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Chevron closes $53b Hess deal after vanquishing Exxon’s legal challenge. Big Oil got a little bit bigger yesterday when Chevron closed its acquisition of its smaller rival Hess, securing access to coveted oil reserves off the shore of Guyana. Chevron and Hess struck the deal back in 2023, but Exxon brought a legal challenge to block it in the biggest oil feud since somebody shot JR. Exxon claimed Hess was contractually obligated to offer to sell Exxon its stake in a Guyana development the companies operate in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. before making another deal, but yesterday arbitrators from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris denied that claim. Chevron quickly wrapped up the deal with Hess a few hours later.
Netflix used generative AI in one of its shows for the first time. Will the next Squid Game be made by a bot? Probably not, but tucked into Netflix’s earnings announcement this week was the nugget that the streaming giant has seemingly picked the pro-AI side in Hollywood’s battle over the tech. Netflix said the Argentine sci-fi show The Eternaut was the first show it had produced that used fully AI-generated shots. The tech enabled a sequence that included the collapse of a building in Buenos Aires, which would have otherwise been outside the show’s budget. “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts.
The GENIUS Act is the law of the land. President Trump signed the bill into law yesterday, setting up a framework for regulating stablecoins—digital currency pegged to traditional assets—that are linked to the US dollar. It’s a big win for the crypto industry, and Trump said it was a “giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.” The law could help push stablecoins into the mainstream, and major companies like Walmart and Amazon have been said to be considering launching their own.—AR
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