LABOR
Government sues Palantir
The US Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit accusing a fast-growing Silicon Valley software company of systematically discriminating against Asian job applicants. Palantir Technologies was cofounded by prominent tech financier Peter Thiel, with backing from an investment arm of the CIA, and was recently valued at US$20 billion. The privately held company makes powerful data-analytics software used by US military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, along with banks, insurance firms and other non-government clients. The unusual lawsuit claims Palantir “routinely eliminated” Asian job candidates during the resume-screening and telephone-interview stages of the firm’s hiring process. The claims are based on a statistical analysis conducted by federal officials responsible for making sure government contractors comply with anti-discrimination rules.
ENERGY
Westar sale approved
Stockholders on Monday approved the US$12.2 billion sale of Topeka-based electric firm Westar Energy to Missouri-based Great Plains Energy, the two firms announced on Monday. Westar is Kansas’ largest electric company, and after the acquisition, Great Plains would serve more than 1.5 million customers in the two states. The two companies said that combining operations would result in US$200 million in annual savings after three years, keeping rates in check. Great Plains said 81 percent of its shareholders participated in the vote, with 95 percent approving the sale. Westar said 63 percent of its shareholders voted, with 96 percent approving it.
BANKING
Bank of America to cut jobs
Bank of America is to lay off 20 senior investment bankers in Asia due to slowing activity in the region, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday. Goldman Sachs is also cutting staff in the Asian region due to a slump in deal-making, according to published reports on Monday. Bank of America employees affected by the layoffs work in Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong, a person familiar with the move said. The plans are still being finalized, including the exact number of workers affected. Bank of America also cut about 150 investment bankers in the region in March. Goldman plans to lay off more than 25 percent of 300 investment bankers in the region, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Goldman staff will be cut in Hong Kong and Singapore, but workers in Japan will be spared, the report said. Officials with Bank of America and Goldman Sachs declined comment.
TECHNOLOGY
Walt Disney eyeing Twitter
Walt Disney Co is working with a financial adviser to evaluate a possible bid for Twitter Inc, according to people familiar with the matter. After receiving interest in discussing a deal, Twitter has started a process to evaluate a potential sale. Salesforce.com Inc is also considering a bid and is working with Bank of America on the process, according to other people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Representatives for Twitter and Disney did not respond to requests for comment. Speculation that Twitter will be sold has been gathering steam in recent months, including last week’s news of Salesforce’s interest, given the social-media company’s slumping stock and difficulties in attracting new users and advertising revenue. Disney, the owner of ABC and ESPN, could obtain a new online outlet for entertainment, sports and news. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is on the board of Disney.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the