Major corporate developments, shifting market sentiment in Asia, and fresh moves in the AI landscape are happening on Tuesday.
Disney races to secure a stable succession plan for CEO Bob Iger, Apple announces a significant leadership change in its artificial intelligence division, OpenAI initiates an internal “code red,” and Asian markets react cautiously to global bond volatility and crypto weakness.
Disney advances its CEO succession process
Disney is working to stabilize its long-running CEO succession challenge as it prepares to announce Bob Iger’s successor in early 2026, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Iger, who has delayed retirement five times and reassumed leadership in 2022 after Bob Chapek’s ousting, is expected to work alongside the chosen candidate before his contract expires next December.
Parks chief Josh D’Amaro and television executive Dana Walden are viewed as the leading internal contenders and have already presented their strategic visions to the board.
The company has been extending contracts for senior leadership—including its general counsel, CFO, communications chief, and HR head—through 2027–2029 to avoid internal disruption during the transition.
D’Amaro is considered the frontrunner, praised for his analytical approach and popularity with employees and fans.
His portfolio includes Disney’s parks, cruise lines, video games, and consumer products, and he has championed a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games.
Walden, meanwhile, brings decades of television experience and co-leads Disney Entertainment, including streaming, and has managed sensitive relationships across content and distribution.
While Disney has considered external candidates in the past, insiders believe the next CEO will likely come from within.
The board is intent on avoiding the turmoil that marked earlier succession cycles and is preparing incentives for top executives who do not secure the CEO role to stay on.
OpenAI declares “code red” for ChatGPT
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has told employees he is initiating a “code red” to accelerate improvements to ChatGPT, according to an internal memo reported by The Information.
The company is delaying other initiatives—including advertising plans—while it focuses on enhancing product performance.
OpenAI has not publicly acknowledged ad-based revenue plans, though it is reportedly testing multiple ad formats, including those tied to online shopping.
The move comes as competition intensifies in the consumer AI space and as rivals scale up infrastructure spending to support more advanced models.
Asian markets cautious amid bond selloff and crypto drop
Asian markets showed restrained gains Tuesday after a global bond selloff and a steep crypto decline injected caution into trading.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index rose 0.36%, while Tokyo’s Nikkei advanced 0.18% after a sharp previous-session fall.
Japanese government bond yields continued to rise, with the 10-year reaching a 17-year high at 1.88%, as markets expect the Bank of Japan to tighten policy later this month.
The yen strengthened, pressuring the US dollar, which traded at $1.16 ahead of eurozone inflation data.
Bitcoin remained under pressure after a 5.2% slump, now down 30% from its October peak, with market sentiment turning increasingly “fearful and resigned,” according to Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu.
India’s equity benchmarks slipped on Tuesday as investors booked profits in financial stocks, with the blue-chip indices extending their consolidation near record highs for a fourth consecutive session.
Nifty was down 0.38% at the time of writing.
Apple’s AI chief retires as company faces growing competition
Apple announced the departure of its AI chief John Giannandrea, marking the most significant shake-up in its AI organization since unveiling Apple Intelligence in 2024.
Giannandrea will remain an advisor until retiring next spring.
Amar Subramanya—formerly of Microsoft and Google’s DeepMind—will take over as vice president of AI, reporting to software head Craig Federighi.
The leadership change comes amid criticism that Apple has fallen behind peers like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google.
The rollout of Apple Intelligence has faced setbacks, including delays to an upgraded Siri until 2026.
Subramanya will lead Apple’s foundation model, research, and AI safety teams.
Other groups formerly under Giannandrea will shift to COO Sabih Khan and services head Eddy Cue.
While Apple shares are up 16% this year, they trail rivals investing more aggressively in AI infrastructure.
Apple is taking a device-centric approach, emphasizing on-device AI rather than cloud-heavy models.
The shift comes as former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman work on AI-native hardware, with prototypes reportedly completed.
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