Business, Financial & Legal - Page 2

Microsoft has reportedly been asked by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide information on its business practises in the following markets: cloud, artificial intelligence, and infosec.

According to sources who spoke to CNN, The Washington Post, and Bloomberg, the FTC has launched a probe into Microsoft and requested that the company provide the regulator with information on the three aforementioned businesses and others that aren't listed. What could the regulator be investigating specifically? As for cloud practices that could be in violation, European authorities have pressed Redmond over its deals being exclusive to Azure customers.

Microsoft security could also be another point of interest for regulators as Microsoft's products have recently become compromised, leading to foreign adversaries infiltrating government email accounts and making off with valuable information. As for artificial intelligence, European authorities are already questioning if Microsoft's close $10 billion partnership with OpenAI is intentionally designed to avoid the microscope of an official acquisition but still maintain the level of influence or control on the market.

A former Google employee is being taken to court over allegedly leaking trade secrets about the company's Google Pixel smartphone.

Google has officially filed a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly leaking trade secrets following his departure from the company. According to Google's legal action filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Harshit Roy, a former Google employee whose LinkedIn's page states he was at the company for four years starting in 2020, is allegedly responsible for the distribution of internal documents revealing the hardware inside future generation Google Pixel smartphones.

According to the legal action, Roy, who was responsible for the design, development, and optimization of unreleased System-on-Chip (SoC) onto Pixel smartphones, posted confidential information on X about the unreleased chips, shared internal Google documents, and threatened Google with further disclosures. Additionally, Google alleges Roy ignored takedown requests for all of the leaked content he posted, along with Google's effort to resolve the matter "without judicial intervention."

TSMC's brand new 2nm fab in Kaohsiung has hit a huge milestone today, with its equipment installation ceremony taking place with clients, partners, and Taiwanese government officials.

In a new report from Economic Daily News and UDN, we're hearing that TSMC's inaugural 12-inch fab in Kaohsiung is preparing for mass production of 2nm chips in 2025. Additionally, the equipment installation is 6 months ahead of schedule, and finally, once the new 2nm fab is operational, it will be making the world's most advanced chips.

But which companies will be first to use TSMC's new 2nm process node? Apple and AMD are expected to be amongst the first customers of TSMC and its next-gen 2nm process node. Not only that, but TSMC's 2nm production strategy in Taiwan is moving full-steam ahead on two paths: Hsinchu Baoshan fab and the Kaohsiung plant, both gearing into mass production in 2025.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has inquired about purchasing MSNBC amid rumors that Comcast could be preparing to sell it.

The media stir about Musk possibly purchasing MSNBC began when Donald Trump Jr tagged Musk in an X post about Comcast being rumored to be quietly preparing the sale of MSNBC, with Trump Jr writing, "Hey Elon Musk, I have the funniest idea ever!!!". The inquiry from Musk comes after news broke that Comcast was rolling its media properties into a new company called SpinCo, which will sever those media assets from Comcast's NBC broadcast network.

Despite this severing, Comcast has said that none of its media properties are for sale, but that hasn't prevented speculation of sales on social media platforms, especially now that Musk has lit a fire. Musk replied to Trump Jr's X post with a similar response to what the Tesla CEO wrote when inquiring about purchasing Twitter back in 2017. "How much does it cost?".

TSMC's new Arizona fab opening ceremony has reportedly been delayed from December 2024 until January 2025, after President-elect Trump is inaugurated and US (and TSMC, and the world) enters the "Trump 2.0" generation.

In a new report from DigiTimes, we're learning that the "supply chain revealed" that TSMC has informed invited guests to its Arizona fab completion ceremony -- something both President Biden and President-elect Trump are expected to attend -- and "may be postponed until after Trump takes office in January or then, depending on the atmosphere".

TSMC is the key player in the technology industry, making chips for the largest tech companies on the planet -- most of them from the USA -- including NVIDIA, Intel, Qualcomm, Apple, and more. TSMC is aware of the geopolitical risks, and that the changing of the administration in the US will change across the next 4 years. DigiTimes reports that the "script had to be rewritten again, and it (TSMC) was once again on alert and combat readiness".

A UK consumer group has filed a £3 billion (US$3.82 billion) claim against Apple over its iCloud pricing and packaging details, which the consumer group alleges violates consumer practices in the UK and has resulted in Apple gaining an "unfair advantage" in the market.

The claim comes from Which?, a consumer watchdog that tests products and services. Which? alleges in the claim that Apple's practices may have impacted as many as 40 million people across the UK, spanning back to October 1, 2015. Which? alleges Apple's practices has gained it market dominance, mentioning a "key tactic" that is used is Apple encouraging users to sign up to iCloud for "storage of photos, videos, and other data while simultaneously making it difficult to use alternative providers."

Moreover, the claim points out that "Apple does not allow customers to store or back up all of their phone's data with a third-party provider" and that once iCloud storage has exceeded the free 5GB limit, users are prompted with notifications reminding them to upgrade their iCloud storage to continue backing up photos, videos, and other data. Which? is seeking damages for approximately 40 million customers that have had iCloud services since October 2015, and the consumer watchdog believes £70 per customer is appropriate.

Samsung will be showing off its innovations for AI and automotive technologies at the electronica 2024 event, with the likes of its new HBM3E AI memory and GDDR7 memory for graphics cards, and so much more shown off at the event.

Samsung is showcasing its latest innovations in AI and HPC including HBM3E, CXL-based CMM-D, and GDDR7 memory as well as DDR5 RDIMMs for the data center. The company is supporting automotive innovation in the "Server on Wheels" era with automotive LPDDR5X and Detachable AutoSSDs being on display at electronica 2024.

Here's what Samsung will be showcasing at electronica 2024:

President-elect Trump's massive victory in the 2024 US elections has pushed urgency with Taiwan semiconductor supply chain partners of TSMC to set up new factories in the United States.

In a new report from Ctee, we're learning that semiconductor industry players pointed out that after Trump took office, US manufacturing has become mainstream.

Semiconductor packaging plants and equipment factories have seen the urgency of moving their operations to the US, with TSMC's upcoming Arizona plant 1 entering mass production in early 2025, and both President Biden and President-elect Trump BOTH expected to attend its opening ceremony in December.

TSMC could build new CoWoS advanced packaging plants in the United States and Japan because of "persistently strong demand".

In a new report from Ctee, we're learning that demand for TSMC's advanced packaging "remains high" and that rumors across the semiconductor supply chain suggest TSMC plans to consider setting up CoWoS plants in the US and Japan to "meet local needs".

TSMC's CoWoS advanced packaging supply is still tight, with production capacity and expansion expected to double in 2024, and then double again in 2025 as demand is still insane (thanks to the unstoppable demand of AI chips, mostly from NVIDIA).

The Australian government has announced its pursuing new legislation that would ban social media for anyone that isn't over the age of 16-years-old.

The announcement was made by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's office, which published a new notice on its website on November 8. The notice states the new Bill is aimed at addressing the online harms of social media on young people and builds upon already existing legislation designed at introducing new criminal penalties for "non-consensual sexual deepfakes." The Australian government's new plan received backing from the National Cabinet last week and will be introduced into Parliament in the coming weeks. The effects of the new legislation will be implemented next year.

Notably, services that provide education and health services won't be included in the new ban, and the eSafety Commissioner, Australia's independent online safety regulator, will oversee the new policies' implementation and regulation. As for what social platforms will be banned for users under the age of 16, the administration named the following platforms: TikTok, Facebook, and X. Moreover, YouTube will also fall under the new guidelines, according to Minister of Communications Michelle Rowland.