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Hubbard Peanut Co. names new CEO

Southampton County-based announced Tuesday that it has appointed , the grandson of the company’s founders, to be its new and .

The transition at the producer of , a popular Virginia-grown gift item, became effective June 1. Rabil is succeeding Lynne Hubbard Rabil, his mother, who is transitioning to a new role as executive adviser. The company says her new position allows “for a more focused role in providing strategic counsel.”

“Along with my brother and twin sisters, I have been involved in our family business from the earliest days, and I have strong memories of our meager beginnings in the kitchen of our five-room home,” Lynne Rabil said in a statement. “I am very excited about the next chapter under Marshall’s leadership but also happy that I will continue to play a part. I am confident that Marshall will maintain the ethos that our parents carefully developed and that our family has worked to nurture through these years.”

Marshall Rabil, named one of Virginia Business’s 100 People to Meet in 2025, was most recently the company’s director of sales and marketing.

Since 2016, Rabil has developed strategic marketing partnerships with PGA Tour events, increased wholesale partnerships to develop regional grocery partners throughout the U.S., and hired more full-time employees. In 2023, Rabil served as president of the Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Working alongside our dedicated team on a business my grandparents started and my mother grew and led is an absolute honor,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s the biggest responsibility of my professional career, and I am looking forward to the challenge and opportunity.”

The company was founded in 1954 by Dot and HJ Hubbard.

Former Martin’s store in Chesterfield sells for $2.87M

Ukrop’s Super Markets last month sold the former Martin’s retail space at Chesterfield Meadows shopping center in to a limited liability company for $2.866 million.

Sunhe Property purchased the 4.3-acre site at 6401 Centralia Road on May 23, according to county real estate records. The land includes a 44,840-square-foot retail building.

James Ashby IV and David Crawford of , who handled negotiations on behalf of ‘s and arranged the sale, announced in a news release that the land was bought as an investment.

Longtime Richmond family grocery chain Ukrop’s purchased the site in 1986 and had owned the land up until last month. The building was remodeled into a Martin’s store in 2010, after the Giant-Carlisle division of Dutch company Ahold acquired all Ukrop’s stores and turned them into Martin’s grocery stores. Martin’s Richmond-area markets closed in 2017, although 10 were replaced by grocery stores after the Florida-based grocer purchased stores in the region.

The Chesterfield Meadows building has been vacant since 2017, according to Ashby.

Ashby said the buyer has retail plans for the space, but that he can’t provide any information about what they are. The registered agent for the LLC declined to comment.

Atlantic Shores moves to exit New Jersey offshore wind project

Summary:

  • Atlantic Shores files to terminate its 1.5-GW offshore wind project
  • Project faced regulatory, permitting, federal policy hurdles
  • Filing follows cancellation of key air permit and paused construction
  • Company cites future offshore potential

A project that was once supposed to establish the Garden State’s first offshore has filed to terminate.

 is a 50/50 partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF North America. The entity submitted a June filing to the  Board of Public Utilities. The document seeks to terminate the Offshore Wind Certificates (OREC) order for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1.

Despite Shell pulling out of Atlantic Shores 1 in January, the company remains a partner of the overall Atlantic Shores organization, according to its website. Slated for construction off the coast of Atlantic City, the project would have provided 1.5 gigawatts of power.

A number of issues have roiled the offshore wind industry — such as higher interest rates, inflation, supply chain challenges and intense local opposition/litigation. Then, an executive order shortly after took office essentially put most wind projects on pause.

Blowing in the wind?

In March, a key federal permit was also pulled for the project – further clouding its viability. That came on the heels of the NJBPU announcing it would not proceed with an award in its fourth offshore wind solicitation. Atlantic Shores rebid its project in Round 4. The move aimed to better reflect the changing economics of the industry since its initial approval. The NJBPU cited – in part – the uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting.

NJBIZ recently reported on the setbacks the offshore wind sector has faced. Meanwhile, the broader energy issue has taken centerstage here in the Garden State.

The topic emerged as a key issue on the campaign trail as well as writ large, as a June 1 rate hike takes effect. Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy announced allocating $430 million to offer direct relief to all Jersey ratepayers.

Following the earlier cancellation of Ørsted’s Offshore Wind 1 and 2 projects, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 would have established the state’s first .

“Due the uncertainty caused by the Presidential Wind Memorandum, the subsequent loss of the Air Permit, and other actions taken by the current administration more generally, Petitioner’s parent company has been forced to materially reduce its personnel, terminate contracts, and cancel planned project investments,” Atlantic Shores wrote in its filing. “The Petitioner has also had to seek a pause to its construction scheduled with the federal government as there has been no indication when or if the essential Air Permit would be reinstated.

“Most recently, this includes cancellation of the ISA and associated upgrades to the regional transmission grid. As a result of the foregoing developments, the Project is no longer viable upon the terms and conditions set forth in the OREC Order.”

Reboot-ready

In a statement,  Joris Veldhoven said this filing marks the closing of a chapter. However, it’s not the end for Atlantic Shores.

“Offshore wind continues to offer New Jersey a strong value proposition that includes thousands of good paying jobs, stable power prices and real economic benefits,” Veldhoven told NJBIZ. “While no ratepayer money or subsidy was spent on Atlantic Shores Project 1, this reset period presents us an opportunity to ensure utility customers continue to get a fair deal for critical infrastructure deliver. And with record demand for electricity outpacing supply, one thing’s for sure: New Jersey needs more power generation.

“Atlantic Shores stands ready to deliver high-capacity factor projects that will safeguard American business interests, support energy security, and improve quality of life for millions of Garden State residents.”

The NJBPU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RTX subsidiary wins $646M contract modification

Raytheon, a subsidiary of -based aerospace and contractor , has been awarded a $646 million contract modification to continue producing the AN/SPY-6(V) family of radars for the .

The modification is the fourth option exercised from a potential $3.16 billion hardware, production and sustainment contract that the awarded in March 2022. Under the contract, the Navy will receive four additional radars, increasing the total number of radars under contract for procurement to 42.

“SPY-6 enables the U.S. Navy to see further than they’ve ever seen before, providing sailors with more time to respond to detected threats,” said Barbara Borgonovi, of naval power at , in a statement. “This latest contract builds on our decades of experience and technical expertise in developing modular, scalable and highly maintainable radars.”

The SPY-6 family of radars performs air and missile defense on seven classes of ships. Some of the advantages over legacy radars, according to RTX, include greater detection range, increased sensitivity and more accurate discrimination. The company says it can simultaneously defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, hostile aircraft and surface ships.

The majority of the work in the contract will take place at Raytheon’s development facility in Andover, Massachusetts, through 2028.

RTX has more than 185,000 employees globally and reported more than $80.73 billion in 2024 sales. The contractor is the second highest ranked Virginia-based company on the 2025 Fortune 500.

U.S. and China continue trade talks in London

SUMMARY:

  • U.S. and China continue trade talks in London
  • Meeting follows May 12 tariff suspension agreement
  • 90-day pause on 100%-plus still in effect
  • Delegations led by top U.S. and Chinese official

LONDON (AP) — The U.S. and China held a second day of talks Tuesday in London aimed at easing their , after said China is “not easy” but the U.S. was “doing well” at the negotiations.

A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for several hours on Monday at Lancaster House, an ornate 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.

Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, and trade negotiator Li Chenggang are also in Beijing’s delegation.

Lutnick said as he arrived Tuesday morning that the talks were “going well,” and he expected them to continue all day.

Asked late Monday how the negotiations were going, Trump told reporters: “We are doing well with China. China’s not easy.”

The two sides are trying to build on negotiations in Geneva last month that agreed to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating that had sparked fears of recession.

Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power , visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries.

Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. Trump announced on social media the following day that the trade talks would resume in London.

China, the world’s biggest producer of rare earths, has signaled it may ease export restrictions it placed on the elements in April, alarming automakers around the world who rely on them. Beijing, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors.

Trump said that he wants to “open up China,” the world’s dominant manufacturer, to U.S. products.

“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”

Citing trade wars, the World Bank sharply downgrades global economic growth forecast to 2.3%


SUMMARY:

WASHINGTON (AP) — ‘s are expected to slash economic growth this year in the United States and around the world, the World Bank forecast Tuesday.

Citing “a substantial rise in trade barriers” but without mentioning Trump by name, the 189-country lender predicted that the – the world’s largest – would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marked a downgrade from the 2.3% U.S. growth it had forecast back for 2025 back in January.

The bank also lopped 0.4 percentage points off its forecast for global growth this year. It now expects the world economy to expand just 2.3% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024.

In a forward to the latest version of the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill wrote that the has missed its chance for the “soft landing” — slowing enough to tame inflation without generating serious pain — it appeared headed for just six months ago. “The world economy today is once more running into turbulence,” Gill wrote. “Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.”

America’s economic prospects have been clouded by Trump’s erratic and aggressive trade policies, including 10% taxes — — on imports from almost every country in the world. These levies drive up costs in the U.S. and invite retaliation from other countries.

