Firms brace for wider AI cyber risks, likely to raise spending - Business News

• Lotte India has appointed Dentsu Creative as its creative agency partner following a competitive multi-agency pitch. • Managed by Dentsu's Chennai office, the mandate includes brand strategy, creative development, and integrated campaigns for Lotte's flagship confectionery brands.

• MiniMax Group founder Yan Junjie is facing significant selling pressure as lockup periods for the Hong Kong-listed AI model developer expire this Wednesday. • The company has seen its market value plummet by $39 billion since its peak in March, resulting in a personal wealth loss of $9.3 billion for Yan.

• Chinese and Hong Kong stocks rose during midday trading, with the Hang Seng index climbing 0.7% and the blue-chip CSI300 Index gaining 0.3%. • The Shanghai Composite Index also saw a slight increase, edging 0.1% higher as market sentiment improved.

• Fonda has been introduced as an AI co-founder designed specifically to support solo entrepreneurs in the ideation and validation process. • The tool analyzes a user's skills and goals to match them with business ideas based on real-time market signals, funding trends, and competitor demand.

• Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion to establish a forward deployed engineering team designed to help companies integrate artificial intelligence into their business operations. • The initiative aims to bridge the gap between AI potential and practical application, ensuring firms can fully realize the value of AI tools in the workplace.

• An internal U.S. Treasury Department report warns that the current artificial intelligence surge could be forming a financial bubble similar to the dotcom bust of the late 1990s. • While the Trump administration maintains a bullish public stance on AI, private analysts are evaluating the risks of speculative excess within the sector.

• The U.S. tech and finance sectors are experiencing an average loss of 28,000 jobs monthly as artificial intelligence begins to impact employment. • Data from the California Policy Lab indicates that finance, insurance, information, and professional services have the highest concentration of unemployment claims among workers in AI-exposed roles.

• Investors are shifting their focus toward "old-economy" stocks as doubts grow regarding the long-term sustainability of the recent AI-driven market rally. • The trend was highlighted in the latest Markets Pulse survey, which indicates a strategic pivot away from high-growth tech sectors.

• NTT DATA's 2026 Global AI Report finds that top-performing organizations prioritize using artificial intelligence to augment and amplify the capabilities of skilled employees rather than replacing them. • The findings highlight a strategic shift toward human-AI collaboration, where technology is used to enhance productivity and professional skill sets.

• Michael Burry, the investor who inspired "The Big Short," has issued a severe warning regarding an AI bubble, describing the current market frenzy as "death by a thousand cuts." • Burry has taken aggressive short positions against major tech players, specifically targeting Micron, Nvidia, and Tesla.

• NTT DATA's global AI report identifies "Expert-first AI" as a defining strategy used by industry leaders to enhance rather than replace their workforce. • These front-runners utilize AI to amplify the impact and capabilities of highly skilled, experienced employees to drive better business outcomes.