Tuesday 28/04/26

Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive on state visit to the US (Financial Times, Amy Mackinnon) shows that King Charles and Queen Camilla made it to the White House and haven’t been shot at yet, which is a result. The four day visit comes at a tricky time for US-UK relations so Charles is really going to have to earn his money here. It also marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. King Charles and the ‘special’ relationship (Financial Times, the editorial board) acknowledges the importance of repairing the relationship with America but also says that we have to look beyond and nurture other connections.

US being ‘humiliated’ by Iran, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Financial Times, Anne-Sylvaine Chassany) highlights concern by Germany’s leader as he warned that he could see “no exit strategy” to bring the Middle Eastern conflict in the immediate future. He said that the Americans “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy” and have “no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either”. It seems that Merz has become increasingly critical of America in recent weeks as the economic fallout has prompted a full-on domestic crisis.

G7 central banks poised to hold borrowing costs amid concerns over prolonged Iran war (The Guardian, Richard Partington) highlights this week as being a biggie for central banks as a lot of them are making interest rate decisions – specifically the Fed, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the ECB. The general feeling is that they are going to warn about the dire effects of a prolonged Iran war and proceed to leave interest rates unchanged, for now. Bank of Japan holds rates as Iran war energy shock tests economy (Financial Times, Leo Lewis) shows that the Bank of Japan already decided to leave rates unchanged although traders are increasingly of the opinion that rates will rise at the next meeting.

In Canada launches C$25bn sovereign wealth fund to boost growth (Financial Times, Ilya Gridneff) we see that PM Mark Carney announced the creation of a new sovereign wealth fund (called the “Canada Strong Fund”) that will be used to finance big projects that are of national interest and provide returns for Canadians. * SO WHAT? * This is the first time that Canada has done this but it is part of Carney’s drive to make Canada the “strongest economy of the G7”. It will work with the private sector to finance 15 infrastructure proposals with the nation’s Major Projects Office. I must say that I find it surprising that Canada hasn’t done this before!

In oil news, Global oil stockpiles being depleted ‘at record pace’ (Daily Telegraph, Chris Price) cites Goldman Sachs analysts who are sounding a warning about the rapid depletion of the world’s oil supplies thanks to the Iran war. It nudged up its Q4 oil price estimates from $80 a barrel to $90 a barrel as a result.

Then in Shell clinches $16bn deal for Canadian shale producer (The Times, Emma Powell) we see that the oil major has just agreed a deal to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources in what would be its biggest acquisition since it bought BG Group for $70bn at the beginning of 2016. * SO WHAT? * This signals a return for Shell to big deals and its intentions to bolster its place as one of the world’s biggest producers and traders of LNG.

China blocks Meta’s $2bn purchase of AI group Manus (Financial Times, Arjun Neil Alim, Tim Bradshaw and Demetri Sevastopulo) shows that China’s regulators have decided to block the deal and are insisting on a full unwinding. This is going to be a massive pain for Meta because it’s already integrated Manus into some of its tools. Meta’s Chinese stumble suggests a declining tolerance for shades of grey (Financial Times, Lex) highlights the end of the time where deals could be done on the fringes without upsetting any sensibilities. Manus was founded in China but its HQ was subsequently relocated to Singapore. * SO WHAT? * Everyone knows that this is a way of trying to get around Beijing interference and allow foreign investment in tech but it seems that the Chinese are no longer turning a blind eye to this sort of thing (it’s even got a name – “Singapore washing”). This comes ahead of the US and Chinese president’s rescheduled meeting next month and highlights China’s eagerness to stop/limit America’s access to key tech. Although this is going to be frustrating for Meta, it might ultimately be a good thing for American Big Tech because it will bolster the argument that they should be able to develop unfettered in order to win the tech/AI arms race!

Meta to collect solar power from space (Daily Telegraph, Matthew Field) is an interesting article which shows that Meta has signed a deal with US start-up Overview Energy that will enable Meta to harvest solar energy from space to power its AI datacentres on Earth. Power will be collected in space and then be converted into low-intensity infrared beams that can be directed at photovoltaic panels on Earth where they are then converted into energy. * SO WHAT? * Solar power can be garnered much more efficiently in space because the sun’s rays aren’t diluted by the atmosphere, pollution or cloud cover and satellites can be positioned in such a way that they experience almost 24 hours of direct sunlight! This also has the massive advantage in that it means Meta’s datacentres won’t have to take power from the local grid on Earth. This sounds amazing, don’t you think??

