Category: 3. Business

Elon Musk on Monday threatened Apple with legal action over alleged antitrust violations related to rankings of the Grok AI chatbot app, which is owned by his artificial intelligence startup xAI.

“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X.

Apple declined to comment on Musk’s threat.

“Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?” Musk said in another post.

Apple last year partnered with OpenAI to integrate its ChatGPT chatbot into iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products. Musk at the time said: “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.”

Prior to his legal threats against Apple, Musk had celebrated Grok surpassing Google as the fifth top free app on the App Store. When contacted by CNBC, xAI did not immediately respond to a request for further information on a potential lawsuit.

CNBC confirmed that ChatGPT was ranked No. 1 in the top free apps section of the American iOS store, and was the only AI chatbot in Apple’s “Must-Have Apps” section. The App Store also featured a link to download OpenAI’s new flagship AI model, ChatGPT-5 at the top of its “Apps” section.

OpenAI on Thursday announced GPT-5, its latest and most advanced large-scale AI model, following xAI’s release of its newest chatbot, Grok 4, last month.

Musk has an ongoing feud with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. The billionaire stepped down from its board in 2018, four years after saying that AI was “potentially more dangerous than nukes.”

He is now suing the Microsoft-backed startup, and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging they abandoned OpenAI’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”

Robert Keele, who headed the legal department at xAI, announced last week that he had left the company to spend more time with his family. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged “daylight between our worldviews,” referring to Musk.

In response to Musk’s antitrust threats against Apple, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an X post: “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”

This is not the first time Apple has been challenged on antitrust grounds. In a landmark case, the Department of Justice last year sued the company over charges of running an iPhone ecosystem monopoly.

In June, a panel of judges also denied an emergency application from Apple to halt the changes to its App Store resulting from a ruling that the company could no longer charge a commission on payment links inside its apps, nor tell developers how the links should look.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing and Lora Kolodny contributed to this article.

HONG KONG — The severely indebted real estate developer China Evergrande, already in the process of liquidation, said on Tuesday it will be delisted from Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Aug. 25, another setback to mainland China’s property sector.

Evergrande was the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer, with over $300 billion owed to banks and bondholders, when the court handed down a liquidation order in January 2024. The court had ruled that the company had failed to provide a viable restructuring plan for its debts, which fueled fears about China’s rising debt burden, and trading of its shares has been halted since the ruling.

The city’s rules stipulate that the listing of companies may be canceled if trading in their securities has remained suspended for 18 months consecutively.

China Evergrande Group received a letter Aug. 8 from the city’s stock exchange notifying the firm of its decision to cancel the listing as trading had not resumed by Jul. 28. The last day of the listing will be Aug. 22 and Evergrande will not apply for a review of the decision, the company said in a statement.

“All shareholders, investors and potential investors of the company should note that after the last listing date, whilst the share certificates of the shares will remain valid, the shares will not be listed on, and will not be tradeable on the Stock Exchange,” the statement said.

Evergrande is among scores of developers that defaulted on debts after Chinese regulators cracked down on excessive borrowing in the property industry in 2020. Unable to obtain financing, their vast obligations to creditors and customers became unsustainable.

The crackdown also tipped the property industry into crisis, dragging down the world’s second-largest economy and rattling financial systems in and outside China. Once among the nation’s strongest growth engines, the industry is struggling to exit a prolonged downturn. Home prices in China have continued to fall even after the introduction of supportive measures by policymakers.

The Hong Kong court system has been dealing with liquidation petitions against some Chinese property developers, including one of the largest Chinese real estate companies, Country Garden, which is expected to have another hearing in January.

China South City Holdings, a smaller property developer, was also ordered to liquidate on Monday.

Evergrande, founded in the mid-1990s by Hui Ka Yan, also known as Xu Jiayin, had over 90% of its assets on the Chinese mainland, according to the 2024 ruling. The firm was listed in Hong Kong in 2009 as “Evergrande Real Estate Group” and suspended its share trading on Jan. 29, 2024, at 0.16 Hong Kong dollars ($0.02).

Its liquidators said in a progress report that they received debt claims totalling $45 billion as of Jul. 31, much higher than the some $27.5 billion of liabilities disclosed in December 2022, and that the new figure was not final.

