BUSINESS

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German automaker Mercedes-Benz Group reported a 57% slide in annual profit, citing tariff expenses, competitive pressure in China and currency headwinds.

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Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer by market value, will eliminate up to 6,000 roles globally as weakening beer consumption and cautious profit expectations weigh on the Dutch company's outlook.

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BP said Tuesday it has paused its share buyback programme and posted fourth quarter earnings broadly in line with market expectations, as weaker crude prices pressured cash flow and prompted a renewed focus on balance sheet resilience.

For the final three months of 2025, the London listed energy group reported underlying replacement cost profit, a measure comparable to net income, of $1.54 billion, reflecting softer upstream margins and lower realised oil prices during the period.

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OpenAI said it will start testing ads in ChatGPT on Tuesday afternoon, initially showing them to users on the free and Go tiers. The company said the trial ads will be clearly

labeled and “visually separated” from the chatbot’s responses, and that they will be “optimized based on what’s most helpful to you.” Ads will be targeted using the current conversation topic, a user’s prior chats, and past interactions with ads.

OpenAI said the ads would not influence the chatbot’s replies, and that users will have the choice to prevent OpenAI from offering personalized ads based on user interests.

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Alphabet is preparing to price a rare 100-year bond, according to a bookrunner memo seen by Reuters, as artificial intelligence investment fuels a sharp rise in borrowing across U.S. technology companies.

The Google parent plans to sell 5.5 billion pounds, or about $7.53 billion, of sterling bonds in a five-part transaction. One tranche would mature in a century and is expected to raise 1 billion pounds, the memo showed.

If completed, the deal would mark the technology sector's first century bond sale since Motorola's issuance in 1997, according to data cited by market participants. Long-dated bonds of this kind are typically associated with governments or utilities with stable, predictable cash flows.

Alphabet has also tapped other markets to fund its expansion. Separately, it raised 3.055 billion Swiss francs through a five-part bond sale with maturities ranging from three to 25 years, according to another bookrunner memo. The banks involved declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Century bonds are rare. Issuance rose during the era of ultra-low interest rates that followed the global financial crisis, but volumes faded after 2022 when central banks sharply increased borrowing costs in response to post-pandemic inflation.

"You have an extraordinary time period that we're living through now with the change in technology," said Jason Granet, chief investment officer at BNY. "A 100-year debt issuance out of Google is indicative of the scale of capital spending and investment flowing into technology markets."

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Google disclosed that YouTube generated more than $60bn in revenue in 2025, combining advertising income and paid subscriptions. That total outstrips streaming rival Netflix, which reported about $45bn in revenue. Google’s announcement appears to be the first time it has separately published an annual revenue figure for YouTube since acquiring the platform in 2006.

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China's Alibaba on Tuesday unveiled a new artificial intelligence model designed to power robots, stepping deeper into the fast-growing field of so-called "physical AI" as global tech heavyweights race to bring intelligence into the real world.

The model, known as RynnBrain, is built to help robots understand and interact with their physical surroundings, a critical challenge in robotics. Alibaba said the system enables machines to identify objects, interpret spatial relationships and carry out precise movements based on that understanding.

In a demonstration video released by Alibaba's DAMO Academy research arm, a robot can be seen recognizing different types of fruit and placing them into a basket. While the task appears straightforward, it highlights the complexity behind robotic perception, combining visual recognition with motion planning and control.

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The Nintendo Switch has become the company’s best-selling console, surpassing 155 million units since its 2017 launch. Propelled by a major sales surge during the pandemic, the hybrid system has overtaken the Nintendo DS as Nintendo’s all-time hardware leader. Globally, the Switch now ranks second among all home and handheld consoles, trailing only Sony’s PlayStation 2, which sold more than 160 million units after its 2000 debut.

But Nintendo's latest financial report, where it announced the news, also saw shares in the company fall 11% following investor concerns over software sales and memory chip prices.