Following repeated security debacles at OpenAI and Anthropic—both of which have developed agents that ended up hacking external systems—AI safety researchers within both firms have either announced their resignations or (finally!) conceded that the breathless race to advance the “frontier” is irr...

Economics For The Many: Distorted Intelligence at the AI Frontier

Designer babies who are genetically engineered for desirable health, physical and intellectual features are now within reach using existing technologies, a prospect that raises far-reaching societal and ethical questions not unlike those associated with advances in artificial intelligence (AI). O...

Economics For The Many: There is only one acceptable path for designer babies

When the German soccer player Deniz Undav scored two late-game goals to clinch a 2-1 victory for his team over Ivory Coast, you would have been hard-pressed to find many German fans who did not see him as a national hero. Few cared that the Turkish-Syrian son of Kurdish Yazidi parents did not loo...

Economics For The Many: The World Cup vs. the Extremists

Under President Donald Trump, US foreign policy has reached a new low. His administration’s war on Iran, coming just after its kidnapping of Venezuela’s dictator, will damage the United States and change how the rest of the world views American power.

Of course, this is not the first ti...

Economics For The Many: Trump’s Iran Quagmire Could Sink America

The Trump administration’s “flood the zone” strategy can make it difficult to see when a turning point occurs in the US’ slide into authoritarianism. Some might say this is an objective of the strategy, which is built on gradual encroachments on people’s rights and institutional checks. But the k...

Economics For The Many: Bloody Minnesota

I was fortunate to participate in the recent AI Action Summit in Paris, where many discussions emphasised the need to steer AI in a more socially beneficial direction. At a time of increasingly loud calls for AI acceleration from Silicon Valley — and now from the US government — the opportunity t...

Economics For The Many: Will we squander the AI opportunity?

After the release of DeepSeek-R1 on Jan 20 triggered a massive drop in chipmaker Nvidia’s share price and sharp declines in various other tech companies’ valuations, some declared this a “Sputnik moment” in the Sino-American race for supremacy in artificial intelligence. While America’s AI indust...

Economics For The Many: A Sputnik moment for AI?

Fissures within US President-elect Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” coalition have appeared sooner than expected. By the end of December, the tech-billionaire wing was in open warfare with MAGA’s nativist wing over America’s H-1B visa program, which enables US businesses to employ some 6...

Economics for the Many: Are High-Skill Immigrants a Problem?

It should not have come as such a surprise that US voters were largely unmoved by the Democrats’ warnings that Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American institutions. In a January 2024 Gallup poll, only 28% of Americans (a record low) said that they were satisfied with “the way US democracy is working.”

Economics for the Many: The Fall and Rise of American Democracy

The Labour Party’s sweeping victory in the UK’s general election already holds lessons for centre and centre-left parties elsewhere. But whether it will matter in the long run depends on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s ability to address his country’s economic woes — a very tall order.

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Economics For The Many: The Starmer model

Asian stocks were set to rebound Friday as concerns over stretched artificial-intelligence valuations eased, putting the region on course for its first gain this week after a four-day slide.

Asian stocks set for gains as tech selloff eases

Indonesia faces a potential ejection from global stock indexes after MSCI Inc. said the country no longer merits emerging-market status, escalating the threat of foreign investor flight as concerns deepen over market integrity.

MSCI weighs downgrade of Indonesia to remove from global indexes

Wall Street staged a comeback after losses driven by concerns about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered the bull market in stocks.

Stock buyers step in to power Wall Street rebound

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15): The Retirement Fund Incorporated's (KWAP) RM750 million allocation under Budget 2027 represents a planned commercial investment for Projek Vista Kampus across six selected universities, with the investment intended to generate sustainable long-term returns for the retiremen...

KWAP's RM750 mil campus project a planned commercial investment for long-term returns

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday.

Zetrix AI, Bus Cap, Sunway, AWC, CTOS Digital, Kimlun Corp, CelcomDigi, Vestland, HeiTech Padu, Duopharma Biotech, Mycron Steel, HCK Capital, JAKS Resources, Citaglobal, PJBumi

Norway-registered SEA1 Offshore Rederi AS has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in loss-making Propel Global Bhd (KL:PGB), after disposing of 49.23 million shares in the oil and gas services group.

SEA1 Offshore ceases to be substantial shareholder in Propel Global

Philippine authorities said a politician from Marawi City in the country's southern island of Mindanao had allegedly chartered the Malaysia-based private jet involved in a bid to fly over half a tonne of meth from Laos to the Philippines, Bernama reports.

Mindanao politician funded private jet in Laos drug bust, say Philippine authorities

A total of 13,743.15 tonnes of vehicle battery waste classified under scheduled waste code SW103 were generated nationwide between 2021 and 2025, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES).

A total of 13,743 tonnes of battery waste generated nationwide from 2021 to 2025

Malaysia is stepping up efforts to achieve its US$30 billion bilateral trade target with Thailand in 2027 through improved border infrastructure, cross-border financing and trade facilitation measures under Budget 2027, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

Amir Hamzah said bilateral trade reached RM85.08 billion in the first seven months of 2026, compared with RM66.95 billion in the same period last year, while trade along the Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao corridor totalled RM27 billion in the first half of this year.

Malaysia steps up efforts to achieve US$30 bil trade target with Thailand

Malaysia should continue fiscal consolidation, broaden its tax base and improve subsidy targeting to strengthen its resilience to future economic shocks, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

IMF Asia and Pacific Department director Krishna Srinivasan said Malaysia and Brunei were the two Asean countries exporting energy and benefiting from the recent energy shocks.