The liquidators said they have assumed control of over 100 companies within the group and entities under their direct management control with collective assets valued at $3.5 billion as of Jan. 29, 2024. They said an estimate of the amounts that may ultimately be realized from these entities wasn’t available yet.

About $255 million worth of assets have been sold, the liquidators said, calling the realization “modest.” Of this amount, $244 million was derived from subsidiaries’ assets, and not all of them will be available to the company, given the complex ownership structures of the assets.

“The liquidators believe that a holistic restructuring will prove out of reach, but they will, of course, explore any credible possibilities in this regard that may present themselves,” they said.

Hui, Evergrande’s founder, was detained in China in September 2023 on suspicion of committing crimes, adding to the company’s woes.

In 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a fine of 4.2 billion yuan (about $584 million) against the firm’s subsidiary, Hengda Real Estate Group Company, over violations including falsifying financial records. Hui was fined 47 million yuan ($6.5 million) and barred from China’s securities markets for life. Some other executives were also penalised.

Chinese authorities in September 2024 banned the accounting firm PwC for six months and fined the company more than 400 million yuan ($56.4 million) over its involvement in the audit of the collapsed property developer.

Lexington, MA – August 12, 2025 – FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation, a leading provider of diagnostic and enterprise imaging solutions, today announced that a leading health system with hospital sites spanning five different geographic regions on the East Coast has selected Fujifilm’s Synapse ® Pathology solution and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to transform their pathology delivery and reduce diagnosis timelines through digitalization. The implementation of Synapse Pathology will take place across the health system’s five sites, supported by a fully cloud-based infrastructure using AWS.

The health system’s deployment of Synapse Pathology, powered by AWS, is a first-of-its-kind in North America and an exciting step forward in the field of pathology, making a significant step toward enterprise-wide digital transformation. The health system’s strategic decision underscores their commitment to precision medicine, streamlined workflows, and integrated enterprise imaging in the cloud.

Synapse Pathology, a comprehensive pathology PACS solution that delivers digital images for diagnosis 1.99 hours faster* than glass slides, will serve as the digital backbone of the health system’s anatomic pathology operations. Leveraging a hybrid storage architecture that combines on-premises infrastructure with scalable AWS cloud solutions, the health system gains both the performance required for daily operations and the agility to support future growth.

Another critical component of this deployment is the deep integration with Epic Beaker, the laboratory information system used across the health system. Synapse Digital Pathology offers a detailed and seamless interface with Epic Beaker, enabling automated case synchronization, real-time status updates, and efficient accessioning workflows. This level of integration ensures that pathologists, lab technologists, and clinicians can access digital pathology images and case data within their familiar Epic environment—improving efficiency and minimizing disruptions to clinical workflows.

“This deployment reflects a growing trend among top-tier health systems to adopt enterprise-wide, cloud-hosted digital pathology platforms across geographies that not only digitize slides but also revolutionizes how care teams collaborate, diagnose, and treat disease,” said Mark Lloyd, vice president of digital pathology, FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation. “With Synapse Pathology, Fujifilm is leading the charge—helping providers unlock the full potential of digital transformation in pathology and beyond. We’re proud to partner with forward-thinking health systems – and our partners at AWS – to deliver a transformative digital pathology solution.”

Dan Sheeran, AWS GM for Healthcare and Life Sciences, sees this as a great example of how cloud technology is improving digital pathology workflows, noting: “AWS is thrilled to partner with FUJIFILM to host a fully cloud-based environment to support the diagnosis and care of over 1.3 million patients. These are exactly the kinds of innovations we need in healthcare as we continue to seek more rapid and accurate diagnoses.”

As the global leader in digital pathology enterprise deployments, Fujifilm continues to demonstrate unmatched experience and scalability in large-scale rollouts. To learn more about Synapse Pathology, visit the product page.

*Lujan G, Kellough DA, Frankel WL, Chhibber NN, Parwani AV, Chen W, Li Z, Lombardo A, Walsh J, Lloyd M. Faster Than Glass: A Digital Pathology Workflow Unlocks Major Time-Savings. United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology’s (USCAP) 111th Annual Meeting. Los Angeles, CA. March 19-24, 2022.

