Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world Americas+1 212 318 2000 EMEA+44 20 7330 7500 Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000 Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world Americas+1 212 318 2000 EMEA+44 20 7330 7500 Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000 Canada's Election: Tim Hodgson in May 2014. The first time Timothy Hodgson was asked by Mark Carney to come to Ottawa, he left behind an investment banking career at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that had seen him climb the ranks to lead its Canadian business. That assignment — an 18-month stint as a special adviser to Carney at the Bank of Canada — ended in 2012, shortly before Carney was recruited to lead the Bank of England. Hodgson went back to corporate life, though not back to Goldman.

President Donald Trump may soon be receiving a luxury jet from Qatar, and even some of MAGA's most faithful are against it. Multiple outlets on Sunday reported that the Qatari royal family is preparing to give the Trump administration a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet, to be used as Air Force One in Trump's second term before being donated to his presidential library. Though the exact value of the specific jet in question — which is 13 years old, ABC News reported — isn't clear, a new 747-8 jumbo jet fetches a whopping $400 million. Frequent Trump critics such as Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have criticized the gift, but in a notable break, some of Trump's most ardent MAGA loyalists have also criticized the potential plane deal. I would take a bullet for him," Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and longtime Trump ally, wrote on X on Sunday. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits." Trump all but confirmed the news in a Truth Social post on Sunday. Meanwhile, Qatar's media attaché to the US, Ali Al-Ansari, told BI in a statement that the transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is "currently under consideration." The matter "remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made," Al-Ansari said. Mark Levin, a radio host and Trump backer, took to X to accuse Qatar of spreading "anti-American" propaganda. "Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek," he wrote on the social media platform. He later wrote "Ditto" in response to Loomer's post. Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro also weighed in on the controversy during a Monday episode of his self-titled podcast. "Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America first. Like, please define America first in a way that says you should take sacks of cash from the Qatari royals who are behind al-Jazeera," he said, adding, "If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop." There's been little pushback among GOP lawmakers — for now at least. But Rep. Warren Davidson, a conservative Republican from Ohio, seemingly alluded to the situation on X without specifically naming Trump. "I recall trying to rally support for a thorough investigation of the Clinton Foundation," he wrote. Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, a fervent Trump supporter, also voiced his concern about the safety of Trump flying on a plane from a country that has helped fund the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Legal experts told Business Insider the reported gift raises both ethical and constitutional concerns. "Outside of the legal context, it is fair to ask whether the acceptance of this gift could give rise to an apparent conflict of interest or corruption," Jessica Levinson, a law professor and the director of the Public Service Institute at Loyola Law School, told BI. The gift could also be a potential violation of the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause, which prohibits government officials from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign parties without consent from Congress. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington determined that gifting the jet would be "legally permissible" if it is transferred to Trump's presidential library before the end of his second term, ABC News said. In 2019, during Trump's first term, Bondi lobbied on behalf of the Qatari government. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement to BI: "Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump's Administration is committed to full transparency."

Global political and business leaders gathered in Riyadh on Tuesday for the Saudi Arabia Investment Forum, discussing the artificial intelligence boom and global trade. President Donald Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as several deals were announced between the two countries. Saudi Arabia is investing $600 billion in the U.S., a package the White House said would boost "energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals." The White House also touted a nearly $142 billion deal to provide Saudi Arabia with weapons and services from U.S. defense firms. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a deal to provide the kingdom its high-end AI Blackwell chips. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy were among the attendees, as well as other high-profile executives and power players such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Alphabet President Ruth Porat, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

Microsoft plans to cut less than 3% of its global workforce, or about 6,000 employees, with notifications beginning Tuesday, the company confirmed. A person familiar with the cuts said some affected employees would stay on the payroll for 60 days and still be eligible for rewards and bonuses. Microsoft's spokesperson did not comment on or confirm these terms. As Business Insider reported last month, these cuts are intended to reduce the number of middle managers and increase the ratio of coders versus noncoders on projects. Microsoft organizations want to increase their "span of control," or the number of employees who report to each manager. A spokesperson said these latest cuts were not performance-driven. Across the tech industry, a culling of middle managers is already underway. And in December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told staff that the company cut vice president and manager roles by 10% as part of an efficiency drive. Microsoft is also trying to decrease the "PM ratio" on some teams, which is the ratio of product managers or program managers to engineers. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Microsoft plans to cut less than 3% of its global workforce, or about 6,000 employees, with notifications beginning Tuesday, the company confirmed. A person familiar with the cuts said some affected employees would stay on the payroll for 60 days and still be eligible for rewards and bonuses. Microsoft's spokesperson did not comment on or confirm these terms. As Business Insider reported last month, these cuts are intended to reduce the number of middle managers and increase the ratio of coders versus noncoders on projects. Microsoft organizations want to increase their "span of control," or the number of employees who report to each manager. A spokesperson said these latest cuts were not performance-driven. Across the tech industry, a culling of middle managers is already underway. And in December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told staff that the company cut vice president and manager roles by 10% as part of an efficiency drive. Microsoft is also trying to decrease the "PM ratio" on some teams, which is the ratio of product managers or program managers to engineers. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is cutting an additional $450 million in grants to Harvard University through eight federal agencies, on top of the $2.2 billion already frozen last week. "Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus," the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement. The task force went on to call Harvard a "breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination." The Trump administration and Harvard have been engaged in a high-profile legal battle. Harvard did not immediately respond to the latest funding cuts. University President Alan Garber previously issued a statement defending its constitutional rights after filing a lawsuit against the administration to halt the funding freeze. Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

