Microsoft invests $1.5 billion in AI firm G42, takes minority stake

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith speaks during the annual Microsoft shareholders meeting in Bellevue, Washington on November 29, 2017. JASON REDMOND | AFP | Getty Images Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion into G42, an artificial intelligence firm based in the United Arab Emirates, as the U.S. giant looks to strengthen its position … Read more

Huawei’s profit more than doubles in 2023, sales up 9.6% as cloud and digital businesses grow

Chinese telecoms gear company Huawei Technologies has reported its profit more than doubled last year as its cloud and digital businesses thrived in spite of US sanctions. The Shenzhen-based company reported a net profit of 87 billion yuan (USD 12 billion), helped by strong sales and an improved product portfolio. Revenue jumped nearly 10 per … Read more

US weighs sanctioning Huawei’s secretive Chinese chip network

The Biden administration is considering blacklisting a number of Chinese semiconductor firms linked to Huawei Technologies Co. after the telecom giant notched a significant technological breakthrough last year, people familiar with the matter said. Such a move would mark another escalation in a US campaign to ringfence and curtail Beijing’s AI and semiconductor ambitions. It … Read more

Honor shows off tech in Magic 6 Pro to control a car with your eyes

Honor demonstrated how its smartphone eye-tracking technology could be used to control a car. Honor BARCELONA — Chinese firm Honor on Sunday showed off technology that allows a user to control a car just by using their eyes. The company’s Magic 6 Pro device launched internationally on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, … Read more

Apple’s biggest issues in China right now after sales plunged

Apple CEO Tim Cook listens during a program at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week at Apple Park in San Francisco, Nov. 17, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images Apple is facing renewed challenges in China, one of its most critical markets. The iPhone giant’s sales in the greater China region in … Read more

Apple offers rare iPhone discount in China as demand fears rise

The Apple flagship store in Shanghai in November 2023. Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Apple is offering a discounts across a range of its products in China, including the latest iPhones, its website shows, as it faces rising competition and growing fears of a lack of demand for its flagship smartphone. Between Jan. 18 … Read more

Despite transatlantic ‘love fest’, EU charts third way in ties with US and China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first videoconference with European Union foreign ministers last month was so good humoured that some diplomats in Europe described it as a “love fest”. But two senior envoys who attended said there was no direct response from the ministers gathered in Brussels when Blinken said: “We must push back … Read more