CHINA
Economy slowing: survey
The economy lost momentum in the second quarter, a survey showed, as the government’s efforts to curb risky lending and investment took a toll. The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6.8 percent from April to last month compared with the same period last year, the median forecast of 12 analysts polled showed. That followed a better-than-expected rise of 6.9 percent in the first three months of this year. The estimate comes ahead of the official release tomorrow of the nation’s closely-watched GDP growth data for the second quarter.
AUTOMOTIVE
Takata asks for injunction
Japanese automotive parts supplier Takata Corp is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge for an injunction prohibiting the governments of Hawaii, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands from prosecuting lawsuits involving the company’s lethally defective airbag inflators. In a complaint filed on Thursday, Takata is also seeking to extend the automatic halt of litigation against a company in bankruptcy to hundreds of individual lawsuits against automakers that installed the faulty airbags. The judge is to hold a teleconference on Takata’s request on Tuesday.
CHIPMAKERS
Judge halts bid to block sale
A California judge on Friday put on hold a request by Western Digital Corp to block the sale of Toshiba Corp’s chip division, suggesting a more collaborative order. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn gave Toshiba and Western Digital until a July 28 hearing to draft an order requiring the Japanese company to give its Silicon Valley partner two weeks’ notice before closing a sale of the division. In the meantime, the court ordered Toshiba to not complete the sale. Toshiba lawyers have contended in court documents that the sale to the highest bidder interested in the chip division was not expected to close until early next year at the earliest.
TELECOMS
AT&T to spin off media unit
AT&T Inc is likely to create a separate media division upon completion of its planned merger with Time Warner Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Long-time AT&T executive John Stankey would be placed in charge of the Time Warner business, while AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson would keep the title of chairman of the merged entity, the newspaper said. Asked about the report, AT&T said no decisions have been finalized on the management structure of the group after the merger, which remains subject to regulatory approval.
ELECTRONICS
Juicero to fire 25% of staff
Juicero Inc, the start-up behind a US$399 Internet-connected juice machine, said it is cutting 25 percent of its staff. The job reductions, which are primarily in sales and marketing, are being made as Juicero is trying to lower the price of its machine and juice packs. The company’s product came under scrutiny in April, when Bloomberg reported that the packs could be squeezed by hand, yielding almost the same amount of juice in a shorter period of time than with the machine. CEO Jeff Dunn addressed the revelations in a letter on Friday to employees announcing the cuts and thanking them for remaining focused, despite the negative media cycle.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
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