FTSE 100 Live: Schroders in £10bn deal; UK economic growth lags February 12, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It was another record day for the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, which secured its highest close of all time. On a strong day for commodity-related stocks in London, London’s blue-chip index closed 1.14 per cent higher at 10,472p. But it wasn’t all cheery in the [...]
Am I going to be replaced by AI? February 12, 2026 With each passing day it seems another sector suffers an AI-induced wobble on the stock market. We saw the large data companies lose billions in value when a new legal-focused AI tool was launched; we saw the owners of consumer and personal finance platforms take a hit as AI agents upped their game; and yesterday [...]
Google’s 100-year bond ‘plays into’ AI bubble fears February 12, 2026 A rare 100-year bond issued by the owner of Google will compound fears that tech firms’ historic debt-fuelled capital expenditure is evidence of an AI bubble. But, this is a shot in the arm for the UK’s stuttering credit market, analyst have said. Alphabet raised £1bn of an astronomical $32bn (£23.4bn) borrowing spree via a [...]
UK wealth managers endure share price plummet amid AI tool fears February 11, 2026 Shares in some of the UK’s largest wealth managers tumbled on Wednesday, as investors grew concerned about the potential competitive pressure from a new AI-led investment tool. Britain’s biggest wealth group, St James’s Place, suffered a 12.7 per cent drop, trading at 1,265 pence, after US-based wealth management platform Altruist launched a tool to help [...]
Options Technology Announces Agreement to Acquire Crossvale, Accelerating Private Cloud and AI Adoption for Financial Services February 11, 2026 Options Technology (Options), the leading provider of institutional-grade infrastructure, normalised market data and managed services for global financial markets, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Crossvale business, a US and EU-based leader in application and platform modernization. The proposed acquisition significantly strengthens Options’ ability to help financial services institutions [...]
Tiktok parent Bytedance joins race to build in-house AI chips February 11, 2026 China’s Bytedance is stepping up its own silicon push with plans to produce at least 100,000 AI chips this year. The move comes as tech giants scramble to cut their reliance on market leader Nvidia, and lock in scarce computing power. The Tiktok creator is reportedly in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture the processor, [...]
Mastek Expands Leeds Office, Strengthening AI-Led Innovation and Long-Term Commitment to the UK February 11, 2026 Mastek (UK) Limited, a trusted AI first digital engineering and cloud transformation partner, announced the expansion of its Leeds office, marking a significant milestone in the company’s continued investment in the UK and its long-standing presence in the North of England. The expanded office was officially opened by Abhishek Singhh, President UKI & EU, Mastek, [...]
Echodyne to Open Major New Manufacturing Facility to Meet Rapidly Growing Global Demand February 11, 2026 $40M investment in 86,350-square-foot facility in Washington State, USA Annual production capacity of >30,000 radars across product lines More than 200 employees at full capacity Start of production in summer 2026
AI minister promises UK visa fast-track for global talent February 11, 2026 Britain will reimburse visa fees and speed up processing for international AI talent, as the government pushes to turn the country into a global hub for the technology. Speaking at the London AI Hub last night, AI minister Kanishka Narayan said a new dedicated AI “talent stream” would sit by a broader effort to train [...]
Womble Bond Dickinson Energy Outlook 2026: UK Energy Capacity Growth Lags Global Average Amid Rising Costs and Delays February 11, 2026 The global energy sector is facing mounting pressure as accelerating demand collides with grid constraints, rising project costs, and shifting government policies, according to Womble Bond Dickinson’s Energy Outlook 2026. Based on insights from more than 650 senior leaders across energy companies, investors, service providers, and energy-intensive consumers worldwide, the research highlights the difficulty of [...]