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But all the deals and pomp of the visit — including an address to Congress and a lavish state dinner — may not have accomplished what the White House had wanted. U.S. leaders gave Modi a hearty welcome, as Washington seeks to nudge India further into the American sphere of influence. “The partnership is among the most consequential in the world,” Biden said at a news conference on Thursday. Biden and Modi largely brushed off criticism of the Indian government’s crackdown on human rights and religious freedom. And Modi made no pledges to endorse U.S. efforts to restrain China, nor to cut ties to Russia.

Persons: Modi, ” Biden, Dave Calhoun, Larry Culp, G.E, James Taiclet, Lockheed Martin, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Tim Cook, Sanjay Mehrotra, Sundar Pichai, Lisa Su, Ken Chenault, Jane Fraser, Adena Friedman, Deven Parekh, Hemant Taneja, ” Taneja, DealBook, Biden Organizations: White, General Electric, chipmakers, Micron, Materials, World Trade Organization, America, Boeing, Lockheed, Tech, Apple, Citigroup, Nasdaq, Insight Venture Partners, Catalyst, The Times, House Locations: India, China, Russia, U.S, Washington, portobello, United States

Lina Khan takes on her longtime targetIn 2017, Lina Khan, then a 29-year-old law student, shot to fame with an academic article about why Amazon should be contained. Cutting against prevailing trends in antitrust law, Khan argued that the e-commerce giant was unfairly dominating huge swaths of the American economy. Now the chair of the F.T.C., Ms. Khan has finally taken on Amazon, though her agency’s new lawsuit against the company isn’t focused on antitrust. “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent,” Ms. Khan said. wants the courts to stop Amazon from engaging in those practices and impose a financial penalty.

Persons: Lina Khan, Khan, “, ” Ms

Biden rolls out the red carpet for Modi and business is watchingThe White House is rolling out the red carpet for Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, with a state dinner on Thursday. High on the agenda: Talks to strengthen economic and security ties as the Biden administration cultivates partners to counter China. met Mr. Modi in New York on Tuesday and said India had more promise than any other big country. Enticed by the country’s sustainable energy potential, Mr. Musk said he hoped his electric carmaker could start doing business there “as soon as humanly possible.”India is booming. Mr. Modi has cannily managed to stay in the good graces of the West and Russia since the Kremlin declared war on Ukraine.

Persons: Biden, Narendra Modi, India’s, Elon Musk, Modi, Musk, cannily Organizations: Modi, SpaceX, Kremlin, Investors Locations: China, New York, India, West, Russia, Ukraine

Hope but few detailsWorries about China’s economic recovery sent stocks and U.S. futures lower on Tuesday morning, despite a promising meeting on Monday between the country’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing. The discussions raised hopes that the world’s two biggest economies might stabilize relations, but the market reaction points at the deeper challenges for policymakers and business. There was no agreement or detail on the most contentious issues: restrictions on Chinese access to advanced technologies; accusations that the U.S. and its allies want to contain Beijing’s ambitions; Taiwan; the war in Ukraine. “Distrust remains high,” said Noah Barkin, a specialist on China relations at the research firm Rhodium Group. “For international investors, this is not enough to trigger any sort of rethink with regard to the Chinese market.” The Biden administration, he said, would continue screening strategic investments into China and Beijing showed no signs of easing pressure on foreign firms operating in the country.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, Xi, Biden, Blinken, ”, Noah Barkin Organizations: “ Locations: Beijing, California, Taiwan, Ukraine, China

‘An operation of seduction’Just days after the PGA-LIV Golf merger was announced, a contingent of Saudi Arabian investors and power brokers, including the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has converged on France this week looking for more deals with potentially trillions to spend. The “Invest in Saudi” booth at VivaTech — where Elon Musk and the luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault are also on the program — has an outsized presence. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Investment, the booth serves as a kind of billboard to announce the country’s ambitions and a way to help its entrepreneurs attract Western investors and prospective business partners, Vivienne Walt writes for DealBook. Badr Al Badr, the deputy minister for investor outreach, told DealBook that Saudi Arabia has about $3.2 trillion to invest by 2030. “That is why there are so many opportunities for investors,” he said.

