Mercedes-Benz has stopped plans for any additional investment in Germany, arguing that its current cost structure makes new spending there untenable. The decision sharpens a four-month dispute with the company’s works council over efforts to lower labour costs. Management wants employees to move from a 35-hour week to 40 hours without additional pay, saying longer working time is needed to raise productivity and restore competitiveness. The company’s production chief says negotiations have produced no route to agreement and that action cannot be delayed; its labour director says plant closures, previously something the company wanted to avoid, must now be examined more seriously.
The confrontation comes as Mercedes faces declining sales in China and has warned of weaker profits, while Chinese manufacturers gain ground with lower-priced electric and hybrid vehicles. High German wages and production costs have added pressure across the automotive sector, making it harder for domestic manufacturers to compete. The dispute also reflects a broader crisis for the industry: Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, has agreed with unions to cut 100,000 jobs and intends to shut four factories. Mercedes’ investment freeze and new openness to closures signal that its restructuring is intensifying as it seeks savings and a response to shifting market conditions.
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Colette Kress was named Nvidia’s interim CEO after Jensen Huang resigned amid revelations about extramarital affairs. Before his departure, Huang criticized Kress and questioned Nvidia’s risky financing deals as the company faced mounting commitments and competition from alternative chips. (wsj.com)
Nvidia allegedly funded AI startups and small cloud providers that then bought its GPUs, sustaining demand and helping move excess chip supply. CFO Colette Kress reportedly warned that the deals were risky because some buyers could not afford the GPUs. (techpowerup.com)
London quant hedge fund Quadrature Capital earned $8.7bn in trading profits and paid more than £1.14bn in UK corporation tax last year, exceeding the tax bills of Barclays and HSBC. The firm employs 246 people and uses machine-learning models for trading, while managing only its founders’ capital. (ft.com)
Autonomous Technologies Group is hiring a member of technical staff to build AI agents that manage wealth. The Brooklyn-based company seeks curious people from diverse backgrounds to create systems that think, reason, and act. (atg.science)
AI makes prototypes easy, but replacing mature CRM and compliance systems takes years of handling edge cases and operational risks. Buy established software outside your competitive advantage rather than underestimating the cost of building and maintaining it. (lipeles.com)
More than 1,600 comments have appeared on an Nvidia employee suggestion-box post urging the board to consider staff sentiment after Jensen Huang’s resignation. Several commenters called for Huang to return as CEO. (daringfireball.net)
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