AI Business & Industry

Today's Stories

1. 1

   ON Semiconductor cheaper than Vertiv for long-term AI play

   Two AI infrastructure stocks—Vertiv, which supplies power and cooling for data centers, and ON Semiconductor, which makes power and sensing chips—trade at different valuations despite both being Nvidia partners. ON Semiconductor is pursuing a $7 billion（約1.1兆円） acquisition of edge solutions company Synaptics to build out its physical AI capabilities. AI spending will likely shift from cloud-based model training and inference (phase one) to edge AI—inference performed by robots and electric vehicles near where data is collected (phase two). Vertiv leads in phase one, but ON Semiconductor is positioning itself for the long-term phase-two boom. ON Semiconductor's data center business is expected to double in 2026, and the Synaptics deal gives it sensors, power management, control technology, and edge computing in one package—a full stack for industrial robotics and autonomous systems.

   ON Semiconductor's data center business is forecast at $500 million（約800億円） of its nearly $6.5 billion（約1兆円） total revenue in 2026. The critical question is whether management can successfully integrate Synaptics and capitalize on the shift to physical AI infrastructure.

2. 2

   Kroger launches AI meal-planning assistant to drive shopping

   Kroger has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) shopping assistant that helps customers plan meals and add items to their cart, marking the grocer's entry into AI-powered commerce tools for grocery shopping. The AI assistant may help Kroger increase basket size and customer engagement by simplifying meal planning and shopping—a move that signals how retailers are turning to AI to enhance the in-store and digital experience and compete as e-commerce alternatives grow.

   The rollout scope, pricing, availability on Kroger's app and website, and whether the tool drives measurable gains in customer spending and loyalty will indicate whether AI-driven meal planning becomes a standard grocery-retail feature.

3. 3

   Disney ditches GitHub Copilot, adopts OpenAI's Codex

   Disney is dropping Microsoft's GitHub Copilot and two Amazon AI coding tools (Kiro and Q) in August in the US, while adopting OpenAI's Codex. The company will keep access to Anthropic's Claude Enterprise and Cursor. Eight Disney tech employees told Business Insider they rarely or never used GitHub Copilot; one said it produced "needlessly complex" code requiring cleanup, and another noted access had "lapsed for lack of use." The shift reflects Copilot's broader adoption struggles against rivals like ChatGPT and Claude, and signals which tools are winning with major enterprise customers.

   OpenAI's Codex is being prepared for adoption at Disney, though no timeline for introduction was given. Claude and Cursor have become the dominant tools among Disney staffers—one high-level engineer said their usage was "probably around 80% Claude at the terminal when coding."

4. 4

   CrowdStrike: Traditional patching now obsolete against AI-accelerated threats

   CrowdStrike executives stated in an interview that traditional patching schedules are no longer viable because AI has compressed the time between vulnerability discovery and functional exploit creation to minutes. The company emphasized that 82% of attacks now rely on legitimate processes and valid credentials rather than malware, and that the average breakout time in Latin America has dropped from 48 minutes to 29 minutes. Organizations must abandon legacy patching cycles and shift to risk-based prioritization focusing only on vulnerabilities with active, validated exploits in the wild. The democratization of AI—allowing individuals with minimal programming knowledge to create sophisticated attack scripts through natural language prompts—has expanded the pool of capable threat actors, making speed of response critical to survival.

   CrowdStrike's strategic priorities include expanding its agentic Security Operations Center (where AI agents automatically triage detections), enhancing real-time identity protection with dynamic access revocation mid-session, and strengthening browser-level and cloud infrastructure protection—areas the company identifies as growth opportunities in Mexico and Latin America.

5. 5

   Booking.com expands to Oceania and Korea with AI and authenticity focus

   Booking.com is deploying a strategy for expansion into Oceania and Korea that centers on AI integration, authentic user-generated content, and direct collaboration with local regulators. The move reflects how major travel platforms are now tailoring regional strategies around both technology (AI to personalize search and booking) and trust-building (authenticity, local regulatory partnership) rather than a one-size-fits-all global approach. For travel businesses and accommodations in these regions, this signals both opportunity (more visibility through a major platform) and the need to meet stricter content and compliance standards.

   The company's success in Oceania and Korea will likely signal whether regulatory collaboration and AI-driven authenticity can become a replicable playbook for other markets where Booking.com seeks to strengthen its position.

6. 6

   Bristol Myers Squibb stock may trade 48% below fair value on AI drug discovery push

   Bristol-Myers Squibb has expanded its AI collaboration with Nvidia and opened a new San Diego R&D hub. A Discounted Cash Flow analysis estimates the company's intrinsic value at about $123 per share, implying the stock trades at roughly a 48.1% discount to that level. The stock has delivered a 42.2% return over the past year, signaling growing market optimism. The DCF model, which projects future cash flows from a latest twelve month free cash flow of about $12b, suggests meaningful upside if the valuation estimate holds — though regulatory uncertainty around partnered drugs and pipeline outcomes could affect how durable those cash flows prove to be.

   The stock's next move depends on whether the current price already reflects the intrinsic value from the DCF model or still leaves a margin of safety for investors. Bristol-Myers Squibb scores 4 out of 6 on overall valuation checks, pointing to a mixed picture rather than a clear bargain or overvaluation.