RESILIENT: Taiwan’s unemployment rate rose to 3.34 percent last month — lower than the US’ 4.3 percent, but higher than Japan’s 2.6 percent, the DGBAS said
Taiwan’s unemployment rate edged up last month as post-Lunar New Year job switching led to modest labor market fluctuations, although overall conditions remained stable, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.The unemployment rate rose to 3.34 percent, up
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday.Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the l
SK Hynix Inc reported a five-fold jump in quarterly profit, underscoring the surging prices of the memory chips that underpin the boom in global artificial intelligence (AI) development.Operating profit last quarter jumped to 37.61 trillion won (US$25.4 billion), a record high that compares with ana
SpaceX might be tackling one of the biggest challenges in the chip business: manufacturing the keys to powering artificial intelligence (AI) called graphics processing units, or GPUs.Ahead of SpaceX’s US$1.75 trillion initial public offering expected this summer, the company has warned prospective i
KEY MILESTONE: Due to complex regulations, foreign AI models cannot be applied to the financial sector, necessitating the development of a local version, an official said
Taiwan’s financial sector yesterday launched a joint initiative to develop a localized large language model (LLM), part of a broader push to build domestic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign technologies.The first version, focused on banking knowledge, is set to
STRICTLY INDEPENDENT: Kevin Warsh said that it is up to the Fed to remain free of political influence and that he would ensure strict independence of monetary policy
US President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, on Tuesday said that he would not be controlled by the US president as he fielded questions on central bank independence during his confirmation hearing. The former Fed Board of Governors member emphasized his commitment
Taiwan’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories remain stable and sufficient amid tensions in the Middle East, with crude stockpiles at about 140 days, well above the 90-day legal requirement, and LNG inventories at about 12 days, exceeding the 11-day requirement, Minister of Economic
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter.A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MAT
Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) expects significant improvement in gross margin and net profit this quarter on continued chip price hikes.The company has raised prices for 12-inch display driver chips by 30 percent, image sensors by 20 percent and 8-inch display d
Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai is deepening a push into enterprise software, signaling to investors at Google’s annual cloud conference that artificial intelligence (AI) agents — human-like digital assistants — are a lynchpin of its strategy to monetize AI.At the three-day conference in Las Vegas th
Models display carnations at a news conference in Changhua County’s Tianwei Township yesterday. With weeks until Mother’s Day, which falls on May 10 this year, carnations are in peak season in Tianwei, which produces about 90 percent of the flowers in Taiwan.
CATCHING UP: While Apple’s AI development stumbled under Cook, Ternus has already reorganized the firm’s hardware engineering division for a new AI platform, sources said
Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook is to hand the reins to hardware boss John Ternus this year, capping a 15-year tenure that turned the company into a US$4 trillion business that spans watches, video streaming and financial services.Ternus is to become CEO on Sept. 1, when Cook would transi
Export orders surged 65.9 percent year-on-year to US$91.12 billion last month, driven by strong demand for information and communications technology (ICT) products amid an artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing boom, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.The figure mar
UPTICK: After nine years of moderate growth, reverse mortgage lending has started to rise, with 323 new loans totaling NT$2.36bn approved in the first quarter
Reverse mortgage lending in Taiwan is accelerating as more elderly homeowners tap rising property values to fund their retirement, signaling that the once-niche financial product is entering a faster growth phase.The trend comes as Taiwan rapidly moves toward becoming a “super-aged” society — when a
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used fo
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is to ease shareholding requirements on financial institutions in Taiwan’s Web-only banks, taking effect at the earliest at the end of next month.The move comes as the nation’s three online banks — Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行), Rakuten International Commer
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said that publicly-traded companies will be able to distribute cash dividends in foreign currencies as early as next year, in a move aimed at creating a more investor-friendly environment.Given that foreign investors hold up to 46.93 percent of th
People stand near a loitering munitions drone, front, sitting among other uncrewed vehicle models during a press tour in Taichung yesterday. Thunder Tiger Corp is a Taiwanese company that designs and manufactures defense-oriented uncrewed vehicles, including aerial vehicles (such as the T-400, TM-45
EXPECTATION GAP: While the government projected 7.71 percent GDP growth for this year, consumers in the survey on average forecast GDP growth of 6.38 percent
Taiwanese consumers are growing more cautious about the economy and spending, despite continued signs of strong growth in official data, underscoring a widening gap between macro fundamentals and household sentiment as geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns intensify, a survey released yesterd
RSS