Business, Financial & Legal - Page 11

AMD has just confirmed it will host its Computex 2025 press conference on May 21, and you can tune into the show right from your PC or smartphone.

AMD's upcoming Computex 2025 press conference will be hosted by Jack Huynh, the SVP and GM of the Computing and Graphics Group of the company, who recently hosted CES 2025, where he willl be announcing key products and technology advancements across gaming, AI, PC, and enterprise, showcasing whats' possible through AMD vision on AI-powered devices.

We should expect to see things like the Radeon RX 9060 XT mainstream RDNA 4 graphics card, I'm sure a ton about how successful and powerful the company's fresh new Strix Halo APU is, an earful about AI which I'm sure we'll all be sick of within minutes of hearing "AI, AI, AI, AI, AI" over and over again.

Intel is set to announce yet another round of layoffs, with around 20% of its global workforce to see their jobs cut, representing around 21,000 positions.

In a new report from Bloomberg, we're learning that the Intel layoffs would be happening this week with the company aiming to "eliminate bureaucracy at the struggling chipmaker" according to a person familiar with the matter. The move is part of a bid to streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture according to Bloomberg's source.

Intel cut around 15,000 positions in August 2024, with its global workforce dropping from 124,800 employees in 2023 to 108,900 last year... and now with another 20,000 positions slashed, Intel's global workforce will dwindle down to 88,900.

The United States and China are engaging in a tit-for-tat trade war, and currently, Chinese goods are facing a 145% additional fee when they enter the US, but the White House just confirmed that's not the total, as the tariff can reach up to 245%.

On Tuesday this week, the White House shared a fact sheet about the newly announced trade tariffs with the goal of clarifying some of the confusion around what goods are subject to tariffs and what aren't, especially after Trump announced an exemption on select Chinese goods. Officials who have spoken to The Register informed the publication that the stated 245% fee isn't an error, and was intentional. So, how did we get the 245%? It's a combination of already established tariffs and President Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

According to the White House fact sheet, fentanyl-justified tariffs and prior tariffs implemented under Section 301 of the 1974 US Trade Act, China faces a levy of 245%, which is essentially at an embargo level as it wouldn't be beneificial for a company to send its products to US due to it either having to raise prices of its goods to levels beyond what consumers are willing to pay, or eat into its own profit margins beyond what is financially sustainable.

The PC supply chain is showing some momentum in a post-tariff world from President Trump, with new data from analyst firm Canalys showing that big US-based tech companies are importing PC products in huge volumes, so much so that they're at a 4-year high.

US trade policy changes are causing headaches for many, with tech companies including Apple, Dell, HP, and many others importing PC products in mass quantities, with the shipment increased to levels beyond what we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic according to Canalys.

Q1 2025 PC shipments increased by 9.4% to 62.7 million units, with these shipments including desktops, laptops, and workstations, showing that the overall PC supply chain has been eager to dodge the new US tariffs. Wccftech points out that major tech companies have been forcing their suppliers to speed up the production process, with shipment volumes massively increasing, with the site noting that the supply chain has been successful in "front-running" the new policies.

Samsung Electronics is the first company to receive government approval to extend working hours in order to boost its semiconductor research and development (R&D) staff, with the South Korean government approving a new policy to increase the industry's semiconductor competitiveness, boosting work hours up to 64 hours per week.

In a new report from Korean media outlet Chosun, industry sources said that the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Gyeonggi branch approved the request on April 9. The new exemption allows Samsung's chip R&D staffers to work up to 64 hours per week for the first 3 months, and up to 60 hours per week for the 3 months after, exceeding the 52-hour statutory workweek that South Korea allows.

The South Korean government revised its labor rules on March 14, extending the permitted overtime for semiconductor R&D roles to 6 months per application, up from 3 months previously. South Korean companies can now seek approval for a one-time, 6-month extension under the new rules.

President Trump has just announced that the Unites States' reciprocal tariffs won't happen on smartphones, computers, and other electronics, which is a major win for US companies like Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, Intel, and more.

The exclusions will apply to smartphones, laptops, storage products, CPUs, memory chips, as well as flat-screen displays. These are some of the most popular electronics products in the world, and most of them aren't made in the US, with their innards (processor, memory, etc) made in Taiwan, South Korea, or China.

The exemptions cover nearly $390 billion worth of US imports based on US 2024 trade statistics, reports Reuters, including over $101 billion from China. President Trump just enforced 125% tariffs on goods coming from China, with the new exemptions made because President Trump wants to give these companies more time to move their production onto US soil.

The former director of Global Public Policy for Facebook has told US senators that Meta actively targets teens with advertisements based on their emotional state, with data acquired through their online activity.

Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams spoke to senators on Wednesday and said during her time at the company, Meta actively targeted teens with advertisements when they were feeling down or depressed. The claim, which was first made during Wynn-Williams' book "Careless People," documents the time she spent at Facebook and the lack of concern top executives at the company had for children using its platform.

More specifically, Wynn-Williams said Meta, then known as Facebook, targeted teens between the ages of 13 and 17 with advertisements when they were feeling "worthless or helpless".

President Trump has announced a 90-day pause on Reciprocal Tariffs for most countries, while nailing China with a 125% tariff effective immediately.

Right at the same time, stocks of the biggest companies that saw multiple trillions of dollars wiped away in market cap over the last few days, bounced right back... and better than ever. Tesla stock is at $272, up 22.69% today, while NVIDIA stock is at $114, up 18.72% today (at the time of writing).

President Trump wrote on his Truth Social post: "Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable".

OpenAI has countersued Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk over what the company claims to be a pattern of harassment in various forms.

The company wrote in a filing within Musk's existing lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that Musk has launched several forms of harassment against the company, such as "press attacks," and "malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk's more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls." Additionally, filing the states Musk has demanded "corporate records," sent "harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI's assets." Adding, "Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI."

For those who don't know, Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left after losing a bid with the board of directors to helm the company. Musk has repeatedly claimed he helped fund the early days of OpenAI, and conceived the company as a counter-weight to Google, with the premise being OpenAI would be a non-profit open-source company. Musk has also said he came up with the name.

Apple has just been knocked off its perch as the most valuable company in the world following Trump's tariffs on imports, which target many of the countries where Apple sources parts and manufactures its products.

The world's most valuable company has lost a staggering $700 billion since Trump announced the new tariffs. Some of the hardest-hitting tariffs are aimed at China, where Apple produces approximately 90% of its products. Trump's additional taxes against the country ranged between 11% and 104%, but only recently were they increased to 125% in response to China's retaliatory additional tariff on American goods - an 84% levy.

The trade war between the US and China is in full swing, and Apple, being the biggest tech company on the planet in terms of value, is bleeding because of it, with investors experiencing fear, uncertainty, and doubt over how Apple will combat the new tariffs and if it will mean iPhone prices will have to increase, or Apple having to eat into its own profit margins to maintain the price of its products.

Samsung Electronics has reportedly kicked off the development of its next-generation 1nm process node, something the South Korean giant calls the "dream semiconductor process".

In a new report from Korean media outlet SEDaily and its industry sources, Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Research Institute recently started the development process of its 1nm process, with some of its researchers who worked on the development of its cutting-edge 2nm process node, were transferred to the new 1nm project, something it calls the "dream semiconductor process".

Samsung's next-gen 1nm process node aka the dream semiconductor process, requires totally new technologies that break the mold of existing designs, as well as the use of next-gen High-NA EUV lithography machines. Samsung is reportedly aiming to have its 1nm chips hitting mass production in 2029, still lagging behind TSMC.

China has officially responded to President Trump's newly announced trade tariffs with its own tariff on American goods, with the nation now hitting the US with an 84% retaliatory tariff.

China has now officially imposed an additional 84% tariff on all US-imported goods as a response to the US imposing a 104% tariff on all Chinese imports. The trade war between the US and China, and not to mention the rest of the world, has reached new heights with this recent announcement from China being the latest in growing tensions between the two nations. Moreover, China's Central bank has instructed state-owned banks to reduce their US dollar purchases, which is a move that indicates the country is moving away from its reliance on the US dollar.

China is the only country preparing relalitatory tariffs against the US as European Union member states have also approved retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to Trump's 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The response from China comes after Trump announced the US was raising its tariff on China to 104%, with the president of the United States recently saying the following:

Apple is caught in a downward spiral of its stock price following President Trump's sweeping tariffs that are targeting some of Apple's main sources of manufacturing.

On Monday, Apple's stock price dropped by another 3.7%, marking a 19% decrease in just three days. The downward spiral was caused by President Trump's new trade tariffs aimed at many countries around the world, but particularly the leaders in manufacturing, but particularly China. The goal of the tariffs is to bring manufacturing back to encourage companies to bring manufacturing to the United States to avoid paying the newly implemented levies, which in the case of China, one of Apple's biggest manufacturers, will be a 57% increase on all imported goods.

Apple's other main manufacturers are India, Vietnam, and Thailand, but these countries didn't dodge Trump's tariffs either, with many of them also being hit with hefty new taxes. So, what will happen to Apple with the new tariffs?

Apple has long maintained its prices for its various products, particularly its iPhones, but due to President Trump's recent tariffs on foreign countries, Apple could be forced to increase iPhone prices.

