Baker McKenzie has secured two senior Ashurst equity capital markets specialists as the firm positions itself for an anticipated London markets revival. Simon Bullock and Stuart Rubin, who lead Ashurst's domestic and global securities operations respectively, will transition to their former colleague Nick Bryans' corporate finance team.
The departures strike Ashurst as the firm finalizes its $2.7 billion combination with American practice Perkins Coie. Bullock and Rubin bring extensive experience across initial public offerings, block trades, and complex corporate restructurings to Baker McKenzie's largest global office.
Baker McKenzie's London hub has absorbed ten partners throughout the year, drawing talent from CMS, Mishcon de...
Snap Inc. has brought aboard Zachary Briers to serve as its next general counsel, filling the vacancy left by departing legal chief Michael O'Sullivan. The incoming executive arrives from Munger Tolles & Olson, where he spent fourteen years as a partner before making the shift to the social media company behind Snapchat and Spectacles wearable technology.
O'Sullivan exits after eight years steering legal affairs at the Santa Monica-based tech firm. Munger Tolles, which handled roughly $51 million in legal services for Snap over the past year, represents a common thread between both executives. The outgoing counsel logged twenty-one years at the firm before joining Snap, while his successor built his entire legal career there until...
BlackRock faces unprecedented investor flight from its bitcoin exchange-traded fund as cryptocurrency markets endure their steepest decline since 2022. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF has lost $2.2 billion during this month, dwarfing the previous worst performance by nearly eight times. Bitcoin itself has plummeted over 40 percent from October peaks above $126,000 to approximately $87,907, marking the digital asset's most painful monthly stretch in more than three years.
Institutional money managers point to deteriorating economic conditions and plunging consumer confidence as driving forces behind the mass exodus. Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors characterizes bitcoin as the primary symbol of speculative trading segments...
Google has joined forces with venture capital firm Accel to establish an artificial intelligence accelerator program aimed at pre-seed companies within India's expanding technology sector. Participants selected for the February cohort will receive unprecedented entry to DeepMind's advanced models, substantial cloud computing resources, and potential equity investments from both organizations. The initiative grants startups access to Gemini, Imagen, and Veo systems alongside dedicated mentorship from engineering and product teams.
The partnership positions Google strategically within India's rapidly growing AI ecosystem as domestic ventures such as Sarvam AI and Krutrim secure substantial funding rounds. By collaborating with a...
A super PAC bankrolled by major tech investors has launched a $10 million offensive to pressure Congress into establishing a single federal AI policy that would block individual states from crafting their own regulations. Leading the Future is deploying television and digital advertisements alongside thousands of phone calls to lawmakers, while White House sources confirm that congressional Republicans are working to insert preemption language into spending legislation. The campaign draws backing from Andreessen Horowitz, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and others who argue that America needs unified standards rather than competing state frameworks.
The push arrives as New York and California advance their regulatory proposals, with...
OpenAI has introduced a shopping research capability within ChatGPT that generates comprehensive product recommendations with pricing comparisons and merchant details, positioning the artificial intelligence company against established platforms operated by Google and Amazon. The system allows consumers to specify budget constraints and desired features while receiving tailored suggestions drawn from publicly accessible retail websites, with the company emphasizing transparency about potential errors in availability and cost information.
The launch follows OpenAI's earlier Instant Checkout feature, creating an integrated pathway for users to investigate options and complete transactions without exiting the chat environment. All...
Amazon has committed $15 billion to establish data center infrastructure across Northern Indiana, marking one of the retail giant's largest investments within a single state and bringing its total spending in the region to $26 billion. The facilities will generate 2.4 gigawatts of additional capacity specifically designed to handle artificial intelligence computing demands while creating more than 1,100 specialized technical positions.
The company has structured an innovative arrangement with local utility provider NIPSCO that covers all infrastructure expenses while promising $1 billion in customer savings over 15 years, addressing frequent concerns about how massive data operations affect residential electricity costs. Amazon...
Anthropic has achieved a significant milestone in artificial intelligence development with its Opus 4.5 model, which becomes the first system to surpass 80 percent accuracy on SWE-Bench verified coding assessments while launching integrations for Chrome browsers and Excel spreadsheets. The company positions this release as more than incremental progress, targeting enterprise productivity through workplace tools that embed AI assistance directly into existing professional workflows rather than requiring separate applications.
The model demonstrates superior performance across multiple testing frameworks beyond coding benchmarks, handling complex tool usage scenarios, and general problem-solving tasks. Anthropic has addressed...
Africa's cryptocurrency sector has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals after recording $205 billion in blockchain transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, establishing the continent as the globe's third-fastest-expanding digital currency market. ESET Africa Cybersecurity Engineer Allan Juma warns that inadequate protective measures leave nations vulnerable to fraud, hacking operations, and money laundering schemes that exploit regulatory gaps and weak digital infrastructure.
The continent hemorrhages roughly $88.6 billion annually through illegal financial flows, with crypto scams claiming an expanding portion of these losses and hampering economic development across multiple sectors. Governments in Kenya and Ghana have...
