ACC Halts EV Battery Gigafactory Plans in Europe
Automotive Cells Company (ACC), backed by Stellantis, has abandoned plans to build electric vehicle battery gigafactories in Italy and Germany due to slower-than-expected growth in EV demand, according to the Italian metalworkers' union UILM. ACC confirmed that its projects in Termoli and Kaiserslautern have been shelved, with discussions ongoing regarding the potential shutdown of these initiatives. This decision follows Stellantis's warning of a 22-billion-euro financial impact due to an overestimation of EV demand.
NatWest in Talks to Acquire Evelyn Partners for £2.5 Billion
NatWest Group is in advanced talks to acquire wealth manager Evelyn Partners for approximately £2.5 billion, marking its largest acquisition since returning to private ownership in 2022. The deal, which is expected to bolster NatWest's offerings to affluent customers, comes after the bank outbid rival Barclays, with an announcement anticipated as early as next week. Evelyn, which manages around £65 billion in assets, was formed from the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson in 2020 and is currently owned by private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus.
World Liberty Financial's USD1 Coin Circulation Hits $5 Billion
World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's cryptocurrency start-up, announced that its digital coin, USD1, has reached a total circulation of $5 billion, largely due to its partnership with the crypto exchange Binance, which holds approximately 85% of the coins. This milestone comes amid a turbulent period for the cryptocurrency market, where Bitcoin's value has plummeted from an all-time high of around $126,000 in October 2025 to approximately $60,000, following a series of speculative investments and regulatory pressures under President Trump's administration.
Anthropic criticizes OpenAI's ChatGPT ads in Super Bowl ad
Anthropic aired a Super Bowl advertisement to criticize OpenAI's decision to introduce ads in ChatGPT, asserting that its own chatbot, Claude, will remain ad-free. The 30-second spot featured a chatbot interrupting a conversation with unsolicited product promotions, concluding with the message, "Ads are coming to AI, but not to Claude." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded on social media, labeling the portrayal as deceptive and emphasizing that the company aims to respect user experience.