Persons: Mohammed bin Salman, Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Vivienne Walt, DealBook, Prince Mohammed, Badr Al Badr, ” Organizations: LIV, Invest, —, Elon, Saudi Ministry of Investment, PayPal, Electronic Arts Locations: Saudi Arabian, France, Saudi, Badr, Saudi Arabia

A move to ‘end surprise fees’With inflation still a potent political issue, President Biden is stepping up his war on so-called junk fees. At the White House on Thursday, he will host a panel of executives from several companies, including Airbnb and Live Nation, which drew outrage from consumers over its botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s tour last year. The companies are expected to announce new efforts to “end surprise fees,” the White House said, including through price-transparency commitments and other ways of fully disclosing upfront costs to consumers. The administration hopes that the changes will be adopted by companies across a wide array of industries, including live events and travel. In his State of the Union address in February, he denounced the added costs: “I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and gets away with it.”

Persons: Biden, Taylor Swift’s, ” Organizations: White

The Fed looks poised to pauseS&P 500 futures are up on Wednesday as investors bet that the Fed will not change its prime lending rate, thanks to an array of unexpectedly positive economic data. If the central bank moves as expected, it would break a streak of 10 consecutive rate increases, back to March of 2022 — the Fed’s most aggressive pace since the 1980s. That said, many expect the decision on Wednesday to represent a pause, not a reversal, of a hawkish anti-inflation policy. The central bank’s chair, Jay Powell, is expected to suggest at his post-meeting news conference on Wednesday that he isn’t done raising rates. Mr. Patterson believes that the Fed is planning at least one more rate increase this year.

Persons: Jay Powell, Powell, ” Andrew Patterson, DealBook, Patterson Organizations: Vanguard

“There is unprecedented interest in all areas of A.I.,” Julie Sweet, Accenture’s C.E.O., said. Accenture plans to double its A.I.-focused staff to 80,000, through a mix of hiring, acquisitions and training. It also plans to use generative A.I. moves, too: PwC said in April that it would invest $1 billion over the next three years, while EY announced in 2021 that it would invest $2.5 billion over three years. work dates back at least to the introduction of Watson, has announced a “Center of Excellence” for generative A.I.

Persons: ” Julie Sweet, Accenture’s, PwC, EY, Bain, Watson Organizations: Accenture, Company, OpenAI, Deloitte, Nvidia, IBM Locations: A.I

A potential end to a high-profile fightJPMorgan Chase on Monday reached a tentative settlement with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, weeks after enduring embarrassing disclosures about its longstanding ties to the convicted sex offender. If approved, the deal would ease some of the pressure on JPMorgan as it defends itself against accusations that it ignored repeated warnings about Mr. Epstein’s crimes. The victims’ lawsuit accused JPMorgan of overlooking red flags about Mr. Epstein, because it valued him as a wealthy client who could help connect the bank with even more deep-pocketed people. The deal was reached about two weeks after Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s C.E.O., testified about the matter. In a daylong deposition in the case, filed last November in Manhattan federal court, Mr. Dimon said he had barely heard of Mr. Epstein before the financier’s 2019 arrest.

Persons: JPMorgan Chase, Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Epstein’s, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s, Dimon, Mr Organizations: Monday, JPMorgan, Times Locations: Manhattan

Trump indicted: what to expect nextFor the second time in two months, Donald Trump will surrender to the authorities to face legal charges, dropping another bomb into the 2024 presidential race. The indictment won’t be unsealed until next week, but some details are known. He is expected to turn himself in to the authorities on Tuesday. Mr. Trump himself broke the news last night, a sign his inner circle had been bracing for the indictment for weeks. On his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump called the charges “election interference at the highest level,” adding, “I’m an innocent man.”

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump, ” Organizations: Republican, White

Instead, Mr. Messi appears to be headed to Inter Miami, the M.L.S. team co-founded by David Beckham. It’s a sign that near-limitless oil money can’t buy everything — but the complicated arrangements to bring Messi to Florida also hint at what it takes to trump Saudi riches. What Mr. Messi stands to get: Contract details haven’t been released, but what’s known about Inter Miami’s offer to the Argentine star includes a roster spot free from the limits of M.L.S. salary rules and, highly unusually, an ownership stake in Inter Miami once his playing career ends.

