Weekend Business Papers

Roman Yampolskiy, PhD, is a computer scientist and tenured professor at the University of Louisville, where he is currently the director of the Cyber Security Laboratory in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the Speed School of Engineering. He is an expert on artificial intelligence, with over 100 published papers and books. He was one of the earliest exponents of artificial intelligence safety and remains a pre-eminent figure in the field. 

His latest book, ‘AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable’, explores the unpredictability of AI outcomes, the difficulty in explaining AI decisions, and the potentially unsolvable nature of the AI control problem, as well as delving into more theoretical topics like personhood and consciousness in relation to artificial intelligence, and the potential hazards further AI developments might bring in the years to come.

●      The Business Post says the government is plotting a €13bn giveaway ahead of the general election, despite claiming the Budget 2025 package will only be €8.3bn

●      The Sunday Independent reports that a computer expert employed by one of the top four accountancy firms in Dublin is suspected of laundering hundreds of thousands of US dollars in cryptocurrency for criminal organisations

●      The Sunday Times wonders whether Ireland has hit peak foreign direct investment amidst a slowdown in US investment and lack of progress on infrastructure and housing

●      The Financial Times reports on the IT outage that has thrown the world into chaos after what should have been a routine soft­ware update cas­caded into a global crisis 

●      The Wall Street Journal says global fashion brands are facing increased scrutiny as to their sustainable credentials as journalists, lawyers and regulators take interest

The Business Post leads with what its headline calls the “€13bn Budget Trick”. It writes that the government is plotting a €13bn giveaway ahead of the general election, despite claiming the Budget 2025 package will be €8.3bn. The significant gap between the declared figure and the actual amount is due to the government quietly changing the definition of its own spending rule to hide €4.5bn of expenditure and ensuring a so-far unannounced cost of living package worth hundreds of millions is paid out this year to avoid being included in Budget 2025 accounts.   Meanwhile, Intercom has completely jettisoned plans to relocate to new headquarters in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin. The company, which in 2019 agreed a deal to pre-let the entire Cadenza building on an 18-year lease, has decided instead to remain at its current offices on St Stephen’s Green. Pre-tax losses at Intercom jumped to $62m last year, largely due to the company’s decision to delay moving into new headquarters in Dublin.   Newly filed accounts show that Huawei’s Irish subsidiary Aspiegel recorded a sharp decline in revenues last year. The Dublin-based subsidiary, which controls most of the Chinese company’s mobile software services, reported turnover of €232.8m last year, down 26.7% versus the €317.6m recorded a year ago. The decline was attributed to a drop in device sales, with the company saying the slump in revenues was offset to an extent by a corresponding decrease in cost of sales and admin expenses.   Grant Thornton’s Irish partners are weighing up a debt deal as part of a strategic review of its corporate structure that has already led to interest from private equity investors. Senior partners at the firm are considering a debt financing arrangement as one of a number of options to replace its partnership model with a corporate structure. Grant Thornton Ireland has hired Deutsche Bank to carry out a review as investors flock to the professional services sector across the world and firms race to invest in AI and other technologies.   Europe seems to be on the cusp of private market recovery while Ireland’s path still looks rocky. Ireland struggled in the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, other European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, have suffered continuous declines quarter on quarter until the second quarter of 2024 when they began to see an uplift, leaving Ireland as an outlier in a wider European trend. In Europe, private equity deals increased 27.3% from April through June, bouncing back from one of the worst quarters in recent years.   In brief ●      K&L Gates Irish boss says domestic law firms are slower to ‘unwind’ gender imbalance ●      Specialist contract research organisation Hvivo reports 30.6% revenue increase ●      Datalex to launch €25m fundraising to repay Desmond-owned firm

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The Sunday Independent leads with a splash as a computer expert employed by one of the top four accountancy firms in Dublin is suspected of laundering hundreds of thousands of US dollars in cryptocurrency for criminal organisations. The IT specialist is one of several people employed in the financial or tech sector who came under suspicion during the joint operation with Interpol targeting west African-based crime gangs. Operation Jackal resulted in the arrests of 63 people in Ireland and 300 worldwide in the past three months.   In the business pages, the airport bus provider Aircoach has quietly cancelled up to a third of its timetabled bus services on some popular routes in recent days amid a brewing row with its drivers. Drivers represented by Siptu are “working under protest” since July 6, the trade union confirmed. The drivers claim that Aircoach has unilaterally imposed major changes to their rosters without agreement, according to a Siptu spokesman. But he insisted the drivers were not involved in industrial action or in a “work-to-rule” protest.   The owner of Smyth’s of Haddington Road, a well-known pub in Dublin 4 close to the Aviva Stadium, has plans to demolish the bar and build a mixed-use site that includes flats. Courtney’s Lounge Bars recently submitted a planning application to Dublin City Council. According to the planning report, the pub building is not a protected structure, though part of the site fronting onto Percy Place is within a conservation area. It is not the first time Hugh Courtney has made efforts to build flats on the site.   British public limited company Water Intelligence has bought Co Clare water leak expert Feakle Gas & Plumbing (FG&P) in a €2.3m deal. The British firm said the “strategic acquisition” would give it a foothold in Ireland, as well as in the EU market where there are “significant” opportunities.   In brief ●      Louis Vuitton’s Irish profits jump 21%, up €1.4m on €36.5m sales  ●      Traffic planners fear the building of an offshore windfarm could make Dublin traffic worse ●      Limerick-based whiskey company Foxes Bow funding for Canada expansion