The Chinese economy is forecast to see growth slow from 5% in 2024 to 4.5% this year and 4% next. The world’s second-largest economy has been hobbled by the tariffs that Trump has imposed on its exports, by the collapse of its real estate market and by an aging workforce.

The World Bank expects the 20 European countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 0.7% this year, down from an already lackluster 0.9% in 2024. Trump’s tariffs are expected to hurt European exports. And the unpredictable way he rolls them out — announcing them, suspending them, coming up with new ones — has created uncertainty that discourages business investment.

India is once again expected to the be world’s fastest-growing major economy, expanding at a 6.3% clip this year. But that’s down from 6.5% in 2024 and from the 6.7% the bank had forecast for 2025 in January. In Japan, economic growth is expected to accelerate this year – but only from 0.2% in 2024 to a sluggish 0.7% this year, well short of the 1.2% the World Bank had forecast in January.

The World Bank seeks to reduce poverty and boost living standards by providing grants and low-rate loans to poor economies.

Another multinational organization that seeks to promote global prosperity — the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — last week downgraded its forecast for the U.S. and global economies.

Disney to pay almost $439 million to take full control of streaming service Hulu

Disney will pay ‘s nearly $439 million for its stake in , taking full control of the streaming service.

The move closes out an appraisal process that’s dragged on for a few years. said in November 2023 that it was acquiring a 33% stake in Hulu from Comcast for at least $8.6 billion. That amount reflected Hulu’s guaranteed floor value of $27.5 billion, according to a regulatory filing.

Disney has run Hulu since 2019, when Comcast ceded its authority to Disney and effectively became a silent partner.

Hulu began in 2007 and quickly evolved into as a service backed by entertainment conglomerates who hoped to stave off the internet with an online platform for their own TV shows. Disney joined in 2009, planning to offer shows from ABC, ESPN and the Disney Channel. A decade later, Disney gained majority control of the business when it acquired 21st Century Fox.

Disney said in a regulatory filing on Monday that its appraiser arrived at a valuation below the guaranteed floor value during the initial phase of the appraisal process, while NBCUniversal’s appraiser arrived at a valuation substantially in excess of the guaranteed floor value.

A third appraiser was brought in and concluded that The Walt Disney Co. will pay $438.7 million for the Hulu stake.

“We are pleased this is finally resolved. We have had a productive partnership with NBCUniversal, and we wish them the best of luck,” Disney Bob Iger said in a statement. “Completing the Hulu acquisition paves the way for a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu’s general entertainment content with Disney+ and, soon, with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, providing an unrivaled value proposition for consumers.”

The transaction is anticipated to close by July 24. It’s not expected to impact Disney’s fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings forecast.

Shares of Disney rose slightly in morning trading on Tuesday.

Technomics to add 248 jobs in Arlington expansion

Government contractor will invest $5.38 million to expand its headquarters, adding 25,200 square feet of office space and creating 248 jobs.

made the announcement Tuesday. Virginia successfully competed with Washington, D.C., for the expansion.

“The expansion of Technomics in Virginia marks a significant milestone not only for our local economy with 248 new jobs, but also for the future of innovation and evidence-based decision-making,” said Youngkin in a statement. “As a leader in data and , Technomics is helping drive smarter solutions across their federal government clients. Virginia continues to be the best place for companies to build their future.”

Technomics specializes in providing data and analytics-driven support services for both United States and international government clients.

Technomics was established in 1984 and opened its headquarters in Arlington in 2000. The company’s website states, “… for the first 15 or so years, it was a stretch to call ourselves a business, as we were a very small team of experts.”

The company, which became employee-owned in 2009, has expanded its Arlington office three times since 2022. The worked with Arlington County to secure the latest expansion project for Virginia.

“For over 25 years, our mission has been to be great stewards of the taxpayers by using our analytical and quantitative skills to help our federal government clients spend their resources wisely,” Technomics Al Leung said in a statement. “The current efficiency-focused environment presents enormous opportunities for us. We are thrilled to have earned the trust and support of our clients, Gov. Youngkin and the VEDP to enable achievement of our mission and the next phase of not only our growth but that of the local community.”

Technomics currently employs about 300 people in Arlington. A timeline for when the expansion will be completed was not provided and the company did not immediately return requests for comment.

Virginia Senate Dems refuse to confirm Cuccinelli, other Youngkin board nominees

SUMMARY:

  • Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate committee rejects eight appointees to three universities’ boards by
  • Among appointees were former state AG Kenneth Cuccinelli, former state commerce and trade secretary Caren Merrick
  • Appointees to VMI, GMU, U.Va. viewed as disruptive choices for university boards by Democratic senators

Updated June 10

In a Monday evening vote, on a Virginia State Senate committee declined to confirm eight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees for three university boards, including former Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli and former state commerce and trade secretary Caren Merrick.

Rejected in an 8-4 vote of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections were eight Youngkin appointees to the boards of George Mason University, the University of Virginia and . Cuccinelli, who also served as acting director of the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services during ‘s first term, was appointed in March to serve on U.Va.’s board.

Cuccinelli replaced Bert Ellis on U.Va.’s board of visitors after Youngkin dismissed Ellis, whom the governor appointed to the board in 2022 as a vocal opponent of diversity, equity and inclusion. Ultimately, Ellis proved to be too outspoken for the governor, despite sharing views on DEI. In Youngkin’s March letter to Ellis notifying him of his removal from the board, the governor wrote, “Your conduct on many occasions has violated the Commonwealth’s Code of Conduct for our Boards and Commissions and the Board of Visitors’ Statement of Visitor Responsibilities.”

George Mason appointments

Charles J. Cooper, a Florida appellate attorney who represented former U.S. Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and John Ashcroft and served as a U.S. assistant attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, was among the rejected appointees to George Mason’s board, along with Merrick, who served as the state’s commerce secretary under Youngkin. William Hansen, a former U.S. deputy secretary of under President George W. Bush, and Maureen Ohlhausen, a former Federal Trade Commission chair, were also rejected by the Senate committee.

VMI appointments

VMI’s board has been at the epicenter of controversy surrounding the ouster of the military college’s first Black superintendent, retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, who was named in 2021 while VMI was putting its first DEI programs in place after a study on racist and sexist conduct among students and staff was ordered by former Gov. Ralph Northam, an alumnus. Wins said in March when the board — now dominated by Youngkin appointees — voted against renewing his contract that the decision was “a partisan choice that abandons the values of honor, integrity and excellence upon which VMI was built.”

Youngkin named John Hartsock, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Ben Cline; Stephen Reardon, an attorney with Spotts Fain; and Jose Suarez, a Florida businessman, to VMI’s board. All three are alumni, according to their board bios.

Although the governor makes thousands of appointments to state boards and commissions, the has some control over the process and must vote to confirm appointments — which it typically does without much controversy. However, public universities’ boards have become hotbeds of controversy in recent years due mainly to political disputes.

Cuccinelli’s appointment was a lightning rod for some student and faculty critics at U.Va., who called for the legislature to deny him the board seat. In an open letter signed by more than a dozen student organizations and employee groups, opponents cited Cuccinelli’s “track record of undermining the rights and safety of marginalized groups,” as well as a probe he launched as attorney general into a professor conducting climate research at U.Va.

Meanwhile, Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said Monday during the committee meeting that the eight nominees “are not good choices” for the three universities’ boards. He added that there has been a “disturbing pattern of conduct” on George Mason’s board since spring 2024.

“The previously civil climate at that university has devolved,” Ebbin said, adding that meetings have been punctuated by “demeaning exchanges, hostile questions, even rude personal taunts that have been documented on the internet.”

He added that President Gregory Washington, who is Black, was asked by a board member “how it would feel to hear, ‘Get a rope and hang them all’ invoked as free speech. Sadly, it appears that some of the visitors do not seem to be there for academic or even university governance purposes. They seem to be there … to disrupt and, if they can, to destroy.”

Although Ebbin did not name the George Mason board member who allegedly made the comment to Washington, the George Mason student newspaper reported in March that BOV member Robert Pence, a businessman who was the U.S. ambassador to Finland during Trump’s first term, said similar words during a board discussion over a resolution regarding antisemitism amid widespread campus protests of the war in Gaza.

Sen. Aaron Rouse, who chairs the Senate Privileges and Elections committee and is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, called Cuccinelli “a Trump crony who is simply too extreme to have a role in shaping one of our commonwealth’s flagship universities” in a statement after the vote.

Letter to rectors

Sen. Scott Surovell, the Senate’s majority leader, sent a letter to the state’s 15 public university rectors on Monday that was provided to Virginia Business. It addresses the governance of Virginia’s public institutions and refers to the Senate committee vote to reject the eight nominees.

“As you are aware, Virginia’s public universities operate under a framework established by the Code of Virginia and are subject to the ultimate authority and control of the of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Surovell wrote. “It is important to understand that Virginia is currently and for the next six months will experience divided government. This means that governance of our universities is a shared exercise between coequal branches of government.”

