Investors tell Thames Water to ‘eat humble pie’ over failed takeover and open bids

Thames Water’s bosses should eat “humble pie” over a failed takeover process last year and let other firms bid for it, according to a Hong Kong investment group angling to buy the troubled water company.CK Infrastructure (CKI), which is owned by Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, has already acquired Northumbrian Water and has been trying to launch a bid for Thames since February last year.Andrew Hunter, CKI’s co-managing director, told the Guardian he was “frustrated” at being shut out of the process to save the debt-laden water company, which has now been locked in talks with its own lenders since last summer. “My goodness, it’s been going on forever,” he said.Thames has been trying to stave off financial collapse for more than two years as it struggles under the weight of £17

Unilever’s food mashup is hardly a delectable prospect for shareholders

If Unilever shareholders thought the era of management-speak twaddle ended a few chief executives ago, say hello to their new partner in the food game. Brendan Foley, the boss of US spice and condiments firm McCormick, ran through the menu as he presented his big grab for Unilever’s Hellmann’s-to-Knorr-to-Marmite food division. The logic, he explained, is all about “maximal adjacency”, “actionable growth levers” and “end-to-end flavour experiences”.From the point of view of Unilever’s investors, the guff wouldn’t matter if McCormick were paying a fat price in a cash deal. But this $44

OpenAI, parent firm of ChatGPT, closes $122bn funding round amid AI boom

OpenAI announced on Tuesday it had closed a fundraising round of $122bn and achieved a valuation of $852bn. The funding cements the ChatGPT maker as one of the most highly valued private companies in the world.The artificial intelligence firm received multibillion-dollar investments from companies including Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, which committed $110bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI also allowed a select group of individual investors to contribute about $3bn. The funding round ranks among the highest-ever in Silicon Valley

Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book

Penguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children’s books.The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI’s Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House’s legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner’s Coconut the Little Dragon series.In response to the prompt “Can you write a children’s book in which Coconut the Dragon is on Mars”, the chatbot generated text and images the publishing group said were “virtually indistinguishable from the original”.As well as generating the text of a story, the AI-powered chatbot created a cover featuring Siegner’s orange dragon and two sidekicks, as well as a blurb for the back cover and instructions for how to submit the manuscript to a self-publishing platform.Coconut the Little Dragon (Der kleine Drache Kokosnuss) is one of the most popular German books for children

Mako Vunipola to join Leicester and link up with former England teammate Parling

The former England prop Mako Vunipola has confirmed he is joining Leicester this summer as the Tigers look to beef up their pack for next season. The 35-year-old Vunipola will be joined in the East Midlands by the Argentinian front-row Joel Sclavi who will also help to fill the gap left by Nicky Smith’s impending switch to Sale Sharks.Vunipola, who won 79 England caps and was picked for three British & Irish Lions tours, is playing for Vannes in France’s ProD2 but has opted to extend his career by a year. “He was hungry for the chance to come back to the Prem and finish in the comp he knows best,” the Leicester head coach, Geoff Parling, said.“That coupled with his experience and what that can do for our young props is hopefully going to be really valuable

Dan Hurley’s ‘head-butt’ showed Black coaches aren’t given the same grace as white coaches

The UConn-Duke game on Sunday night was one for the ages. A last-second game winner from freshman Braylon Mullins took down the top-seeded Blue Devils, who at one point had led by 19 points. It is a moment that will be replayed over and over for years to come.However, something strange happened after Mullins’s shot. UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley approached referee Roger Ayers and touched foreheads with the official while glaring into his eyes