The fear of Apple having to increase its prices for its iPhone models has spread to consumers who have reportedly been flooding Apple stores in a flurry of "panic buying," according to Bloomberg reporter and Apple insider Mark Gurman.

Notably, Apple has been hanging onto the $999 price tag of its flagship iPhone model for quite some time, and with tariffs now threatening Apple's sources of production, the company may finally have to increase prices above that $999 mark, which could significantly impact sales of that model due to it breaking the longstanding psychological threshold that many consumers may not want to pass -- even if they are on payment plans for the device.

Intel and TSMC have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement for a chipmaking joint venture, where TSMC will run Intel's expanding US-based semiconductor fabs.

In a new report from The Information, we're learning that executives from Intel and TSMC reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that would see TSMC running Intel's manufacturing plants. Intel and other US chipmakers will hold the majority of stock in the joint venture, which includes at least some of Intel's factories. TSMC will reportedly take a 20% stake in the new company, with both Intel and TSMC declining to comment.

It was only last month in March 2025 that we were hearing reports that TSMC had reached a joint venture foundry idea with US chip designers including NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and Qualcomm.

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!

A not-so-surprising move from Elon Musk is that the SpaceX and Tesla boss has just acquired US chipmaker Intel for a tidy $133 billion, with a new Core xAI processor that will power the next-generation Xbox AI console.

People familiar with the matter confirmed rumors from the last few months that a mystery buyer was looking at acquiring Intel as it was struggling, but Intel's freshly-minted CEO Lip-Bu Tan will work alongside Musk, and strengthen the partnership between Intel and Microsoft to provide a US-made chip for the next-gen Xbox.

AMD has officially closed its $4.9 billion acquisition of ZT Systems, a leading provider of AI infrastructure for the world's largest hyperscale computing companies.

In a new post on X, the company said: "We are excited to welcome the ZT team into the AMD family - they are the best in the industry! The ZT team brings unparalleled choice to our customers with critical systems expertise needed to deliver a full AI solution - from silicon to software to rack and cluster-level solutions".

ZT Systems is an artificial intelligence infrastructure group that will help AMD create a better AI infrastructure, helping get AMD's new Instinct MI300 series AI accelerators into data centers. ZT Systems was founded over 30 years ago, and is a private company that builds custom computing infrastructure for some of the world's biggest AI hyperscalers.

Only days after Ubisoft announced it was spawning a new subsidiary to handle all its major IPs, such as Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, the company's stock price has fallen double digits, erasing any progress it made following the announcement of the joint venture with Tencent.

Ubisoft's stock price gained 11% on Friday after it announced the new subsidiary in partnership with Ubisoft investor Tencent, and as of Monday, the stock price in the US, UK, and France has taken a double-digit point hit, falling by 11.80%. As for the UK specifically, Ubisoft opened at €12.15 and is now trading at €11.19, while in France, the stock price for the company fell by 12.06% to €11.16.

The decline in stock price has completely erased any value that was gained on Friday following the announcement of the new subsidiary. As for the new deal with Tencent, Ubisoft anticipates the closure of the deal will happen before the end of 2025, and once completed, Ubisoft will retain 75% control of the new company that will manage the following Ubisoft IPs: Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry.

The US government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on its CHIPS Act under the Biden administration, but under the Trump administration -- along with Elon Musk and DOGE -- the CHIPS Act looks to be shelved, and 80% of its staffers have been purged.

President Trump isn't a fan of the CHIPS Act and has referred to customers getting "Biden money" but in a new report from Korean media, over 120 employees out of the 150 from the US Commerce Department's Chip Program Office (CPO) have either been laid off, or resigned from their positions.

One of the largest names being laid off is former VP of SK hynix that joined CPO as the Chief Economist, Dan Kim, with his departure suggesting that the CHIPS Act won't be focusing on South Korean companies like SK hynix and Samsung (makers of HBM for AI GPUs).

Intel has confirmed that its next-generation Panther Lake CPUs made on its next-gen in-house Intel 18A process node will be released in 2025, with its next-gen Nova Lake CPU platform launching in 2026.

During its recent annual report to stockholders, there was a letter from Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan who said: "This is strengthening our position as the CPU of choice in a valuable growth market. We will further enhance our position in the second half of this year with the launch of Panther Lake, our lead product on Intel 18A, followed by Nova Lake in 2026".

However, the freshly-minted Intel CEO didn't mention a single word about GPUs... with the company remaining silent on its graphics division since the whisper-quiet launch of Battlemage. We have no idea what the future of graphics is from the company, with the CEO not elaborating on it further.