The daily business briefing: May 27, 2016

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1. Google wins court battle over Oracle's $9 billion copyright claim
2. G-7 summit concludes with vow to cooperate on avoiding new financial crisis
3. Snapchat raises $1.8 billion in latest fundraising
4. Takata airbag recalls expand in U.S. and Japan
5. Stocks start Friday wobbly ahead of Yellen remarks

published 27 May 2016

1. Google wins court battle over Oracle's $9 billion copyright claim

Google on Thursday won a jury verdict against Oracle, which was seeking $9 billion for the use of its Java programming language in Google's development of its Android smartphone operating system. Oracle argued that Google used copyrighted material in 11,000 of the 13 million lines of Android software code, which is used in 80 percent of the world's mobile devices. Google said it only made fair use of Oracle's Java code, and therefore owed nothing. The jury agreed. Oracle plans to appeal.

Group of Seven leaders wrapped up their annual summit on Friday, downplaying their differences on fiscal policy and vowing to "use all policy tools" to promote global economic growth. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the group of leaders of the world's industrialized nations "shares a strong sense of crisis" — one he said could parallel the global financial crisis that started in 2008 if "appropriate policy responses are not made." The G-7 leaders also expressed concern over North Korea and maritime disputes involving China.

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Snapchat raised $1.8 billion in a new round of fundraising, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The latest infusion of $200 million this week valued the image messaging app company at $20 billion. Facebook offered $4 billion for Snapchat in 2013. Some critics have questioned whether Snapchat's income justifies a lofty valuation. According to leaked data obtained by TechCrunch, Snapchat, with 110 million daily active users, generated $59 million in revenue during the 2015 fiscal year.

Eight automakers on Friday announced the recall of another 12 million U.S. vehicles over potentially faulty Takata airbag inflators. Honda is recalling 4.5 million vehicles, and Fiat Chrysler 4.3 million, according to documents posted by U.S. regulators. Takata, a Japanese auto-parts manufacturer, agreed earlier this month to declare up to 40 million more inflators defective. Japan's Transport Ministry said it was recalling another seven million vehicles over concerns with the inflators, which can send metal fragments flying and have been blamed for 13 deaths worldwide.

Global stocks got off to a mixed start on Friday, with Europe opening lower as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for signs of where U.S. interest rates are heading, and when. Yellen is scheduled to speak at Harvard University at 1:15 p.m. and her remarks are expected to shed some light on the likelihood that the Fed will raise rates at June meeting. Market-based expectations put the likelihood of a rate hike at 28 percent in June, and 51 percent by July.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.