(May 14, Global, TMT2024) -- Today's highlights: OpenAI launches a new large language model, GPT-4o; SoftBank sold almost all of its shares in Alibaba; Apple will start selling the Vision Pro in China; Microsoft will invest 4 billion euros in France; Samsung plans to make an additional $1 billion annual investment in Vietnam; Sony appoints two CEOs to lead PlayStation's business; Vivo's new flagship was released.
OpenAI推出全新大语言模型GPT-4o
OpenAI has launched a new large language model, GPT-4o. This is an updated version of its GPT-4 model, which has been around for more than a year. The model is trained on a large amount of data from the internet, is better at processing text and audio, and supports 50 languages. The new model will be available to all users, not just paying users. Compared to GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-4o is twice as fast, costs 50% less, and has API rate limiting, or a five-fold increase in the number of requests a user can make. GPT-4 has been able to analyze images and texts to extract text from images and describe image content in text. GPT-4o adds voice capabilities.
Alibaba becomes a leading investor in generative AI startups in China
Alibaba has been leveraging its vast cloud computing infrastructure to become a leading investor in China's generative AI startups, offering credits to train models using scarce network resources rather than traditional cash-for-equity financing. The Chinese e-commerce giant is trying to replicate Microsoft's (Microsoft) investment in leading U.S. company OpenAI by taking stakes in well-known startups Moonshot AI, Zhipu, MiniMax and Zero One Things (01.ai). These companies are developing local versions of U.S. apps, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Character.ai's avatar chatbot.
SoftBank sold almost all of its shares in Alibaba
SoftBank Group has sold almost all of its stake in Alibaba Group. During the earnings call, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank's CFO, reiterated that SoftBank's portfolio focus has shifted from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to British chip design company ARM. Alibaba's share of SoftBank's net asset value fell to "almost zero" from 48% in 2020, SoftBank said. That compares to 45% for ARM and 29% for SoftBank's Vision Fund.
SoftBank had a net loss of 227.646 billion yen in fiscal 2023
SoftBank Group announced its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. Net sales for the fiscal year were 6.76 trillion yen, an increase of 2.8% compared to 6.57 trillion yen in fiscal 2022. Net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 227.646 billion yen, compared to a loss of 970.144 billion yen in fiscal 2022. In fiscal 2023, SoftBank lost 559.4 billion yen in investment, compared to 835.1 billion yen in fiscal 2022. The SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) suffered an investment loss of RMB167.3 billion (excluding gains related to SVF's investment in SoftBank subsidiaries).
Apple will start selling the Vision Pro in China
Mark Gurman, a well-known Apple whistleblower, said that Apple is ready to sell the Vision Pro for the first time outside the United States. Employees from stores in China, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are attending training sessions. According to the website of the China Quality Certification Center, Apple's headset products have passed China's 3C certification, and the issuance date is May 13, 2024, and it is valid until May 12, 2029.
The British newspaper has warned Apple about its ad blocking scheme
The British newspaper group has warned Apple about its ad-blocking program, saying that any move to force the use of so-called "web eraser" tools to block ads would jeopardize the financial sustainability of journalism. Apple is preparing to include an AI-based privacy feature in the Safari browser in the next iOS 18 software update, which will remove ads or other unwanted website content.
Zuckerberg said that electricity will replace chips as the new bottleneck of AI
Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an exclusive interview recently that the shortage of AI chips that has plagued the industry for a long time is basically over, but the energy supply problem will become the next major bottleneck. Zuckerberg said many new data centers are consuming between 50 and 100 megawatts of electricity, with particularly large data centers reaching 150 megawatts. Based on this trend, it seems only a matter of time before data centers consume 300 megawatts or 500 megawatts or even 1,000 megawatts of power. However, building a new power station is not a simple task, and it can take many years from making a plan to delivering power to the grid.
Microsoft will invest 4 billion euros in France
Microsoft plans to spend 4 billion euros to build cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in France and build a data center in the French city of Mulhouse. Microsoft says it aims to help train 1 million people in France and support 2,500 start-ups by 2027. In February, Microsoft announced a €3.2 billion investment in Germany and announced plans to invest $2.1 billion over the next two years to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure in Spain.
微软确认放弃Windows 10 21H2版更新
Microsoft has announced that it will end support for Windows 10 21H2 in less than 30 days, and Microsoft wants users to upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible. Windows 10 21H2 Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise will receive their last security update on June 11, after which only Windows 10 22H2 will be supported for general and business users. In addition, Microsoft will completely end support for all versions of Windows 10 in October 2025.
The EU will file new antitrust charges against Microsoft
The European Union will file new antitrust charges against Microsoft over concerns that Microsoft is weakening competitors to its video conferencing app, Teams. The European Commission is stepping up to file formal charges against Microsoft over concerns that it is restricting competition in the industry, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Last month, Microsoft made concessions to avoid regulatory action, including a proposal to spin Teams out of other software such as Office in Europe and around the world. However, EU officials remain concerned that Microsoft is not doing enough to achieve market fairness, people familiar with the matter said.