Persons: David Beckham, LIV —, Lionel Messi, Mr, Messi, It’s, haven’t Organizations: Inter Miami, Inter, Adidas, Apple Locations: Saudi Arabia, Florida, Saudi, Argentine, M.L.S

Golf becomes a geopolitical trophyThe shock news that the PGA Tour plans to join forces with LIV Golf, the upstart circuit that it has spent the past year feuding with, rattled the normally staid world of golf. Saudi Arabia, LIV’s backer, now stands to hold enormous sway over golf, as it invests billions to extend its presence throughout pro sports — and beyond. It’s an additional sign of how the kingdom is seeking to assert its role as a growing geopolitical and global business power. Covert jet-setting talks led to the golf deal. Those on the Saudi side included the banker Michael Klein, a longtime adviser to the kingdom.

Persons: LIV Golf, LIV, Jay Monahan, Ed Herlihy, Wachtell, Jimmy Dunne, Piper Sandler, Michael Klein Organizations: PGA Tour, PGA, Allen & Company Locations: Saudi Arabia, what’s, Saudi

The initial reviews were mixed and skeptics questioned whether even Apple could make virtual reality anything more than a niche technology. But boosters say that if any company can make it mainstream, it’s Apple with its ecosystem of two billion iPhone, iPad and Mac users. “We believe Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary product,” Tim Cook told developers and journalists on Monday. It certainly looks like an Apple product: Unlike other virtual reality headsets, an external display shows your eyes to others, and the device is controlled using hand gestures, eye movements and your voice. “The most perfect headset demo reel of all time is still just a headset demo reel,” wrote Nilay Patel of The Verge.

Persons: Tim Cook, ”, Joanna Stern, I’ve, Marques Brownlee, “, Nilay Patel, lockdowns Organizations: Apple, Apple Vision, The, Street, Investors

Riyadh goes it alone on oil cutsCrude oil and natural gas rebounded this morning after Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, announced a million-barrel-per-day production cut at this weekend’s OPEC Plus summit in an effort to boost sagging energy prices. But the negotiations that led to the move — and a more complicated adjustment of the cartel’s production quotas — hint at the tensions between many of the world’s top crude-producing countries, with global oil prices in the balance. The United Arab Emirates saw its production quota grow, after years of lobbying for such a move, while other countries had their targets reduced. The arrangement that emerged on Sunday was a Riyadh-led compromise, which Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi oil minister, called “a Saudi lollipop” that is meant to sweeten prices for oil traders. Though the cut is meant only for July, it could be extended.

Persons: Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Organizations: United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, OPEC, United Arab, Saudi

Does Section 230 apply to generative A.I.? search engines? Typically, search engines are considered vehicles for information rather than content creators, and search companies have benefited from Section 230 protection. Generative A.I. And hallucinations — the falsehoods that generative A.I.

Persons: drafters, ”, Ron Wyden, don’t, Chris Cox, ” Wyden, Eric Goldman Organizations: Democrat, Republican, Microsoft, Google, Santa Clara University Locations: Oregon, California

What to watch in today’s jobs reportMarket futures are looking up today after the Senate approved the bipartisan debt limit deal, averting a national fiscal crisis. All eyes will be on the May jobs report. Hiring has slowed in recent months, but the unemployment rate still stands at a 53-year low despite a wave of layoffs in the technology, media and financial sectors. Analysts say the labor market over all appears to be returning to its prepandemic state. “The Great Resignation is over, with quits and hiring slowing dramatically and layoffs higher than the last few years of the 2010s,” Bill Adams, the chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote to clients.

Persons: ” Bill Adams Organizations: Analysts, Comerica Bank Locations: U.S

The debt deal clears the HouseThe debt-ceiling deal is a step closer to becoming law after its breezy passage in the House last night, making the prospect of a U.S. default all the more remote. Investors expressed relief, sending global markets and U.S. stock futures higher this morning. The bill now heads to a final vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The House vote was always seen as riskier, but the bill’s passage in the upper house is by no means a fait accompli. And some fiscal hawks in his party see the deal as a betrayal.

