Tech

AI speed benefits now apply to EU boycott U-turns

26 May 2023

On Wednesday Sam Altman threatened to quit Europe if it “over-regulates” his booming startup OpenAI. He’s now rapidly rowed back. As with their disruptive new technology, AI mavens may have a shrewder sense than older US peers of when to stop poking the Brussels bear.

Europe’s scramble to tame artificial intelligence

23 May 2023

Brussels is a step closer to unveiling regulation for the controversial technology. Dragoș Tudorache, a legislator in the European Parliament, helped write the law. In this Exchange podcast, he argues that the rules focus on the biggest risks while leaving room for innovation.

Transatlantic tech-tax truce is on a knife edge

23 May 2023

EU-US spats over levies on the likes of Amazon have taken a breather while a global pact advances. But sabres are rattling, led by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. Washington may well be patient with the pace of promised rollbacks, but any new levies would break the truce.

Capital Calls: US gifts Big Tech

19 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The US’s high court left internet firms’ liability protections untouched in two Thursday rulings. For Twitter, Meta and Google, business as usual is the ideal outcome.

AI boom could expose investors’ natural stupidity

19 May 2023

Corporate leaders and money managers are jumping on the artificial intelligence bandwagon. The study of behavioural economics suggests people are easily carried away by hype. Some of the limits of human reason may also apply to supposedly smart machines, writes Felix Martin.

Asia tech’s next challenge is resetting the bar

19 May 2023

Singapore’s Grab raised its guidance, compatriot Sea navigated choppy waters, and China’s Tencent beat estimates. Investors still dumped their stock. Some caution is justified but high expectations throw up a new set of problems for a battered industry on the mend.

Capital Calls: BT, Mediobanca

18 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The 14 bln pound UK telco’s vague guidance is a concern for its two big shareholders seeking to recoup losses; the 8.5 bln euro Italian bank buys its biggest boutique yet.

Capital Calls: Sea

17 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: Founder Forrest Li is trying to shore up faith in the company’s newfound profitable status but a miss on earnings and 18% drop in its shares is a reality check.

Why the jobs market could brush off AI threat

16 May 2023

Hiring seems to be waning in the US and Europe. Yet in this Exchange podcast, recruitment boss Sander van ’t Noordende strikes a hopeful note. The Randstad CEO explains why artificial intelligence and a possible economic slump are doing nothing to dampen demand for talent.

Big Tech’s AI victims will fall fast

12 May 2023

Online education company Chegg is suffering as students lean on artificial intelligence to help with homework. Hollywood writers are paranoid. While AI is accruing value to Big Tech, smaller companies will quickly – and once again – be annihilated by well-capitalized tech firms.

AI offers leisure, if not happiness

12 May 2023

Technology has outpaced economic growth for 50 years, while workers have long traded higher productivity for more leisure. These trends will continue as artificial intelligence automates more jobs. The salient question is how to distribute the gains – and the free time.

German software buyout battle hits investor glitch

10 May 2023

Bain Capital has launched a 2.5 bln euro knockout offer for IT group Software AG. But the target seems oddly happy to stick with a lower bid from existing backer Silver Lake. Shareholders can either take an inferior price or risk a messy stalemate.

“Super Mario” augurs more media-gaming tie-ups

20 Apr 2023

Nintendo and Universal’s film adaptation of the hit video game franchise could rake in $1.5 bln. That’s a big victory for an industry whose spinoffs have more often been the butt of jokes. With gaming stocks having sold off sharply, there’s logic in more media giants plugging in.

SoftBank-Alibaba sale looks awkward for Prosus

13 Apr 2023

The Japanese investor may offload most of its stake in the Chinese giant. But Prosus is only slowly shrinking its 27% holding in Tencent. The Amsterdam-listed firm has a chunky valuation discount. While the two situations are very different, the final outcome should be the same.

Google giggles at China tech’s shrinking act

31 Mar 2023

Investors like Alibaba’s plan to split six ways, hoping peers like Tencent follow. Yet Chinese online giants are already dwarfed by US colossi like $1.3 trln Alphabet. Smaller firms might be nimbler, but they’ll have less R&D funds and M&A firepower to take on the Americans.

Spotify’s next act: hosting ad lollapalooza

24 Feb 2023

The music service attracted activist ValueAct as founder Daniel Ek starts to whack costs. Yet rather than cutting its way to profit, Spotify could stem its losses by nabbing a quarter of the streaming and podcasting ad pie. It’s a tough but plausible performance to pull off.

Capital Calls: Adobe’s lose-lose Figma bind

24 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: Shareholders in the $160 bln design technology firm seem to have decided that the only thing worse than doing its blockbuster deal for rival Figma is losing it.

Capital Calls: World Bank, Bumble, Wood Group

23 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. picks ex-Mastercard boss Ajay Banga to run the multilateral development bank; while the dating app’s shares are down, private equity owner Blackstone is still in the money; the UK oil services group has turned down three bids from Apollo.

TCI’s Airbus fury may have collateral benefit

22 Feb 2023

Hedgie Chris Hohn says the plane maker’s plan to buy a 30% stake in Atos’s cyber arm will destroy value. He’s probably right, but private investors take a back seat in defence deals, where governments call the shots. His salvo might however help Airbus drive a harder bargain.

Paytm needs a buyer more than a buyback

14 Dec 2022

Repurchasing stock won’t prop up the money-losing company’s cratered $4.3 bln market value. But replacing China’s Ant as its top owner could help win banking licences needed to boost earnings. India is wary about its neighbour, even without Ant in Beijing’s regulatory bad books.