Search - business-technology

 
 
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, inside the Congress Center ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 16, 2024

OpenAI will roll out new tools to thwart election misinformation

New tools will attribute information about current events provided by its chatbot ChatGPT, and help users determine if an image was created by its AI software.
Doubts about China’s official investment statistics — which measure spending on things like housing, factories and infrastructure — have been fueled by frequent revisions in recent years, and the latest data implies an unusually large adjustment.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 19, 2024

Did China’s economy really grow 5.2% in 2023? Not all agree

Doubts over Chinese data, particularly on investment, have resulted in alternative calculations that put its GDP growth last year at as low as 1.5%.
Fighters loyal to the Houthis ride on the back of a pick-up truck during a military parade for new tribal recruits amid escalating tensions with the U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea, in Bani Hushaish, Yemen on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 24, 2024

Red Sea attacks could disrupt shipping for months, driving up costs

With sailors demanding double pay and insurance rates skyrocketing, shipping lines are steering clear of a waterway that normally carries 12% of seaborne trade.
To mitigate China’s growing tech influence and establish a foothold in the budding artificial intelligence ecosystem, Taiwan budgeted some 17.4 billion New Taiwan dollars ($555.6 million) through 2026 to develop expertise and tools in the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2024

Taiwan builds own AI language model to counter China’s influence

Taiwan is spending $7.4 million for a tool free of China’s political influence
Monet Technologies' robotaxi service, partly designed to address serious shortages of taxi drivers, will use vehicles based on Toyota's Sienna minivan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 11, 2024

Toyota affiliate to start Robotaxi service in Tokyo

The new robotaxi service, partly designed to address serious shortages of taxi drivers, will use vehicles based on Toyota's Sienna minivan.
The tail of a BYD electric vehicle sports the company’s motto, “build your dreams,” at a dealership in Shenzhen, China, on Jan. 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2024

How China built BYD, its Tesla killer

BYD’s sales, over 80% of them in China, passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year.
Renesas Electronics will buy software firm Altium in the biggest acquisition yet of an Australian-listed company by a Japanese buyer.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Japan chipmaker Renesas to buy software company Altium for $5.9 billion

The move marks the biggest acquisition yet of an Australia-listed company by a Japanese buyer.
A delegation of Ukrainian officials look at machinery used for debris processing in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024

Japanese technology to contribute to Ukraine reconstruction, government hopes

Japanese officials will meet with Ukrainian counterparts in Tokyo on Monday to discuss measures to support the reconstruction of their country.
Vehicles on display at a Toyota car dealership in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2024

Toyota ups its bet on hybrids in Brazil with $2.2 billion plan

The firm will expand production capacity in Latin America’s largest economy for models that use hybrid-flex fuel technology.
TSMC and other leading-edge chipmakers are engaged in negotiations with the Commerce Department over a pool of about $28 billion in grants targeted for advanced factories.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024

TSMC to win more than $5 billion in grants for U.S. chip plant

The move would mark a major milestone in U.S. President Joe Biden’s effort to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing.
A DJI drone emerges from the casing on top of a BYD Yangwang U8 vehicle.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

China EV makers woo buyers with in-car beds, kitchens and drones

Top EV makers are facing a slowdown in demand at home as consumers curb spending.
People stand in front of a temporarily closed McDonald's in Tokyo's Shimbashi district on Friday as the chain experienced widespread tech issues.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

McDonald's suffers widespread tech outage in Japan and abroad

Many McDonald's stores in Japan stopped taking in-person and mobile customer orders because of the system disruption.
Giovanna Gonzalez of Chicago demonstrates outside the U.S. Capitol following a press conference by TikTok creators to voice their opposition to the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 12.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2024

TikTok and its 'secret sauce' caught in U.S.-China tussle

China's ByteDance's algorithm has helped drive TikTok's stratospheric success since the app was launched for the international market in 2017.
Global demand for the hardware that underpins AI has sparked an economic recovery in Taiwan, giving policymakers room to focus on battling inflation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 21, 2024

AI frenzy gives Taiwan central bank room to battle inflation

Taiwan’s exports and benchmark stock indexes have gained over the past few months, even as growth in major overseas markets remains weak.
A lone Tesla charges in the basement of a commercial property in Tokyo. One of Japan’s biggest obstacles to electric vehicles is subpar charging infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2024

How three high-tech countries became laggards in electric vehicles

Japan's slow adoption traces back to a decade-old bet on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, while U.S. and South Korea have hit bottlenecks.
Resistance to adopting digital technologies, restrictive EU regulations, and energy-price shocks are potential explanations for Europe's lagging productivity.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024

Why is Europe losing the productivity race?

A forthcoming report from Mario Draghi will recommend removing barriers to competition, which would intensify the pressure on firms to innovate.
The Fair Trade Commission took an administrative action against Google for using tactics that limited Yahoo Japan’s ability to compete in targeted search ads.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2024

Japan watchdog says Google hurt local rival’s ability to compete

From 2015 to 2022, Google blocked Yahoo Japan from technology needed to receive targeted ad revenue from searches on mobile devices, the FTC said.
Despite the potential benefits AI might have for bank customers, like finding the best interest rates, there are concerns about the destabilizing effects it may have on financial stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024

Generative AI is coming for your bank. Maybe.

Tech investors reckon that supersmart agents will soon upend the business model of traditional banks, but there are caveats.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2024

South Korea’s economic growth beats forecast as exports rise

South Korea's gross domestic product advanced 1.3% in the three months through March, easily outpacing economists’ consensus for a 0.6% expansion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a conference in Paris last June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2024

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicks off surprise trip to Beijing

Musk is seeking to meet senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the rollout of Full-Self Driving software in China.
Stellantis premium brand Alfa Romeo reveals the Milano, its first fully electric car, during an event in Milan on April 10.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 7, 2024

EU election could force sharp turn in electric car policy

Europe's right-wing parties have made cancelling the 2035 deadline to phase out sales of internal combustion engine cars a rallying cry.
Toyota CEO Koji Sato says the company plans to expand AI-related investments, and this year will focus on building a strong foundation for software-defined vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Japan’s carmakers look to China tech to claw back market share

With no signs of demand slowing for Chinese EVs, Japanese carmakers are looking to adapt their strategies to win over the world’s biggest auto market.
SoftBank is working to develop artificial intelligence-enabled software that softens the tone of customers' voices.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2024

SoftBank looks at 'softening' angry customer calls with AI

The issue of harassment of staff working in the service industry has gained more awareness in recent years.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the virtual AI Seoul Summit hosted jointly by South Korea and Britain, in Seoul.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2024

Second global AI summit secures safety commitments from companies

Sixteen companies at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence pledged on Tuesday at a global meeting to develop the technology safely.
A SAIC Motor MG EXE181 concept EV during the Beijing Auto Show earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 27, 2024

Xi’s China EV dream came true, but 10 years on, walls are going up.

China also overtook Japan as the largest auto exporter, but such achievements are also adding to tensions with the West.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has pledged to build three advanced plants in the U.S. state of Arizona with total investments exceeding $65 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2024

TSMC’s foreign investments are good for Taiwan, official says

TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, with Apple and Nvidia relying on it for their most important products.
Chinese electric vehicles bound for shipment at the Port of Taicang in China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2024

EU seeks roadblocks for Chinese EVs without sparking trade war

Crucially, the bloc must strike a balance with its aim for more Europeans to drive EVs as it prepares to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.
An Nvidia AI supercomputing graphics processing unit. CEO Jensen Huang said the company plans to upgrade its so-called AI accelerators every year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024

Nvidia tops $3 trillion in value, leapfrogging past Apple

The last time Nvidia was worth more than Apple was in 2002, five years before the first iPhone was released.
A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says

Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.
Jars containing rare earth minerals produced near Laverton, northeast of Perth, Australia, in 2019
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 18, 2024

Brazil sees opportunity in race to loosen China's grip on rare earths

Rare earths projects in Brazil are expected to be a test for how effectively the West can build a new advanced industry almost from scratch.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear