■ Software
Microsoft expands in Ireland
Microsoft Corp announced plans on Thursday to open a new research and development center in Ireland that it said would design parts of the next edition of its Windows operating system, codenamed "Longhorn." The announcement came during 20th anniversary celebrations of Microsoft's 1985 arrival in Dublin. The software giant employs 1,200 people in suburban south Dublin and has made Ireland -- the world's biggest exporter of software, thanks to Microsoft's presence -- one of its main European bases for customer support, production and research. Besides working on components of Longhorn, the center's researchers are expected to develop applications for Windows Media Center and make Microsoft software more adaptable for use in different languages and countries.
■ Airlines
Dragonair to increase seats
Dragon Airlines Ltd plans to increase its seats on flights to China this summer to meet expectations of a sharp rise in passengers, the company says. The carrier -- Hong Kong's second largest -- also plans to start flights to South Korea and Australia and launch a cargo service to the United States in the coming months, chief financial officer Francis Wai said in an interview. Wai said China's robust economy warranted the increase in the carrier's air services. "Mainland China is our core market and will continue to be so," Wai said. Dragonair posted record passenger and cargo volume last year, when it flew 4.5 million passengers, up 49.2 percent from 2003.
■ Entertainment
Warner Music files IPO plan
Warner Music Group Corp, home to Madonna, on Friday revealed plans for an initial public offering, filing with regulators to sell up to US$750 million of common stock. In its Securities and Exchange Commission statement, the company did not estimate how many shares or at what price it planned to offer its stock, but said shares will be sold by both the company and several shareholders. Warner Music, one of the world's largest record companies, plans to list its stock on either the New York Stock Exchange or on the NASDAQ. Proceeds from the deal will be used to repay debt and for general corporate purposes, according to the SEC document, submitted on Friday. New York-based Warner Music was formed about a year ago when a group of investors, led by chairman and chief executive Edgar Bronfman, bought Time Warner Inc's music division for US$2.6 billion in mostly cash.
■ Airlines
Jetsgo grounds all its planes
Discount Canadian airline Jetsgo announced on Friday that all its flights had been canceled while it seeks bankruptcy protection, stranding an estimated 17,000 passengers, many of whom were heading out on their long-awaited spring break. Jetsgo advised customers to make alternative arrangements before heading to the airport since there would be no Jetsgo staff or planes available while the airline seeks bankruptcy-court protection. Travelers who are already away were told their return tickets were no good and to make other arrangements to get back home. The privately held company issued the stunning announcement shortly after midnight on Friday. It is asking Quebec Superior Court to grant it protection from creditors. Jetsgo said that difficult market conditions and competitive pressures led the company to discontinue operations and ground all of its planes.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to