About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation is a comprehensive healthcare company that has an extensive range of technology and expertise in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Fujifilm’s innovative portfolio includes solutions spanning diagnostic imaging, enterprise imaging, endoscopic imaging, surgical imaging, and in-vitro diagnostics. The Non-Destructive Testing group delivers radiography solutions to ensure high accuracy inspection of transportation infrastructure, and assets within aerospace, and oil and gas industries.

The company is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. For more information on healthcare offerings, please visit healthcaresolutions-us.fujifilm.com, and for NDT portfolio, please visit https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/business/industrial-materials/non-destructive-testing.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver innovative products and services across the globe through the four key business segments of healthcare, electronics, business innovation, and imaging with over 70,000 employees. Guided and united by our Group Purpose of “giving our world more smiles,” we address social challenges and create a positive impact on society through our products, services, and business operations. Under its medium-term management plan, VISION2030, which ends in FY2030, we aspire to continue our evolution into a company that creates value and smiles for various stakeholders as a collection of global leading businesses and achieve a global revenue of 4 trillion yen. For more information, please visit: https://holdings.fujifilm.com/en.

About Amazon Web Services

Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 240 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, media, and application development, deployment, and management from 117 Availability Zones within 37 geographic regions, with announced plans for 13 more Availability Zones and four more AWS Regions in Chile, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.

Toronto | August 12, 2025 – Cboe Canada Inc. (“Cboe Canada”) is pleased to announce the launch of four new BetaPro ETFs from Global X Investments Canada Inc. (“Global X”). Now trading on Cboe Canada under the symbols SOXL, SOXS, TTLT and STLT, the new funds are designed to provide magnified (leveraged) or inverse exposure to the daily performance of a specific index, commodity, or sector.

“Today marks another exciting first on Cboe Canada with these launches from BetaPro by Global X,” said Victor Werny, Head of North American ETP Listings at Cboe Global Markets. “We’re proud to expand our partnership with BetaPro by Global X, a recognized leader in delivering cutting-edge, accessible investment solutions that meet the evolving needs of today’s investors.”

The four ETFs launched by Global X and their daily investment objectives are as follows:

The BetaPro 3x Semiconductor Daily Leveraged Bull Alternative ETF (SOXL) is designed to provide 300% of the daily performance of the underlying NYSE Semiconductor Index, while the BetaPro -3x Semiconductor Daily Leveraged Bear Alternative ETF (SOXS) is designed to provide 300% of the inverse of the daily performance of the NYSE Semiconductor Index.

Similarly, the BetaPro 3x US Treasury 20+ Year Daily Leveraged Bull Alternative ETF (TTLT) is designed to provide 300% of the daily performance of the ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index, while the BetaPro -3x US Treasury 20+ Year Daily Leveraged Bear Alternative ETF (STLT) is designed to provide 300% of the inverse of the daily performance of the ICE US Treasure 20+ Year Bond Index.

Currency movements can introduce unwanted noise and reduce the precision of tactical trades. The new ETFs employ currency hedging to seek to neutralize U.S. dollar exposure, providing performance that may more accurately reflect the underlying U.S. indices.

“When taking a high-conviction position within a volatile sector or asset class, the last thing sophisticated Canadian traders want to see is their expectations and returns distorted by currency fluctuations,” said Chris McHaney, Executive Vice President, Investment Management & Strategy at Global X. “The BetaPro 3X and -3X ETFs stand apart from the competition on this key differentiator with a built-in currency hedge structure, which helps to neutralize U.S. dollar movements. That means the potential for a better trading experience for Canadians.”

Investors can trade units of all BetaPro by Global X ETFs through their usual investment channels, including discount brokerage platforms and full-service dealers. Click here for a complete view of all Cboe-listed securities in Canada.

Cboe Canada is home to ETFs from Canada’s largest ETF issuers, over 120 Canadian Depositary Receipts (CDRs), and some of the most innovative Canadian and international growth companies. Cboe consistently facilitates 20% of all volume traded in Canadian ETFs.

About Cboe Canada

Cboe Canada is a senior stock exchange providing a best-in-class listing experience for issuers that are shaping the economies of tomorrow. Fully operational since 2015, Cboe Canada lists investment products and companies seeking an internationally recognized stock exchange that enables investor trust, quality liquidity, and broad awareness including unfettered access to market data.