The battle for audiences has evolved in recent months, as once-fierce rivals turn to frenemies and even team up on bundles. One key reason is that Hollywood titans like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have stopped following Netflix and are instead carving out distinct strategies. Two Disney streaming employees told Business Insider that attracting new users remains a top priority, especially if they're in its bundles. Its quality-over-quantity strategy hinges on preventing cancellations instead of reaching everyone or maximizing engagement. Disney, WBD, Comcast, and Apple didn't respond to requests for comment. For years, Netflix focused on subscriber growth, which Wall Street was obsessed with. A Netflix spokesman said engagement is its "best proxy for customer satisfaction" and that highly active viewers are less likely to cancel. Though Netflix was the highest among its paid streaming rivals, it trailed YouTube, which got 12%. That's why Netflix's co-CEO Greg Peters said on the company's first quarter earnings call that there was "plenty of room to grow" engagement. Boosting watch time helps Netflix achieve another top goal: building out its nascent ad business. It will generate $2.2 billion in US ad revenue this year, according to EMARKETER, which is well below Hulu's $2.7 billion figure and in line with Peacock. However, those two streamers have had ad businesses for years. Amazon is also focused on its streaming ad business, which burst out of the gate in early 2024 thanks to an unconventional opt-out strategy. The e-commerce giant turned on ads for all Prime Video users who don't pay $3 a month to remove them, instantly scaling its ad business. An employee at a rival streamer who recently interviewed at Amazon told BI the company seemed aggressively focused on growing its ad business. Not all streamers have shifted their focus to engagement. Disney still sees plenty of room for subscriber growth, as do midsize players like Paramount+ and Comcast's Peacock. They said engagement should improve as Hulu and ESPN fold into Disney+ through the bundle, though. A second streaming employee said hours watched largely determine if shows or movies are considered hits, though content can also be deemed successful if it drives signups. Disney won't go back to growth at any cost, however. "Management's made it absolutely crystal clear that yes, they want growth — but it's got to be profitable growth," said media analyst Joe Bonner of Argus Research. Growth rarely comes cheap in streaming, as Paramount+ and Peacock have learned. Paramount+ has been a consistent leader in new streaming signups, data firm Antenna found. And while Peacock plateaued for a time after the Olympics, the US-only service added 5 million subscribers last quarter, taking its total to 41 million. Despite those gains, neither service is profitable, though both are getting closer. Still, Bonner expects to see the two eventually join forces through a merger or bundle, reasoning that "it's hard to see them surviving on their own." Some on Wall Street are also perplexed by Apple's streaming strategy. Apple TV+ has high-quality shows, but a shallow library means it's plagued by an industry-leading churn rate, per Antenna. "I'm not sure what the play with Apple TV is," Conca said. Apple's services chief, Eddy Cue, has acknowledged the challenge of building a streaming library from scratch. "The ones that we do, they all need to stick. In 2023, it dropped HBO from its streamer's brand so the service could have "truly something for everyone," as CEO David Zaslav once said. But after a slow start, executives pared content spending and doubled down on its strengths. While Max now has a lower ceiling, it's profitable. That's crucial for WBD, considering its hefty debt load. Max might not win the streaming wars, but it can still be a winner.

