• How IBM became an AI darling It has pulled off yet another striking turnaround Throughout its 115-year life IBM has shown itself to be a master of reinvention. • In the mid-1990s the mainframe pioneer rescued itself from collapse by shifting its focus to the booming business of IT services. • A decade later it sold its struggling PC division to China’s Lenovo. • This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Out of the blue” From the January 31st 2026 edition Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Explore the editionBeware China’s shrinking car market The resulting flood of exports will be good news for consumers. • Less so for the world’s carmakers Why MAGA brands have been a flop Conservatives are better at trashing businesses than building them Bartleby The excruciating quest for a meeting room A tale of territorial ambition, power dynamics and water bottles Schumpeter Private-equity barons have a giant AI problem Their leveraged bets on the software industry may soon cause big trouble Arm wants a bigger slice of the chip business Artificial intelligence is causing the chip designer to rethink its winning formula America’s hottest grocery store is also its priciest Erewhon is testing just how much wealthy shoppers will pay for chicken soup

Article Summaries:

  • How IBM became an AI darling It has pulled off yet another striking turnaround Throughout its 115-year life IBM has shown itself to be a master of reinvention. In the mid-1990s the mainframe pioneer rescued itself from collapse by shifting its focus to the booming business of IT services. A decade later it sold its struggling PC division to China’s Lenovo. This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Out of the blue” From the January 31st 2026 edition Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Explore the editionBeware China’s

Sources: