SELF-DRIVING CARS
Nvidia to aid Uber and VW
Nvidia Corp said Uber Technologies Inc and Volkswagen AG (VW) will use its artificial intelligence expertise to help bring self-driving cars to the roads. Uber, the largest ride-hailing company, will use Nvidia processors and software for its forthcoming fleet of self-driving vehicles, Nvidia chief executive officer Jen-Hsun Huang (黃仁勳) said at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas on Sunday. Volkswagen will deploy Nvidia technology to develop an intelligent copilot system, the companies said, adding that their copiloting system will provide convenience and assistance features using sensors inside and outside the vehicle.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novo Nordisk rebids on Ablynx
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S offered as much as 2.6 billion euros (US$3.1 billion) in cash to acquire Ablynx NV — its second run at the maker of treatments for rare bleeding disorders after the board of the Belgian company refused to engage in talks. The proposal includes an upfront cash offer of 28 euros per share and potential cash payments over time of up to 2.50 euros per share, Novo Nordisk said in a statement yesterday. That is about 44 percent more than the stock’s closing price in Brussels on Friday. Ablynx shares have almost doubled since the beginning of last year. Novo Nordisk, the world’s biggest insulin maker, is looking for new ways to counter slowing drug sales growth.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Pfizer leaves neuroscience
Pfizer Inc’s decision to stop research and development into new neuroscience drugs, including its work on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, is to lead to about 300 job cuts. The move to end the neuroscience-discovery program followed an internal review, the New York-based drugmaker said in a statement. The drugmaker is currently weighing the future of its consumer-health division, possibly with a sale or spin-off that could bring in billions. The unit had revenue of US$3.4 billion in 2016.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple health probe urged
Activist investor Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System urged Apple Inc to study the effects of heavy smartphone usage on mental health. “There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent young users, this might be having unintentional negative consequences,” said the letter from the investors, dated Jan. 6. The investors combined own about US$2 billion in Apple shares. The “growing societal unease” is “at some point ... likely to impact even Apple,” the activist investors said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the letter, which was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Celgene gains cancer drug
Celgene Corp agreed to buy closely held Impact Biomedicines for US$1.1 billion upfront to gain an experimental blood cancer treatment. The price could reach as much as US$7 billion over time if the drug reaches certain milestones. Under the agreement, Celgene is to add up to US$1.25 billion to the upfront payment if Impact’s drug fedratinib reaches approval milestones to treat myelofibrosis, a form of bone marrow cancer, and another US$150 million for other indications. Additional payments could reach as much as US$4.5 billion if global annual sales rise above US$5 billion, according to a statement on Sunday.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
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