Huawei’s Ascend 384 supernode is displayed at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 28, 2025. Photo: VCG Facing U.S. sanctions blocking access to advanced semiconductors, Chinese tech companies are increasingly relying on supernode technology that can integrate clusters of lower-performance chips into servers to achieve similar computing capacities. But systematic c...
Huawei’s Ascend 384 supernode is displayed at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 28, 2025. Photo: VCG Facing U.S. sanctions blocking access to advanced semiconductors, Chinese tech companies are increasingly relying on supernode technology that can integrate clusters of lower-performance chips into servers to achieve similar computing capacities. But systematic complexity, high costs and insufficient demand cloud their large-scale application. Since mid-2025, many Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers, server manufacturers and cloud services providers have rolled out their own supernode products amid a surge in demand for training large language models (LLMs) that have been applied in a wide range of industries from education and health care to finance and marketing.
Astera Labs opened a new R&D and design center in Israel, focused on addressing memory and data bottlenecks in AI workloads. The company announced new partnerships with Microsoft, Intel, SAP, and Amazon to advance AI connectivity and CXL attached memory solutions. Astera Labs disclosed a multibillion dollar purchase agreement with Amazon tied to its AI and cloud infrastructure products. Astera Lab...
Astera Labs opened a new R&D and design center in Israel, focused on addressing memory and data bottlenecks in AI workloads. The company announced new partnerships with Microsoft, Intel, SAP, and Amazon to advance AI connectivity and CXL attached memory solutions. Astera Labs disclosed a multibillion dollar purchase agreement with Amazon tied to its AI and cloud infrastructure products. Astera Labs, listed as NasdaqGS:ALAB, is leaning into AI infrastructure at a time when attention on high...
A Toyota Motor ( TM ) group company said Thursday that it will extend the tender offer period for its acquisition of forklift maker Toyota Industries ( TYIDY ) ( TYIDF ) until March 2 to improve the likelihood of the bid’s success. The new deadline is March 2, and the offer price remains unchanged, Toyota Asset Preparatory, which is the entity through which the bid is being made, said in a filing....
A Toyota Motor ( TM ) group company said Thursday that it will extend the tender offer period for its acquisition of forklift maker Toyota Industries ( TYIDY ) ( TYIDF ) until March 2 to improve the likelihood of the bid’s success. The new deadline is March 2, and the offer price remains unchanged, Toyota Asset Preparatory, which is the entity through which the bid is being made, said in a filing. The offer period was previously slated to end Thursday. Toyota Industries shares rose after the disclosure, briefly rising as high as 20,000 yen, up from around 19,400 yen before. The stock was last up 1.2% at 19,910 yen. The deal faces strong opposition from U.S. activist Elliott Investment Management. More on Toyota Motor Toyota's Abrupt CEO Switch Signals Big Spending To Keep Up With AI And Chinese Rivals Toyota Motor: Confirmation Of A Long-Term Defensive Investment After Q3 Results Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) Discusses Executive Leadership Transition and Organizational Restructuring Transcript Toyota plans to retool its Kentucky plant to produce its first EV model in the U.S. Toyota appoints Kenta Kon as CEO; outgoing Chief Sato named Vice Chairman & CIO
Siemens press release ( SIEGY ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of €2.80. Revenue of €19.14B (+4.3% Y/Y). First quarter orders were up 10% on a comparable basis, excluding currency translation and portfolio effects, with double-digit increases in most industrial businesses; comparable revenue rose 8%, including growth in all industrial businesses. On a nominal basis, orders rose 7% to €21.4 billion; the book-to-...
Siemens press release ( SIEGY ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of €2.80. Revenue of €19.14B (+4.3% Y/Y). First quarter orders were up 10% on a comparable basis, excluding currency translation and portfolio effects, with double-digit increases in most industrial businesses; comparable revenue rose 8%, including growth in all industrial businesses. On a nominal basis, orders rose 7% to €21.4 billion; the book-to-bill ratio was 1.12. Profit Industrial Business increased to €2.9 billion, with a profit margin of 15.6%, driven by considerable improvements at Digital Industries and Smart Infrastructure. Free cash flow from continuing and discontinued operations was €0.7 billion. Outlook: "After a strong start to the fiscal year, we raise our outlook for basic EPS from net income before purchase price allocation accounting (EPS pre PPA) from a range of €10.40 to €11.00 to a range of €10.70 to €11.10 for fiscal 2026. Furthermore, we confirm the remaining expectations for fiscal 2026 given in our Earnings Release Q4 FY 2025, which were as follows: For fiscal 2026, we assume that the global economic environment will stabilize and that global GDP growth will remain near the prior-year level. We also anticipate that in fiscal 2026 negative currency effects will strongly burden nominal growth rates in volume as well as profit for our industrial businesses and earnings per share ( EPS )." For fiscal 2026, Digital Industries expects comparable revenue growth − net of currency translation and portfolio effects − of 5% to 10% and a profit margin of 15% to 19%. Smart Infrastructure expects for fiscal 2026 comparable revenue growth of 6% to 9% and a profit margin of 18% to 19%. Mobility expects for fiscal 2026 comparable revenue growth of 8% to 10% and a profit margin of 8% to 10%. For the Siemens Group, we expect comparable revenue growth in the range of 6% to 8% and a book-to-bill ratio above 1 for fiscal 2026. More on Siemens Siemens: A Case To Be Made For The Macro-Related Downside Siemens overt...