Surovell added, “I am aware that the governor has advised his appointees that they are to follow his directives. The governor of Virginia, while an important partner in higher education policy, does not possess the authority to issue binding directives to boards of visitors regarding university operations, policies or governance decisions.”

He also wrote that the “people of Virginia expect and deserve board members who will act independently, thoughtfully and in the best interests of their respective institutions and the commonwealth,” and that if “any board of visitors fail to exercise appropriate independent judgment or allow external influences to compromise their fiduciary duties, the General Assembly will not hesitate to examine the situation and take whatever legislative action may be necessary to ensure proper governance and accountability.

“Finally, I remind you that … the Code of Virginia requires that all members of boards of visitors be confirmed by the General Assembly,” Surovell concluded. “The General Assembly takes this confirmation responsibility seriously and will not confirm individuals who do not possess the judgment, character or willingness to follow the principles articulated in this letter.”

Questioning process

Republican Sen. Glen Sturtevant defended the governor’s picks, saying, “There is nothing about any of these individuals that makes them unqualified to serve the commonwealth of Virginia in any of these positions. These are all highly qualified appointees.”

Sturtevant argued that the 15-member committee, which is controlled by eight Democrats, doesn’t meet the state’s constitutional standard in rejecting the governor’s appointees. Sturtevant suggested that a meeting of the joint subcommittee was required before this committee met: “There are steps in this process.”

Rouse responded to Sturtevant, saying that the committee had held sessions before to confirm “hundreds and hundreds” of Youngkin appointees without first holding a joint subcommittee meeting, and that the committee’s mission was to “provide accountability and oversight to our prestigious institutions to ensure that those bodies align with our values.”

Apple unveils software redesign while reeling from AI missteps, tech upheaval and Trump’s trade war

SUMMARY:

  • showcases and new features at .
  • No launch date announced for delayed Siri upgrade.
  • Analysts say Apple is refining, not reinventing, its platforms.
  • Apple’s stock slips amid investor concerns over AI lag and regulation.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.

The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters, was more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years.

Apple highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people’s lives and make its products even more intuitive while also providing an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its software in a decade. In doing so, Apple executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences.

In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its first major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri — a goal that has hasn’t been achieved yet.

Apple had intended the planned Siri upgrade to herald its long-awaited attempt to become a major player in the AI craze after getting a late start in a phenomenon that so far has been largely led by OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and an array of cutting-edge startups.

“This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn’t estimate when its upgraded Siri would be completed.

“The silence surrounding Siri was deafening,” said Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said. “No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can fill the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don’t know when that will happen. The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and Apple needs to lift off.”

The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether Apple has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history.

Instead of making a big splash as it did with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, Apple took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a “Workout Buddy” to help track physical fitness on its smartwatch.

Apple executives promised will make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

“Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable,” Apple told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Apple seemed to be largely using Monday’s conference to demonstrate the company still has blueprint for success in AI, even if it’s clearly going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago.

“This year’s event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement —positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies,” Jeronimo said.

Besides redesigning its software. Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they first arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 — as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been used since the device’s 2007 debut.

The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time Apple traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models.

In an early sign that AI wasn’t going to be a focal point of this year’s conference, Apple opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car. Although it was meant to promote the June 27 release of the Apple film, “F1” starring Brad Pitt, the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company’s attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology.

While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn’t been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year’s conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year.

While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple’s biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone.

Besides grappling with innovation challenges, Apple also faces regulatory threats that could siphon away billions of dollars in revenue that help finance its research and development. A federal judge is currently weighing whether proposed countermeasures to Google’s illegal monopoly in search should include a ban on long-running deals worth $20 billion annually to Apple while another federal judge recently banned the company from collecting commissions on in-app transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system.

On top of all that, Apple has been caught in the crosshairs of ‘s trade war with China, a key manufacturing hub for the Cupertino, California, company. Cook successfully persuaded Trump to exempt the iPhone from during the president’s first administration, but he has had less success during Trump’s second term, which seems more determined to prod Apple to make its products in the U.S.

The multidimensional gauntlet facing Apple is spooking investors, causing the company’s stock price to plunge by nearly 20% so far this year — a decline that has erased $750 billion in shareholder wealth. After beginning the year as the most valuable company in the world, Apple now ranks third behind longtime rival Microsoft, another AI leader, and AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Apple’s shares closed down by more than 1% on Monday — an early indication the company’s latest announcements didn’t inspire investors.