Amid 10% Rally On CBOE Tie-Up

• Cathie Wood-run Ark Invest's trades on Tuesday were mostly focused on healthcare stocks, although the firm did buy and sell a few stocks outside of the space.
• Ark's flagship Ark Innovation ETF sold 135,152 shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc COIN.
• The sale would have fetched the firm proceeds of $12.05 million.

Palantir-Backed Faraday Future Flags Errors In Older Financial Reports, Names Jonathan Maroko New Interim CFO

• California-based EV startup Faraday Future Intelligent Electric FFIE flagged on Tuesday that its previously issued financial statements for 2022 and quarters ended March 2023 and September 2022 has some errors.
• The errors in the reports are related to changes in fair value upon conversion of notes issued by the company, Faraday said in a statement. The financial reports for the periods should "no longer be relied upon," it added.

Illumina Slapped With Over €400M In Fines: European Commission Penalizes Company For Hasty Grail Deal

• The European Commission has fined Illumina Inc ILMN ILMN and Grail Inc approximately €432 million and €1,000, respectively, for implementing their proposed merger before approval by the Commission, in breach of EU merger control rules.
• "This is a very serious infringement, which requires the imposition of a proportionate fine, with the aim of deterring such conduct," the European Commission said.

Activision Blizzard Shares Are Down On Possible New Investigation For Microsoft Deal

• Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI stock is trading lower Wednesday amid reports of a possible new investigation on the Microsoft Corp MSFT takeover deal to reverse a U.K. veto. 
• The CMA said Tuesday it had applied to put the appeal trial against its decision to block the deal on hold after a U.S. court offered a clean chit to the takeover.

Broadcom Wins Conditional Approval From European Commission For Vmware Deal

• Vmware Inc VMW stock is trading higher Wednesday after Broadcom Inc AVGO won conditional approval Wednesday from the European Commission to complete its acquisition of VMware.
• With this decision, the Commission recognizes the importance of this combination in enabling enterprises to accelerate growth and momentum in the multi-cloud ecosystem, expanding customer choice, and creating more potential for increased innovation and competition.

Domino's Pizza Announces Global Agreement With Uber

• Domino's Pizza Inc DPZ shares are surging after it entered a new global agreement with Uber Technologies Inc UBER. The financial terms were not disclosed.
• The agreement allows U.S. customers to order Domino's products through the Uber Eats and Postmates apps. Orders placed will be delivered by uniformed Domino's drivers.

Takeda Withdraws FDA Application For Dengue Vaccine Candidate On Data Disagreement

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd TAK said on Tuesday that it was voluntarily withdrawing its marketing application for its dengue vaccine, TAK-003, candidate following discussions with the FDA.
• The Japan-based company cited data collection issues, which cannot be addressed within the current review cycle.

 

CNBC

Google Shifts Focus: Internal Reorganization Leads to Deprioritization of Gen Z Chatbot App Bubble Characters

• Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google quietly ditched its AI-powered mobile chatbot app, "Bubble Characters," specifically designed for Gen Z users and featured interactive digital characters.
• Development on the app began in the fourth quarter of 2021, but Google deprioritized and halted its work due to an internal reorganization at Google.

 

Business Insider

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Set For $1B Windfall Following Microsoft-Activision Deal

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) stood to make a profit of over $1 billion following the court's decision to allow Microsoft Corp MSFT to proceed with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard ATVI.
• Berkshire Hathaway, which owned nearly 50 million shares of Activision at the end of the first quarter of 2023, is set to make a significant profit if Microsoft's acquisition goes through at its all-cash offer of $95 per share.

 

Reuters

IBM Considers Using In-House AI Chips to Reduce Cloud Service Costs

• International Business Machines Corp IBM is weighing the use of artificial intelligence chips designed in-house to lower the costs of operating a cloud computing service it made available this week.
• Mukesh Khare, general manager of IBM Semiconductors, said the company is contemplating using a chip called the Artificial Intelligence Unit as part of its new "Watsonx" cloud service.
• IBM is looking to tap the generative AI technologies boom more than a decade after Watson, its first major AI system, failed to gain market traction.

Famed Weight Loss Drug Wegovy by Novo Nordisk Sees Significant Drop In Long-Term Use, Study Reveals

• Around 32% of patients prescribed Novo Nordisk A/S's NVO weight-loss drug, Wegovy, were still using the medication a year after their initial prescription, indicating a significant drop in adherence compared to what was reported in clinical trials.
• The reasons for prescription discontinuation were not asked, but potential factors could include severe side effects or an inability to afford co-pays or deductibles.

 

Bloomberg

Cybersecurity Concerns Rise as China-based Hackers Breach Email Accounts of Government Agencies in Western Europe: Microsoft

• Microsoft Corp MSFT has revealed that a China-based hacking group, Storm-0558, breached email accounts linked to government agencies in Western Europe.
• The group remained undetected for about a month after gaining access to email data from approximately 25 organizations in mid-May.

Hyundai Workers In South Korea Go On First Strike In Five Years

• Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF unionized workers at its plants across South Korea reportedly staged the first strike in five years against the government's labor policies.
• A spokesman for the automaker's union said that both day-shift and night-shift employees stopped work for two hours today.