Google staff urge chief executive to block US military AI use (Financial Times, Stephen Morris) shows that over 560 Google staff members have signed an open letter to their CEO, Sundar Pichai, not to allow the US government to use its AI tech for classified military operations. The letter says that they want AI to benefit humanity and not be used “in inhumane or extremely harmful ways”. * SO WHAT? * Apparently, this is happening because there are reports that Google is agreeing terms with the Department of Defense that will allow Gemini to be used in classified ops without the safeguards that Anthropic demanded and then got in trouble for. This backlash is unsurprising but whether it’ll work or not will be another question…

OpenAI and Microsoft loosen ties in revised AI deal (Financial Times, Cristina Criddle and Stephen Morris) shows that the two companies have relaxed the ties of their partnership showing that the two companies want to have a bit more freedom. OpenAI will be allowed to sell its tech with fewer restrictions and Microsoft has given up its exclusive right to host OpenAI’s models. Microsoft will still get a slice of OpenAI’s revenues though! * SO WHAT? * All of the changes will free OpenAI up to make more deals with other companies, thereby increasing its revenues…

In Khan could block Palantir from Scotland Yard contract (Daily Telegraph, Matthew Field and Melissa Lawford) we see that the Mayor of London could block the Met’s bid to use Palantir’s AI intelligence software because he argues that it acts “contrary to London’s values”. The Met has been testing out the software in recent weeks. The Mayor’s Office has got the ultimate say on whether Palantir gets the contract or not and Palantir is already facing efforts to strip its tech from the NHS because of its links to the Israelis and the war in Palestine.

In a quick scoot around some of today’s other interesting stories, Wizz Air accuses Gulf airlines of putting politics before safety (Financial Times, Peter Campbell) shows Wizz Air making a rare criticism of another airline as its CEO accused Middle Eastern carriers, who have resumed flights in the war zone, of acting in response to “political pressure” and ignoring safety concerns. Many European airlines have stopped flights to the UAE in response to conflict in the region but a number of Gulf-based carriers resumed operations even before the ceasefire using narrow air corridors that were patrolled by military jets. * SO WHAT? * Surely there is at least a grain of truth to this. The safest thing is not to fly in the affected areas – but I would have thought that there will be a lot more pressure for at least some flights to take place. Separately, the company said that flight bookings for this summer were up by 17% despite all the jet fuel fears and that it expected to turn a profit in its next financial year.

You should think twice about booking a summer holiday (Daily Telegraph, Christopher Jasper) shows that the industry lobby group Airlines UK, which was previously pretty calm about jet fuel supplies recently, is now urging the government to put together an emergency plan or face a summer of travel chaos if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. The government has insisted thus far that there is no need for people to change their travel plans – but it did advise people to top up their travel insurance. The good news for airlines is that the rule where airlines have to give up landing slots that they don’t use will be suspended – and that means that they can minimise disruption for passengers rather than feel pressure to operate flights purely to keep their landing slots. Big changes to flights schedules look highly likely though!

Home renovation approvals fall to lowest in more than a decade (The Times, Tom Howard) cites Savills data which shows that the number of planning consents for extensions, conversions and refurbishments has dropped to its lowest level for over a decade according to government numbers. It appears that homeowners have become more reluctant to splash out on major refurbishments if they think they might not get the return when it comes to selling the property. This has been echoed by recent stats from Hamptons, the estate agent, which said that the number of houses that are being renovated and flipped quickly has fallen to its lowest level in ten years.

JP Morgan moves staff from Paris back to London in Brexit climbdown (Daily Telegraph, Chris Price) shows that fears of the Great Paris Exodus have proved to be unfounded. Back in 2021, JP Morgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, warned that the bank might eventually shift all of its European operations out of London in response to Brexit, but it has now relocated staff back to London after it seems that they overestimated the numbers needed over there.

Then in Claire’s to close remaining UK stores on Tuesday with more than 1,000 job losses (The Guardian, Sarah Butler) we see that the embattled jewellery and accessories chain is closing its final UK stores after three decades on the British high street. The end of an era indeed. It will also be the end of jobs for over 1,000 staff. Administrators said that all remaining shops ceased trading yesterday, although concessions will continue. Claire’s fell into administration in January just a few months after about half of the chain was rescued by Modella Capital.

I don’t know if this is a thing, but here’s some fried rice ASMR for you. The portions look pretty generous!