Leading lights of the tech industry met in Lisbon yesterday for the Web Summit, the sector’s first big event since the US election, with Donald Trump’s victory expected to be a key theme of their discussions.
The tech industry is holding its breath to see what Trump’s second term will bring when he takes over in January, especially as Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) and Tesla Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk is expected to have a huge influence on the next US government.
During Trump’s last term from 2017 to 2021, big tech firms were often at odds with the president, particularly given his crackdown on immigration and ramping up the trade war with China.
Photo: Patricia De Melo Moreira
The Web Summit runs until tomorrow with some 3,000 start-ups pitching their products to 1,000 investors, and 70,000 visitors taking part in events and debates, according to the organizers.
Thousands poured through the doors on the first full day of the event, delegates from countries and local governments manning pavilions with splashy slogans and sleek logos, flanked by banks of stands devoted to start-ups.
Among yesterday’s high-profile speakers was Cristiano Amon, boss of chip giant Qualcomm Inc, who played down the impact of Trump’s election.
"We’ve done well globally regardless of the administration," he said in a press conference, adding that his firm also was managing to thrive in China despite the current trade war with the United States.
Ukraine, whose future depends on Western support to push back against the Russian invasion, brought 24 start-ups to the event.
"Times are very challenging," said Yana Hulak from the Ukrainian Startup Fund when asked about the ongoing war and the changes in leadership in Washington.
"The country’s priorities are in the military sector. We are trying to showcase civilian technology," she told AFP.
"We’ve got start-ups here covering sectors from education to insurance."
The event kicked off on Monday night with singer Pharrell Williams bringing star power to the proceedings.
Organizers were keen to move on from last year’s edition when a string of big firms pulled out after Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave wrote social media posts accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza.
Cosgrave stepped down but has since returned to his post. He made no reference to the controversy in his opening speech on Monday, saying simply: "It’s good to be back."
Cosgrave stressed that the Web Summit is focused on the start-up ecosystem first and foremost. But big tech firms have returned to the gathering this year with Meta Platforms Inc, Google and others all represented.
Kuo Zhang (張闊), president of Alibaba.com (阿里巴巴國際站), took to the stage to outline the features of a new artificial intelligence-powered search engine called Accio, named after a spell in the Harry Potter series.
Microsoft Corp president Brad Smith was also on hand to extol the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI).
His firm has ploughed billions into the tech and he told the audience AI was "the next great general purpose technology."
On the other side of the debate, prominent AI critic Max Tegmark, president of the Future of Life Institute, told the event on Monday that humanity could be on the path to oblivion.
He was especially critical of the competition between nations to build ever more powerful AI.
"It’s not an arms race between the US and China, it’s a suicide race," he said.
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
PROJECTION: KGI Financial said that based on its foreign exchange exposure, a NT$0.1 increase in the New Taiwan dollar would negatively impact it by about NT$1.7 billion KGI Financial Holding Co (凱基金控) yesterday said its life insurance arm has increased hedging and adopted other moves to curb the impact of the local currency’s appreciation on its profitability. “It is difficult to accurately depict the hedging costs, which might vary from 7 percent to 40 percent in a single day,” KGI Life Insurance Co (凱基人壽) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. KGI Life, which underpinned 66 percent of the group’s total net income last year, has elevated hedging to 55 to 60 percent, while using a basket of currencies to manage currency volatility, the insurer said. As different