Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
The UK’s prowess in building promising financial technology and artificial intelligence start-ups has helped it record the third-highest number of “unicorn” businesses in the world.
Only the United States and China have more private companies worth more than $1 billion, according to a new global ranking.
The UK now has a record 80 unicorns, worth a combined £242.4 billion, overtaking India to take third place in an annual ranking produced by Hurun Research Institute, a Shanghai-based research company.
Click here to read the full story in The Times.
The US government has lifted an export ban on Anthropic’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools, just weeks after ordering it to restrict access to them over national security concerns, the company has said.
Anthropic said in a statement that it will begin restoring access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 on Wednesday after being notified that the US Department of Commerce has lifted restrictions on the two models.
They are the firm’s most advanced AI tools, which were abruptly suspended on 12 June over concerns that they could be used by hackers to exploit weaknesses in computer systems.
Read the BBC article here.
Seven of the country’s largest building companies face a £4.5billion class action over claims that alleged anti-competitive practices resulted in higher prices for homebuyers.
The claim is being led by Mark McLaren, a former legal affairs manager at the consumer group Which?, against Barratt Redrow, Bellway, the Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and the Vistry Group.
Legal action against the companies comes after the consumer watchdog accepted binding commitments last year from the seven that they would not collude to share information.
Read the full story in The Times.
The government has said it may intervene in Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, which could hold up the $110 billion deal and present one of the first big tests for relations between Andy Burnham and President Trump.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has written to Paramount Skydance — led by David Ellison, whose father Larry is one of the world’s richest men — and Warner Bros Discovery to inform them she is “minded” to intervene in the transaction on public interest grounds.
These include the need for “sufficient” plurality of views in news in the UK, as well as media ownership. Grounds for intervention do not currently cover streaming but Nandy said on-demand services were relevant and that she would introduce secondary legislation if necessary.
Read more in The Times.
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