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Business news from Australia and around the world: companies, deals, earnings, regulation and the people running them.
1823 articles · page 21 of 38
Firmus has withdrawn its $43.7 billion initial public offering from the ASX, citing market volatility and saying the terms on which the offer could proceed would not appropriately reflect the strength of its business and long-term growth outlook. The decision, announced Friday morning, ends what would have been the largest float on the Australian exchange since Telstra in 1997.
· 12 sourcesShares of Nvidia, Oracle, CoreWeave and other AI stocks sank on Thursday after OpenAI disclosed it had reached roughly $50 billion in annualized revenue at the end of September, a figure significantly lower than the $68 billion that had been widely reported late last month. The discrepancy stems from whether partner gross revenue is included, a detail that affects how investors compare OpenAI with rival Anthropic.
· 2 sourcesThe Trump administration has suspended Microsoft and other tech companies from a permanent residency immigration program, accusing the software giant of abusing a system designed to hire foreign workers only when sufficient US workers are not available. Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension at a press conference on Thursday.
New York state has accused TikTok of conducting an experiment in which thousands of users, including children and teenagers, were unknowingly given non-working ‘ghost’ versions of safety features, according to an updated, sealed version of the state's 2024 lawsuit that was later ordered unsealed by a judge.
Australia is on track for a sovereign debt crisis that will see combined federal, state and territory government debt reach $2.5 trillion by the end of the decade, with a Standard & Poor's report warning that rising interest costs will destroy fiscal flexibility for almost every jurisdiction except Western Australia.
Previously undisclosed documents released as part of a Massachusetts lawsuit against ExxonMobil reveal that the company's own scientists expressed doubts about the effectiveness of climate solutions the oil giant publicly promoted, including biofuels and carbon capture technology.
Newly public court documents from a long-running Massachusetts lawsuit against ExxonMobil reveal that the company's own scientists internally questioned the viability of the climate solutions the firm publicly promoted. The documents, reported this week by Ars Technica and Inside Climate News, include a 1988 internal memo and more recent internal skepticism about the company's biofuels and carbon capture promises.
Birmingham Airport has announced a £2 billion expansion plan that could more than double its annual passenger capacity and generate tens of thousands of jobs. The draft plan, subject to an eight-week public consultation starting this month, includes upgraded terminals, additional aircraft stands, and improved surface access, with the first phase of development possible as early as 2027.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company under Alphabet, has closed a $5 billion debt financing (its first) from a consortium led by Blackstone, PIMCO and Sixth Street. The company said the financing provides financial flexibility as it scales commercial robotaxi operations in the United States and prepares to enter international markets.
Asos has confirmed that hackers accessed the personal information of millions of customers, including names, contact details and recent search histories, after breaching a third-party service provider by impersonating a trusted contact. The online fashion retailer said payment card details and passwords were not compromised, but its shares fell sharply when the attack became public on Tuesday.
· 3 sourcesMedium-term borrowing costs for the UK government hit a fresh 19-year high on Thursday, with the yield on 10-year gilts jumping to 5.515 percent, as a global bond selloff driven by rising inflation and Middle East tensions erodes the Treasury's fiscal buffer ahead of the 28 October budget.
· 3 sourcesRipple, the crypto company, is now earning fees by financing leveraged stock bets after its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, according to a CoinDesk report published October 8, 2026. The deal gives the company a foothold in a corner of Wall Street long run by banks.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) reported September revenue of NT$511.86 billion ($16.03 billion), a 54.6% increase compared to the same month last year, driven by sustained demand for advanced artificial intelligence chips. The figure was 0.6% lower than August's result. The company's third-quarter revenue came in at approximately NT$1.49 trillion. TSMC shares closed 1.35% lower ahead of the announcement.
· 2 sourcesLinkforce Managed Services has filed a writ in the Western Australia Supreme Court accusing a former operations manager of breaching his contract by using confidential information to try to secure a senior role at a direct competitor, Mader Group.
· 3 sourcesWatermans, the two-hat Barangaroo restaurant launched by Bentley Restaurant Group less than a year ago, has lost executive chef Darryl Martin and shifted its culinary focus from eastern Mediterranean to modern Greek, according to the restaurant's website and a statement from the chef.
· 3 sourcesAndrew McConnell and Jo McGann's Trader House restaurant group has begun transforming the St Kilda dining landmark Stokehouse, closing the downstairs casual restaurant immediately to reopen it as Marea Beach House and Bar on October 26. The more formal upstairs restaurant will retain the Stokehouse name and close for renovations on October 18, reopening on November 3.
