Should Washington own a slice of ChatGPT? OpenAI reportedly thinks so
OpenAI is said to have floated giving the US government a 5% stake, and wants rivals to do the same, though nothing is confirmed.
Business Bagel News
Daily news from the Business Bagel desk — the markets, money and company stories shaping South Africa, reported fast and kept clear.
WhatsApp is about to let you skip the phone-number swap
The app is rolling out usernames so you can connect without sharing your number, and you can reserve yours this week before the full launch later this year.
Big story
Murray & Roberts rescues its mining arm in a R1.27bn deal
The engineering group has sold its core mining-services businesses to a Differential Capital-led consortium, clearing its biggest business-rescue hurdle and saving about 2,600 jobs.
Dis-Chem's founder steps back as a generational test begins
Founder Ivan Saltzman retires from his executive role at the end of June after 48 years, handing chief executive Rui Morais a generational test.
Prosus's everyday-apps bet is paying off, even as Tencent looms
The Naspers-owned investor behind Takealot and iFood lifted profit and raised its dividend 40%, but analysts say its Tencent stake and AI spending still hang over the story.
The WeBuyCars billionaires are buying a JSE company off the market
Faan and Dirk van der Walt are teaming up with Atterbury to buy out and delist RMB Holdings in a R655 million deal, and one big shareholder could still hold out for more.
Microsoft just lost more than half a trillion dollars in a month
The software giant is headed for its worst month since 2008 as investors fret about its massive AI spending, and whether AI will eat its own products.
From world-beater to worst quarter: the JSE's mining slump
South Africa's gold and platinum miners have tumbled since the Iran war, dragging the JSE to its worst quarter in more than two years, even as the economy holds up.
Big story
South Africa's only aluminium smelter is being sold to an American giant
South32 is offloading almost its entire aluminium business, including the Hillside smelter in Richards Bay, to US producer Alcoa in a deal worth up to R92 billion.
An Abu Dhabi oil giant is closing in on Shell's South African petrol stations
Shell is reportedly near a $1bn (±R16bn) deal to sell its entire South African forecourt network — about 600 stations — to Abu Dhabi's Adnoc. What it means for the petrol market, and for the brand on your corner.
Group Five just came back from the dead, and paid everyone back
After one of the longest business rescues in SA history, Group Five's practitioners have closed the book — with every creditor paid in full. How a construction-bust cautionary tale became the rescue that actually worked.
Why FNB is selling you a loaf of bread for 99 cents
FNB's 99c loaf isn't a supermarket special — it's a banking strategy. From 1 July the bread reward extends beyond Pick n Pay to Boxer. Here's what the bank gets out of your weekly shop.