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Coal-fired power plant, now retired, to become massive gas-powered campus for AI, data centers

Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up DEALS Advertisement Siemens to buy Boston's Dotmatics for $5.1 billion The offices of Siemens AG in Nuremberg, Germany. Michaela Handrek-Rehle/Bloomberg Siemens AG has agreed to acquire Boston-based Dotmatics for $5.1 billion as part of a push to provide more artificial intelligence software to life sciences companies. The German company announced the deal for the Insight Partners-backed R&D software maker in a statement Wednesday that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of fiscal year 2026, Siemens said. 'Combining our next-generation scientific intelligence platform and industry-leading scientific applications together with Siemens' Digital Twin and AI capabilities, we'll drive a new wave of innovation in life sciences R&D,' Dotmatics chief executive Thomas Swalla said in a separate statement. The transaction comes at a time when Insight is in the process of exiting other portfolio companies to strategic buyers. Last month, Alphabet Inc. agreed to buy Insight-backed cloud-security company Wiz Inc., while CoreWeave Inc. said it was acquiring AI developer platform Weights & Biases and Roper Technologies Inc. said it would acquire CentralReach. Dotmatics was founded in 2005 by Merck & Co. scientists Stephen Gallagher and Alastair Hill. More than 2 million scientists in 125 countries use its software, which helps to digitize lab data, enhance collaboration, and analyze findings, according to the company's website. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement STOCKS Newsmax plunges 77 percent after $29 billion surge loses momentum Newsmax Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Newsmax Inc. shares shed more than three-quarters of their value on Wednesday after a raucous two-day surge fueled in part by retail traders briefly made it larger than Fox Corp. The stock slumped 77 percent, wiping out $23 billion in market value, after a 2,230 percent surge in Newsmax's first two days as a public company. Retail investors were less vocal about the stock in trader chatrooms compared to prior days, with buy orders on Fidelity's platform more muted compared to those for larger companies. Still, the company's stock remains up more than 400 percent from its $10 offer price, giving it a more than $6 billion market capitalization, which means plenty of early buyers are sitting on vast amounts of paper wealth. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement GAMING Nintendo's Switch 2 priced at $450 for June 5 launch A Nintendo Switch display at an electronics retail chain store in Tokyo. Koji Sasahara/Associated Press Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date and $449.99 price tag for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers. In its 60-minute Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday, the company revealed a more vibrant display on the Switch 2, a larger screen and several games that will launch with the console. Central to its updated system is a new 'C' button on its Joy-Con controller, which will launch a 'GameChat' feature that requires a subscription to Nintendo's Switch online service. It allows players to 'communicate with friends and family while playing a game,' and lets them share their game screen with others. A built-in microphone will also allow chatting with other gamers. 'When you think about some of the biggest titles on (the Nintendo Switch), it's like Mario Kart, Super Mario Jamboree, even though that's quite a new title, has cracked the top 10 of most played games on the console. So, it does make a lot of sense that the sort of headline feature is geared primarily towards that sort of use,' said Hannah Cowton-Barnes, a London-based video game industry expert for Tech Advisor. — ASSOCIATED PRESS GOVERNMENT HHS layoffs mean that data on drug use and mental health could sit unused The Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Most teenagers don't use drugs. There's data to show that because of a 50-year-old government survey that may now be in jeopardy. The entire 17-member US government team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health received layoff notices Tuesday, as part of the overhaul of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It's not clear whether there is an alternative plan to analyze the data, which local and state governments use to develop prevention measures and treatment services. The federal government distributes grant money to fight the opioid addiction crisis based on it. Researchers use it to study trends in depression, alcoholism, and tobacco use. An HHS spokesman did not immediately respond to a question about the survey's future. The nationally representative survey is conducted in person by an independent research group with about 70,000 people each year. It provides a more complete picture than trends in overdose deaths, which capture only a small segment of the problem, said Lindsey Vuolo of the Partnership to End Addiction. 'We use its findings on a near daily basis in our research, educational programming and resources, and communication materials,' Vuolo said of the survey. Before the layoffs, the government team was preparing to analyze 2024 data, the first year where trends would be reliable again since the pandemic disrupted data collection, said Jennifer Hoenig, the laid-off director of the Office of Population Surveys. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement GOVERNMENT SEC to restructure regional offices to streamline management The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg The US Securities and Exchange Commission will reorganize 10 regional offices under broader geographic areas and decrease the number of people reporting directly to the agency's enforcement director, acting Chair Mark Uyeda said in a staff-wide email Wednesday. 'The current management structure simply cannot be sustained,' Uyeda wrote in an email reviewed by Bloomberg. The change will be effective April 9. Enforcement staff will report to deputy directors for geographical areas and an enforcement director for the specialized units, according to the email. The new western region will cover Denver, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, while the southeast region will include Atlanta, Miami, and the SEC's home office in Washington, DC. The northeast geographic region will include the staff of the Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia offices. The email detailed changes on reporting structures and didn't say if offices would close. SEC regional offices conduct enforcement and examinations work for the agency, among other tasks. Uyeda in his message to the staff said the changes were intended to maintain the importance of the regional offices. 'The reporting lines in the Divisions of Enforcement and Examinations will be realigned to better reflect each Division's national programs and are intended to improve efficiency, management, and oversight of the Divisions,' the SEC said in a statement. Reuters reported earlier the SEC plans to restructure its enforcement division. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement