AIM to help diverse companies improve digital skills – The Boston Globe

HOUSING

City and state officials and residents on Tuesday celebrated the ribbon-cutting on a new mixed-income apartment building across from the Jackson Square MBTA station in Jamaica Plain. The building, at 250 Centre St., was built by The Community Builders, and was financed with an array of city and state funding. Its 110 apartments include 34 two and three-bedroom units, and 76 will be set at rents affordable for lower and middle-income tenants, including 14 for households earning 30 percent of area median income ($44,520 for a four-person household). The building is the fifth phase of a broader redevelopment effort in Jackson Square planned by the city, The Community Builders, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Urban Edge. Construction began in 2021 and the building opened earlier this year. — TIM LOGAN

FINANCE

Morgan Stanley is fighting to overturn a French court ruling ordering it to pay $1.5 million in bonuses to a banker who quit the firm, in a case that could affect how investment banks try to prevent their best performers from leaving. At the heart of the dispute at the Paris court of appeals is the question of whether the bank could withhold deferred bonuses once the employee had resigned. Morgan Stanley argues that sums claimed by Bernard Mourad were a reward for loyalty only collectible if he’d stayed on. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Dell has landed a $150 million deal to provide computing hardware to artificial intelligence startup Imbue, a win for the technology giant as it looks to grow its footprint in the AI market. Dell is supplying Imbue with servers to enable the startup to process the vast amount of data needed to develop its AI systems and build models with advanced reasoning capabilities. Imbue, which raised $200 million in a recent funding round from firms including Nvidia Corp., is one of a handful of artificial intelligence startups building their own AI foundation models from scratch — an ambitious effort that requires a large volume of computing power. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AVIATION

Rolls-Royce backed away from electric powered aircraft, with plans to put a business making such engines up for sale and said conventional propulsion will remain the mainstay possibly for the two decades as hydrogen takes time to mature as an alternative. “I don’t believe in the next 15, 20 years hydrogen will play a role,” chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said on a media call on Tuesday. While the company is working on hydrogen technology with discount carrier EasyJet, Erginbilgic said he believes sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, will be the sole pathway for large jets to achieve net zero climate targets. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AIRLINES

EasyJet signaled confidence in a sustained recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, reinstating its dividend even as the conflict between Israel and Hamas disrupts air travel in the short term. Bookings are strong for the summer 2024 high season, the UK budget carrier said Tuesday as it reported results for the year ended in September. With competitors struggling to field aircraft, the company said the overall outlook for the coming year is positive. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

ECONOMY

American consumers are feeling slightly more confident this month as the all-important holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 102 from 99.1 in October. Analysts were expecting a reading of 101. The October reading was revised down from an original reading of 102.6. Consumer spending accounts for around 70 percent of US economic activity, so economists pay close attention to consumer behavior as they take measure of the broader economy. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

BANKING

Barclays has told staff hundreds of back-office jobs are at risk as part of its push to reduce costs and boost returns. The British lender informed workers at Barclays Execution Services of 900 potential layoffs on Tuesday, according to a statement by the union Unite. The unit provides technology, operations, and functional services to businesses across the group and had 22,334 full-time staff at the end of 2022, according to a UK regulatory filing. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

POULTRY

Tyson officially opened one of its most advanced plants in the United States, where robots will help boost the company’s capacity to turn chicken meat into value-added items such as nuggets and fully cooked wings. The $300-million plant in Danville, Virginia will produce roughly 4 million pounds of Tyson-brand chicken products a week when it reaches full capacity early next year, according to a company spokesperson. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

OFFICES

Amazon is looking for office space in Miami as founder Jeff Bezos plans his move from the Seattle area. Amazon is seeking roughly 50,000 square feet of office space, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. As Miami has increasingly become a destination for the ultra-wealthy and their companies, demand for offices has boomed. A slew of financial and technology firms have moved to the area or expanded existing footprints, including Ken Griffin’s Citadel, Microsoft, and private equity firm Thoma Bravo. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

HEALTH CARE

The Mayo Clinic announced a $5 billion expansion plan for its flagship campus Tuesday that includes new buildings designed so they can evolve and expand as patient needs change over the coming decades. The project is part of a Mayo strategy to transform both patient care and its campus in downtown Rochester, about 80 miles southeast of Minneapolis. The storied hospital is known for its patient care as well as scientific breakthroughs in cancer and gene therapies. It draws patients from around the world. A key to it will be the creation of “neighborhoods” within the new facilities, where patients can go for all the services they need for their particular condition, such as cancer, without needing to be shuttled between various departments. Another component of that strategy will be integrating in-person and virtual visits, and taking advantage of artificial intelligence, including to accelerate the development of new cures. — ASSOCIATED PRESS