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Senior gardai fear further confrontations with protesters unless there is “immediate community engagement” on asylum seeker accommodation in the wake of last week’s riots. Their concerns follow violent clashes in Coolock, north Dublin, where officers were attacked with stones, bricks and fireworks, and a building earmarked to house 500 refugees was firebombed twice. Senior officers are now set to meet anti-immigration councillors in a bid to curb future violent protests.   A serious overhaul of the TV licence fee model could lead to hotels, bars and bookmakers needing to pay extra under proposals to be considered by the cabinet. While today’s €160 licence does not look at the number of screens in a household or business, the new measures would make commercial premises pay €169.50 for the first 15 screens then €169.50 for every five further screens.   The Sunday Times wonders whether Ireland has hit peak foreign direct investment (FDI) amidst a slowdown in investment from the US and a lack of progress on infrastructure and housing at home. After record multinational investment in 2021, the flow of FDI slowed in 2023 and again in the first six months of this year. IDA Ireland reported a net employment loss among its client companies of just over 1,000 jobs last year, “driven by a slowdown” in the IT services sector. The Central Bank of Ireland has warned that uncertainty over future revenue from FDI remains “a key vulnerability for the public finances”.   In brief ●      Enterprise minister Peter Burke wants to reduce VAT on broadband bills in next budget  ●      Johnny Ronan fighting a rearguard action to reclaim his €150m Dublin property portfolio ●      National Asset Management Agency weighing up clearance sale of most troubled loans

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The FT leads with the global IT outage that has thrown the world into chaos after what should have been a routine soft­ware update cas­caded into a global crisis. Companies across the world have been affected. Thou­sands of flights were can­celled on Friday, work­ers in cit­ies from Tokyo to Lon­don were unable to log on to their com­puters, hos­pital oper­a­tions were post­poned and some tele­vi­sion chan­nels went off air. The out­age has been blamed on a secur­ity update from US group Crowd­Strike, which caused a prob­lem with Microsoft’s Win­dows. Busi­nesses are likely to take days or even weeks to fully recover   Abu Dhabi-backed Red­Bird IMI has received at least seven bids for the UK’s Daily Tele­graph news­pa­per and Spec­tator magazine. The dead­line for first-round bids for the titles closed yes­ter­day, attract­ing close to 20 inter­ested parties, includ­ing private equity investors and indi­vidual bil­lion­aires. However, not all were expec­ted to bid by the dead­line, they said, while more are expec­ted before and dur­ing the week­end. Red­Bird IMI intends to sell the assets for at least £600m.   Big Tech stocks are “no longer the only game in town”, accord­ing to investors who over the past week have moved out of the mega­caps that have driven the mar­ket rally for years in favour of smal­ler com­pan­ies and other pre­vi­ously unloved sec­tors. The Rus­sell 2000 small-cap index has jumped 7% since Thursday of last week in a dra­matic mar­ket shift sparked by fall­ing infla­tion and encour­aged by an improv­ing earn­ings out­look. Mean­while, the so-called Mag­ni­fi­cent Seven have fallen.   In brief ●      Adi­das pulls half-Palestinian model Bella Hadid from cam­paign after Israeli back­lash ●      Senior Nomura banker allowed to leave main­land China after departure ban last year ●      Enticing tax breaks have lured many expats and rich foreigners to Milan

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WSJ reports that the activist Elliott Investment Management has built a sizable stake in Starbucks and has been pushing the coffee giant privately on ways to boost its stock price. The exact size of Elliott’s previously undisclosed position couldn’t be determined. Elliott’s other demands, including whether it is seeking board seats, couldn’t be learned either. Though it’s believed that the situation is fluid, and it is possible they will reach an agreement privately soon.   The US white-collar labour market is entering a more uncertain phase after cooling for more than a year. Job insecurity is climbing and fewer professionals feel emboldened to change their employment. The lack of turnover is stalling hiring even more as companies rethink their talent needs after pandemic hiring sprees. Hiring for roles that usually require a bachelor’s degree has dropped below 2019 rates in recent months, new data from payroll provider ADP show.   Global fashion brands are in the spotlight as journalists, lawyers and regulators take a closer look at companies’ sustainability practices with more mandatory environmental disclosures coming into effect. Athleisure company Lululemon Athletica and Swiss sportswear brand On have recently been exposed for misleading customers. Chris Cole, partner at the law firm Katten, called greenwashing suits the “next frontier” in class-action litigation.    In brief ●      The Dow, S& P 500 and Nasdaq fall after the global tech outage ●      The World Economic Forum has opened a probe into its workplace culture ●      WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years in Russian penal colony after sham trial

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