Guinness owner hit by US trade tariffs, Just Eat takeover agreed and AI assisted shopping surge
Just Eat Takeaway.com is set to be snapped up by Dutch tech investor Prosus. The £3.4 billion offer follows a provisional agreement made in February. Prosus already owns a major stake in Delivery Hero and says the move will create a European tech “champion”. Just Eat will keep its name, brands, and Amsterdam base after the takeover.
Guinness owner hit by US tariffs and EU deal talks breakthrough: Business in Brief
- Drinks giant Diageo says new US tariffs will cost it over £112 million a year. The Guinness and Johnnie Walker maker faces a 10 per cent import tax on UK and EU goods heading to America. It’s launched a £375 million cost-cutting plan to help offset the hit and protect profits. Despite the pressure, sales still rose nearly three per cent last quarter, driven by strong demand for Guinness.
- There’s been a breakthrough in Sir Keir Starmer’s talks to secure a new deal with the EU. Sources say progress was made late last night - though there are still steps to take before an agreement is finalised. The Labour leader has made closer European ties a priority since taking office.
AI is starting to dress us... and I’m not joking.
A new report has found more than a third of UK consumers now use artificial intelligence to shop, letting algorithms inspire their outfits and even their dinner. I find this not only bizarre, but genuinely dystopian.
The rise of AI in everyday life is beginning to mirror the habits of the tech billionaires who created it - clever, useful but somehow a bit odd. A lot of tech bro billionaires wear the same, relatively scruffy thing every day to "save brainpower" for more important decisions.
But this stripped-back approach has trickled down into wider culture, eroding the old-school belief that dressing well is part of success. Now AI is pushing that even further - recommending what to wear and what to eat, all while harvesting our data.
This isn’t efficiency, it’s dependency.
We’re offloading basic decisions to systems that dull our instincts and shrink our mental muscle. Recent studies already suggest our cognitive function is declining from chatbot overuse.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are talking about replacing half their staff with AI. Others imagine a future of “solopreneurs” with no employees at all - just AI and human agents where necessary. If that happens, how exactly do we argue that start-ups or bigger corporations for that matter deserve tax breaks for job creation? One of the arguments for capitalism has always been its capacity to create jobs and improve lives. Of course, how do you employ someone who can't choose what to have for dinner!?
Self-sufficiency, not tech dependency, is what we should be encouraging. Choosing your trousers or your dinner isn’t just a task - it’s autonomy. So no, I don’t want AI making those choices for me.
Business is still theatre. Presentation still matters. And in my view, dressing smartly unlike the tech bros - with a touch of flair - is still a mark of pride, not a decision to be delegated to an algorithm.
- Centrica says the UK’s biggest gas storage site could shut - without government help. Boss Chris O’Shea has warned the Rough facility may lose £100 million this year. He says investing £2 billion to upgrade it won’t pay off without support. Without backing, the site will be decommissioned and key energy capacity lost.
- The average asking price for a home in Britain has hit a record high for the second month in a row. Rightmove says sellers were asking just under £380,000 in May - up £2,300 on April’s figure. The property site says the market is still adjusting after a rush earlier this year triggered by stamp duty changes.
- And more than a third of UK consumers now use AI to shop, that’s up nearly 40 per cent on last year. A survey by Adyen found 35 per cent have used artificial intelligence to help choose clothes, meals and other products. Over half said it helped inspire them or cut through the “online noise”. The biggest increase was among 44 to 59-year-olds, but younger shoppers still lead the way.
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