UNITED STATES
Credit Suisse deal expected
Credit Suisse Group AG might reach an agreement as soon as this week to settle an investigation into its handling of mortgage-linked securities before the 2008 financial crisis, Reuters reported. Switzerland’s second-largest bank is confident it can reach a resolution for less than the US$5 billion to US$7 billion that the US Department of Justice has demanded, the publication quoted an unidentified person familiar with the talks as saying, without specifying when that request was made. Credit Suisse chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam met with US Attorney General Loretta Lynch last week, it said. US President Barack Obama’s administration has shifted focus to European firms including Deutsche Bank AG as it wraps up a years-long push to hold Wall Street to account for creating and selling subprime mortgage bonds that soured during the crisis.
AUTOMAKERS
GM to end Michigan shift
General Motors Co (GM) said it plans to eliminate a production shift at a Michigan factory starting in March, resulting in layoffs for about 1,300 workers as demand for passenger cars slows. The announcement, contained in an official notice to the state of Michigan, goes a step beyond temporary production cuts for January that both GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV disclosed earlier on Monday. Detroit-based GM said eliminating the second shift at Hamtramck would affect 493 regular production employees, 638 temporary workers, and others covered by United Auto Workers. About 30 salaried workers are to transfer to other plants. The automakers are acting to reduce swelling inventories as Americans turn away from sedans and other passenger cars, choosing instead to buy sport utility vehicles and light trucks.
FINANCE
IMF gets behind Lagarde
The IMF threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds. With international elites and their institutions facing populist criticism amid political and social change in the United States and Europe, the 24 directors of the fund decided that this was not the time to leave the IMF rudderless. Earlier Monday, the Cour de Justice de la Republique, a French court that considers cases against government officials, found Lagarde guilty of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds when she was France’s finance minister nearly a decade ago. However, the court did not impose a fine or sentence.
INTERNET
Zuckerberg touts ‘Jarvis’
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg on Monday introduced the world to “Jarvis,” an artificial intelligence system that he created, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognize visitors, deciding whether to open the front door. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the past year was customized for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is “both closer and farther off” from an artificial-intelligence breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
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