OpenAI has discussed giving the US government a 5 percent stake, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as AI firms face growing scrutiny in Washington over the potential misuse of advanced models and whether Americans will share in the sector's profits.

The United States posted weaker-than-expected job growth in June as new data showed the labor market is facing headwinds ahead of testing midterm elections for President Donald Trump's Republicans.

The maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes aims to save £600 million ($792 million) a year by 2028 in a restructuring that will affect around 20 percent of BAT's 47,000-member workforce, it said in a statement.

Volkswagen is considering shutting four German factories and ramping up job cuts to as many as 100,000, two people familiar with ‌the matter said on Friday, in what could be the biggest ever overhaul in the industry.

Asian stocks rose Friday as tech firms enjoyed a much-needed reprieve from the heavy selling of recent weeks, with a big miss on US jobs creation soothing worries over a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

Asian shares skidded on Thursday as investors rotated out of chipmakers following a stellar quarter, while currency and bond markets braced for US jobs data that could gives hints about the risk of interest rate hikes.

The yen slumped to levels not seen since 1986 on Tuesday, stoking worries that direct intervention from Tokyo was around the corner, while the dollar backed away from 13-month highs ahead of jobs data that could influence the US rate outlook.