Business

Scandal-embattled Japanese electronics and technology manufacturer Toshiba has accepted a $15 billion tender offer from a buyout fund made up of the nation’s major banks and companies. Tokyo-based Toshiba announced its board accepted the bid from Japan Industrial Partners at 4,620 yen, or $36, a share. If the proposal succeeds, it will be a major step in Toshiba’s yearslong turnaround effort, allowing it to go private. Japan Industrial Partners is a buyout fund made up of major banks and companies that was set up in 2002 to restructure Japanese companies. Overseas activist shareholders own a significant part of Toshiba’s shares. It’s unclear if they will approve the bid.

Police in Montenegro say they have arrested Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, who is wanted in South Korea following the $40 billion crash of the firm’s cryptocurrency. South Korea’s Justice Ministry confirmed the arrests of Kwon and another unidentified individual linked to the cryptocurrency crash and said Friday it will seek their extradition. South Korea last year asked Interpol to circulate a “red notice” for the agency’s 195 member nations to apprehend Kwon. He and five others are wanted because of allegations of fraud and financial crimes in relation to the implosion of Terraform's digital currencies in May 2022.

A nearly six-hour grilling of TikTok’s CEO by lawmakers brought the platform’s 150 million U.S. users no closer to an answer as to whether the app will be wiped from their devices. Shou Zi Chew’s testimony Thursday came at a crucial time for the company, which has 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials concerned about data security and user safety. TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology. Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, made a rare public appearance to counter the volley of allegations that TikTok has been facing.

Ford’s electric vehicle business has lost $3 billion before taxes during the past two years and will lose a similar amount this year as the company invests heavily in the new technology. The figures were released Thursday as Ford rolled out a new way of reporting its financial results. The new business structure separates electric vehicles, the profitable internal combustion and commercial vehicle operations into three operating units. Company officials said the electric vehicle unit will be profitable before taxes by late 2026 with an 8% profit margin. Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said Model e should be viewed as a startup company within Ford.

Fake images of former President Donald Trump being arrested by New York City police and Russian President Vladimir Putin behind prison bars have flooded social media in recent days. Both were produced using increasingly sophisticated and widely available image-generating software powered by artificial intelligence. The images were among scores of visuals to go viral on social media following the release of a newer, more powerful version of a popular image-generating program. Misinformation experts warn such surges in convincingly real, synthetic images will become commonplace, especially during major news events. They suggest better public awareness about the emerging technology is needed.