— GM announces adoption of Tesla charging technology; NYC subsidizes $300 daily for migrant housing; Sushi chain loses billions from prank; China boosts EV subsidies; Sequoia splits into three; S&P 500 enters bull market; VISA acquires Brazilian FinTech company
1. GM announces adoption of Tesla charging technology
On Thursday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra tweeted that the company’s EVs will soon be able to use Tesla’s Supercharger network, following the lead of Ford.
Following the announcement, GM and Tesla shares rose 3.3% and 4.5%, respectively, in pre-market trading.
Currently, the three largest EV companies in the U.S. are all adopting Tesla’s charging network, suggesting that other companies may also abandon the previous CCS standard and begin producing EVs compatible with Tesla’s chargers.
GM’s CEO believes that collaborating with Tesla will enable faster expansion of a broad and comprehensive charging network for customers, and help unify EV charging standards in North America.
This collaboration further solidifies Tesla’s dominance in charging technology and infrastructure.
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2. NYC subsidizes $300 daily for migrant housing
Last November, a 50-story Holiday Inn in Manhattan’s Financial District declared bankruptcy due to debt issues. A few weeks later, NYC Mayor Eric Adams stepped in with a plan to lease all 492 hotel units to house 15,000 migrants for 15 months.
At the time, the hotel’s average nightly rate was $110, but NYC offered $190 per night and guaranteed 100% occupancy.
According to bankruptcy filings, partnering with the city would bring the Holiday Inn $10.5 million in revenue. This hotel is just one of 140 participating in the government program. Some hotels are receiving over $300 per night per room.
Last year, 72,000 migrants arrived in NYC from various Latin American countries. Housing these individuals is costly—between April 2022 and July 2024, total expenses could reach $4.3 billion. The mayor stated that city services must be cut to afford it.
NYC is willing to reduce other municipal services in order to fund hotel stays for migrants.
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3. Sushi chain loses billions from prank
According to Japanese media, a video went viral of a teenager licking public soy sauce bottles and utensils at Akindo Sushiro. The restaurant stated that this incident severely hurt its sales and is suing the teenager for $480,000 in damages.
The prank inspired a wave of copycat behavior online, causing a public relations crisis for the conveyor belt sushi chain.
On January 31, shares of parent company Food & Life Cos. fell 4.8%, wiping ¥16 billion from its market value.
Several rival sushi chains now plan to introduce AI surveillance to prevent similar pranks.
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4. China boosts EV purchase subsidies
On Thursday evening, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced new credit and subsidy support for local governments and dealerships to promote EV sales and expand EV usage in rural areas.
The initiative aims to promote EV adoption across 11,000 counties and towns and expand charging infrastructure in remote regions.
China is the world’s largest EV market. Last year, sales surged 95% over 2021, but momentum has slowed.
From January to May this year, EV and hybrid sales grew just 41%, compared to 120% year-on-year growth last year.
Over the past three months, more EV models have seen price cuts of over ¥10,000.
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5. Sequoia splits into three
Due to geopolitical tensions, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital will split into three independently named companies, separating its operations in China and the U.S.
Sequoia is known for early investments in Google, Instagram, and several Chinese internet companies. The company stated it will complete the split by March next year.
In recent years, Sequoia managed capital for U.S. pension and endowment funds, but political and regulatory differences between China and the U.S. have made cross-border investing difficult. The firm will now divide into three entities focused on China, the U.S., and Southeast Asia, respectively.
Post-split, each Sequoia entity can focus more effectively on regional investment operations.
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6. S&P 500 enters bull market
On Friday, continued gains in U.S. tech stocks pushed the S&P 500 into official bull market territory. As investors expect the Fed’s rate hikes to end soon, the U.S. dollar saw its steepest weekly drop in two months.
Tesla stock rose 6% after GM announced use of Tesla’s charging network. Netflix shares gained 2.4% following positive results from its password-sharing crackdown. Adobe rose 5.6% after launching AI subscription services.
The S&P 500 is now more than 20% above its October lows, but analysts warn the rally may pause ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.
A true bull market may not arrive until after a potential recession has passed.
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7. VISA acquires Brazilian FinTech company
Sources say VISA is nearing a deal to acquire Brazilian FinTech firm Pismo, which provides cloud-based payment and financial infrastructure.
VISA may announce the acquisition this month. Mastercard also participated in the bidding. The deal could value Pismo at $1 billion.
Pismo helps banks and FinTech companies quickly roll out credit card and payment products. In 2021, it raised $108 million from SoftBank, Amazon, and Accel.
In 2021, VISA had to cancel its $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid after antitrust pushback.
Pismo’s offerings align with VISA’s business in credit and payments.
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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.