Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

New York Community Bancorp gets $1B cash infusion

NEW YORK | Embattled New York Community Bancorp is getting a lifeline of more than $1 billion as a group of investors plug cash into the troubled bank.

The deal will bring four new directors to the board, including Steven Mnuchin, the former U.S. Treasury secretary under President Donald Trump. Joseph Otting, a former comptroller of the currency, will become the bank’s CEO.

The news sent NYCB’s stock on a wild ride. It had dropped more than 80% this year before the announcement. After that, it shot up toward its best day in nearly a year, only to swivel between losses and gains.

Federal judge orders U.S. minority business agency to serve all races

NEW YORK | A federal judge in Texas has ordered a 55-year-old U.S. agency that caters to minority-owned businesses to serve people regardless of race, siding with white business owners who claimed the program discriminated against them.

The ruling was a significant victory for conservative activists waging a far-ranging legal battle against race-conscious workplace programs, bolstered by the Supreme Court’s ruling last June dismantling affirmative action programs in higher education.

Judge Mark T. Pittman of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency’s eligibility parameters violate the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantees because they presume that racial minorities are inherently disadvantaged.

Ex-Google engineer charged with stealing AI

trade secrets

WASHINGTON | The Justice Department says a former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China.

Linwei Ding was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft. The case against Ding was announced at an American Bar Association Conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national security concerns posed by advancements in artificial intelligence.

It was not immediately clear whether Ding has a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

—From AP reports