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Friday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Barclays, Epstein

(Sharecast News) - Amazon announced plans to spend $200bn on artificial intelligence and robotics this year, the latest tech giant to vow fresh enormous investments in the artificial intelligence arms race. The news of the investment comes one day after the Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced it was cutting approximately a third of employees. - Guardian Barclays has reportedly cut ties with the lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, after intense scrutiny of the founders' dealings with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Vodafone has also said it is reviewing its contract for public affairs services with Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded in 2010 after Labour lost the general election. - Guardian

A barrister has been suspended from one of London's most prestigious legal chambers over links to Jeffrey Epstein. Matthieu de Boisséson has been suspended by Littleton Chambers pending an investigation after he appeared in documents released by the US department of justice (DoJ) related to the paedophile financier. Mr de Boisséson denies any wrongdoing. - Telegraph

Two businessmen charged by the Serious Fraud Office in its investigation into suspected fraud at Safe Hands Plans have been accused of agreeing a "dishonest plan" to take control of the customer trust via the Cayman Islands to "enrich themselves". In a hearing on Thursday at Westminster magistrates' court, Richard Wells, 39, a former director of the pre-paid funeral business's holding company, and Neil Debenham, 43, were alleged to have used trust money to buy luxury £1 million homes. - The Times

Jeffrey Epstein was introduced to Ghislaine Maxwell by her brother Kevin as part of a plan for the paedophile financier to help the Maxwell family "move money", according to a previously undisclosed account of the origins of the scandal. Kevin Maxwell, once Britain's biggest bankrupt, was "instructed to meet Epstein by his father", Robert Maxwell, according to FBI records of conversations with a former business associate of the Maxwells that have been released by the US Department of Justice. - The Times

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Wednesday newspaper round-up: News Corp, BBC, Asda
(Sharecast News) - News Corp's global chief executive has described news organisations as a valuable "input" for artificial intelligence, as the media empire signs an AI content licensing deal with Meta worth up to US$50m (A$71m) a year. In an upbeat presentation, the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's company, Robert Thomson, said the "reliable" breaking news and information in publications like the Australian, the Times of London and Dow Jones was "hard to beat" as an "input" for AI. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Anthropic's Claude, BrewDog, energy bills
(Sharecast News) - The AI model Claude has surged in popularity after being blacklisted by the Pentagon last week over ethics concerns. Claude climbed to the No 1 spot on Apple's chart of top free apps on Saturday in the US - dethroning OpenAI's ChatGPT, just one day after the Pentagon tapped OpenAI to supply AI to classified military networks. The bot's app climbed the iPhone app charts in the UK but did not beat out ChatGPT. Claude also raced up the Android charts in the US and UK, though ChatGPT reigned supreme, according to data from Sensor Tower. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: OBR, Rolls-Royce, small businesses
(Sharecast News) - Rachel Reeves must reform the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to open the way to more public investment, an alliance of thinktanks has argued ahead of the chancellor's spring forecast on Tuesday. With Keir Starmer's government under intense pressure after Labour's defeat by the Greens in Thursday's Gorton and Denton byelection, the thinktanks called on Reeves to review the watchdog's remit. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Mandelson, social media, Lloyds
(Sharecast News) - Peter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU's anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels. The commission said it referred the peer, 72, to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as Olaf, last week after the US Department of Justice released documents allegedly showing he shared sensitive government information with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. - Guardian

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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