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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A subsidiary of Chinese battery company Gotion has abandoned a plan to build a $2.4 billion plant in Michigan to produce key materials for electric vehicle batteries, the state said on Thursday. The plan, first announced in October 2022, was expected to create 2,350 factory jobs but came under criticism from some lawmakers for the company's Chinese ownership. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) said none of a $125 million state grant for the project was ever disbursed and it will pursue repayment of another $23.6 million state award that went toward purchase of the property. Germany's Volkswagen is the largest single shareholder in Gotion Inc's parent company, owning about 30% of Gotion High-Tech. U.S. lawmakers said last month China maintains "effective control" through multiple individual shareholders. Gotion Inc's head of corporate and public affairs, Benjamin Howes, would not address specific questions on the plant but said in a statement the firm "remains firmly committed to its mission of driving America's clean energy future" including at a plant in Illinois. Volkswagen was not available to comment. In March 2024, Gotion sued Green Township in Michigan for allegedly breaching an agreement to build the plant. The MEDC last month sent Gotion a letter saying it was in default on its grant agreement because there had been no actions on the project site in more than 120 days. The state had given Gotion 30 days to resolve the default. A lawyer acting for Gotion Inc said in a letter to the MEDC seen by Reuters that it was "utterly false" to accuse the company of abandoning the project. He added because of a "barrage of attacks that Gotion has had to endure at this site" and Green Township's opposition, that a better course of action was to suspend the default for six months to have "an open and candid discussion about the viability of the project and the long-term plan for this site." Over the last year, Americans' waning enthusiasm for electric cars led automakers to delay or scrap factory projects. After recent EV policy changes by the Trump administration, automakers are further retrenching. Representative John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs a select committee on China, praised the withdrawal of state support for the project. He had worked with residents in Green Township to oppose the project and bar U.S. government subsidies for Chinese-affiliated battery companies like Gotion. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Christopher Cushing)

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(Reuters) -Two Grindr board members, part of an investor group that owns more than 60% of the company, have proposed to take one of the world's most recognized dating platforms for the LGBTQIA+ community private for about $3.46 billion. Shares of the company were up over 22%. A deal would give board members Ray Zage and James Lu greater control of the popular LGBTQIA+ dating platform with millions of users in more than 190 countries, at a time when online dating companies are under immense pressure to rekindle growth. Grindr, along with industry leaders such as Tinder-parent Match Group and Bumble has wrestled with slowing user additions and rising criticism of "swiping fatigue," as younger users experiment with AI-driven and niche matchmaking alternatives. Zage and Lu originally acquired Grindr in June 2020, and led the company's public listing in November 2022. They have each served on the Grindr board of directors since the acquisition, with Lu serving as chairman during that time. The consortium has secured significant expressions of interest to participate in financing, including multiple highly confident letters and contributions of equity, and is confident that these sources will be fully sufficient to fund the acquisition, the shareholders said in a statement. "We are strong believers in the long-term outlook for the company — I have been a consistent buyer of shares in Grindr since listing, buying over $200 million of shares on the public market and am also willing to contribute additional equity to this deal," Zage said. The company's stock has been volatile since going public in 2022, trading below its debut levels for much of the last year. The offer of $18 per share represents a 51% premium over the stock price on October 10, the day prior to when shareholders first informed the company of their intention to explore a going-private transaction, they said. Grindr did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Last week, Grindr's board established a "special committee comprised of disinterested and independent directors in the event that a definitive, bona fide proposal, including committed financing, is presented to the company for evaluation," Grindr said. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru and Arsheeya Bajwa; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Reuters) -A consortium of Grindr shareholders who own more than 60% of its outstanding shares, including George Raymond Zage III and James Fu Bin Lu, has submitted a non-binding proposal to take the dating app private, offering $18 per share. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Reuters) -A consortium of Grindr shareholders who own more than 60% of its outstanding shares, led by board members George Raymond Zage and James Fu Bin Lu, has submitted a non-binding proposal to take the LGBTQIA+ dating app private for about $3.46 billion. Shares of the company were up over 22%. Since its 2009 launch, Grindr has evolved into one of the world's most recognized dating platforms for the LGBTQIA+ community, with millions of users in more than 190 countries. The consortium has secured significant expressions of interest to participate in financing, including multiple highly confident letters and contributions of equity, and is confident that these sources will be fully sufficient to fund the acquisition, the shareholders said in a statement. The offer of $18 per share represents a 51% premium over the stock price on October 10, the day prior to when shareholders first informed the company of their intention to explore a going-private transaction, they said. Grindr did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Zage and Lu originally acquired Grindr in June 2020, and led the company's public listing in November 2022. They have each served on the Grindr board of directors since the acquisition, with Lu serving as chairman during that time. The move could give Zage and Lu greater control at a time when online dating companies are under immense pressure to rekindle growth. Industry leaders such as Tinder-parent Match Group and Bumble have wrestled with slowing user additions and rising criticism of "swiping fatigue," as younger users experiment with AI-driven and niche matchmaking alternatives. