Top Stories Wednesday, Sep 27: Apple Defends Its $19B Google Search Deal, Hollywood's Writers Secure Cred

Benzinga

Alibaba's Logistics Arm Cainiao Files For Hong Kong IPO

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) stock is trading higher Wednesday as the company's logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd filed for its Hong Kong initial public offering on Tuesday. The first-time share sale could fetch a minimum of $1 billion.
Alibaba co-founded Cainiao in 2013 as the delivery backbone for its Chinese online marketplaces.

Qualcomm Inc's (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will arrive in 2 variants, one manufactured under Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd's (NYSE:TSM) 4nm process and another manufactured under TSMC's 3nm process.
The leaked email conversations between Qualcomm and its smartphone partners like Samsung Electronics Co (OTC: SSNLF) indicate that the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will use Arm Holdings Plc's (NASDAQ: ARM) latest Cortex X4, Cortex A720, and Cortex A520 CPU cores for its chipset CPU structure.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is set to address concerns related to patients taking drugs such as Novo Nordisk A/S's (NYSE: NVO) Wegovy, Ozempic, and their counterparts potentially experiencing complications during anesthesia that could lead to pneumonia.
The PRAC's discussions will also encompass other GLP-1 drugs, including Mounjaro and Trulicity by Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) and those made by AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ: AZN) and Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNY).

Retail giant Target Inc (NYSE:TGT) announced its decision to shutter nine stores spread over four states in the U.S., including the Golden State of California.
This move is in response to the increasing concerns about theft and structured retail crime, jeopardizing employee and customer safety.

Payroll services company Paychex Inc (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported first-quarter FY24 sales growth of 7% year-on-year to $1.286 billion, slightly missing the analyst consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.14 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.12.
Paychex revised its FY24 adjusted EPS growth outlook from 9%-10% to 9%-11%.

Wall Street Journal

A tentative labor agreement between Hollywood studios and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) will likely allow studios to continue training artificial intelligence (AI) models using writers' works to the relief of the likes of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc (NASDAQ: WBD), Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), and Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS).
However, writers will likely gain a significant victory, ensuring they receive both credit and compensation for their contributions, even when AI tools are employed.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) has reached a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands to resolve allegations that the bank aided Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking activities.
This settlement comes ahead of the scheduled trial in Manhattan and follows nearly a year of legal battles.

Reuters

Thomson Reuters Corp (NYSE:TRI) will face Ross Intelligence in court, as a Delaware federal judge ruled that a jury should decide the lawsuit's outcome.
Thomson Reuters accuses Ross Intelligence of unlawfully copying content from its legal research platform, Westlaw, to develop a competing AI-based platform.

Pfizer Inc's (NYSE:PFE) CEO Albert Bourla provided an update on the status of the company's oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, during his speech at the Cantor Fitzgerald Annual Healthcare Conference.
Bourla revealed that approximately 250,000 courses of Paxlovid are being administered each week as the U.S. grapples with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Company has reached a substantial settlement agreement of $230 million to resolve lawsuits filed by numerous U.S. local governments and school districts, accusing the firm of contributing to the opioid addiction crisis through its consulting work with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies.
McKinsey had been accused of aiding drug manufacturers in devising deceptive marketing strategies and increasing the sales of opioid painkillers, thereby exacerbating the opioid crisis.

A federal judge in Massachusetts has overturned a $176.5 million jury verdict against Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY). The verdict, which had favored Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA), had found that Lilly's migraine drug, Emgality, infringed upon three patents related to Teva's rival drug, Ajovy.

Verge

Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Eddy Cue defended the company's $19 billion deal with Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google on a conflicting note – while he said Google Search was the best deal available for Apple, he also lamented the company's privacy policies.
Cue took the stand in the ongoing antitrust case against Google as he sought to justify Apple's $19 billion deal with the search giant, explaining that Google Search was the best option available and that there were no alternatives.

The Code Conference 2023, a prominent tech event, is currently underway, featuring interviews with leading figures in the tech and business sectors.
During the event, Warner Music Group Corp (NASDAQ:WMG) CEO Robert Kyncl shared his perspective on the evolution of AI in music. He expressed optimism about integrating AI technologies in music creation and distribution shortly.

Insider

Peter DeSantis, the Senior Vice President of Utility Computing at Amazon.Com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), recently addressed concerns regarding the company's return-to-office (RTO) policy.
During an internal meeting, DeSantis acknowledged the challenges, pledged to improve communication, and handled cases where employees feel pressured to return prematurely.

Financial Times

China's latest effort to bolster its semiconductor industry faces challenges in its initial stages, struggling to meet its RMB300 billion ($41 billion) target, with economic hardships cited as the primary reason.
This funding round, the most ambitious by China, comes after Beijing approved a third round for the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, commonly called the Big Fund.

European countries are actively negotiating a fresh COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreement with Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) as concerns mount within EU health authorities regarding a surge in coronavirus infections.
Member states can express their interest in the deal individually, and at least eight EU countries have already shown interest in participating.