23/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | APR 23, 2026

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Data centre orders boost ABB quarterly results previous view for comparable annual revenue growth of 6-9%.

Anthropic probes unauthorised access to Mythos AI model SAN FRANCISCO: American AI developer Anthropic said on Tuesday it was investigating unauthorised access to Mythos, its powerful model which the company itself worries could be a boon for hackers. Anthropic said earlier this month it restricted the release of Mythos to 40 major tech firms to give them a head start in fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities before they could be exploited by attackers. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the probe, a small group of users in a private, online forum gained access to the model via the computer system reserved for Anthropic’s external vendors. “We’re investigating a report claiming unauthorised access to Claude Mythos Preview through one of our third-party vendor environments,“ an Anthropic spokesperson told AFP. The users got hold of Mythos by various means, including using access one of them had as a worker at a contractor for Anthropic, Bloomberg reported. Anthropic works with a small number of third-party vendors who help with model development. The firm has delayed a general release of Mythos, which it says can spot undiscovered security holes that have existed for decades, in systems tested by both human experts and automated tools. It shared Mythos first with a few dozen key US tech and financial services players – such as Nvidia, Amazon and JP Morgan Chase – to allow them to improve their security infrastructure. – AFP UK inflation jumps in March LONDON: Britain’s annual inflation rate jumped to 3.3% in March as the Middle East war sent oil and gas prices surging, official data showed yesterday. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) increased from 3% in the 12 months to February, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. “Inflation climbed in March, largely due to increased fuel prices, which saw their largest increase for over three years,“ Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves reiterated the Labour government’s opposition to a conflict that has increased the cost of living for millions of Britons. “This is not our war, but it is pushing up bills for families and businesses. That’s why it’s my number one priority to keep costs down,“ Reeves said in a statement. At 3.3%, the latest UK inflation figure matches the March print for the US. But the pace of the CPI increase in the world’s biggest economy was far sharper, having stood at 2.4% in February. Britain’s inflation rate is also much larger than in the eurozone, where annual inflation rose to 2.6% in March from 1.9% in February. The US-Iran war began on Feb 28, sending energy prices rocketing. They have since pulled back on a ceasefire that US President Donald Trump extended on Tuesday. But oil and gas prices remain far above their pre-war levels as Gulf supplies remain largely blocked from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. – AFP

first-quarter results ahead of forecasts, supported by very strong demand from data centres used to process artificial intelligence. The Zurich-based company, which makes industrial automation and electrical distribution equipment, said its sales rose 18% to US$8.73 billion (RM35 billion) in the three months to the end of March. The figure beat forecasts for US$8.43 billion in a company-gathered consensus of analysts. Its operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) rose to US$2.05 billion, ahead of forecasts for US$1.96 billion, supported by higher profit margins. Analysts pointed to the strong order uptake, which rose by 32%, to US$11.29 billion. “The strength in order intake will be seen as the key positive, with not only data centre orders up “triple digit” %, but strength across the board with record order levels in both Electrification and Motion,” said Citi analysts in a note. – Reuters

o CEO says Iran war adds uncertainty but demand remains resilient ZURICH: ABB raised its full-year sales outlook yesterday as booming demand from data centres and other parts of its electrification business offset heightened uncertainties linked to the Iran war. The Swiss engineering company said it was also seeing strong investments from utilities wanting to improve electrical grids, as well as electrical upgrades for land transport and automation at port terminals and cruise ships. ABB said it now expected its 2026 sales to increase by a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage, up slightly from its

The company’s shares were indicated 5.9% higher in pre-market activity on the Swiss stock exchange following the upgrade. The optimism, buoyed by ABB’s record quarterly order intake, stood in contrast to increased caution surrounding the global economy, with the International Monetary Fund recently cutting its growth forecast due to soaring energy prices because of the Middle East conflict. In a statement, ABB CEO Morten Wierod said demand had remained robust at the start of the year, with the company seeing no material impact from the war. “Admittedly, this conflict adds uncertainty to the global trading climate, although to date, demand for our electrification and automation offerings has remained overall resilient and supportive to our raised ambitions for 2026.” ABB raised its outlook after posting

The ABB logo is seen at the Swiss Economic Forum conference in Interlaken, Switzerland. – REUTERSPIC

SpaceX partners with Cursor, may buy it for US$60b SAN FRANCISCO: SpaceX on Tuesday announced a partnership with AI coding company Cursor and said the alliance comes with an option to buy the startup for US$60 billion (RM237 billion) later this year. Cursor competes with Microsoft’s social coding platform GitHub, which has been a leading resource in the developer community. OpenAI announced on Tuesday that its coding tool, Codex, has grown to four million weekly users, up from three million just weeks ago. public offering (IPO) as early as June. Musk called SpaceX’s absorption of xAI “not just the next chapter, but the next book” for the companies.

“Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions ... The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space,“ Musk wrote when his companies were merged. The project fits into Musk’s long-term ambition to build colonies on the Moon and Mars and is “a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilisation,“ he wrote. Coined in the 1960s by a Soviet astronomer, the futurist term refers to a civilisation able to use all of the energy from its home system’s star. SpaceX filed papers early this year with US regulators that set the stage for what could be the largest-ever public stock offering, a source familiar with the matter said. – AFP

The move by Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company comes as it prepares to become publicly traded, and shortly after it took over the billionaire’s artificial intelligence outfit xAI. Cursor, founded in 2022 and based in San Francisco, specialises in AI for creating software code, particularly for business uses. “SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI,“ the company said in a post on X. Combining Cursor’s software and product expertise with SpaceX’s “Colossus” AI training supercomputer will enable the company “to build the world’s most useful models,“ it said. The partnership comes as AI sector rivals vie to be the preferred option for software developers.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has put out word that revenue from its Claude Code tool for developers has surged. Musk announced in February that SpaceX would acquire xAI, a step in his plan to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centers to run future AI models. SpaceX has set the pace in the space launch market, offering reusable rockets that vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit and itself owning the largest satellite constellation, Starlink. The company is set for a stock market listing this year widely expected to be the biggest in history, with media reports pointing to an initial