Software

Brick phones will ring in an unlikely revival

19 Dec 2024

Nokia handsets of the early 2000s are appealing to a generation seeking a digital detox. The market, which is only 2% of US devices, is growing fast having doubled in a year. With the likes of Australia banning social media for under-16s, Apple and Samsung may pivot or lose out.

OpenAI IPO would create the next hot meme stock

16 Dec 2024

Sam Altman’s $157 bln ChatGPT creator looks increasingly like a money pit in need of constant funding. Elon Musk’s Tesla has shown that retail investors can support the stock price of a buzzy brand. An ongoing cleanup of the company’s unusual governance structure would help too.

US-China tech war will hold Asian allies hostage

16 Dec 2024

Washington’s curbs on semiconductors and other goods are starting to elicit a response from the People’s Republic. New export control rules offer a way for Beijing to retaliate. Its leverage over giants like Japan’s Toyota or South Korea’s SK Hynix make them prime targets.

Berlin can curb but not stop a Romania-TikTok mess

12 Dec 2024

The app is under scrutiny for enabling meddling in Bucharest’s elections. Given a blanket TikTok ban is beyond the EU’s remit, Germany’s February poll may go the same way. Yet Berlin could also coordinate better with tech platforms ahead of time – which Romania didn’t.

Masa Son risks overcompensating for his AI misses

3 Dec 2024

The SoftBank founder sold Nvidia too early and seems late to the party with his recent OpenAI investments. Now, he may be planning to invest $9 bln a year in artificial intelligence. The risk for the billionaire’s shareholders is that he acts recklessly to make up for lost time.

A financial historian’s warning about the AI boom

26 Nov 2024

Artificial intelligence hopes have unleashed an investment frenzy, propelling chip giant Nvidia’s value to $3.5 trln. In this episode of The Big View podcast, mathematician Andrew Odlyzko explores parallels with the 1990s dotcom bubble and Britain’s railway mania of the 1840s.

Ireland’s $25 bln tax bounty reveals OECD flaws

19 Nov 2024

Dublin expects a record budget surplus in 2024 thanks to a cash deluge from tech giants. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Pascal Saint-Amans, the architect of a landmark 2021 tax treaty, explains how the US’s failure to ratify the deal allows havens to rake in billions.

At least Tencent can retreat into a virtual world

14 Nov 2024

The Chinese titan's hits like "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile" helped power a one-third rise in adjusted quarterly earnings to $8 bln. Outside of gaming, though, fintech and cloud services barely grew. Consumers and companies are holding back splurging in the real world.

Gulf’s AI strategy is built on more than sand

13 Nov 2024

The UAE and Saudi are raising $200 bln for artificial intelligence. A reliance on imported chips means AI superpower status akin to China or the US is unlikely. But even if the region can’t build a ChatGPT-killer, it can carve out a niche to make the exercise worthwhile.

Saudi’s Davos is no longer such a desert

1 Nov 2024

Around 8,000 CEOs and financiers flocked to the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, twice the number at its inception in 2017. Western bosses were keener to talk about artificial intelligence than investing in the kingdom. But Saudi’s progress suggests that may yet change.

China robotaxi IPOs may struggle to find their way

25 Oct 2024

Pony AI and rival WeRide are prepping US listings. But shares in fellow autonomous-vehicle pioneers like Mobileye and Hesai have lost half their value or more in the past year, and the road to profitability for driverless cabs looks long. That makes these deals a harder sell.

Why data centres are a bottleneck for the AI boom

15 Oct 2024

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT depend on chips and energy. But a $1 trln rush to build data centres faces constraints on planning and power. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Morgan Laughlin of asset manager PGIM explains the virtual frenzy’s physical limits.

What Masayoshi Son can teach us about investing

11 Oct 2024

The Japanese tech tycoon backed future giants like China’s Alibaba as well as spectacular flops like office-sharing startup WeWork. A new biography likens him to a high-stakes gambler. But Son’s chequered career also reveals some of the skills of a successful venture capitalist.

Decoding the puzzle of SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son

8 Oct 2024

The Japanese tycoon shaped global technology while building and losing vast fortunes. How does he keep going? In the first episode of Breakingviews’ new podcast, The Big View, former FT editor Lionel Barber discusses what he uncovered in his biography of Son, ‘Gambling Man’.

Ireland spins global tax mess into $28 bln of gold

8 Oct 2024

Dublin expects a 2024 budget surplus worth 8% of gross national income, thanks to the presence of US companies lured by low levies. It’s evidence that profit shifting lives on despite a landmark OECD deal. The good news for Ireland is that there’s little chance of that changing.

OpenAI’s $157 bln valuation requires hand waving

3 Oct 2024

Assuming new investors want a 20% return in the artificial intelligence company, it needs a $1 trln price tag in a decade. That’s conceivable, based on other tech giants’ history. Founder Sam Altman just needs to beat rivals, turn a profit, and update its business model.

AI’s next feat will be its descent from the cloud

2 Oct 2024

Tech giants hoping to spend $1 trln on data centres are struggling to secure power supplies and space. That bolsters the case for smaller artificial intelligence models that can run on devices, not a remote platform. Phone and laptop makers from Apple to Lenovo stand to benefit.

AI is a black hole of bits, chips and power

26 Sep 2024

OpenAI’s ChatGPT kicked off a race to develop ever-more-sophisticated artificial intelligence. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingvews columnists dissect the vast amount of data-crunching bots and power required to feed it, investments that could cost trillions of dollars.

Murdoch’s UK property bid may yet get even sweeter

23 Sep 2024

Rightmove is mulling an improved $8.1 bln offer from Australia’s REA Group, owned by the media tycoon. A chunky premium and other UK refuseniks’ share price slumps are reasons for the listing portal’s board to say yes. But the buyer’s latest bid implies an ability to pay more.

KKR outmanoeuvres Bain in $4 bln Japan showdown

20 Sep 2024

The two buyout giants are tussling over IT specialist Fuji Soft after Bain dangled a potentially higher offer. But KKR has found a clever way to put itself ahead without raising its price. Future buyers should take note: in a hot market like Japan, creative tactics will be needed.