Google offers buyouts to more workers amid AI-driven tech upheaval and antitrust uncertainty

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ENTERTAINMENT
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Disney and Universal sue AI firm Midjourney for copyright infringement
The headquarters of The Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, Calif.
Beth Coller/NYT
Disney and Universal have filed a copyright lawsuit against popular artificial intelligence image-generator Midjourney on Wednesday, marking the first time major Hollywood companies have enter the legal battle over generative AI. Filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, the complaint claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios to generate and distribute 'endless unauthorized copies' of their famed characters, such as Darth Vader from 'Star Wars' and the Minions from 'Despicable Me.' 'Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism. Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing,' the companies state in the complaint. The studios also claimed the San Francisco-based AI company ignored their requests to stop infringing on their copyrighted works and to take technological measures to halt such image generation. Midjourney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ENTERTAINMENT
Nintendo Switch 2 sets sales record in boon for games sector
A customer posed with a Nintendo Switch 2 game console at a Bic Camera Inc. electronics store in Tokyo on June 5.
Kiyoshi Ota/Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomb
Nintendo Co. sold 3.5 million-plus units of the Switch 2 in just four days, a record-breaking start for the company's first new console in eight years. The Japanese company has already sold more of the device than the roughly 2.7 million the original Switch managed during its first month in 2017. The numbers, released by the company Wednesday, bode well for its target to sell 15 million units by March next year. They also reinforce analysts' projections that Nintendo may be able to sell far more if it can pump up supply. Gamers from Tokyo to San Francisco lined up for hours last week to get their hands on one of the most highly anticipated gadgets of the year. The long-awaited Switch 2 succeeds a global hit in the original, which pioneered a hybrid design that allows play both at home on a TV and on the move. The release of the new Switch was regarded as a watershed moment for the industry, steering business decisions by partners and competitors for years to come. At a time of thinning margins and exploding development budgets, a popular new console may galvanize the sector and provide a counterbalance to the increasing dominance of a handful of marquee, live-service games. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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ENERGY
World Bank ends its ban on funding nuclear power projects
Two cooling towers of the Civaux nuclear power plant in Civaux, central France.
ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images
The world's largest and most influential development bank said Wednesday that it would lift its long-standing ban on funding nuclear power projects. The decision by the board of the World Bank could have profound implications for the ability of developing countries to industrialize without burning planet-warming fuels such as coal and oil. The ban has been formally in place since 2013, but the last time the bank funded a nuclear power project was 1959 in Italy. In the decades since, a few of the bank's major funders, particularly Germany, have opposed its involvement in nuclear energy, on the grounds that the risk of catastrophic accidents in poor countries with less expertise in nuclear technology was unacceptably high. The bank's policy shift, described in an email to employees late Wednesday, comes as nuclear power is experiencing a global surge in support. Casting nuclear power as an essential replacement for fossil fuels, more than 20 countries — including the United States, Canada, France, and Ghana — signed a pledge to triple nuclear power by 2050 at the United Nations' flagship climate conference two years ago. The Trump administration, while far less concerned about climate change than it is with competing against the Russian and Chinese nuclear industries, is trying to expand the fleet of American reactors and quadruple their contribution to the country's electric grids. Cabinet officials have emphasized support for a new generation of smaller reactors that offer the promise of faster deployment but have yet to be proven. The United States is the World Bank's single largest shareholder and holds significant sway over its policies. In April, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the bank to lift its ban, saying in a speech that doing so would 'revolutionize energy supply for many emerging markets.' — NEW YORK TIMES
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AUTOMAKERS
GM dodges tariffs with production shift to US from Mexico
The General Motors assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
General Motors plans to invest $4 billion in its US plants over the next two years in response to President Trump's tariffs in a move that reduces production in Mexico while boosting domestic output of some of its some of its top-selling gas-powered vehicles. The spending will expand factories in Michigan, Kansas, and Tennessee. The moves will boost annual US production capacity by 300,000 vehicles, GM chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said at a Deutsche Bank conference on Wednesday Assembly of several top-selling models, including its very profitable Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks and the Chevrolet Equinox SUV, will move to factories in the United States from Mexico. GM plans to add between 3,000 and 4,000 US jobs when all production is in place, a spokesman said. The shift marks one of the biggest pivots yet by an automaker in response to Trump's tariffs that have upended the economics of automobile manufacturing. It's also a recognition by chief executive Mary Barra that Trump's trade war is not a passing phase. The investments will allow GM to produce more than 2 million vehicles in the United States each year. GM will continue making vehicles affected by the announcement in Mexico, but at lower volumes, the person said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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