WARREN, Mich. — General Motors expects to pioneer a new "groundbreaking" EV battery technology that the automaker says will reduce costs and boost profitability of its largest electric SUVs and trucks. GM is targeting the new batteries and chemistry inside them — called lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells — to be used in full-size electric vehicles such as its Chevrolet Silverado and Escalade IQ beginning in 2028. The new batteries use more-prevalent, less-expensive minerals like manganese instead of larger amounts of cobalt and nickel that are currently used in EV batteries from GM and other automakers. Different EV battery chemistries impact everything from the range and safety of EVs to energy efficiency and charging capabilities, among other needs. "LMR unlocks the premium range and performance at an affordable cost," said Kurt Kelty, GM vice president of battery, propulsion and sustainability, during a media event at the automaker's tech and design campus in suburban Detroit. GM's first-to-market expectations come after crosstown rival Ford Motor earlier this month announced its intention to launch what it similarly called "game-changing" LMR batteries before 2030. LMR batteries have been around for decades, but they've historically offered a far shorter lifespan, according to Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at auto advisory firm Telemetry. It's a problem GM believes it has solved with its LMR batteries, which are being developed in partnership with LG Energy Solution. Ultium Cells, a GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture, plans to start commercial production of LMR prismatic cells in the U.S. by 2028, with preproduction expected to begin at an LG Energy Solution facility by late 2027. They've historically been used in hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, followed more recently by EVs. GM expects the new prismatic LMR batteries and supporting technologies to cut hundreds of pounds from its large EVs. Kelty said the LMR batteries will be supplemental to GM's current pouch cell batteries, formerly known as Ultium, as well as upcoming LFP — lithium iron phosphate — prismatic battery cells that are expected to be used in smaller, entry-level EVs. "We're going through a massive growth phase in our EV side of the business," Kelty said, noting that GM has surpassed Tesla as the top EV battery manufacturer in North America. GM expects the LMR prismatic battery cells to have 33% higher energy density, providing addition miles of range, compared with the best-performing LFP cells, but at a comparable cost. The average cost of battery packs for EVs dropped 20% to $115 per kilowatt-hour in 2024, according to a BloombergNEF battery price survey released in December. That compares with at least $125 per kWh for GM's current batteries, he said. GM declined to disclose whether vehicles with LMR batteries will be profitable upon launch. The Detroit automaker said nearly 50% of its current EVs in the first quarter were variable profit positive, meaning they generated enough revenue to cover their production costs. Kelty described LMR as the "next step" in GM's EV plans. The automaker has sunk billions of dollars into electrification as part of an ongoing, yet scaled back, plan under GM CEO Mary Barra. In 2021, Barra said GM would exclusively offer EVs by 2035, investing $35 billion between 2020 and 2025. It also has not disclosed its total EV investment thus far. GM believes the LMR batteries will assist in lowering barriers for consumer adoption of EVs. Other hurdles, such as charging infrastructure and consumer education, remain. GM aims to offer more than 400 miles of range in an electric truck while achieving significant battery pack cost savings compared with today's EVs. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

$6 billion healthcare startup Commure has been ordered to stop making one of its most historically successful products in a legal face-off with the tech's creators. Commure, the startup cofounded by General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja and incubated by the VC firm, has been embroiled in legal turmoil for over a year with the makers of its former workplace safety tech, Strongline. Canopy Works created the technology behind Strongline, a wearable panic button for hospital staff that was once Commure's best-selling product. Canopy alleged in a lawsuit against Commure in the Northern District of California that Commure's Strongline Pro was a derivative of Canopy's Strongline, which violated the companies' contract. Now, a federal district court has sided with Canopy and ordered Commure to stop selling Strongline Pro. The court's preliminary injunction, filed on April 25 in the Northern District of California and made public Friday afternoon, prohibits Commure from distributing or marketing Strongline Pro to new customers, at least while the underlying breach of contract case proceeds. It's a big win for Canopy, which says it's lost business as hospital customers "upgrade" from Canopy's Strongline to Commure's Strongline Pro. Strongline's business was Commure's sole growing revenue source at the time of its $6 billion merger with fellow General Catalyst portfolio company Athelas, as Business Insider reported in September. It's unclear how much revenue Strongline Pro now contributes to Commure or how much that revenue could be affected by the court order. "This injunction validates the years of dedicated R&D and significant investment Canopy has poured into its unique healthcare safety platform," A Canopy spokesperson said in a statement to BI. In a statement to BI, Commure SVP and General Manager Dan Warner said he expects the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the injunction, adding that "the law and facts are firmly on Commure's side," and that Commure developed Strongline Pro entirely in-house. The startup has signaled its intentions to dig deeper into healthcare AI following its acquisition of revenue cycle management company Athelas, buying ambient scribing company Augmedix in July 2024 for $139 million in cash, and scooping up another General Catalyst portfolio company, AI-powered care coordination platform Memora Health, in December. The firm has said it plans to integrate healthcare technology into the hospitals' operations, an endeavor that would likely include Commure's tech. In 2022, Commure bought the rights to white-label and sell Strongline's wearable panic buttons for hospital staff. Canopy Works, then known as SMP Labs, remained a separate company and retained ownership of the intellectual property. Canopy had cited delayed payments as a reason for breaking away from the startup. Commure moved quickly to rebuild its workplace safety business, launching Strongline Pro just days after Canopy's debut. Commure positioned Strongline Pro as a successor to the original Strongline product, although filings with federal regulators showed substantial similarities between the two devices, per BI's September reporting. After Canopy's exodus, Commure filed a lawsuit against Canopy in April 2024, alleging that Commure had contributed to the development of Strongline's original concept and that Canopy had violated its contractual obligations to provide its tech to Commure through the end of the year. Commure also raised concerns about alleged security vulnerabilities in Canopy's technology. In his statement to BI, Commure's Warner also referenced a prior civil decision in which he said a judge ruled that a Canopy employee, who previously worked at Commure, had misappropriated Commure's confidential information for Canopy's benefit. A Canopy spokesperson said in response that the arbitration was a separate issue with one of Commure's former employees that is "completely unrelated to the ongoing litigation with Canopy."

