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Last week, Musk sued OpenAI and co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman for breach of contract and fiduciary duty. "It's certainly a good advertisement for the benefit of Elon Musk," Kevin O'Brien, partner at Ford O'Brien Landy LLP and former assistant U.S. attorney, told CNBC. In the suit, Musk's lawyers say they want OpenAI to return to its work as a research lab and no longer exist for the "financial benefit" of Microsoft. Musk's attorneys didn't respond to a request for comment. Musk has an AI company of his own, X.AI, which introduced a competing chatbot called Grok in November after two months of training.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Beata Zawrzel, Elon, Musk, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, It's, Kevin O'Brien, Ford O'Brien Landy, I'm, O'Brien, isn't, Shannon Capone Kirk, Ropes & Gray, Chris Ratliffe, Kirk, —, X.AI, He's, bigwigs, Andrej Karpathy, Kyle Kosic, OpenAI's, Jason Kwon, Kwon Organizations: Nurphoto, Microsoft, Elon, CNBC, Ropes &, Ropes & Gray LLP, Bloomberg House, Economic, Bloomberg, Getty, The New York Times, SEC, Tesla, X.AI, OpenAI Locations: Krakow, Poland, Davos, Switzerland, OpenAI

Reverse discrimination lawsuits are common, but there is little court precedent on the legality of whole diversity programs. The Supreme Court in a 1979 ruling upheld a chemical company's policy that at least half of its trainees for skilled craft positions be Black. By calling out specific admissions policies, such as giving "pluses" to minority students, the court's decision is likely to embolden critics who claim workforce diversity programs similarly give unfair advantages to certain groups. The Pfizer case was brought by Do No Harm, a conservative activist group that has challenged several diversity programs in healthcare. Those broad policies are likely insulated from legal challenges, according to Doug Brayley, a Boston-based partner at law firm Ropes & Gray.

Persons: Evelyn Hockstein, Gray, Thursday’s, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, “, ”, Dan Morenoff, George Floyd, Andrea Lucas, Lucas, Donald Trump, Roberts, Edward Blum, Blum, Doug Brayley, ” Brayley, Daniel Wiessner, Alexia Garamfalvi, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, REUTERS, American Civil Rights, Opportunity Commission, Republican, Democratic, Pfizer Inc, Pfizer, Conservative, Gray, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Washington , U.S, Boston, Albany , New York

☆ KKR to take machinery maker Circor private in $1.6-bln deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 5 (Reuters) - KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) said on Monday it will buy industrial machinery maker Circor International Inc (CIR.N) in a $1.6-billion deal and take it private, as the private equity firm looks to double down on investments in the flow-control market. Flow-control products help manage and control liquids and gases using equipment or services such as pumps, valves, compressors and meters. Circor, which has about 3,100 employees, makes pump and valve systems for sectors including oil and gas, industrial, aerospace and defense. "KKR will help us expand our presence in the flow-control space," Circor's Chief Executive Officer Tony Najjar said. Evercore, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Ropes & Gray LLP advised Circor, while Citi and Kirkland & Ellis LLP were KKR's advisers.

Persons: Tony Najjar, Gray, Circor, Ellis, Nathan Gomes, Priyamvada, Savio D'Souza, Shinjini, Shounak Organizations: KKR, Co Inc, Circor, U.S . Department of Defense, Street Journal, Morgan Securities LLC, Ropes, Gray LLP, Citi, Kirkland, Ellis LLP, Thomson Locations: J.P, Bengaluru

[1/2] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis walks outside the Treasury during his visit in London, Britain April 28, 2023. The bill is one of the furthest-reaching efforts yet by U.S. Republicans against sustainable investing efforts, and a clear political message from DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate. We do not want them engaged on these ideological joyrides," said DeSantis just before he signed the bill at a webcast event. Analysts said the legislation goes further than other state anti-ESG bills, even as business groups worry the efforts pose financial risks. There are climate and weather risks that are highly relevant, especially in a state like Florida, and would be captured in our assessment of credit risk," Torgerson said.

☆ Courts Side With Big Companies Including Amazon and Experian in Privacy Appeals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Big companies are winning appeals to overturn regulatory decisions that allege they violated European privacy rules, potentially carving out a path for more businesses to challenge similar sanctions. Courts in the U.K., Spain, Italy and Germany sided with companies including Experian PLC, Amazon. The court rejected the regulator’s argument that collecting personal data to create profiles for marketing purposes intrudes on privacy rights. The court said the regulator had “fundamentally misunderstood” the implications of how Experian used data, and that there were no negative effects for individuals. These recent wins will likely embolden other companies to appeal GDPR violations, said Mr. Machin of Ropes & Gray.

☆ Former Allianz Fund Manager Accuses Firm and Its Lawyers of Double-Crossing Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

In his brief, Mr. Tournant excerpted a slide containing photos of himself and two other former Allianz executives, which his lawyers likened to a most-wanted poster. Mr. Tournant was also represented by a third firm that wasn’t jointly retained by Allianz, according to his motion. The firms’ agreements required them to inform Mr. Tournant in the event that a conflict of interest arose, according to his motion. Allianz’s posture toward Mr. Tournant changed after Mr. Bond-Nelson broke ties with the firm’s defense team and began shifting blame to Mr. Tournant, according to his brief. The pivot was a direct result of the policies outlined in recent years by officials such as Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, according to Mr. Tournant.

☆ FTC Weighs Stiff Penalties on Deceptive ‘Green’ Marketing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Officials are seeking public comment until Feb. 21 on nonbinding guidelines for how companies can make environmental marketing claims without breaching federal laws prohibiting deceptive advertising. “People who want to buy green products generally have to trust what it says on the box.”The agency’s so-called Green Guides, launched in 1992 and last updated in 2012, outline principles that apply to environmental marketing claims. The FTC has brought federal lawsuits against companies for making deceptive environmental claims, and the guides are cited in marketing laws in states such as California. The breadth of terms being considered reflects the significant evolution of green marketing over the past decade and companies need clearer guidance, said Caiti Zeytoonian, a lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP who advises companies on green marketing and represents them before the FTC. Ms. Koss declined to say if the Supreme Court decision triggered the FTC’s consideration of new rules on green marketing.

☆ Hot Market for Cyber Insurance Begins to Stabilize
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The market for cyber insurance has begun to stabilize after a surge in ransomware attacks in recent years propelled a steep rise in premiums, observers say. Cyber insurance can pay ransoms to hackers who lock company technology systems, or it can help offset the cost of responding to data breaches. The insurance itself remains relatively niche—insurer Munich Re Group estimated the global value of cyber insurance premiums at $9.2 billion at the outset of 2022, compared with hundreds of billions of dollars spent in the U.S. alone for commercial insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute—but events spurring premium increases have become familiar. But not all companies can, as some must have cyber insurance to work with partners, Mr. McNicholas said. “The cyber insurance community has to be fairly nimble and flexible in how it looks at risk.”Write to Richard Vanderford at Richard.Vanderford@wsj.com

☆ EU Looks to Follow Tough U.S. Action on Forced Labor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Beijing has called allegations about the use of forced labor “vicious lies” and said its policies in Xinjiang are intended to counter violent separatism and terrorism. African mining operations, for example, have been implicated in the use of forced labor. Under the proposal, EU member states will designate authorities to enforce the regulation, and their customs authorities will enforce it at the EU’s borders. Goods made without forced labor are going to the U.S., while goods made with forced labor are shipped to the EU, the researchers said. Uniqlo has said it performs due diligence throughout its supply chain and prohibits the use of forced labor.

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