Technology

Meta’s Threads isn’t worth 11 Twitters

7 Jul 2023

The social media company’s market capitalization has ballooned $500 bln since Elon Musk bought its smaller competitor for $44 billion. Measures boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken are helping. But even if he puts Twitter out of business, Meta has already received the benefit.

AI hype embellishes Il Makiage IPO

6 Jul 2023

It’s a good time for Oddity Tech, the fast-growing makeup brand’s owner, to highlight its machine learning algorithms for new investors. These features should help put a dewy finish on a $1.5 bln valuation from January 2022. In time, however, the techy gloss will fade away.

Embracer cash call undermines investors’ M&A play

6 Jul 2023

The Swedish gaming group raised $180 mln from various investors at a 9% discount to its closing price. Last summer, it raised $1.1 bln from Saudi Arabia at a 15% premium. The contrast suggests a lower chance of a takeover, meaning CEO Lars Wingefors faces a single-player slog.

Meta’s Twitter experiment is a long shot

5 Jul 2023

Now is the time for Mark Zuckerberg’s $730 bln social media behemoth to steal users from Musk’s network. And Meta has successfully ripped off ideas. But gaining users won’t move the needle on Meta’s massive base. Plus even before Musk, Twitter didn’t have a viable business model.

India can aim lower in its chip dreams

5 Jul 2023

Despite offering $10 bln in subsidies, the country has only managed to attract Micron to build a less-advanced factory. Even so, the chance to grab share from China in the commoditised but vital low-tech chips market could pay off amid booming demand and geopolitical tensions.

Alphabet threats show up everywhere but its shares

29 Jun 2023

The Google-owner’s valuation has powered ahead as it touts its prowess in artificial intelligence, in spite of mounting menaces. A report questioning Google's video ad sales compounds ongoing antitrust threats, and even AI might not be an unalloyed good.

AI’s deflationary winds will blow away profits

27 Jun 2023

Artificial intelligence could add $8 trln a year to world GDP, McKinsey estimates, defying the gloom about robots replacing humans. Though companies should benefit from lower costs, consumers could use the technology to find better deals. It all adds up to lower prices.

Prosus’ juggle leaves bigger worries up in the air

27 Jun 2023

The $147 bln Dutch investor is ending its complex shareholder structure with South African parent Naspers. It’s simpler for investors, and enables more buybacks. But the group will still have a stake in Tencent it can’t easily sell and lopsided governance, meriting a discount.

Tokyo’s $7 bln buyout dials up global chip wars

27 Jun 2023

A state-backed fund’s pricey purchase of semiconductor materials maker JSR will help the Japanese industry shaken by geopolitical jitters build national champions rather than lose to foreign rivals. For customers from Samsung to Taiwan’s TSMC it spells more uncertainty.

Big Tech backlash swells the AI gold rush

26 Jun 2023

Cloud provider Databricks is buying a machine learning startup for $1.3 bln, almost six times its valuation earlier this year. Models backed by Microsoft and Google dominate artificial intelligence. But a bet that companies want to control their data is pumping up smaller rivals.

Tesla vs. Meta cage fight already has a winner

23 Jun 2023

The tech giants’ bosses are planning a literal fistfight. But in a corporate throwdown between the $800 bln automaker and the slightly smaller Facebook parent, which would win? On balance, Elon Musk’s bid to reshape the physical world beats Mark Zuckerberg’s promised virtual one.

China plus one is best glue for India-US romance

23 Jun 2023

Prime Minister Modi’s largely successful state visit points to how India can help US firms like Tesla and Micron rejig supply chains. In sensitive areas like defence, trust is growing but remains in short supply. It keeps any hope of prising India away from Russia out of reach.

Capital Calls: Canada is calling Meta’s bluff

23 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Facebook owner plans to pull news on its platforms in Canada after the country passed a bill that requires internet giants pay publishers. If Australia is any guide, Meta will eventually cave.  

Fail with big backers signals messy Byju’s unwind

23 Jun 2023

Auditor Deloitte is walking away from the self-claimed world’s largest education tech firm, and investors including Prosus and what was Sequoia India appear to be following. It implies talks with lenders over a $1.2 bln loan are at a dead end and ups the pressure for a breakup.

AI’s regulation naysayers protest too much

21 Jun 2023

Lawmakers in the European Union and elsewhere are scrambling to draft artificial intelligence rules. Industry leaders like OpenAI boss Sam Altman warn the approach is too onerous. Yet the risks of pandering to special pleading exceed the dangers of stifling a nascent industry.

Capital Calls: Intel Outside, Amazon Prime beef

21 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: The chipmaker struck a deal to sell 20% of a tool-making subsidiary, which should benefit from being put on a path to independence. Meanwhile, the $1.3 trln e-commerce company’s subscription service is unlawfully hard to cancel, says the US FTC.

Alibaba shakeup hints at changing China tech role

20 Jun 2023

Boss Daniel Zhang will step down to run the e-commerce group’s cloud business. Replacing him at the parent group with veterans like globe-trotting financier Joe Tsai looks sensible amid a tricky breakup. It also implies that newer ventures, like cloud, are gaining strategic heft.

EU phase-out of Huawei, ZTE is tricky but vital

20 Jun 2023

Commissioner Thierry Breton wants EU countries to end use of Chinese telecoms gear on national security grounds. Some states have already cut Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks. The EU survived decoupling from Russian energy, and it can manage this. But it requires German buy-in.

Bain’s Swiss software bid merits hard pushback

20 Jun 2023

SoftwareOne rejected a $3 bln offer from the US buyout group. The bidder’s alliance with the founding shareholders puts it in a stronger position than with a recent approach for a similarly named company. But the returns look juicy, meaning it can probably afford to pay more.

Crypto is dead: long live crypto!

16 Jun 2023

Already reeling from fraud and falling prices, cryptocurrencies suffered a fatal blow with US charges against two leading exchanges. Yet Felix Martin argues that the demise of speculative digital tokens may help revive their original purpose as private global currencies.