Technology

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.

Hey team: Weaker hiring means back to the office

8 Oct 2024

About 100 mln people in North America and Europe now work remotely at least some days. More CEOs, like Amazon’s Andy Jassy, want to end the practice altogether. The tension is upsetting staff and spurring defections, but a rise in joblessness would shift power back to employers.

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.

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.

23andMe deal should never be cloned

20 Sep 2024

The genetic-test firm’s entire board, save founder Anne Wojcicki, resigned in frustration with her stalled takeover bid. The offer is perhaps the least-worst detail. The once $6 bln company should never have gone public and super-voting stock primed it for a governance implosion.

Amazon’s office mandate reflects deeper banality

20 Sep 2024

Boss Andy Jassy is ending remote work to inspire more inventiveness. Even before the pandemic, the tech goliath was rethinking staff locations and seating design. Reverting to assigned desks every day in a new era of employment says a lot about how stagnant its ideas have become.

Chip halt flags EU’s also-ran status – and Intel’s

20 Sep 2024

The troubled US chipmaker has paused a 30 bln euros semiconductor factory in Germany. Weak demand is hampering Europe’s hopes to close the semiconductor gap between itself and the US. But another leg of the problem is that Intel itself lags rivals like Nvidia and TSMC.

BlackRock’s $30 bln AI fund is Big Tech’s backstop

18 Sep 2024

The asset manager will team with Microsoft to invest in AI infrastructure. It’s a way to bolster tech firms’ capacity to keep up with the $1 trln needed for data centers alone, akin to governments tapping private funds to build roads. Thing is, that assumes AI is just as crucial.

Joe Biden’s climate law is too valuable to repeal

18 Sep 2024

The outgoing president’s Inflation Reduction Act has spurred $500 bln in green investments in two years. Regardless of who replaces him, politicians, companies and utilities will want to protect lucrative tax credits. A Donald Trump victory might bend the law, but not break it.

Intel forges path to probable capital incineration

17 Sep 2024

The troubled $90 bln chipmaker landed an Amazon contract that could catapult manufacturing and is taking steps to free up cash. Investing $20 bln at a return on capital matching rival TSMC is worth a 40% share bump today. Snag is, there are many ways Intel could be a money pit.

2024’s biggest US software LBO has some good omens

17 Sep 2024

Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners are close to an $8 bln deal for Smartsheet that would probably tap loans backed by revenue, not cash flow. That has bitten Vista before. But with style drift more contained and peers like Thoma Bravo eyeing IPOs, past might not be prologue.

OpenAI’s value on human destruction short circuits

16 Sep 2024

The cutting-edge artificial intelligence outfit may be worth $150 bln, a 74% jump from its last benchmark. Take AI boosters’ claims at face value and it’s easy to justify wildly more still. The problem: that would mean OpenAI is no mere company but a force shoving aside humanity.

ASML faces bigger problems than China

16 Sep 2024

Fears of US tech export curbs have pummelled the $320 bln Dutch firm’s shares. A longer-term worry is that the growth of AI leads to new technologies, and less need for ASML’s machines that make chips smaller and efficient. That, more than trade wars, may hurt its rich valuation.

Evan Spiegel is the skunk at the founder’s party

13 Sep 2024

The Snap architect blamed his $16 bln social media network’s stock slump on tepid ad growth. Self-awareness is a positive sign, and attention to detail is a creative plus. But after 13 years it might be time for Spiegel to seek outside help.

Apple offering a peek at AI’s financial reality

11 Sep 2024

The iPhone 16 is due in stores soon, optimized for artificial-intelligence. It’s unclear if business models exist for the costly and hyped tech. Sales of the new devices may signal whether consumers will pay for it or if Silicon Valley has a solution seeking a problem.

Telegram’s route to profitability looks dubious

3 Sep 2024

The troubled app’s CEO Pavel Durov runs a lossmaking enterprise. The easiest path to profitability is to echo Facebook, but content moderation costs would further hit Telegram’s finances. The main alternative is to be a messaging app, but WhatsApp implies that’s hard to monetise.