Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group and OpenAI stepped up their AI partnership Monday, setting up a 50-50 held company called SB OpenAI Japan. SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son and OpenAI chief Sam Altman appeared at an event in Tokyo, talking up their collaboration and inviting Japanese companies to join. Son, holding a shiny blue crystal ball as a symbolic prop, said its AI service Cristal could be used by companies for planning, marketing, emails, and figuring out old source codes. Cristal will first roll out in Son's own SoftBank Group companies, which include Arm, a semiconductor and software company, and PayPay, an electronic payment service. SoftBank said it plans to spend $3 billion a year to integrate Cristal across its companies. "This will be super-intelligence for the company. I'm so excited," Son told reporters and other participants at the Transforming Business through AI event. Altman talked about the just announced "deep research," which allows ChatGPT to carry out more complicated tasks, including preparing reports by browsing the web and finding thousands of sources far more quickly than a human worker. Deep research will be available in Japan in the Japanese language, he said. "This partnership with SoftBank will accelerate our vision for bringing transformative AI to some of the world's most influential companies, starting with Japan," said Altman. SoftBank and OpenAI, along with Oracle, are part of the Stargate project supported by President Trump, investing up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. Son said Stargate will expand into Japan, as well as other nations. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
TELEVISION
Sony Group Corp. notified Paramount Global's CBS division that it's taking over worldwide distribution of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!", two of TV's most popular game shows, amid an escalating fight between the companies. In a letter to CBS Monday, Sony said it has assumed those duties for shows scheduled to start airing the week of Feb. 10. It has already given CBS the shows that will run until that date. In response, CBS plans to seek a temporary restraining order to block the move. "Sony has no rights under the distribution agreements to terminate them, and CBS remains the distributor for the series," CBS said in a statement. "All business should continue in the usual course." Tokyo-based Sony, which produces the shows, sued CBS last year, claiming the company breached its long-running contract to distribute the shows. Sony claims CBS has made more than $1 billion in profit from a distribution agreement going back 35 years, but isn't working aggressively enough to increase advertising and licensing revenue. Sony made a nine-figure offer to buy CBS out of the agreement last year, Bloomberg News previously reported. -- BLOOMBERG NEWS
ECONOMY
US factory activity expanded last month for the first time since 2022 as orders ramped up and production quickened, pointing to a brighter manufacturing outlook. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing gauge rose 1.7 points in January to 50.9, the highest since September 2022, according to data released Monday. Readings above 50 indicate growth. The surveys were conducted before President Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico that risk disrupting supply chains for American producers. A measure of new orders rose 3 points to 55.1, the strongest growth since May 2022. The fifth straight monthly increase in the index, which illustrates a pickup in demand, led producers to ratchet up output. The ISM production gauge moved solidly into expansion territory, climbing 2.6 points to 52.5 -- the best reading since March. That in turn encouraged manufacturers to bolster headcounts somewhat. The factory employment index expanded last month, though barely, for the first time since May. -- BLOOMBERG NEWS
POLITICIANS
Former president Joe Biden re-signed with Creative Artists Agency, returning to the talent representatives who managed him after eight years as vice president. While a CAA client, Biden published his memoir "Promise Me, Dad," launched the 42-date American Promise tour, selling more than 85,000 tickets nationwide, and headlined numerous speaking engagements, CAA said Monday in a statement. Creative Artists is one of the top talent agencies in the world, with clients that include personalities in film and entertainment, sports and music. French billionaire Francois Pinault's holding company Artémis acquired a majority stake in the company in 2023 from the private equity firm TPG Inc. -- BLOOMBERG NEWS
ENTERTAINMENT