Business news

Business

Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion

New funding propelled ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to a valuation of $157 billion, the company said on Wednesday, sealing its place as the world leader on artificial intelligence.

Business

Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region

Tech giant Oracle on Wednesday said it plans to invest more than $6.5 billion on cloud services data centers in Malaysia, joining a list of US titans rushing to build up their AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

Business

Samsung says planning job cuts in some Asian operations

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it was planning to cut jobs in some of its Asian operations, after a report that one in ten posts in affected markets could be axed.

Business

High costs slow widespread use of heat pumps in UK, study shows

The high cost of installing heat pumps for home heating could slow down people widely adopting the technology and leave government targets missed, research suggests. There has been a little to no reduction in the average ...

Business

Tech industry urges G7 to unify cloud security standards

A leading tech industry group on Tuesday called on G7 nations to harmonize cloud security certification across the world's richest nations, in an effort to stoke cooperation and counter calls that data should stay within ...

Business

Google to invest $1 billion in Thailand

Google plans to invest $1 billion to build digital infrastructure in Thailand, including a new data center, the US tech giant has announced, saying the move would support 14,000 jobs in the kingdom.

Business

US fund to buy German energy firm Techem for 6.7 bn euros

US private equity firm TPG said Tuesday it planned to buy German metering company Techem for 6.7 billion euros ($7.4 billion), highlighting the growing interest in energy efficiency solutions for the buildings sector.

Consumer & Gadgets

Will Meta's Orion smart glasses be the next 'iPhone moment'?

Meta supremo Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Orion smart glasses, a new augmented reality (AR) prototype, at the annual Meta Connect developer conference. Ten years in the making, and still not expected on high streets until 2027, ...

Business

L.A. asks how to equitably achieve 100% clean energy by 2035

In 2021, after the LA100 analysis laid out pathways for the city of Los Angeles to produce 100% renewable electricity, the City Council and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power committed to pursuing the most ambitious—and ...

Business

When sticking with old technology can be a strategic move

Technological innovation—especially disruptive innovation—is often heralded as the best strategy for a company. But new research published in Strategic Management Journal found that as competitors adopt new technology ...

Business

Alibaba cancels cloud service spinoff over US chip restrictions

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday it was cancelling a planned cloud service spinoff announced this year over US chip restrictions, as it reported results for the third quarter of 2023 that were in line with market ...

Business

Musk's X launches court fight with Australian watchdog

Australia's online safety watchdog said Thursday it was being taken to court by Elon Musk's X in a fight over the platform's failure to outline how it combats child sexual abuse content.

Business

Siemens nets record profits, but outlook cautious

German industrial giant Siemens on Thursday gave a cautious sales forecast for 2024, after netting a record profit in the previous financial year driven by its digital division.