Friday newspaper round-up: HS2, BP, flotations

The HS2 high-speed rail line is at risk of further cuts to its route north of Birmingham as the government considers whether it can afford high-cost projects in advance of the autumn budget. The project has been mired in fresh uncertainty after the prime minister’s spokesperson refused to guarantee on Thursday it would run to Manchester, after publication of a photographed document suggesting further cuts were under discussion. – Guardian

The BP chairman, Helge Lund, has started the hunt for a new boss to replace Bernard Looney, which could lead to the oil giant’s first external chief executive hire for decades. The chairman told BP staff in a webcast on Wednesday that he had begun the process of appointing a new chief executive and would consider hiring company outsiders to the role. – Guardian

A Court of Appeal judge has called ChatGPT “jolly useful” after he used the artificial intelligence chatbot to write part of a ruling. Lord Justice Birss, who specialises in intellectual property law, said he had used the text generation tool to summarise an area of law he was familiar with before copy and pasting its words into a court ruling. – Telegraph

Almost half of the £1.6 billion in state-backed pandemic loans provided by Starling Bank is either overdue or has effectively been written off, official figures show. An analysis of £1.41 billion worth of bounceback loans issued by Starling shows that at least £761 million is in arrears, default or has already been claimed back from the government. – The Times

The Arm flotation has breathed life back into a moribund global market for IPOs. Its performance over the coming weeks will determine the extent to which the trickle becomes a flood. Company flotations in 2022, both in tech and beyond, dried up as businesses marked time waiting for market conditions to improve. – The Times