Technology

China’s love of open-source AI may shut down fast

1 Apr 2025

Through DeepSeek and others Beijing is giving away its hottest innovations. Global collaboration helps companies to reduce costs, skirt US sanctions, and speed adoption of Chinese standards. But there are good reasons authorities may soon decide to keep their best tech at home.

OpenAI’s profit trajectory is an open question

1 Apr 2025

The startup behind ChatGPT is raising up to $40 bln from SoftBank at a $300 bln valuation. Yet OpenAI may not generate positive cash flow for years. A profitable business hinges on rapid growth in revenue and in its so-called enterprise arm, which has more scope to break even.

UAE’s bumper US bet is AI access down payment

26 Mar 2025

The Gulf state is to fork out $1.4 trln on American energy and mining over the next decade. Given US economic uncertainties, not all these investments may go well. But if it prompts Washington to grant the UAE access to more advanced chips for AI, it may prove money well spent.

China has shaky upper hand in battle of the robots

26 Mar 2025

Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang have talked up the potential of humanoid machines. Unitree and peers in the People's Republic have an early lead thanks to the country's sophisticated manufacturing supply chains. But US tech sanctions risk derailing China's robot rise.

SoftBank chip splurge is not as crazy as it looks

20 Mar 2025

The Japanese investor is paying $6.5 bln in cash to buy Ampere, a maker of power-saving semiconductors for data centres. Buying a loss-making target with declining sales may seem reckless. But if SoftBank’s other businesses can use the valuable chips it could be worth it.

Stargate is test of SoftBank financial engineering

20 Mar 2025

Masayoshi Son’s group is handling the money side of the $500 bln data-centre build for OpenAI. A planned 90% debt funding ratio looks aggressive and depends on a giant slab of pricey hybrid financing. SoftBank has used savvy fundraising ploys before but this looks like a stretch.

China tech giants dig pricey trench for AI war

20 Mar 2025

Tencent tripled capex to $11 bln in 2024 and vowed to increase spending this year to develop models and chatbots. Rival Alibaba pledged $50 bln to AI over the next three years. Yet business models are hazy and competition is fierce. Returns will be a long time coming.

Google’s $32 bln Wiz deal lumbers on down the road

18 Mar 2025

The search giant is buying the cybersecurity platform for 39% more than the price mooted during talks in 2024. It may aid Google’s struggles in the cloud market, but hostile regulators, a commitment to sell to rivals and the spiraling cost set a dizzyingly high bar for success.

Klarna’s wisest IPO aim is a modest valuation hike

17 Mar 2025

The buy now, pay later firm made a net profit in 2024 as it eyes a US listing. Klarna was once worth $46 bln, but the last funding round only fetched $7 bln. While a new Walmart deal helps, rocky markets and the need for a discount to rival Affirm imply little more than $10 bln.

Market jitters hand IPO wannabes a thorny dilemma

11 Mar 2025

The S&P 500 fell 3% on Monday and the VIX volatility gauge surged. Float candidates like Klarna and CoreWeave will hope things calm down, but high valuations and trade wars suggest otherwise. If trouble persists, cash-hungry buyout barons and others may have to take the plunge.

China’s AI catch-up begins to look inevitable

6 Mar 2025

Beijing’s leap in developing silicon smarts, embodied in DeepSeek’s shockingly cheap model, will challenge US attempts to restrict cutting-edge technology. In this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate whether it will destabilize the AI market.

Trump will splinter world’s ‘China plus one’ plans

6 Mar 2025

The US president is moving aggressively against China’s exports, the economic pillar of its strategic adversary, by dangling secondary sanctions on third countries. It heralds a push towards a cleaner segregation of US-centric supply chains from those for the rest of the world.

CoreWeave is the epitome of AI overheating

5 Mar 2025

Demand for the chips powering chatbots sent revenue at the company, which sells access, up eight-fold in 2024. Backed by supplier Nvidia and leveraging its silicon, it embodies the circular tech economy as it seeks a $35 bln listing. Thing is, its scarcity value could evaporate.

How to sort winners from losers in AI’s civil war

4 Mar 2025

Some advocates believe artificial intelligence is poised to surpass human capabilities. Others see it more as a powerful problem-solving tool. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Felix Martin explores the implications of the diverging views for investors and economists.

TSMC’s $100 bln gamble jeopardises ‘Taiwan First’

4 Mar 2025

The $800 bln chipmaker’s boss, CC Wei, pledged fresh funds to build factories in the US on a visit to the White House. He also committed to set up a major R&D centre stateside despite an earlier reassurance to keep innovation at home. That's a fresh threat to Taiwan's tech edge.

Corporate anti-woke brigade gets $20 bln champion

26 Feb 2025

After stepping down amid reports of inappropriate behaviour, WiseTech's 70-year-old founder Richard White has returned as chair after a board exodus. That might bring short-term stability for the software firm. But it leaves thornier succession and governance issues unresolved.

Nvidia benefits from a first-mover disadvantage

25 Feb 2025

The $3 trln chipmaker is expected to post strong results, even as efficiency gains or uncertain payoffs threaten AI spending. The first tech giant to cut back might take a valuation hit while losing access to scarce chips and a shot at a breakthrough. FOMO is a delicate balance.

Why China may struggle to unlock the power of AI

25 Feb 2025

Its fortunes as a great power will be shaped in part by the technology. Yet translating wins by innovators like DeepSeek and others into wider gains for the $18 trln economy will be challenged not just by the United States but also by Beijing’s own desire to maintain control.

Apple’s $500 bln reveal has iPhone-like ring to it

24 Feb 2025

The four-year US spending sum includes 20,000 hires, R&D investment and a Houston factory. Boss Tim Cook probably can deliver, unlike many corporate pledges aimed at humoring Donald Trump. As with recent smartphone updates, however, it will create buzz for incremental changes.

Prosus’ delivery M&A makes most sense as a starter

24 Feb 2025

The $105 bln investor is paying $4 bln for Just Eat Takeaway.com. Prosus shares fell, perhaps due to the target’s past struggles and the absence of immediate synergies. But if the Dutch group used its Delivery Hero stake to drive a tie-up with Just Eat it might create more value.