Cboe Canada is part of Cboe Global Markets, the leading securities and derivatives exchange network. With exchanges in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Cboe is harnessing its footprint around the world to equip Issuers with essential capital market solutions.

Cboe powers ETF Market Canada, a user-friendly platform providing investors and advisors with one-stop access to ETF research and analysis. Real-time, institutional-grade data allows users to compare, contrast, and explore the entire universe of 1,300+ Canadian ETFs, free of charge.

Connect with Cboe Canada: Website | LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Facebook

About Global X Investments Canada

Global X Investments Canada Inc. (“Global X”) is an innovative financial services company and offers one of the largest suites of exchange traded funds in Canada. The Global X product family includes a broadly diversified range of solutions for investors of all experience levels to meet their investment objectives in a variety of market conditions. Global X has over $40 billion of assets under management and 152 ETFs listed on major Canadian stock exchanges. Global X is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mirae Asset Financial Group, which manages approximately $800 billion of assets across 19 countries and global markets around the world.

Connect with Global X Canada: Website | LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Facebook

Cboe Canada Media Contact:

[email protected]

AHDB released its full season (2024/25) usage data for animal feed production across GB last week. Overall, feed production across the industry was down (-1.4%). However, feed demand across the UK’s cattle sector rose notably (+5%) in the 2024/25 season compared to the five-year average.

Both dairy and beef systems have seen increased feed use, albeit for slightly different reasons. Market prices, supply pressures, weather conditions, and cost structures have all contributed to this upward shift.

Cattle feed production made up 31% of total feed production in 2024/25. As such, looking at the key factors driving demand is important for the cereals and oilseeds sector moving into this new marketing year.

Dairy feed demand

Usage of blends for dairy cows were up 8.2% against the five-year average at 864.1 Kt for 2024/25. While compound feeds grew at 1.6% over the same period.

The milk-to-feed price ratio can be used to show how profitable it is to feed more concentrates by comparing milk value to feed cost. From July 2024 to May 2025, the milk-to-feed price ratio rose from 1.33, peaking at 1.53 in November 2024 before steadying at 1.46 in May 2025.

Compared with the five-year average of around 1.22–1.26, this shows that in the 2024/25 season, stronger margins consistently favoured higher concentrate use to drive milk output.

A persistently wet summer and autumn in 2024 for parts of the country, undermined grass growth and silage production across many UK regions, leading to earlier housing and increased supplementation between October and March; this was compounded by a historically dry spring in 2025, severely limiting grass development, further pushing feed usage higher.

Beef feed demand

Between July 2024 and June 2025, UK beef feed production increased on the year and above the five-year average, with the sharpest gains in all other cattle blends (+22%) and solid growth in all other cattle compounds (+4.8%).

AHDB’s beef market outlook forecasts UK beef production in 2025 to fall by around 4%, driven by lower prime cattle and cow slaughter. Tighter supply this season has pushed deadweight prices to record levels, peaking above 700 p/kg in May, incentivising producers to feed intensively and aim for heavier carcass weights.

The beef sector did not escape the weather either, the wet summer/autumn 2024 cut grazing and forage quality, prompting earlier housing, while a dry spring in 2025 kept feed demand high into summer.

Higher-than-expected slaughter in 2024, along with increased dairy cow retention, have reduced cattle availability. Tight supplies, strong deadweight prices and cheaper feed have driven beef finishers to feed more and maximise weight gain, explaining some of the increase in feed production we have seen.

Feed Prices

AHDB data shows the average dairy concentrate cost in May 2025 was £296/t, £12 lower than a year earlier and slightly below the five-year average of about £304/t. Together, strong margins and moderated feed costs helped sustain elevated feed usage.

At the same time, feed input costs eased, with UK November 2025 feed wheat futures falling to around £172/t (12 August 2025), compared with roughly £200/t at the same point last season, marking the lowest level for this stage in the harvest cycle in four years. Globally, cereal and oilseed futures have also declined sharply in 2024/25, driven by ample supplies and softer demand.

What next?

Overall, favourable margins, lower feed costs, and challenging weather pushed cattle feed demand well above recent norms in 2024/25. Looking ahead, if grain prices remain subdued and dairy and cattle prices stay firm, feed usage in both dairy and beef systems is likely to stay elevated. Mixed conditions in the forage season have left supplies tighter for some, which could keep reliance on purchased feed high into the next period.