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru and Arsheeya Bajwa; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Reuters) -A consortium of Grindr shareholders who own more than 60% of its outstanding shares, led by board members George Raymond Zage and James Fu Bin Lu, has submitted a non-binding proposal to take the dating app private for about $3.46 billion. Shares of the company were up over 22%. Since its 2009 launch, Grindr has evolved into one of the world's most recognized dating platforms for the LGBTQIA+ community, with millions of users in more than 190 countries. The consortium has secured significant expressions of interest to participate in financing, including multiple highly confident letters and contributions of equity, and is confident that these sources will be fully sufficient to fund the acquisition, the shareholders said in a statement. Grindr did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Corrects headline and paragraph one to reflect that the algorithm performs error correct and not quantum computing; corrects Jay Gambetta's title in paragraph 5) By Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -IBM said on Friday it is able to run a key quantum computing error correction algorithm on commonly available chips from Advanced Micro Devices, in a step toward commercializing super-powerful computers. The U.S. stalwart is racing to develop quantum computing against Microsoft and Alphabet's Google, which announced a breakthrough algorithm this week. Quantum computers use what are known as qubits to tackle problems that would take conventional computers thousands of years to crack – problems such as how trillions of atoms react over time. However, qubits are prone to errors that can quickly overwhelm the useful computing work of a quantum chip. In June, IBM said it had developed an algorithm to run alongside quantum chips that can address such errors. In a research paper seen by Reuters to be published Monday, IBM will show that it can run those algorithms in real time on a type of chip called a field programmable gate array manufactured by AMD. Jay Gambetta, director of IBM research, said the work showed that IBM's algorithm not only works in the real world, but can operate on a readily available AMD chip that is not "ridiculously expensive."  "Implementing it, and showing that the implementation is actually 10 times faster than what is needed, is a big deal," Gambetta said in an interview. IBM has a multi-year plan to build a quantum computer called Starling by 2029. Gambetta said the algorithm work disclosed Friday was completed a year ahead of schedule. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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(Reuters) -Indian IT services firm Coforge reported a better-than-expected 86% surge in second-quarter profit as client spending picked up across the sector. Consolidated net profit rose to 3.76 billion rupees in the quarter ended Sept. 30, above analysts' average expectation of 3.71 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG. Revenue rose 31.7% to 39.86 billion rupees ($453.50 million), largely in line with analysts' estimate of 40.33 billion rupees. However, Coforge's deal wins for the quarter were marginally lower at $514 million from $516 million last year. KEY CONTEXT Coforge's results come as larger rivals Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro beat estimates for quarterly revenue and expect to see improving demand in the second half of the fiscal year. Strong deal wins and clients' growing willingness to invest in AI projects are seen as key drivers for the industry. Analysts also attributed realisations from Coforge's $1.5 billion deal with U.S. client Sabre as a significant factor. PEER COMPARISON Valuation Estimates (next 12 Analysts' sentiment (next 12 months) months) RIC PE EV/EBI Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div TDA growth(%) growth(%) rating* analysts price yield target** (%) Coforge 35.97 19.38 23.88 42.63 Buy 32 0.93 0.89 Persistent 44.45 29.93 19.01 23.90 Hold 36 0.97 0.61 Systems Mphasis 25.20 15.94 10.87 12.27 Buy 35 0.91 2.12 Tech Mahindra 21.62 14.16 5.88 24.21 Hold 42 0.93 3.11 * Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT JULY-SEPT STOCK PERFORMANCE ($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Aleef Jahan and Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Janane Venkatraman)

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By Naomi Rovnick LONDON (Reuters) -Major investors, spooked by AI exuberance yet wary of betting against it, are shifting from hyped-up stocks into potential next-in-line winners, reviving a strategy from the 1990s dotcom era that helped some sidestep the crash. As U.S. stocks have hit successive records and AI chipmaker Nvidia's valuation has surged beyond $4 trillion, professional investors have been trying to find ways to make money from the bull market while avoiding excessive risk. Some are looking back to the 1990s internet boom, which spread from startups to telecoms and tech, and where hedge funds rode the wave by flipping out of highly-valued stocks before they peaked and picking others that had room to rise. "What we are doing is what worked from 1998 to 2000," said Francesco Sandrini, multi-asset head and Italy CIO at Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi. He highlighted signs of irrational exuberance on Wall Street, such as frenzied trading in risky options pegged to the