Taiwan

In 2020, Microsoft publicly committed to zero carbon status not just for itself, but for its supply chain. The company itself is doing on track. But the emissions from most of its supply chain are not reducing, but increasing. One particular supplier in Taiwan, Chicony Electronics, recently reported a 700% increase in emissions in one […]

Samsung announced it will assemble a $17bn semiconductor factory in Texas, during the global shortage of chips used in phones, cars, and other electronic devices. The factory will be the South Korean company’s biggest North American asset and is expected to commence operation in the second half of 2024.  Real Reasons?  There are commercial reasons, […]

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT are complicating governments’ efforts to agree on laws governing the use of the technology. Here are the latest steps national and international governing bodies are taking to regulate AI tools: AUSTRALIA * Seeking input on regulations The government requested advice on how to respond […]

WhatsApp and other messaging services have united to oppose Britain’s plan to force tech companies to break end-to-end encryption in private messages in its proposed internet safety legislation. Meta-owned WhatsApp, Signal and five other apps signed an open letter saying the law could give an “unelected official the power to weaken the privacy of billions […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin met his commanders in two regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed, while Russian forces stepped up artillery bombardments and air strikes on the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Diplomacy * The Group of Seven industrial powers on Tuesday criticised Russia’s threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, […]

Italy’s data protection watchdog is ready to allow the return of the ChatGPT chatbot at the end of April if its maker OpenAI takes “useful steps” to address the agency’s concerns, the authority’s chief Pasquale Stanzione said in an interview published on Tuesday. Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy in late March after […]

unity amid tensions

The Group of Seven industrial powers drew together on Tuesday to criticise China’s coercion of Taiwan and Russia’s threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, promising to intensify sanctions on Moscow for its war on neighbouring Ukraine. “The strength of the solidarity between the G7 foreign ministers is at a level not seen before,” Japan’s […]

China’s southern Guangdong province is planning to launch a second phase of a semiconductor fund with a scale of 30 billion yuan ($4.37 billion), state media Securities Times reported on Tuesday. The fund will have a term of 17 years and will invest in auto chips and equipment for semiconductor material, Jin Shenghong, chairman of […]