Business

Reselling tickets for profit to be outlawed in UK government crackdown
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Touts, and ordinary consumers, will no longer be able to charge anything more than price at which they bought ticketReselling tickets for profit is to be outlawed under plans due to be announced this week, the Guardian has learned, as the government goes ahead with a long-awaited crackdown on touts and resale platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub.Ministers had been considering allowing touts – and ordinary consumers – to sell on a ticket for up to 30% above the original face value, as part of a consultation process that ended earlier this year. Continue reading...

Jeff Bezos reportedly launches new AI startup with himself as CEO
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Former Amazon CEO to co-head Project Prometheus with tech executive Vik Bajaj, according to the New York TimesAfter stepping down as Amazon’s CEO four years ago, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder and former chief executive of the online shopping company, is going to be a CEO again. This time, Bezos has appointed himself co-CEO of an AI startup called Project Prometheus, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources.The startup, which will focus on developing AI for engineering and manufacturing in various fields, has already received $6.2bn in funding – more than many companies are able to raise in their lifetimes. Leading the company alongside Bezos is his co-founder and co-CEO Vik Bajaj, a celebrity tech executive in his own right. Bajaj is a physicist and chemist best known for his work at Google’s moonshot factory, X, where he founded the health startup Verily. Continue reading...

GWR train fitted with F1 tech for two-month superfast wifi trial
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Tryout of system, which switches between signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites, could lead to wider rolloutTrain wifi in the UK, long a source of frustration for passengers, is about to get radically faster – for a lucky few at least.A two-month trial has begun on one Great Western Railway (GWR) train, fitted with technology from Formula One that switches between the signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites to provide almost seamless, superfast wifi. Continue reading...

UK officials ‘working day and night’ to resolve NHS drug pricing row’
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Patrick Vallance says government trying to rebuild relations with pharma industry as he outlines life sciences ambitionThe UK science minister has said officials are “working day and night” trying to resolve the standoff with big pharmaceutical companies over drug pricing.Speaking to industry leaders and investors at London life sciences week, Patrick Vallance, a former GSK executive, said the government was “clear eyed about the challenges”. Continue reading...

AI firms must be clear on risks or repeat tobacco’s mistakes, says Anthropic chief
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Artificial intelligence will become smarter than ‘most or all humans in most or all ways’, says Dario AmodeiBusiness live – latest updatesArtificial intelligence companies must be transparent about the risks posed by their products or be in danger of repeating the mistakes of tobacco and opioid firms, according to the chief executive of the AI startup Anthropic.Dario Amodei, who runs the US company behind the Claude chatbot, said he believed AI would become smarter than “most or all humans in most or all ways” and urged his peers to “call it as you see it”. Continue reading...

Thames Water bidder says it is offering £1bn extra cash injection
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Castle Water says restructuring plans do not go far enough and extra funds will help resolve pollution crisisBusiness live – latest updatesA bidder for Thames Water has said it would inject £1bn more into the struggling utility company than rival proposals if it gained control.John Reynolds, the chief executive of the independent water retailer Castle Water, said the current plans under discussion with creditors to rebuild Thames Water’s finances did not go far enough and did not properly address its environmental crisis. Continue reading...

TotalEnergies buys €5.1bn stake in Czech tycoon’s power plants business
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025

Daniel Křetínský to become a major shareholder in French oil firm as part of deal creating 50/50 joint ventureThe Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is to become one of the largest shareholders in TotalEnergies after selling a stake in his electricity generation business, which includes several UK power plants, to the French oil company.Křetínský, whose companies own stakes in Royal Mail and West Ham United football club, agreed to sell a 50% stake in his stable of European power plants to TotalEnergies for about €5.1bn (£4.5bn) in exchange for about 4.1% of Total’s share capital. Continue reading...