INTERNET
‘Googlers’ protest CBP
Hundreds of Google employees on Wednesday called on the company to avoid working for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) until it stops “engaging in human rights abuses.” A petition signed by more than 600 “Googlers” as of late afternoon was prompted by word that CBP was preparing to request bids on a massive cloud computing contract. Google is a major cloud computing provider.
THAILAND
Wage hike plan falters
The government’s pledge to boost the nation’s minimum wage is foundering because of an economic slowdown. US-China trade tension and its impact on the kingdom is one of the risks to monitor, Minister of Labor Chatumongol Sonakul said. “It would be very difficult to do a wage increase at all” if the economy is “looking bad,” Chatumongol, a former Bank of Thailand governor, said in an interview on Wednesday in Bangkok. At the same time, he said wages need to climb in principle to improve the nation’s outlook.
BANKING
Deutsche seeks next chair
Deutsche Bank AG supervisory board chairman Paul Achleitner is searching for his successor after overseeing a tumultuous period marked by multiple restructurings, top management changes and a slumping share price. The search is partly in response to shareholder criticism about succession planning, people with knowledge of the matter said. “Mr Achleitner’s term as chairman runs until 2022. Beyond that, there are clear rules governing succession issues on the supervisory board; the nomination committee prepares them,” a Deutsche Bank spokesman said by e-mail.
BANKING
OCBC eyeing Permata
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) is weighing a bid for Standard Chartered PLC’s Indonesian bank, people with knowledge of the matter said, a move that might create the nation’s fifth-largest lender. The Singaporean bank is considering an offer for almost 90 percent of PT Bank Permata, which has a market value of about US$1.9 billion, the people said. OCBC is interested in the stakes held equally by Standard Chartered and Jakarta-listed PT Astra International, with each owning 44.6 percent, the people said.
SHIPPING
Maersk beats estimates
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S delivered an operating profit in the second quarter that beat analyst estimates, as the world’s largest shipping line reassured investors it can keep its outlook, despite an uncertain trade environment. The company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of US$1.36 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of US$1.24 billion. Maersk said synergies of US$1 billion from combining its container transport activities came sooner than expected, which drove profit in the quarter.
AIRLINES
Ryanair pilots to strike
Ryanair DAC pilots are to strike for two days next week, their union said on Wednesday, escalating an internal pay row at the budget airline. Irish trade union Forsa said directly employed pilots would strike for 48 hours from 00:01am on Thursday, matching planned industrial action from British pilots. A strike notice was served on Dublin-headquartered Ryanair on Wednesday after mediation stalled earlier in the day.
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