TRADE
Japan may get TPP invite
Eleven countries negotiating a proposed free-trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific appear to be on the verge of formally inviting Japan into the talks, diplomatic and industry sources said on Thursday. Top trade officials from the 11 countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks were meeting yesterday in Surabaya, Indonesia, ahead of the annual APEC trade ministers’ meeting this weekend. Japan struck a deal with the US last week to get Washington’s support to join the TPP talks.
INTERNET
Viacom’s YouTube suit fails
For the second time in three years, a federal judge has dismissed Viacom’s US$1 billion copyright lawsuit against YouTube, saying the online video site does not have to police itself, as long as it removes infringing videos when copyright owners give notice. US District Court Judge Louis Stanton in New York ruled on Thursday that Viacom never proved YouTube was aware of thousands of videos Viacom said were stolen from its TV networks. Viacom Inc says it will appeal. YouTube owner Google Inc says the ruling marks an important day for the Internet.
INDIA
Parties agree on land bill
India’s main political parties have struck a “broad consensus” on a contentious land acquisition bill to better reward landowners whose property is bought for industrial development, a minister says. The bill seeks to give property owners fairer prices for their land — a politically charged issue that has delayed many projects, including construction of a US$12 billion plant by South Korean giant POSCO in eastern India.
GERMANY
Lufthansa faces strike
The union representing 33,000 workers at Lufthansa AG say they will stage a short-term strike next week after the latest round of wage negotiations ended with no new deal. Ver.di union said in a statement yesterday that airports across the country, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne, will be affected by the one-day strike on Monday. Lufthansa says it will have to cancel flights, but had not yet worked out a new flight plans with specifics. Lufthansa on Wednesday rejected the union’s demand for wage increases of 5.2 percent over the next year and job guarantees.
AUTOMAKERS
Chrysler loses on Fiat 500e
Chrysler Group stands to lose US$10,000 on every battery-powered Fiat 500 it sells in California, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said on Thursday. Marchionne said Chrysler’s new Fiat 500e gets the equivalent of 174km per gallon and will travel 140km on a single charge. However, the true cost of the car leaves the automaker with a steep loss on every sale, Marchionne said during a speech at the Society of Automotive Engineers annual banquet.
SOFTWARE
SAP reports rising profits
Business software maker SAP says net profit increased 17 percent in the first quarter, as its remote cloud-computing business showed strong growth to complement its longstanding sales of software that runs on company premises. Profits rose to 520 million euros (US$680.7 million) from 444 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues rose 7 percent to 3.60 billion euros. SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe said that “SAP had a very good start to 2013” and that “the business mix is working.”
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI