Good morning. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved new requirements that public companies disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions, but dropped a key provision that was fiercely opposed by business groups.

The 3-2 vote in favor of the rule comes after a two-year process involving intense lobbying from some of the world’s biggest industries and influential climate groups. It has faced relentless criticism from corporations and Republican lawmakers who say the agency is reaching beyond its authority. 

• The details on the new rule: The SEC approved a new climate-disclosure rule that didn’t include a proposed requirement that companies report emissions from their supply chains and customer use of their products. The agency dropped reporting requirements for these so-called Scope 3 emissions after many businesses complained about the costs and difficulty of compiling those data.
   
• What that means for companies: Businesses will still face requirements to report Scope 3 in some jurisdictions, as well as pressure from investors, consumers and business partners. “A lot of them are impacted by so many different pressures in this space,” said Mallory Thomas, a partner with the risk advisory practice at consulting firm Baker Tilly. “A lot of larger public companies will continue to report their Scope 3.”
   
• What are Scope 3 emissions? They are easy to understand but difficult to quantify. They include essentially all emissions linked to a company’s operations but outside its direct control, apart from the electricity it purchases. For a retailer, that could include emissions from their suppliers’ manufacturing operations, the transport of goods, business travel for executives and even the recycling of products. 

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Boeing response in Alaska Airlines 737 MAX probe is blasted by Feds.

Federal accident investigators have been frustrated by Boeing’s slow response in their probe into the Alaska Airlines midair blowout, according to the top official at the National Transportation Safety Board.

The airplane maker hadn’t provided the names of 25 employees the NTSB believes may have information about work on a door plug that later flew off a plane during a Jan. 5 flight, Jennifer Homendy, the safety board’s chair, told U.S. lawmakers at a Wednesday hearing.

The blacklisted component that’s disrupting the luxury-car market.

A commonly used magnetic component made by a blacklisted Chinese company is behind the holdup of thousands of luxury-car shipments to the U.S., illustrating how American trade policy is upending global supply chains.

The part, a LAN transformer used to connect cars and computers to networks, was inside a control system of vehicles being shipped by Volkswagen to the U.S. from Europe and Mexico.

• A Chinese national who worked at Google was indicted on charges he stole the company’s artificial-intelligence trade secrets as part of a multiyear scheme to compromise sensitive American technology and boost Beijing in the high-stakes global race to dominate the booming industry.
   
• Exxon Mobil has filed for arbitration to protect what it says is its right to pre-empt Chevron’s bid for a stake in a prolific oil project off Guyana, escalating a dispute that could torpedo Chevron’s $53 billion deal for Hess. 

Gaza cease-fire talks enter precarious moment.

Cease-fire negotiations have entered their most perilous moment in weeks, all but stalling even as U.S. and Arab mediators rush to reach a deal to pause fighting in Gaza and release some hostages held there ahead of a looming Ramadan deadline.

Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s spy chief, stepped in to prevent Hamas from walking away from negotiations late Tuesday, according to Egyptian officials with knowledge of the talks, persuading the militant group to stay an extra day even though the two sides appear deadlocked.

Microsoft’s AI tool generates sexually harmful and violent images, engineer warns.

An artificial intelligence engineer at Microsoft said the company’s AI image tool generated violent and sexual images that could pose a danger to society.

In letters to the Federal Trade Commission and to Microsoft’s board on Wednesday, Shane Jones, a principal software engineering manager, addressed concerns he said he has about the tech giant’s “approach to responsible AI.”

• Brisk inflation and hiring data in January haven’t altered the Federal Reserve’s expectation that it will be appropriate to cut interest rates later this year, but Chair Jerome Powell said officials want more evidence that inflation is slowing.
   
• A deadly Russian missile strike hit the Ukrainian city of Odesa on Wednesday during a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, exploding a few hundred yards from the delegation, according to an official who was there.
   
• Three people on board a Barbados-flagged ship died after it was struck in an attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday, according to the ship’s owner, the first known loss of life since the rebel group began attacking ships in the Red Sea region in late November.

• How the bromance between Elon Musk and Sam Altman turned toxic. A legal battle between OpenAI’s co-founders is the latest twist in a volatile partnership that launched the artificial-intelligence boom.
   
• Fortnite developer Epic Games alleged Wednesday that Apple had terminated its developer account, preventing the videogame company from bringing its game store to iOS devices.
   
• Billionaire Elon Musk said he isn’t putting his cash behind either presidential candidate.
   
• It’s the latest musical mashup: Top 40 hits meet financial engineering. A startup is offering securities backed by the royalty streams from songs recorded by such artists as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and the pop-rock band OneRepublic. Its goal is to bring music investing to the masses.

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