World Street | China tackles property crisis; OpenAI dissolves Superalignment team; GameStop tumbles, and more

World Street offers a sneak peek into the world of business and economy.

Boeing shareholders re-elect CEO Dave Calhoun amid stability efforts following a 737 Max 9 incident. China's government launches measures to revive its property market OpenAI dissolves its Superalignment team. China's Nio challenges Tesla's Model Y with its Onvo brand. GameStop stock plunges after announcing plans to issue 45 million shares. All this and more on this edition of World Street.

CEO Encore

Boeing shareholders have voted to re-elect the outgoing CEO, Dave Calhoun, to the board of directors, according to a preliminary tally. Calhoun has been working to reassure investors that the company is on a path to stability amid its latest safety crisis.

In March, Calhoun announced he would step down by the end of the year, following an incident where a door plug panel blew out mid-flight on a Boeing 737 Max 9. This event brought renewed scrutiny to the manufacturer’s safety and quality control practices.

Beijing Bailout

Xi Jinping's government has unveiled its most aggressive effort to revive the struggling Chinese property market. The measures include relaxing mortgage rules and urging local governments to purchase unsold homes, reflecting growing concerns about the sector's impact on economic growth.

The support package also features reduced down-payment requirements for homebuyers and 300 billion yuan ($42 billion) of central bank funding to assist government-backed firms in buying excess inventory from developers. These properties will then be converted into affordable housing.

Guardians Gone

In the same week that OpenAI launched GPT-4o, its most human-like AI to date, the company dissolved its Superalignment team, Wired reported. The Superalignment team, established in July 2023 and co-led by Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, was focused on mitigating AI risks, including the threat of AI "going rogue."

Tesla Target

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio has introduced the first car from its new budget brand, Onvo, directly challenging Tesla's best-selling Model Y. The L60 SUV, with prices starting at 219,900 yuan ($30,465, £23,990), is over 10% cheaper than the Model Y, which is priced at 249,900 yuan.

The launch comes in the same week that US President Joe Biden announced he would quadruple the import tax on electric cars from China.

GameStop Gamble

GameStop stock plummeted more than 20 percent on Thursday after the company announced that it may issue up to 45 million additional shares. The video game retailer also released first-quarter preliminary results that show a decline in net sales from the same quarter a year ago.

The sale comes after GameStop shares surged earlier this week, fueled by posts on X from the long-dormant account of “Roaring Kitty,” also known as Keith Gill, one of the key figures in the 2021 meme stock mania.

TikTok Tussle

China-based ByteDance Ltd. asked an appeals court to speed up its lawsuit challenging a US law that would force it to sell the TikTok video-sharing app or face a ban, reported Bloomberg.

Lawyers for ByteDance and TikTok emphasized the need for prompt consideration of the case to prevent irreparable harm, according to a filing on Friday in the federal appeals court in the District of Columbia.

Apple's Antitrust Argument

Apple Inc.'s efforts to defend the 27 percent fee it charges developers for purchases made outside its App Store faced setbacks as US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers questioned an executive about a company-commissioned study suggesting half that rate would be more reasonable, reported Bloomberg.

The federal judge listened to a fourth day of testimony to determine whether the iPhone maker is complying with a 2021 court order in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc., which included provisions for app developers to link to payment options not controlled by Apple.