· 3 sourcesGreat Southern Mining and global gold miner Gold Fields have completed maiden drilling at the Mt Dillon target in north Queensland, with early visual evidence suggesting a potentially large copper-gold system, though confirmatory assays are still weeks away.
· 2 sourcesAI data centre start-up Firmus, co-founded by former inmate Oliver Curtis, is struggling to secure its planned ASX listing after its bankers cut the share price for institutional investors from $11 to $8.25, raising concerns the October 23 float could collapse and slashing billions from Curtis's paper wealth.
· 3 sourcesElon Musk has accused Indian telecom "oligarchs" of blocking Starlink's launch in the country, saying vested interests are protecting a monopolistic hold over consumers in what he called "a crime against the people of India."
· 2 sourcesAI datacentre company Firmus Technologies is sharply cutting its near-$44bn valuation or may shelve its initial public offering entirely, multiple sources briefed on the matter have told Guardian Australia, just weeks out from its anticipated ASX listing.
· 3 sourcesOil prices rose Thursday as Middle East hostilities kept markets on edge, with Brent crude gaining 1.36% to $101.54 a barrel amid reports the Trump administration is considering large-scale military operations in Iran in the coming weeks, including possible strikes before next month's midterm elections.
· 2 sourcesSydney talkback station 2GB continues to lag market leader Smooth FM, marking the seventh consecutive survey since it last led the Sydney market, while its sister station 3AW remains well ahead in Melbourne, according to the sixth radio ratings survey of the year released this week.
· 3 sourcesMecka AI, a startup that collects and analyzes human motion data to train humanoid and other robots, has raised a $60 million Series B round led by Sequoia, with participation from Nvidia, Microsoft's venture fund M12, and others. The company, founded in 2024, was previously reported by TechCrunch to be nearing a $500 million valuation.
· 2 sourcesWall Street closed lower on Wednesday as oil prices whipsawed amid renewed concerns about Middle East supply disruptions, with Treasury yields climbing to their highest levels in more than two decades. The sell-off came despite the Nasdaq and S&P 500 having hit record peaks in the previous session, as investors grew worried that high oil prices would stoke inflation and keep interest rates elevated.
· 2 sourcesCabinet ministers have contradicted each other over the Australian Taxation Office's decision to stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills from November 30, as business leaders demand the government clarify its position. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said she had 'real concerns' about the move, while Assistant Minister for the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton expressed the government's support for the ATO.
· 11 sourcesPassengers who paid thousands of pounds for European river cruises with Tui have described their anger after low water levels on the Danube forced their itineraries to be changed, leaving them spending hours on coach trips instead of cruising. Several customers have told the BBC they believe they should receive some money back, but have been offered no refund.
The Bank of England has revealed the four animals that will appear on redesigned banknotes: the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and European hedgehog. Wildlife is replacing notable figures from history such as Sir Winston Churchill, a decision that has angered a number of leading politicians.
Florida and three other US states have filed lawsuits against router maker TP-Link, alleging it misled consumers about its connections to China and the security risks of its devices being exploited by Chinese state hackers. The cases come roughly six months after the Federal Communications Commission banned the sale of consumer routers made wholly or partly outside the US, a prohibition TP-Link has so far failed to get an exemption from.
· 2 sourcesSwedish design and music gear company Teenage Engineering plans to stop making synthesisers and other music hardware, founder and CEO Jesper Kouthoofd told Highsnobiety. The decision reportedly includes the iconic OP-1 synthesiser, which put the company on the map over a decade ago, and follows an internal reorganisation last autumn.
Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a preliminary operating profit of 107.40 trillion won ($80.2 billion) for the third quarter, marking the first time the company has surpassed 100 trillion won in quarterly profit, driven by booming demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
· 2 sourcesFormer Reserve Bank board member Ian Harper has said another interest rate hike before the end of the year is plausible, though not necessarily likely, matching market pricing that puts the chance of a November increase at around one in three.
· 2 sourcesJon Rahm, the former world number one and two-time major champion, has quit LIV Golf, dealing a major blow to the breakaway circuit as it attempts to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Rahm's lawyer told a bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday that his client found the terms of LIV's proposed restructuring, referred to as "LIV 2.0", unacceptable and will not participate in the league going forward.