Apple has delayed its anticipated Siri virtual assistant upgrade after new software issues surfaced. The setback pushes several AI driven Siri features beyond the expected iOS 26.4 release window. The move comes as Apple aims to reinforce its position in artificial intelligence and voice technology. For investors tracking NasdaqGS:AAPL, the delay lands at a time when Apple shares are trading aroun...
Apple has delayed its anticipated Siri virtual assistant upgrade after new software issues surfaced. The setback pushes several AI driven Siri features beyond the expected iOS 26.4 release window. The move comes as Apple aims to reinforce its position in artificial intelligence and voice technology. For investors tracking NasdaqGS:AAPL, the delay lands at a time when Apple shares are trading around $275.5 and the stock has returned 16.8% over the past year and 79.9% over three years. These...
Grantchester’s crimefighting duo tackle a knotty case. Plus, Channel 4 special Not Welcome: The Battle to Stop the Boats. Here’s what to watch this evening 9pm, ITV1 “One spread in Woman’s Own and he thinks he’s David Bailey …” The suspicious death of a self-regarding fashion photographer threatens to derail the grand opening of Cathy Keating and Mrs Chapman’s new boutique in sleepy Grantchester. ...
Grantchester’s crimefighting duo tackle a knotty case. Plus, Channel 4 special Not Welcome: The Battle to Stop the Boats. Here’s what to watch this evening 9pm, ITV1 “One spread in Woman’s Own and he thinks he’s David Bailey …” The suspicious death of a self-regarding fashion photographer threatens to derail the grand opening of Cathy Keating and Mrs Chapman’s new boutique in sleepy Grantchester. Thankfully, Rev Alphy and Cathy’s copper husband Geordie are on hand to tackle the knotty case, even if DI Keating seems equally determined to dig further into his holy friend’s family history. Might this cause some friction for the 1960s crimefighting duo? Graeme Virtue Continue reading...
Japan’s insurance industry is reeling from a raft of scandals that have exposed companies’ lax supervision of its employees, undermining trust in the sector at a time when the government is trying to drive more investment by individuals. Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. became the latest firm to reveal misconduct, joining Japan’s three other biggest life insurers including Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. i...
Japan’s insurance industry is reeling from a raft of scandals that have exposed companies’ lax supervision of its employees, undermining trust in the sector at a time when the government is trying to drive more investment by individuals. Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. became the latest firm to reveal misconduct, joining Japan’s three other biggest life insurers including Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. in saying that employees, seconded to financial firms selling their insurance, mishandled data. Before August 2024, 64 seconded employees from Dai-ichi Life and units obtained more than 1,000 pieces of data without approval, the insurer said in a statement. Prudential Financial Inc., meanwhile, suspended sales of new life insurance in Japan for 90 days earlier this month after disclosing that its employees conducted improper sales practices. Japanese insurers have been enmeshed in scandals in the past including price rigging and improper sales practices , but the latest troubles come at an especially sensitive time for financial firms. Policymakers are trying to get households to shift more to investing from saving as the population ages. Japan’s Financial Services Agency is planning to set up a division to oversee the insurance and asset management industries, underscoring policymakers’ focus on insurers. “If scandals of this magnitude continue to occur, distrust toward the industry itself could affect insurance sales,” said Hajime Ota, a professor at Doshisha University who researches business administration. Japanese insurers’ stocks have underperformed the broad market despite interest rate increases that tend to be a tailwind for their operations. In the past year, as the Topix benchmark jumped 42%, its insurance index gained 32%. The gauge for Japanese banks shot up 76% during the period. Experts say that the misconduct is fueled by huge sales forces fighting for business from a shrinking population. The total outstanding balance of individual life insurance and annuit...