Persons: Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders, Biden’s, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Jim Jordan of Organizations: Democratic, Republican, The Times, Republicans Locations: U.S, Kentucky, Vermont, Jim Jordan of Ohio

Climate investors aren’t expecting a triumphant repeat of what happened two years ago, when Engine No. 1, a San Francisco-based activist hedge fund, stunned the corporate world by landing three of its eco-conscious nominees on Exxon’s board. Mark van Baal, founder of the activist shareholder group Follow This, was more blunt. The hedge fund, he said, was “the biggest disappointment in the fight against climate change.”Engine No. But critics say that green investments are still a tiny percentage of Exxon’s spending, and that the company remains committed to fossil fuels.

Persons: aren’t, DealBook, Vivienne Walt, ”, Mark Kramer, “, Danielle Fugere, Mark van Baal Organizations: Exxon, Legal, General Investment Management, Harvard Business School Locations: San Francisco, Berkeley, Calif, Texas, New Mexico

Jamie Dimon in the spotlightJPMorgan Chase will hold its investor day on Monday after one of the busiest starts to a year that the bank has had in some time. But while Jamie Dimon, the bank’s C.E.O. JPMorgan is riding high, having recently agreed to buy First Republic, the latest of its deals to bail out a struggling lender. The bank most likely can’t buy any more lenders, amid anger in Washington over how it was allowed to purchase First Republic. Mr. Dimon and his team are expected to argue that there’s still plenty of room to grow, including by expanding its wealth-management business.

An economic setback on the eve of a presidential runAfter months of anticipation, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to formally declare his candidacy for president next week, officially taking on Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. DeSantis dismissed Trump’s chances for victory. During the call, he said that just “two have a chance to get elected president — Biden and me.” Mr. DeSantis also ticked off his list of legislative accomplishments. He undoubtedly is on strong financial footing, with more than $80 million expected to be transferred from his state account to his Super PAC, which has already raised more than $30 million.

A clash of private equity titansIn most years, the $2.7 billion takeover of a German software company wouldn’t attract much attention. Silver Lake on Wednesday kicked off a tender offer for Software AG shares, at 32 euros ($34.60) a share. Together with a 5 percent stake that the firm acquired in the open market, Silver Lake owns about 30 percent of the German company. (That campaign led Silver Lake to increase its takeover bid from €30 a share.) It is rare to see private equity firms, which generally seek friendly deals, pursuing an unsolicited takeover offer that management has opposed.

of OpenAI, for three hours in what appeared to be a genuine effort to understand the growing importance, and the dangers, of artificial intelligence. The central question in the discussion was how Washington should regulate A.I. — and, perhaps surprisingly, Altman and lawmakers from both parties agreed on more than they disagreed. (Another unexpected nugget: Altman says he has no equity in the sensationally growing A.I. Altman proposed creating a new government body that issues licenses for developing large-scale A.I.

of OpenAI, Sam Altman has become one of the most prominent evangelists for the next generation of artificial intelligence offerings. ChatGPT, his company’s most notable product, has captured the public’s imagination like no tech product has in years, inspiring hopes and fears about its transformative powers. :Lawmakers in both parties have stressed the importance of reining in the rapidly growing technology, which can now generate realistic-sounding text and images and computer code. executives, including Mr. Altman, as the Biden administration said it supported legislative efforts to create new rules and government investment. Mr. Altman has been frank about the potential dangers of A.I.

It would be a striking show of leniency by a notoriously tough regulator. has been among the most aggressive in policing Big Tech, having fined companies like Google billions and forced changes in their business practices. And given the size and importance of the British, European and U.S. markets, simply ignoring any one of them is impossible. ; overturning the British regulator’s decision is expected to be especially tough. appeal could take months, and will review only whether the regulator’s decision followed proper procedures.)

☆ Who Would Want to Be a C.E.O.?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Ravi Mattu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But what does modern-day management look like, and how are business leaders confronting some of their thorniest challenges? The narrative of the post-Cold War world was economic integration, international supply chains and deepening trade ties. China’s economic development underpinned global growth for decades and was fundamental in helping the west recover after the 2008 financial crisis. The fight over companies’ approach to the environment has run straight into a political culture war. Shareholders, policymakers and commercial imperatives are pushing companies to put sustainability at the heart of their operations.

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