18/12/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | DEC 18, 2025

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EU unveils plan to tackle housing crisis

PARIS: Netflix will continue to distribute Warner Bros. films in cinemas if its takeover bid for the storied studio is successful, the streaming service’s chief executive Ted Sarandos said in an interview on Tuesday in Paris. “We’re going to continue to operate Warner Bros. studios independently and release the movies traditionally in cinema,” he said during an event in the French capital, while admitting his past comments on theatrical distribution “now confuse people”. Previously, Sarandos had suggested that the cinema experience was outdated, surpassed by the convenience of streaming. He was being interviewed by Maxime Saada, head of France’s Canal+ media group, in a Paris theatre that was presenting Canal+’s projects for 2026. Netflix only began to produce its own programmes a dozen years ago, Sarandos explained, so “our library only extends back a decade, where Warner Bros. extends back 100 years. So they know a lot about things that we haven’t ever done, like theatrical distribution.” Early this month, Netflix announced that it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire most of the group for US$83 billion. – AFP Netflix boss promises Warner Bros films would still be seen in cinemas Trump in April signed measures to “turbocharge coal mining” in the United States and more than double electricity production to keep up with power-hungry artificial intelligence technology. – AFP PARIS: Global coal consumption is expected to hit a record in 2025, the IEA said yesterday, thanks in part to policy measures introduced by Donald Trump’s administration to boost the industry. In its annual report on the coal industry, the International Energy Agency said demand was on course to rise by 0.5% this year to hit a record 8.85 billion tonnes, although demand is expected to decline over the rest of the decade as rival generation options multiply. China and India are usually the main drivers of growth in coal consumption as the two emerging economies race to meet rising demand for electricity. But demand for coal, which is the main contributor of climate warming carbon dioxide emissions from human sources, held steady in China and fell in India. The IEA sees demand in China, the top coal consuming nation, decreasing somewhat over the next five years. In India, an early and intense monsoon season gave a boost to hydropower and reduced demand for electricity produced from coal-fired power plants for only the third time in five decades, the IEA said. However, “strong policy support for coal in the United States ... helped lift coal demand there in 2025,” said IEA. It said US “consumption is poised to increase by 8% in 2025 amid a combination of higher natural gas prices and a slowdown in the retirement of coal plants due to policy support led by the federal government”. That contrasts to an average drop of 6% per year over the past 15 years. Global coal demand expected to hit record in 2025: IEA

left, for Brussels to take action where it can. “It is a widespread crisis all across the EU,” said Irene Tinagli, the socialist chair of the EU parliament’s housing committee, pointing to an issue that reaches far beyond Europe’s big city centres. “We’ve been pushing for this for years but we’ve been struggling to put it at the core of the European policy.” The plan drew an enthusiastic welcome from a number of European city mayors – who had been urging action at EU level. Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni said it “represents a turning point for Europe’s housing crisis”. Likewise the deputy mayor in charge of housing for Paris, Jacques Baudrier, told AFP it was an encouraging development. “There are still many things to work out, but it’s a step forward in the battle,” he said. – AFP

to tackle labour shortages through large-scale apprenticeship programmes and ease some environmental rules to speed up building permits. It also aims to facilitate public investment in construction and mobilise private capital, which it estimates could help plough up to €375 billion (RM1.8 trillion) into the sector by 2029. The commission estimates the bloc needs more than two million new homes annually to meet demand. Housing is not an issue that comes under the remit of the EU, unlike agriculture, migration or trade – meaning the responsibility to act lies primarily with member states to act on everything from urban planning to rental prices or housing benefits. But pressure has mounted in recent years, particularly from the

o Brussels wants to boost construction and curb short-term rentals

BRUSSELS: The EU on Tuesday presented a first-ever plan to address the continent’s deepening housing crisis, aiming to boost construction and regulate short-term rentals. The figures are stark: nearly 1.3 million people are homeless across the 27-nation bloc – more than the entire population of Brussels. Over the past 15 years, housing prices have surged by 60%, while rents have climbed almost 30%, according to Eurostat data. “Affordable housing is one of the most pressing challenges in Europe,” European Commission vice-president Teresa Ribera told a news conference to present the EU’s new “affordable housing plan”.

Among the measures advanced, the EU executive plans to propose legislation – subject to approval by member states and parliament – to curb short-term rentals such as Airbnb, particularly in tourist hotspots where locals blame them for driving up rents. Measures could include capping the number of nights allowed. The short-term rental crisis is particularly acute in Spain, where the government slapped a hefty fine on Airbnb this week notably for advertising banned properties. Brussels also wants to help boost construction – though not through quotas or price caps. Instead, the EU executive hopes

A technician works at an Amazon Web Services AI data center in New Carlisle, US. – REUTERSPIC

Amazon in talks to invest US$10b in OpenAI: Source

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon.com Inc is in talks to invest in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI in a potential deal that could value the artificial intelligence firm at more than US$500 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Amazon may invest about US$10 billion in OpenAI, but the talks between the two firms are “very fluid”, the source said on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. The potential deal highlights the AI sector’s relentless demand for computing power as companies race to build systems rivaling or

models to its cloud customers. The Information , which first reported the talks, said OpenAI plans to use Amazon’s Trainium chips, which compete with Nvidia and Google’s chips, and added that Amazon’s financing could lead to a broader fundraising round with other investors. OpenAI is also looking to sell an enterprise version of ChatGPT to Amazon, but it is unclear whether the deal includes provisions for integrating ChatGPT features such as shopping features that Amazon is developing for its own apps, the report said. – Reuters

company at up to US$1 trillion, Reuters reported in October. The approach underlines OpenAI’s ability to partner widely after moving on from its non-profit roots and settling its deal with Microsoft, the source said. The Microsoft deal makes OpenAI a public benefit corporation that is controlled by a non-profit with a stake in OpenAI’s financial success, removing major constraints on the firm’s ability to raise capital and secure computing resources. Microsoft holds a 27% stake in OpenAI and has secured an exclusive right to sell OpenAI

surpassing human intelligence. Firms such as Nvidia and Oracle have signed AI deals worth several billion dollars with OpenAI this year. OpenAI also signed a US$38 billion deal to buy cloud services from Amazon in November. However, investors are on guard for signals that demand for AI is tailing off or that the massive spending is not paying off as anticipated. The discussion between Amazon and OpenAI come at a time when the AI giant is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value the