New media laws for tech; Charles III-Donald bromance; Michael biopic sets record 

New media laws for tech; Charles III-Donald bromance; Michael biopic sets record 

News in brief

The capital gains tax debate continues to bubble along, with growing expectations that the federal government, in the May 12 budget, will scrap the standard 50 per cent CGT discount, introduced in 1999, and shift to a model introduced under Keating government, whereby the discount is reduced by the rate of inflation.

 

Australian banks paid $16 billion in taxes and levies in 2025, the second highest payers behind the mining sector. The Australian Banking Association said that over 80 per cent of bank income goes back to the Australian economy via interest, wages and dividends.

 

There is no movement in the Strait of Hormuz, either by vessels or in negotiations. Brent crude prices continue to rise, heading towards $US110 a barrel. While a resolution between the US and Iran doesn’t seem imminent, both sides clearly want to negotiate. And that’s good news.

 

King Charles III addressed US Congress overnight, saying that in times of great international challenges, it was more necessary than ever to stand together and defend democratic values.

 

Michael, the controversial film about Michael Jackson, had the biggest opening weekend of a biopic ever. It took just under $US100 million in the US over its first weekend, and $US120 million overseas, which means it has already covered its $US200 million cost.

Fear-o-meter

Elon Musk v Sam Altman, as per Morning Brew newsletter.

 

A high-stakes California trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to begin … with jury selection. It’s the culmination of a yearslong friends-to-enemies arc that could reconfigure the AI landscape.

 

The crux of the case: Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and original funder, accuses Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of breaking their vow to keep the ChatGPT maker as a nonprofit.

 

Musk claims the OpenAI squad “assiduously manipulated” him out of millions of dollars in donations by promising to develop AI more safely than “profit-driven tech giants” like Google and Microsoft (the latter, as OpenAI’s main partner, is also named in the lawsuit).

 

OpenAI calls Musk’s accusations “baseless” and “motivated by jealousy, regret for walking away from OpenAI, and a desire to derail a competing AI company.”

 

For context, Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 after failing to convince other founders to fold the AI startup into Tesla. The next year, Altman officially became CEO of OpenAI. Then, in 2023, Musk started xAI.

 

Now, Musk demands $US100+ billion in damages—which he recently said he’d give to OpenAI’s nonprofit arm—the removal of Altman and Brockman, and the reversal of OpenAI’s recent for-profit restructuring.

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On GyG's IPO in 2024, growing the brand in Australia, and the ongoing efforts to break into the US market:

"You’ve got to remember, this is our 20th year in Australia — it took us 10 years to get this thing right here. So when people look at the US and expect it to instantly work, that’s just not how it goes.

We’ve got eight restaurants in Chicago and we’re about to open more. We’ve got the right team, the supply chain is in place, and we’re making adjustments because the market is different.

I’m a competitive person — I wish we were further ahead — but we’re exactly where we want to be right now.

There’s 4,000 Chipotles, 7,000 Taco Bells, and countless local operators. So we’ve got to build brand awareness, get operations right and deliver quality. It’s going to take time — but we’re confident it will work."

The Albanese government has unveiled draft laws that will force Google, Meta and TikTok to negotiate commercial agreements with Australian news outlets or otherwise pay a 2.25 per cent levy on Australian revenue.

 

Under the draft rules, the platforms will pay between $200 million and $250 million to news organisations.

 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the deal was critical to a healthy democracy and every single dollar would go back to journalists to pay for the journalism.

 

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has nominated former Republican congressman David Brat as its ambassador to Australia, 15 months after the last ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, left.

 

Brat has an interesting background – a master’s degree in divinity, and a PhD in economics. Some of his academic work, according to media reports, has tried to fuse free-market economics and faith.

Greed-o-meter

Year	Monthly active users	Users
2018		10m
2019		20m
2020		40m
2021		75m
2022		100m
2023		135m
2024		220m
2025		265m

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Graphic design platform Canva launched in Perth in 2013. A Wall St IPO is now expected for this homegrown success story in the next couple of years, with the number of monthly active users now above 265 million.

Listen to today's episode 🎧 

Source: Canva, Bloomberg