Author: Editor

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has a blunt new message about AI: It is going to “reduce” the company’s workforce in the next few years.”As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” Jassy said in a memo posted to the Amazon website. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.””It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce…

Grant Thornton Advisors is adding Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein and Grant Thornton in the Channel Islands to the multinational platform it launched earlier this year. Both transactions are expected to close later this year.In January, Grant Thornton Advisors combined with Grant Thornton Ireland to create an integrated international firm. In April, it announced agreements with GT firms in Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands, as well as GT Netherlands in May. The firm is backed by private equity firm New Mountain Capital, which acquired its majority stake in March 2024 after selling a majority stake in Top 100…

Senate Republicans plan to modify President Donald Trump’s massive fiscal package to lower maximum deductions for state and local taxes and limit the impact of a “revenge” tax on foreign investors.Senate GOP leaders also plan to cut deeper into Medicaid health insurance for the poor and disabled than House Republicans did in their version of the legislation to help pay for Trump’s tax cuts.Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee released their version of the legislation, which also would make permanent some business tax breaks that would only run through 2029 in the version the House passed last month by a…

U.S. businesses and wealthy universities scored major wins in the Senate Republicans’ version of President Donald Trump’s tax bill, while low-income Americans and clean energy providers are poised to be hit the hardest.The Senate bill has already sparked backlash from various GOP factions and several provisions threaten the fragile coalition that squeaked the legislation through the House by a single vote last month. The legislation could still be altered before it heads to the Senate floor, where Trump can afford to lose no more than three Republicans. Here’s who’s winning and losing at this stage in the tax fight.WinnersManufacturers, banksThe Senate would…

Wealthy U.S. colleges scored a win on Monday with the release of Senate Republicans’ tax bill, which would institute a lower tax increase on endowments than what GOP House members have backed. Private universities with at least 500 students that have endowments of $2 million per pupil or more would pay an excise tax of 8% under the new bill released by the Senate Committee on Finance. The levy would be placed on net-investment income earned by the endowments. That’s much lower than the 21% rate that was included in the House proposal, which passed the chamber in May.The endowment tax…

Republican leaders are aiming for quick negotiations over needed changes to the newly unveiled Senate tax bill which lacks the votes to secure majorities in both chambers as written.The prospect of prolonged talks with holdouts in both the conservative and moderate wings of the party threaten Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s goal of passing President Donald Trump’s tax-cut legislation by July 4. The Senate bill makes much more aggressive cuts to Medicaid spending than the version the House passed last month, an aspect that is already drawing pushback from moderate Republicans and lawmakers concerned about the political ramifications of restricting health…

Streaming has outpaced the combined share of broadcast and cable TV viewing for the first time ever, according to a new Nielsen report.Streaming represented 44.8% of total TV viewership in May, its largest share to date, while the combination of broadcast, with 20.1%, and cable, with 24.1%, represented 44.2% of TV viewing, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge monthly report.Compared with this time four years ago, when Nielsen started its monthly reports, streaming has skyrocketed 71%, while broadcast and cable viewing have declined 21% and 39%, respectively, according to Nielsen.”While many have expected this milestone to occur sooner, sporting events, news and new season…

Amazon’s Prime Day this year will be twice as long as in 2024. It could be a welcome sight for shoppers worried about tariffs.The retail giant said Tuesday that this summer’s Prime Day deals event will last four days from July 8 to 11, compared to two days last year.The discounts will apply to a range of products, from school supplies to electronics to snacks, Amazon said. The company plans to release deals on specific brands each day at midnight Pacific time. Amazon also aims to keep shoppers on its website with new deals “dropping as often as every five…

The Johnson & Johnson logo displayed on a monitor.Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesTwo Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday pressed five of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies about their low tax bills and whether they support extending massive tax cuts for the industry in the GOP reconciliation bill.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., accuse Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and Amgen of paying little to no federal taxes for profit earned in 2024 and years prior, despite generating tens of billions of dollars annually from their drugs.In separate letters to each company on Tuesday, the lawmakers…

Higher mortgage rates and uncertainty in the broader economy continue to weigh on consumers — and consequently on the nation’s homebuilders.Builder sentiment in June dropped 2 points from May to 32 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Anything below 50 is considered negative. The index stood at 43 in June 2024.Analysts had been expecting a slight improvement, given recent tariff negotiations and pullbacks by the Trump administration.This index has only seen a lower reading than June’s level twice since 2012 – in December 2022, after mortgage rates shot up from record lows during…