03/06/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JUNE 3, 2026 17 NYT publisher slams AI firms’ ‘brazen theft’ from news outlets MARSEILLE: The New York Times publisher on Monday slammed artificial intelligence companies for “brazen theft of intellectual property”, warning they threaten the future of journalism during a speech at the World News Media Congress in the French city of Marseille. AI companies’“hijacking of the public square is made possible by the original sin that animates their AI products – a brazen theft of intellectual property that has occurred at an unprecedented scale”, said A.G. Sulzberger, according to his published remarks. “Tech giants strip-mine news websites without permission or compensation,“ he said, adding that the news sector “has been too quiet, too passive and too fragmented in the face of abuses by the companies leading the AI revolution”. Sulzberger, whose company is suing OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Microsoft over the use of copyrighted work, delivered an indictment against AI companies before news executives gathered for the 77th WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress, in a speech that was met with loud applause. “Our profession has been too quiet, too passive and too fragmented in the face of abuses by the companies leading the AI revolution.“ He said AI firms are “consolidating their outsize control over our data and our attention” but are “failing to embrace a core responsibility that comes with this power – to ensure the public has access to trustworthy news and information”. “I fear we are careening toward a future with fewer and fewer journalists to do the expensive, difficult work of original reporting,“ he said. The congress is organised in partnership with CMA Media, the media arm of shipping giant CMA CGM. It takes place amid steep concern over the media outlets’ economic model, under pressure from artificial intelligence and facing ever-intensifying competition from social networks. – AFP India, US close to signing first phase of trade deal: Minister NEW DELHI: India and the United States are “about 99 per cent” done with the first tranche of a trade deal, the commerce minister said, as a US delegation began talks in New Delhi yesterday. The delegation, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, is holding three days of talks with Indian trade officials, as the two sides seek to close negotiations. “About 99 per cent of the issues have been settled,“ Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters in Delhi late on Monday. The two countries reached an initial understanding for the trade deal in February, but negotiations slowed after President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures were struck down by the US Supreme Court. After the court order, the Trump administration launched investigations into unfair trade practices against several countries, including India, while imposing a blanket 10 per cent tariff. Goyal said negotiators were examining how recent legal changes in the United States should be reflected in the final text of the agreement. “I am fully confident that we will conclude and sign the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement with the United States,“ Goyal said, adding that discussions would then continue on a broader and more comprehensive pact. “Discussions are continuing on minor details, essentially the commas and full stops.” Last week, US ambassador Sergio Gor said he expected the interim trade deal to be signed “in the next few weeks”. Washington and New Delhi have set a target of boosting bilateral trade to US$500 billion by 2030. – AFP

Anthropic confidentially files for public listing

In response, Anthropic has struck deals to secure several gigawatts of computing capacity from Amazon, Google and Broadcom. Last month, the company signed a surprise agreement with tech billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, who is embroiled in a legal battle against the founders of OpenAI, is leasing access to his Colossus data centres to Anthropic for US$1.25 billion per month. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, the facility had been underutilised by his xAI lab, the creator of the Grok chatbot. Anthropic and OpenAI’s IPOs would likely follow Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Wall Street. SpaceX, which absorbed Musk’s AI company xAI, could see shares begin trading as early as June 12. The company is targeting a valuation of approximately US$1.75 trillion in what would be the largest IPO in history. “We believe this represents an opening of the floodgates for the IPO market, which has been relatively dormant for a few years” said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. Anthropic’s IPO filing comes as it navigates a legal dispute with the Pentagon, which designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. The company called the Defence Department’s move unconstitutional retaliation. – AFP

on the cusp of a trillion-dollar valuation. The latest fundraising round confirmed Anthropic’s place as one of the most significant players in AI, having built its reputation by focusing on delivering generative AI to enterprise clients. Anthropic’s valuation puts it ahead of OpenAI, which was valued at US$852 billion in March and is also aiming to go public, with a filing expected imminently. Asked by CNBC about his own company’s IPO efforts, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that “going public is a financing event”. “I don’t think that’s one that we’re focused on. I assume we’ll do it (at some point).” Founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei and other former executives at OpenAI, Anthropic has positioned itself as a safety-focused alternative in the AI race. Claude Code, its coding assistant for developers, has become one of its most popular products, helping push its projected annual revenue to US$47 billion. Anthropic’s commercial success has been accompanied by difficulties meeting demand for computing power, amid a shortage of chips and servers. In recent months, the company has faced criticism from users complaining that they were exhausting their usage quotas too quickly and having to pay high prices to continue.

SAN FRANCISCO: AI giant Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, announced on Monday that it had filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO), as Silicon Valley AI companies look to raise the enormous sums needed to fuel the sector’s rapid expansion. A confidential filing lets a company submit its IPO paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for review without making its financials and business details public until much later in the process. “This gives us the option to go public after the Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review,” the company said in a statement. “The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.” “The number of shares to be offered and the price have not yet been set.” The filing came just days after the company said it raised US$65 billion (RM258 billion) in a new funding round that valued the OpenAI rival at US$965 billion, putting it o Company has positioned itself as safety-focused alternative in AI race

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy (right) speaks with Daniela Amodei during the Snowflake Summit 26 at Moscone Centere in San Francisco. – AFPPIC

Alphabet to raise US$80 billion to fuel AI expansion SAN FRANCISCO: Google parent Alphabet announced on Monday it plans to raise up to US$80 billion in stock to fund a major expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway committing US$10 billion as part of the deal. computing infrastructure this year as each scrambles to keep pace with soaring demand for AI services. The bulk of the proceeds will go toward expanding its AI infrastructure, with around US$30 billion of the share sale programme earmarked to cover tax obligations linked to employee share grants.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told investors last month that the company is “compute constrained in the near term“, meaning it cannot build the necessary infrastructure fast enough to meet demand. Microsoft has issued similar warnings about capacity shortfalls. To help close that gap, Alphabet said it plans to raise the new funds through a combination of a US$30 billion public stock offering, a US$10 billion private sale to Berkshire Hathaway, and a further US$40 billion share sale programme to be launched in the third quarter.

In the first quarter, the company reported a profit of US$62.6 billion on revenue of US$110 billion, beating analyst expectations and surpassing the same period a year earlier by a wide margin. Shares have risen 18% over the past six months. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to launch its IPO roadshow this week targeting a valuation of US$1.75 trillion, while ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Claude developer Anthropic are both expected to go public later this year. – AFP

The fundraising comes as Alphabet ramps up investment spending, with capital expenditures expected to reach US$180 US$190 billion in 2026 and set to rise further in 2027. The move reflects a broader spending race gripping the technology industry. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are collectively on track to pour roughly US$700 billion into AI data centers, chips and