· 4 sourcesSpotify has begun rolling out its audiobooks section to more than 180 markets worldwide, making over 350,000 titles available in more than 120 languages, the company announced on Wednesday.
Residents of the NSW city of Wagga Wagga are questioning what a proposed $15 billion data centre would do for their community, as CDC Data Centres seeks to build one of the country's largest facilities on a 100-hectare council-owned site next to the city's landfill.
· 2 sourcesMortgage rates in the United States have climbed to their highest level in nearly three years, reaching 7.49 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly report released Wednesday. The jump comes as cost-of-living concerns dominate voter sentiment less than a month before the congressional midterm elections.
Jaguar has unveiled the Type 01, the first vehicle in its ambitious all-electric relaunch, built on a new dedicated EV platform called JEA and carrying a starting price roughly double the brand's previous entry point of $60,000, according to Jaguar CEO Rawdon Glover.
A man has been jailed for his part in a scheme that defrauded medical companies of millions of pounds through bogus personal protective equipment deals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
· 2 sourcesQueensland's Catholic schools have released a fresh wage offer that includes up to five days of reproductive leave annually, but with conditions that exclude fertility treatments such as IVF, putting them at odds with the state school system's broader entitlements.
· 3 sourcesA report from RNZ has drawn attention to the difficulties confronting small businesses in Papua New Guinea, capturing the frustrations of entrepreneurs who feel overlooked. The piece features Sylvia Pascoe, founder of Pascoe Events and Marketing and POM City Markets, as an example of the hurdles faced in the Pacific nation's business landscape.
Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates again before the end of the year, according to minutes from the September meeting released Wednesday, though they gave no indication of when the next increase might come. Most participants assessed that another hike would likely be appropriate, while emphasizing that decisions at future meetings would depend on incoming data. The Federal Open Market Committee next decides on rates on October 28 and again on December 9.
The Australian sharemarket is headed for a softer open, with futures pointing to a fall of 40 points, or 0.5 per cent, after Wall Street edged lower from its near-record highs. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 190 points (0.4 per cent), and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2 per cent lower in early afternoon trade on Tuesday.
· 8 sourcesAustralian data centre start-up Firmus Technologies’ $44 billion sharemarket listing is on life support, with its bankers scrambling to save the IPO by slashing the offer price from $11 to around $8 after institutional investors refused to buy at the original valuation. Multiple reports on Wednesday said existing shareholder concerns about a post-listing sell-off compounded doubts about the company’s aggressive pricing, leaving the public float — the second-largest in Australian history after Telstra — at risk of being called off.
· 4 sourcesSingapore's energy regulator has said the city-state is interested in importing solar power from Australia via a proposed 4,300km undersea cable, but acknowledged the immense difficulty of the project. Puah Kok Keong, chief executive of the Energy Market Authority, told the ABC that while Singapore is pursuing all domestic options, the Sun Cable plan could help meet the nation's net-zero target by 2050.
· 3 sourcesBloom, a Detroit-based startup founded in 2023, has raised $3.6 million in seed funding to build an AI-powered marketplace that connects buyers and suppliers in American manufacturing. The round was led by SNAK Venture Partners, with participation from Flyover Capital, Mana Ventures, and local backers including Detroit Venture Partners, Invest Detroit Ventures, and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.
· 2 sourcesHealthleap, a startup using language models to scan patient records and flag individuals at risk of undiagnosed conditions such as malnutrition and delirium, has raised $38 million in seed and Series A funding. The company, founded in South Africa in 2022 by siblings Jemima and Josiah Meyer, has grown from three hospital partners to more than 50 over the past year and now counts Penn Medicine, Cedars-Sinai, Intermountain, Houston Methodist and Emory Healthcare among its customers.
· 3 sourcesBitcoin dropped to $82,734 on Wednesday, its lowest level so far in October, as a renewed bond sell-off pushed US yields to 24-year highs and oil prices surged past $100 a barrel on heightened US-Iran tensions.
New Zealand's housing market is facing an unusual dynamic: property values are declining while the cost of construction continues to rise, a situation described as creating 'awkward tension' for homeowners, builders, and policymakers.
Parallel Systems, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers, has raised $100 million in Series C funding to scale production of its autonomous, battery-powered rail vehicles designed to make short-haul freight profitable again for railroads. The round was led by AVP, with participation from Hillspire, Agility Global, and others, as the company seeks to address a $1 trillion surface freight market where trucking currently dominates trips under 500 miles.
· 2 sources