share prices of big AI stocks. But he said he expected the new tech enthusiasm to continue and hoped to bank gains via bets on reasonably valued assets that might rally next. Sandrini said this involved trying to find "the highest growth opportunities that so far the market had failed to spot", with moves into software groups, robotics and Asian tech. Other investors also expected to edge out of Wall Street's Magnificent Seven stocks after shares in Nvidia more than tripled in two years, but want to keep their diversification within the AI sphere. ASSET MANAGERS NEED TO BE NIMBLE TO RIDE THE WAVE "The odds of this (AI boom) being a bust are very high because you've got companies spending trillions and all fighting for the same market that does not yet exist," said Goshawk Asset Management CIO Simon Edelsten, who worked on telecom IPOs at stockbroker Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in London in 1999. He expected the next phase of AI fever to spread from Nvidia and others like Microsoft and Alphabet into related sectors. Timing the phases of a bubble has historically been a way to play it without the risk of trying to call the peak too early. A study by economists Markus Brunnermeir and Stefan Nagel showed that hedge funds mostly did not bet against the dotcom bubble, but rode it skillfully enough to beat the market by about 4.5% per quarter from 1998-2000 and avoid the worst of the downturn. They shed high-priced internet stocks in time to recycle profits into others before they caught the attention of less sophisticated investors. "There were good profits to be made for the fleet of foot even during 2000 when the top came," Edelsten at Goshawk said, adding the current market environment was similar to 1999. He favoured IT consultants and Japanese robotics groups that can potentially pick up revenues from AI heavyweights, in what he said was the typical chronology of a market gold rush. "When someone strikes gold, (you) buy the local hardware store where the prospectors will buy all their shovels." INVESTORS TRY TO STAY IN AI WITHOUT EXCESSIVE RISK Investors are also attempting to benefit from the trillions of dollars so-called hyperscalers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet are committing to AI data centres and advanced chips without taking on more direct exposure to these companies. Fidelity International multi-asset manager Becky Qin said uranium was her favoured new AI trade because power-hungry AI data centres could gobble up nuclear energy. Kevin Thozet, investment committee member at asset manager Carmignac, was taking profits on Magnificent Seven stocks and building up a position in Taiwan's Gudeng Precision, which makes delivery boxes for AI chipmakers including TSMC. Asset managers are also concerned that the rush to build data centres could result in overcapacity, as in the fiber-optic cable boom in the telecoms industry. "In any new technological paradigm we don't get from A to B without excesses along the way," said Pictet Asset Management senior multi-asset strategist Arun Sai. Even though top AI stocks like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet are being powered by strong earnings, he still sees "the building blocks of a bubble" and favours Chinese stocks as a hedge if rapid AI advancements in China sap Wall Street's AI enthusiasm. Some investors, though, do not favour this relative value approach to AI investing as a way to mitigate future losses. Oliver Blackbourn, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, said he was hedging his U.S. tech positions with European and healthcare assets lest an AI stock crash takes the U.S. economy down with it. He said it was impossible to forecast how long the AI craze would roll on because calling the peak was usually only possible with hindsight. "We're in 1999 until the bubble pops." (Reporting by Naomi Rovnick; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Jane Merriman)

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By Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican lawmakers have been praising a preliminary plan under consideration by President Donald Trump's administration to curb exports to China of a dizzying array of globally produced technology powered by U.S. software, as first reported by Reuters.  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the proposal which, if implemented, could hit global shipments to China of everything from laptops to jet engines, cars and industrial pumps, as part of a bid to retaliate against Beijing's latest round of rare earth export restrictions. “President Trump’s strong moves to secure our nation’s supply chains, safeguard our software, and protect the American people are all critical steps to countering China’s predatory actions targeting the U.S. economy this month," Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, said in a statement to Reuters when asked about the proposed measure. The policy, if it moves forward, would make good on Trump's threat in a social media post this month to bar "critical software" exports to China by restricting global shipments of items that contain U.S. software or were produced using U.S. software. Trump's post came a day after Beijing dramatically expanded its export controls on rare earth elements, key inputs for U.S. automakers and other tech industries that are largely controlled by China. "I will confirm that everything is on the table," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at the White House Wednesday when asked about software curbs on China. "If these export controls – whether it's software, engines or other things – happen, it will likely be in coordination with our G7 allies." Republican Senator Rick Scott echoed Moolenaar's praise, saying he fully supports "the Trump administration’s bold actions to hold Communist China accountable and restrict its access to American technology, software, or intellectual property that would undoubtedly be used against us. This is a huge step in protecting American innovation, jobs, and our national security," he added.  (Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by David Gregorio)

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