Malaysia should broaden tax base, improve subsidy targeting to withstand future shocks — IMF

Philippine authorities said a politician from Marawi City in the country's southern island of Mindanao had allegedly chartered the Malaysia-based private jet&nbsp;involved in a bid to fly over half a tonne of meth from Laos to the Philippines, Bernama reports.

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Thursday.

Of the 19 Bursa Malaysia-listed firms dropped by audit firm TGS TW PLT last month, 13 have since announced replacements, with interior design outfit Adnex Group Bhd (KL:ADNEX) being the latest to fill the vacancy.

Thirteen of 19 firms dropped by TGS TW have named replacements; most opted for Kudos SBC

JAKS Resources Bhd (KL:JAKS) has proposed to place out up to 10% of its total issued shares to third-party investors to be identified to raise an estimated RM40.71 million for debt repayment and working capital.

JAKS Resources plans RM40.71m placement to raise funds for debt repayment, working capital

Labuan Corporation (LC) has appointed entrepreneur Jeffrey Lim Tau Hoong as chief executive officer of its wholly-owned investment subsidiary, Invest Labuan Sdn Bhd (ILSB), effective Thursday.

Jeffrey Lim appointed Invest Labuan CEO

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15): The Retirement Fund Incorporated's (KWAP) RM750 million allocation under Budget 2027 represents a planned commercial investment for Projek Vista Kampus across six selected universities, with the investment intended to generate sustainable long-term returns for the retiremen...

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will start collecting data from banks, insurers and payment firms automatically through application programming interfaces (APIs) in late 2028, replacing the reporting system it has used since 2012.

Bank Negara to replace 14-year-old reporting system with API-based data collection from late 2028

Vestland Bhd (KL:VLB) has secured a contract worth RM225.07 million to undertake river widening and related flood mitigation works in Kelantan.

Vestland bags RM225 mil river widening job in Kelantan

Citaglobal Bhd (KL:CITAGLB) has proposed a capital reduction of RM255 million to wipe out its accumulated losses and create retained earnings to enable a share buyback.

Citaglobal proposes RM255m capital reduction and share buyback

The Nasdaq fell to near one-month lows on Thursday, weighed by a worsening sell-off in AI-linked stocks on fears rising interest rates could impact artificial-intelligence investments, and fresh data pointing to building US price pressures.

Nasdaq slides to near one-month low as AI rout deepens

In his Budget 2027 speech, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced RM1.2 billion in investments by Khazanah Nasional and KWAP to help local semiconductor companies move into higher-value segments, including an investment fund involving Khazanah and the Selangor state government. Separately, Khazanah and InvestPenang will establish a RM100 million Strategic Investment Fund to support semiconductor and advanced manufacturing companies in their early stages of growth. These commitments signal support for domestic industrial upgrading. Yet the speech offers no explicit focus or dedicated measures for precision machining and outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) — two critical pillars of Malaysia’s semiconductor ecosystem that deserve greater attention in the country’s industrial strategy.

Opinion: Budget 2027 — Malaysia must back its semiconductor backbone before the window closes

Malaysia will continue to use diplomatic channels and Asean mechanisms to address the transboundary haze issue with Indonesia through a phased approach that prioritises its people's interests and health, without jeopardising bilateral relations, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

Malaysia has no plans to take legal action or issue diplomatic note over haze — Mohamad Hasan

Malaysia should continue fiscal consolidation, broaden its tax base and improve subsidy targeting to strengthen its resilience to future economic shocks, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

IMF Asia and Pacific Department director Krishna Srinivasan said Malaysia and Brunei were the two Asean countries exporting energy and benefiting from the recent energy shocks.

Corporate governance in Malaysia is entering an enhanced phase. As Malaysia moves towards the forthcoming 2026 revision of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG), attention is moving beyond boards and directors to the wider governance ecosystem, including the role and accountability of company secretaries.

The shift is significant. In a recent speech, the Securities Commission (SC) Chairman said consultations for MCCG 2026 highlighted the need to strengthen the competence, capabilities and professionalism of company secretaries.&nbsp;

Corporate governance beyond the boardroom

The World Economic Forum could appoint Christine Lagarde as its next chair as soon as next month, four people close to the organisation told Reuters, meaning she would step down early as European Central Bank chief and trigger a wider reshuffle at the top of the ECB.

WEF could appoint Lagarde as early as November — Reuters

Norway-registered SEA1 Offshore Rederi AS has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in loss-making Propel Global Bhd (KL:PGB), after disposing of 49.23 million shares in the oil and gas services group.

Big Tech’s hunger for electricity to run artificial intelligence (AI) could help pay for the clean energy the world needs, said Professor William Chueh, director of Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy.

Big Tech’s appetite for power could pay for clean energy

Diversified group PJBumi Bhd (KL:PJBUMI) is proposing the private placement of up 10% of its shares to raise RM31.1 million for existing and future contracts.

PJBumi moots RM31m private placement a week after share-split nod 

Microsoft president Brad Smith warned the Trump administration's move to restrict green-card access for skilled foreign workers could hurt US technological competitiveness and drive talent overseas, Politico reported on Thursday.

Microsoft president warns green-card curbs could hurt US tech — report

&nbsp;Indonesia faces a potential ejection from global stock indexes after MSCI Inc. said the country no longer merits emerging-market status, escalating the threat of foreign investor flight as concerns deepen over market integrity.

Daron Acemoglu

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Daron Acemoglu

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