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Analysts wonder if Nvidia is prepared to keep spending big to extend the AI boom after the departure of CEO Jensen Huang, shown speaking in Tokyo in July.Manami Yamada/Reuters
Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis on the biggest headlines, stock tips, personal finance strategies and more.
Jensen Huang’s downfall threatens to burst AI bubble
Markets are bracing as Jensen Huang resigns as CEO of AI giant Nvidia. Reuters senior correspondent Danilo Masoni has more on the potential impact on global markets and the AI trade. Chief fina…Full Caption
After a week of bombshell reports, plunging stocks and mounting pressure, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday in a massive downfall that clouds the future of the chipmaker and its role in the artificial intelligence boom. He also stepped down from its board of directors, with both exits effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress will lead the company on an interim basis, Nvidia said on Thursday.
The tech leader had faced growing calls to step down from Nvidia Corp. – the company he founded in 1993 and transformed into the world’s predominant supplier of computer chips to power AI development – after reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy.
The company’s board had opened an independent investigation into whether Mr. Huang was the target of a foreign espionage operation after he disclosed an extramarital affair.
Mr. Huang has been synonymous with Nvidia and with the AI industry as a whole. His resignation creates uncertainty not only about Nvidia, but about the pace of AI infrastructure spending, which is expected to reach US$7.6-trillion within the next five years, according to an April report from Goldman Sachs.
Stelco recalling laid-off Hamilton workers, citing sufficient demand for its steel
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Stelco’s steel production facility in Hamilton. U.S. parent Cleveland-Cliffs laid off 175 workers at the plant in September.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press
In a potential end to the face-off between Cleveland-Cliffs and Ottawa, Stelco Inc. said on Friday that it is recalling 175 laid-off steel workers effective Dec 1. The steel maker cited sufficient demand from customers for its steel for the decision.
The restart of operations will take several weeks and all impacted employees will be compensated retroactively for any pay missed while off the job, the company said in a statement.
Stelco announced on Sept. 28 that it was laying off up to 500 workers at its plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont., because of its inability to make money in its galvanized-steel business.
Stelco said in its Friday statement that its customers have vowed to support the restart of its Hamilton operations, and it criticized the government for not doing enough to reduce what it characterizes as a “continued flood” of cheap foreign steel into the market.
Stellantis finalizes sale of Brampton auto plant to defence contractor Roshel for undisclosed amount
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Cars pass along the assembly line at the Stellantis plant in Brampton, Ont. July 21, 2023.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Earlier this week, auto maker Stellantis NV said it has finalized the sale of its idled factory in Brampton, Ont., to defence contractor Roshel Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
Stellantis closed the plant, which employed more than 3,000 people, for retooling in 2023, and moved planned production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois last year, after the U.S. imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian-made cars. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory requirements, the companies said in a joint statement.
Ottawa is not pleased. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the sale “completely outrageous,” vowing to protect workers and ensure that previous government subsidies to Stellantis are returned.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has given Stellantis NV 30 days to reverse the sale of its auto plant in Brampton, Ont. Failure to do so, Eric Atkins reports, could see the federal government take Stellantis to court to recoup the money Ottawa advanced the company to refit the factory.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says Ottawa is prepared to sue Stellantis to return the ‘hundreds of millions’ of dollars the automaker received as part of a federal funding agreement…Full Caption
Canada’s instant payments network launches after years of delays
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Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks at a press conference prior to tabling Budget 2026 in Ottawa on Thursday.Keito Newman/The Canadian Press
Payments Canada has launched its real-time rail national payment system after years of delays, which enables the instant transfer of money and speeds up payments for businesses and consumers. The country’s payments infrastructure has become a priority piece of Ottawa’s bid to bolster sovereignty.
Through the RTR, payments will send almost instantly, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, and will include data that makes it easier to track the flow of funds. The clearing and settlement process – a traditionally time-consuming behind-the-scenes process that is invisible to most consumers and businesses – will happen almost instantly.
This means that companies could pay their workers immediately after a task is completed, retailers and restaurants could receive funds in real time once a customer has paid them and landlords would receive rent payments instantly with a confirmation of funds.
Canada is the last G7 country to launch a real-time rail system. Many of Canada’s global peers already have instant payments systems, including the United States, Britain, India and Brazil.
GFL Environmental turns down buyout offer from Wall Street private equity funds
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GFL’s board confirmed Tuesday that the country’s largest trash collector has formally shut down a review of unsolicited bids to take the company private.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Shares of GFL Environmental Inc. fell this week after the board said it was formally shutting down a review of unsolicited bids to take the company private. The country’s largest trash collector turned down a US$22-billion buyout offer from Wall Street private equity funds after the waste-disposal giant’s board decided their offer was inadequate.
News that deal talks are off led GFL’s share price to fall on Tuesday by US$3.47 or 7.6 per cent to close at US$42.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company did leave the door ajar for potential suitors. Dino Chiesa, the GFL board’s lead independent director, said: “We remain open to considering any proposal that is in the best interests of shareholders.”
GFL was founded in Vaughan, Ont., in 2007 by entrepreneur and current chief executive officer Patrick Dovigi, who built a company known for its bright green garbage trucks through a series of takeovers. It is now headquartered in Miami.
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