What the spat between Elon Musk and Bill Gates reveals about "efficiency." In one corner is the bespectacled tortoise, Bill Gates. Each has a very different idea about what it means to give back. Gates plans to ramp up his foundation's charitable giving to causes like public health and education over the next two decades, whereas Musk has used the White House DOGE office to nearly halt the flow of US foreign aid spending in a blink and dismantle the US Agency for International Development, which he has called a "criminal organization." But as Gates opens up his wallet even more, he's also squaring off with Musk. Gates is using a prolonged road map compared with Musk's move-fast-and-break-things tech ethos that had him vowing to cut $2 trillion in government spending by employing methods from a startup playbook. "Development programs work best when there is continuity, steadiness, predictability, assurance." He says Gates' approach shows "maturity in thinking through the problem." But instead of cutting spending, he's increasing it: The foundation plans to distribute $9 billion in 2026, and Gates hopes the foundation will double the $100 billion it has given away since its founding in 2000 and donate another $200 billion to public health and education causes by December 31, 2045. Organizations across the world that depended on money from the US have been scrambling to try to carry out their missions, which include providing emergency food to malnourished kids and medication for HIV prevention and treatment. President Donald Trump set Musk loose to curtail the federal government's spending and waste via DOGE. Gates' plan is different: It shortens the initial foundation's closure timeline with the intent of solving problems more quickly and rendering itself obsolete. Part of the stark contrast between Musk and Gates stems from their different approaches to "efficiency." With DOGE, Musk has embodied the chainsaw approach that tech startups worship — focusing on being lean and doing more with less under a founder-mode-style leader. That doesn't necessarily translate well in government: Management experts previously told me they viewed DOGE's rollout as "clumsy," "wrongheaded," and full of "political recklessness." When it comes to giving back, Fatema Sumar, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, says Gates' effort "is a replicable model of data-driven, country-aligned long-term philanthropy that others could follow, and so far, few do." It's no coincidence that the influx of funding comes as governments pull back, and Gates paired his announcement with jabs at Musk. When the interviewer noted that Musk had attached himself to the Giving Pledge, a concept initiated by Gates and Warren Buffett 15 years ago to encourage wealthy people to donate the majority of their assets to charity, Gates said: "The Giving Pledge — an unusual aspect of it that you can wait until you die and still fulfill it. He could go on to be a great philanthropist. The two have been feuding over philanthropy for years. Walter Isaacson wrote in his biography of Musk that Gates visited Musk in 2022 and tried to convince him to give away more of his money. Musk later told Isaacson that Gates was "categorically insane." The foundation estimates it has saved 82 million lives. Researchers from Boston University estimated that tens of thousands of people may have already died from tuberculosis or AIDS since USAID funding was disrupted. Gates' fortune allows him to fill gaps left behind by the US government. "Much like Harvard's endowment empowers them to fight back on the attack on universities, Gates' endowment enables him to step in and provide some needed services that USAID had been providing," Morris says. "Given that I have these resources, what can we achieve? A century ago, the world's richest men gave birth to modern philanthropy by setting up charitable foundations that still exist, including the Rockefeller Foundation and two dozen organizations that bear Andrew Carnegie's name. Gates himself has said that his foundation can't assume the philanthropic responsibilities of governments alone. "Gates, like Carnegie and Rockefeller a century ago, defines an era," Sumar says. "But today's tech giants haven't matched yet his global ambition, and the world can't afford more people on the sidelines right now." Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends. Business Insider's Discourse stories provide perspectives on the day's most pressing issues, informed by analysis, reporting, and expertise.