CNBC

Business • Markets
Microsoft buys speech recognition firm Nuance in a $16 billion deal
Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft announced on Monday it would buy Nuance for $56 per share, about a 23% premium over Nuance’s closing price Friday.

Nuance has a strong reputation for its voice recognition technology, and it has been considered an acquisition target for companies like Apple, Microsoft and more for several years.

In an interview on CNBC's " Squawk on the Street" Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted Nuance's health care tools as the key driver behind the acquisition.

Health
J&J CEO: Mutations may lead to annual Covid-19 vaccine shots
J&J CEO: Mutations may lead to annual Covid-19 vaccine shots
Credit: unsplash/Steven Cornfield

Regular Covid-19 shots might be here to stay. Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, told CNBC that mutations may lead to a need for annual Covid-19 shots similar to flu shots.

“Unfortunately, as (the virus) spreads it can also mutate,” he said in an interview. “Every time it mutates, it’s almost like another click of the dial so to speak where we can see another variant, another mutation that can have an impact on its ability to fend off antibodies or to have a different kind of response not only to a therapeutic but also to a vaccine.”

Technology • Internet & Web
Walmart is partnering with Microsoft on TikTok deal
Walmart is partnering with Microsoft on TikTok deal

Walmart is partnering with Microsoft to potentially buy TikTok's U.S. business from BtyeDance. The news was first reported by CNBC, which was later confirmed by Walmart.

In a statement, Walmart said that TikTok's integration of e-commerce and advertising "is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets" and that the retailer believes "a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses."

Transportation • Air Transportation & Traffic, Flying
Delta loses $5.7 billion in second quarter, cuts number of planned flights in half
Delta loses $5.7 billion in second quarter, cuts number of planned flights in half
Credit: unsplash.com/Miguel Ángel Sanz

Covid-19 is taking its toll on the airline industry. Delta is reporting a 88 percent decline in revenue, which contributes to a $5.7b net loss in the second quarter of 2020. The sharp decline forces the airline to cut the number of planned daily flights for next month in half, adding only 500 instead of the planned 1,000.

“Demand has stalled as the virus has grown, particularly down here in the South, across the Sun Belt, coupled with the quarantine measures that are going in place in many of the Northern states,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC.

Regional News • Americas • United States
Pence say national mask mandate is not needed, vows to "keep opening up America"
Vice President Mike Pence at the Youngstown Police Department in Youngstown, Ohio – June, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence at the Youngstown Police Department in Youngstown, Ohio – June, 2020 Credit: The White House from Washington, DC / Public domain

In an interview with CNBC, Vice President Mike Pence said he didn't believe "there is a need for a national mandate" and vowed that the Trump administration would "keep opening up America" despite a significant rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Pence further stated that the Trump administration would support states that "are seeing rising cases every step of the way" and that "PPE supplies are strong, testing is strong, more therapeutic medicines are available every day."

Business • Economy
Shareholders plans to sue EY over its role in the Wirecard scandal
Shareholders plans to sue EY over its role in the Wirecard scandal
Credit: Kaethe17 (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0)

The German shareholders’ association SdK announced Friday that it had filed a criminal complaint against accounting firm at EY over its role in the Wirecard scandal.

According to news magazine Der Spiegel, SoftBank is also planning to sue EY after investing 900 million euros in Wirecard last year.

EY, told CNBC late Thursday that "even the most robust and extended audit procedures" couldn’t uncover what it called a “collusive fraud.”