SpaceX Goes to Vietnam, OpenAI Planned Expansion, Blackrock Invests in Asia
SpaceX Goes to Vietnam, OpenAI Planned Expansion, Blackrock Invests in Asia
SpaceX Goes to Vietnam, OpenAI Planned Expansion, Blackrock Invests in Asia
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SK Hynix Shares Jump After Micron Outlook Lifts AI Chip Hope - Bloomberg
SK Hynix has begun volume production of a 12-layer memory chip known as HBM3E.
The company is bidding to stay ahead of rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co.
Singapore Entertainment Firm Neon Is Said to Weigh IPO Next Year - Bloomberg
Immersive entertainment group Neon is considering an initial public offering in Singapore that may raise up to S$500 million ($389 million).
The company, backed by Temasek Holdings Pte. and 65 Equity Partners, has interviewed financial advisers for a potential offering that could take place next year.
Neon produces immersive experiences with franchises including Marvel's Avengers, Jurassic Park and The Hunger Games, and partners with governments of Peru and Egypt on historical site exhibitions.
Vietnam Says SpaceX’s Starlink Plans $15 Billion Investment - Bloomberg
SpaceX plans to invest $15 billion in Vietnam for its Starlink satellite service.
Vietnam is reviewing the proposal and coordinating with domestic partners to complete investment procedures.
Australian Regulators Working With Banks to Monitor AI Adoption - Bloomberg
Australia's financial regulators are monitoring the adoption of AI in the industry to understand and understand the risks associated with its widespread use.
The RBA has highlighted four types of risks related to AI: operational risk from concentration of service providers, herd behavior, credible misinformation and scam content, complex and opaque AI models, and legal compliance issues.
BlackRock Sees Growth in Asia Infrastructure on AI Boom - Bloomberg
BlackRock sees huge growth opportunities in Asia for infrastructure to support a boom in artificial intelligence.
Water infrastructure will need to almost double over the next five years, and overall energy consumption will increase by about 50%.
Asia lags the rest of the world in terms of infrastructure investment.
Behind OpenAI’s Audacious Plan to Make A.I. Flow Like Electricity - New York Times
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is seeking investment from the United Arab Emirates, Asian chipmakers, and US officials to expand computing power for AI.
Altman proposed erecting new computer chip factories and data centers across the globe, including in the Middle East, to reduce the cost of manufacturing chips for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM).
Some participants and regulators balked at parts of the plan, but the talks have continued into Europe and Canada
OpenAI has been in talks to raise $6.5 billion to support its own business, a deal that would value the start-up at $150 billion
The Emirates' technology investment firm, MGX, is among the potential investors in the group of potential investors
How News Outlets Like Fox and CNN Are Preparing for Election Day - New York Times
Major news organizations are preparing to make calls in a tight race and ensure viewers and readers trust their coverage.
The Associated Press is dedicating more resources to explain its decisions to readers and hire additional reporters to produce journalism that explains the wire service's decisions, including for states closely contested by high-profile figures.
NBC News is dispatching a new corps of correspondents, called “county captains, to monitor vote-counting efforts in potentially pivotal counties to help figure out what is happening if there are disputes. - The media industry is under pressure to help viewers understand the nuances of the vote-tallying process and help them understand the real information that follows the electoral process. 10- Many voters rely on media outlets to declare state-by-state winners and keep score in the Electoral College. 11- Anything that creates doubt or sows concern and anxiety undermines our electoral system, according to Claudia Milne, the senior vice president of CBS News. 12- CNN is adding legal experts to its bench of legal experts in case of disputed counts in swing states.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Political Evolution - New York Times
Mark Zuckerberg, once a backer of liberal causes, now wants to stay away from politics
Zuckerberg has expressed cynicism about politics after years of bad experiences in Washington
He and others at Meta, the parent company of Facebook, believed trying to continue engaging with political causes would only draw further scrutiny to their company
Mr. Zuckerberg has stopped supporting programs at his philanthropy that could be perceived as partisan, and he has tamped down employee activism at Meta
In public, he is declining to engage with Washington except when necessary
Privately, he considers his personal politics to be more like libertarianism or classical liberalism
His evolution has drawn comparatively little attention compared to other tech titans like Elon Musk, who have publicly attached themselves to conservatives and former President Donald Trump
Chief executives in Silicon Valley have grown frustrated with contentious social issues and largely backed away from political engagement
France Prepares to Raise Taxes on Businesses and the Rich - New York Times
France's new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has opened the door to reversing some of President Emmanuel Macron's tax cuts to fix the country's widening budget deficit.
The government is facing an uphill battle to control France's ballooning debt and deficit, which have become among the highest in Europe
Borrowing costs for France have risen to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis
President Macron has bet on tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations as a recipe for stimulating the economy
Critics say the tax policies have mostly widened economic inequality and drained tax revenue from the national coffers
A study by the Institute Montaigne found that the combined measures cost the French Treasury nearly €15 billion in lost income
Mr. Barnier needs to find an eye-popping €110 billion in savings over the next several years to bring France back on track to tackle the problem
French politicians are under pressure to act quickly to address the worsening financial situation.
Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, to Leave Company - New York Times
Mira Murati, the chief technology officer at OpenAI, is leaving the company to do her own exploration.
OpenAI's chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a vice president of research, Barret Zoph, are also leaving the start-up.
The executives are leaving as the company is working to transform into a traditional for-profit company, which is not expected until next year. OpenAI is seeking cash because its costs far outpace its revenue. The company is in talks for a new round of investment that could value the company at up to $150 billion.
OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati to leave in latest shake-up - Financial Times
OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati, Bob McGrew, and Barret Zoph are leaving the company, triggering a leadership shake-up at the AI start-up.
The company has had several high-profile departures this year, including founders John Schulman and Ilya Sutskever, and Greg Brockman taking a leave of absence until the end of the year
Murati has led the company's efforts to build ChatGPT as a standalone product and oversaw releases and improvements of Dall-E and AI code generator Codex
Sam Altman, the chief executive, named new senior vice-president of research and head of mission alignment to ensure a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership
Altman and his team made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to do it all at once
Openai is in discussions to change its corporate structure to become more investor-friendly and release new products such as o1, capable of reasoning and voice capabilities
Murphy's departure is a reminder of lingering scars from last year's leadership turmoil at the company.
Chinese billionaire’s ‘direct train’ to Silicon Valley attracts FBI attention - Financial Times
CSC Group, a private equity firm, is building a direct train to Silicon Valley to introduce foreign high-tech technologies into China.
Hone Capital, CSC's California-based investment vehicle, has built stakes in almost 400 US tech start-ups developing critical technologies from artificial intelligence to cyber security and supersonic jets
The FBI is investigating Hone over whether intellectual property may have been transferred back to Chinese companies or authorities raising potential national security concerns
FBI interviews have focused on Hone's portfolio companies that have federal government contracts, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors
Chinese investors often pooled money from sovereign, provincial, and local governments as well as state-owned enterprises, firms, and individuals to invest in the US tech sector
Shan recruited Veronica Wu, a former Chinese-born executive at Tesla, McKinsey, and Apple, to lead CSC to its new Silicon Valley business
In 2016, Hone partnered with AngelList to gain instant credibility and access to thousands of deals on the platform.
Meta unveils augmented reality glasses prototype ‘Orion’ - Financial Times
Meta has unveiled a prototype for lightweight augmented reality glasses called Orion
The glasses can overlay 2D and 3D content over the real world and use artificial intelligence to analyze it
Additional features include reminders, calling numbers from documents, QR scanning, and translating conversations with Meta AI
Orion glasses will use wristbands to take signals from the body, including from the brain, in a neural interface
Meta also announced an updated version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses, which do not have AR displays but can now allow users to analyze photos or videos
Zuckerberg touted the AI capabilities of Orion and said it was the most advanced glasses in the world.
Google files Brussels complaint against Microsoft cloud business - Financial Times
Google has filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in Brussels, alleging unfair cloud computing practices that limit choice and increase prices.
Microsoft is accused of leveraging its Windows software to lock customers into its Azure cloud services and imposing steep penalties on using rival cloud providers
Google wants EU regulators to force Microsoft to remove restrictions on using cloud services from rivals and remove any discriminatory practices
The move is a rare escalation between large tech players in Brussels and comes after Microsoft successfully avoided a formal investigation in July.
Bari Weiss’s media start-up valued at $100mn in funding round - Financial Times
US media start-up The Free Press has raised $15mn in its most recent fundraising, valuing the business at about $100mn
The company was launched in 2022 by former New York Times journalist Bari Weiss and describes itself as a "free press for free people"
Weiss has previously raised money from investors such as Marc Andreessen and David Sacks
Hedge fund boss Paul Marshall's Old Queen Street Ventures was among the investors that took part in the recent fundraising
Funds raised will be used to fund the next stage of its growth, according to the people close to the situation
Start-ups are seeking the next phase of their growth in a bid to reach profitability or acquire older media institutions
Some start-ups, such as Tortoise and UnHerd, are acquiring older newspapers, while Air Mail is working on a potential sale.
How Meta's Smart Ray-Ban Glasses Spawned a Silicon Valley Hit - Wall Street Journal
Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are gaining popularity among consumers who use them for photo-taking and social media content creation.
The second version of the glasses, made in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica, went on sale in October 2023 and has had higher demand than expected, with over 700,000 pairs shipped so far
Users can record videos with the glasses by pressing a button to start a 30-second, 60-second or three-minute video
Sales figures for the most recent iteration have not been disclosed, but shipments have doubled from the first to the second quarter this year
Meta may be finding an interested user base among content creators who use its Instagram and Facebook apps to post videos online to make money
Christopher Söderberg, a freelance consultant for influencers, uses the glasses to film videos for social media and kick-start his own career
Analysts predict that the glasses will be a holiday hit and are expected to be a game changer for the market.
Chip Giants TSMC and Samsung Discuss Building Middle Eastern Megafactories - Wall Street Journal
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics are considering building large factory complexes in the United Arab Emirates. The projects could transform the chip-making industry and become a cornerstone for artificial-intelligence investments in the Middle East. The U.A. is funding the projects, with Abu Dhabi-based sovereign development vehicle Mubadala playing a central role in developing a domestic tech industry. The goal is to increase global chip production and help bring chip prices down without hurting chip-makers' profitability. The discussions are still in the early phases and face technical and other hurdles that mean they might not pan out. There are concerns about the availability of engineering talent to staff major new factories far from the companies' home bases.
How Intel Fell From Global Chip Champion to Takeover Target - Wall Street Journal
Intel is being considered as a takeover target by Qualcomm due to its strategic missteps and the rise of the artificial-intelligence boom.
CEO Pat Gelsinger had planned to build up Intel's contract chip-making business and sell it to design-only chip companies such as Qualcomm to catch up to Asian rivals.
However, Intel has fallen behind in the race to manufacture the fastest-performing chips with the smallest transistors, which has led to a shift towards AI. The rise of generative AI has shifted demand away from Intel's central processors and towards Nvidia's graphics processing units. (
Intel laid off 15,000 people, cut costs by $10 billion next year, and scraped the dividend last year to preserve its turnaround effort).
Analysts and investors are still interested in the takeover, but a deal with Qualcomm is far from certain due to regulatory and other reasons.
Tech Jobs Have Dried Up---and Aren't Coming Back Soon - Wall Street Journal
Glenn Kugelman resorted to using paper and duct tape to advertise his LinkedIn profile to potential employers in the tech industry.
The job market for tech workers is harder than it was a few years ago, with a shift towards revenue-generating products and services from entry-level hires and cutting back on non-big money-making areas like virtual reality and devices.
Postings for software development jobs have decreased by over 30% since February 2020, and tech companies have shed around 137,000 jobs since January, according to Layoffs.fyi.com. The pandemic caused tech companies to go on hiring sprees and take on far too many workers, leading to a downturn in the economy. Some tech employers, some of which had never done large-scale layoffs before, are now cutting tens of thousands of jobs. The shift in hiring strategies signals a reset in an industry that is fundamentally readjusting its labor needs and pushing some workers out. Some employees are being hired to do nothing due to the pandemic-induced job market downturn.
They Bought Homes With Their Friends---and Now They Want Out - Wall Street Journal
More friend groups are buying homes together in recent years, especially those who couldn't afford to go it alone in the pandemic housing market.
The number of co-buyers with different last names hitting a record in data going back a decade in 2021 fell 29.5% over the following two years, according to real-estate analytics firm Attom Data Solutions.
When co-ownerships end, it is usually not because of conflict, but rather because people are leaving due to various reasons such as moving, getting married, or moving to a different city
Falling interest rates could make traditional homeownership more affordable to first-time home buyers, potentially opening up the option to refinance or move to a new home with better terms
However, close quarters can spark difficulties and conflicts can arise when buying a home with friends
Pandemic shutdowns in 2020 made things worse, as having disputes in front of another family was awkward and felt like being in a daycare
Co-ownership agreements can be difficult to work with