TELECOMS
No French Huawei ban
French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire yesterday said that the government would not ban China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) from investing in the nation, in contrast to the UK, which has decided to purge the firm’s equipment from its 5G network by 2027. Le Maire told France Info radio that there was “no blanket ban” on Huawei in France, but that sensitive locations would be protected. “We won’t ban Huawei from investing in 5G, we will protect our national security interests,” Le Maire said, adding that he had reaffirmed France’s position to Beijing on Monday.
UNITED KINGDOM
Borrowing hits record
Government borrowing surged to a record ￡128 billion (US$162 billion) in the first three months of the financial year, when COVID-19 lockdown measures were tightest, more than double the entire previous year’s borrowing. Borrowing last month, excluding state-owned banks, was ￡35.5 billion, the Office for National Statistics said. That was five times more than a year earlier, following a big downward revision for May. The April-to-June quarter made up the three highest months of borrowing in the kingdom’s history, even though spending on job support was lower than first estimated and tax revenues higher, the office said.
CHINA
Sentiment improving
Sentiment in the technology sector and among smaller firms improved this month, suggesting that the recovery in the second quarter continued this month, Standard Chartered PLC said. A gauge of the outlook for small and medium-sized companies rose to 53.9 this month, said the bank, which surveys hundreds of such firms each month. The index for output strengthened and export orders started expanding again, it added. A separate gauge which tracks the technology sector also improved this month, a report from Nomura Holdings Inc said. However, export demand was still weak and severe flooding in central China would weigh on the economy, it said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis profit up 9%
Swiss giant Novartis AG yesterday posted a higher profit for the first half of the year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing swings in sales. Net profit came in at US$4 billion, a 9 percent increase year-on-year when currency fluctuations were stripped out, while sales rose by 6 percent to US$23.6 billion. Novartis said that it expects mid single-digit percentage sales growth for the year, with a low double-digit percentage gain in its measure of core operating income. In the first six months of the year, core operating income rose by 19 percent.
INTERNET
LinkedIn to axe 960 jobs
Microsoft Corp’s professional networking site LinkedIn yesterday said that it is to cut about 960 jobs, or 6 percent of its global workforce, as the COVID-19 pandemic is having a sustained impact on demand for its recruitment products. Jobs are to be cut across the sales and hiring divisions of the group globally. Announcing the plan in a message posted on the company’s Web site, LinkedIn chief executive Ryan Roslansky said that the company would provide at least 10 weeks of severance pay, as well as health insurance for a year for US employees, and would hire for new roles from laid-off staff.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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