☕️Claude, Cut the Cogs

Good morning.

Australia’s biggest bank has tried to swerve a public backlash as it made one of the first moves by a blue chip company to shed staff amid AI disruption, Capital Brief reports.

On Tuesday, the Commonwealth Bank axed 300 mostly technology-based roles across its ranks. The bank made no mention of the reductions as it simultaneously announced a new $90 million training program to skill up its employees in the age of AI. Despite CBA chief Matt Comyn dismissing doomsayer projections about the impact of AI just two weeks ago, the wide-angle lens shows that the bank’s cuts are enormously significant.

Just one day later, $16 billion software provider WiseTech went much further — slashing 2,000 jobs, or about a quarter of its workforce, openly stating that it did so because of rapid advances in products developed by Anthropic and OpenAI.

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Market movers

Shares in supermarket giant Woolworths jumped 13% on Wednesday, their biggest single-day gain on record, after the company reported underlying earnings of $1.66 billion for the half year. That beat market consensus by 6%, driven by a sharp turnaround at Big W and accelerating sales momentum in its core Australian Food division.

The quick sync

• SafetyCulture's founder is back as interim CEO after AI coding tools triggered a platform rebuild too complex to lead from New York. (Capital Brief)

• The USD1.15b sale of Eucalyptus to Hims & Hers is set to deliver more than 2x returns on Blackbird's entire 2018 fund, a new benchmark for Australian startups. (Capital Brief)

• Peter Beattie says direct community engagement is how major parties beat One Nation. (Capital Brief)

• One Nation reached a record 28% primary vote on the back of younger voters, but transforming that momentum into a credible tilt at government will demand a very different playbook, writes George Hasanakos. (Capital Brief)

• WiseTech's plan to cut up to 2,000 jobs by FY27 in a push to become an AI-led organisation lifted its shares more than 10% and prompted warnings of more to come. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• LG Energy sells Liontown stake in $419m block trade. (AFR)

• Warner Bros says Paramount’s revised bid could top its Netflix deal. (Capital Brief)

• Five V Capital plans $500m+ exit from Orikan with Deutsche Bank. (AFR)

• Blackstone is preparing a $1b sale of its clinical trials business Nucleus Network. (The Australian)

• Barrenjoey joins NextDC’s team for $15b data centre funding push. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• Ebos Group’s half-year profit rose due to strong healthcare and animal care sales. (Capital Brief)

• Iress shares surged after profit beat forecasts despite lower annual earnings. (Capital Brief)

• Wander seeks $13m to triple luxury off-grid pod portfolio. (AFR)

• Fortescue’s half-year profit rose 23% on record iron ore shipments. (Capital Brief)

• Port Adelaide plans $250m property development around its HQ. (AFR)

• Light & Wonder’s profit fell 17.8% due to restructuring and legal costs. (Capital Brief)

• Terra Metals seeks $50m equity to fund Dante project after big share gains. (AFR)

• Tabcorp’s half-year profit fell 14%, but it raised its interim dividend. (Capital Brief)

• K&L Gates’ Australian equity partners fall to three-year low. (AFR)

• Flight Centre’s first-half profit rose 4%, beating forecasts. (Capital Brief)

• Waratah Super Battery delayed to end-2026 after transformer failure. (AFR)

• Domino’s swung to profit, but shares slid after a dividend cut. (Capital Brief)

• Blackbird earns huge returns from Eucalyptus’ $1.6b sale. (AFR)

• Helia’s full-year profit rose 6% on lower loan delinquencies. (Capital Brief)

• AGL Energy hires banks to fund multibillion-dollar NSW renewable projects. (The Australian)

• WiseTech’s first-half profit fell 36% as it announced 2,000 job cuts. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Samsung phones highlight privacy from nearby onlookers, not corporations. (AFR)

• GemLife’s full-year profit fell 13.4% amid IPO and stamp duty costs. (Capital Brief)

• Melbourne Airport urges smart gates as $4.5b terminal expansion begins. (AFR)

• DroneShield’s profit surged 367% and set mandatory executive shareholding. (Capital Brief)

• NDIS autism costs top $10b as new diagnoses surge. (AFR)

• Woolworths’ half-year profit fell 49% after a class-action payout. (Capital Brief)

• Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is investing up to $603m in HMC Capital. (The Australian)

• GDG’s underlying profit rose 63% despite a 91% fall in statutory profit. (Capital Brief)

• US judge dismisses ExxonMobil’s defamation suit against Forrest-linked charity. (AFR)

• High January CPI keeps May RBA rate hike on the table. (Capital Brief)

• A viral AI memo warns of job cuts and “ghost GDP” limiting real economic growth. (Capital Brief)

• Tabcorp gets approval for live betting device in NSW venues. (AFR)

• NextDC hires Barrenjoey to fund data centre expansion and AI campus. (Capital Brief)

• RBA’s Bullock says inflation stable, next rate move likely cautious. (Capital Brief)

• US tariffs to rise above 10% for some countries, says Jamieson Greer. (Capital Brief)

• Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs look to AI to flag trader misconduct. (Bloomberg)

• How Deutsche Bank rolled out the red carpet for Jeffrey Epstein. (FT)

• Credit market’s reality check follows decade of loose lending. (Bloomberg)

• ByteDance valued at USD550b in proposed share sale by General Atlantic. (Reuters)

• From dating scams to fake lawyers: OpenAI details ChatGPT misuse in new threat report. (Reuters)

• Australian and New Zealand dollars surge as traders position for global interest rate rises. (FT)

• The DoJ withheld Epstein archive files containing abuse allegations against Trump. (NPR)(NYT)(The Telegraph)(Reuters)(FT)

VC 

• Eucalyptus’ sale shows Australian startups can achieve major global exits. (Capital Brief)

People moves

• SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear returns as interim CEO after AI-driven platform challenges. (Capital Brief)

• CBA cuts 300 tech roles, launches AI training, signaling corporate job shifts. (Capital Brief)

• King & Wood Mallesons’ Alex Elser joins White & Case after $4b Kinetic deal. (AFR)

The watercooler