Anthropic introduces chatbots to the European market
AI startup Anthropic has launched a Claude chatbot and subscription plan in Europe, and the company is working to increase users and revenue. Anthropic said the company's underlying software products have already gained some traction across Europe in industries such as finance and hospitality, and it now hopes to build on that foundation.
Samsung plans to invest an additional USD 1 billion annually in Vietnam
Samsung Electronics announced that it will significantly increase its annual investment in Vietnam, with plans to increase the investment amount by up to US$1 billion. Last week, Samsung Electronics Chief Financial Officer Park Han-so met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to reach a handshake on the latest financial agreement. Since opening its factory in Vietnam in 2008, Samsung has increased its total investment in Vietnam to US$22.4 billion. Samsung Electronics' Thai Nguyen plant in Thai Nguyen Province is Samsung's largest smartphone factory in the world. This additional $1 billion annual investment will undoubtedly accelerate Samsung's business expansion in Vietnam.
Sony appoints two CEOs to lead the PlayStation business
Sony Group of Companies and Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company behind PlayStation, have announced a new leadership structure for SIE. Effective June 1, Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of the SIE Platform Business Unit and Hermen Hurst will be appointed CEO of the SIE Studio Business Unit. Hiroki Totoki, who has been serving as interim CEO of SIE, will serve as chairman of SIE in addition to serving as president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Sony Group Corporation. Nishino and Hulst will report to Totoki and will work closely together to strengthen each core business.
Intel appoints head of foundry
Intel appoints Kevin O'Buckley as head of foundry. He will succeed retiring Stuart Pann, who established Intel's foundry division under the company's new operating model. O'Buckley will report to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who has more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and most recently served as senior vice president of hardware engineering for Marvell Technology's Custom Silicon Group. He has also held leadership positions at companies such as GF and IBM.
Vivo's new flagship was released
vivo held a new product launch conference, bringing three new products: vivo X100s, vivo X100s Pro and vivo X100 Ultra. Among them, vivo X100 Ultra is the first to be equipped with Zeiss 200 million APO super telephoto, and the first to be equipped with a new sensor HP9, which is a large bottom sensor customized by vivo, it has 200 million pixels, and the industry first applies fluorite-grade glass lens FCD100, the price starts at 6499 yuan. vivo launched Bluemage Blueprint Image, and cooperated with Zeiss for in-depth cooperation in research and development.
Tencent Music will pay dividends for the first time
Tencent Music announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Total revenue was 6.77 billion yuan (about 937 million US dollars), down 3.4% year-on-year. net profit was 1.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.5%. Non-IFRS net profit was RMB1.81 billion, up 23.9% year-on-year. Among them, the revenue from online music services was 5.01 billion yuan, an increase of 43.0% compared with 3.50 billion yuan in the same period last year. Revenue from social entertainment services and other businesses was RMB1.76 billion, down 49.7% from RMB3.50 billion in the same period last year. Tencent Music will pay its first annual dividend and is expected to pay an annual cash dividend of approximately US$210 million for fiscal 2023 to shareholders of record as of record.
The LCD panel plant for Sharp TVs will be discontinued
Sharp will stop operating its LCD panel plant for TVs, which was the main reason for Sharp's loss of more than 200 billion yen in fiscal 2022 (ending March 2023). In addition, Sharp is also considering seconding human resources from the LCD business to Sony Group's semiconductor plant. The company will embark on fundamental structural reforms for the reconstruction of its operations.
UBER'S $950 MILLION ACQUISITION OF FOODPANDA'S TAIWAN OPERATIONS
UBER ANNOUNCED THE ACQUISITION OF FOODPANDA'S TAIWAN OPERATIONS IN A CASH TRANSACTION OF $950 MILLION. FOODPANDA IS AN INTERNATIONAL ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY PLATFORM WITH A FAST-GROWING PRESENCE IN TAIWAN AND A LARGE NUMBER OF USERS AND RESTAURANT PARTNERS. Uber's acquisition aims to integrate resources and improve service levels to better meet consumer needs.
U.S. job search site Indeed laid off 1,000 employees
Indeed, a U.S.-based job search site, has announced that it will lay off about 1,000 people, or about 8% of its total workforce, in order to simplify its organizational structure. Chris Hyams, the company's chief executive, said the company was not ready for growth after a global hiring slowdown last year led to several quarters of declining sales. Unlike last year's overall layoffs of 2,200 people, Hyams said the latest layoffs will be more concentrated in the United States, mainly affecting R&D and marketing teams.
Global true wireless earbuds market shipments increased 6% year-on-year in the first quarter
According to a Canalys research report, global true wireless earbuds (TWS) shipments reached 65 million in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Apple ranked first, with shipments of 16 million, down 8% year-on-year, and a market share of 24%; Xiaomi surpassed Samsung for the first time, jumping to second place, with shipments reaching 5.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 61%; Samsung ranked third, with 5.2 million shipments; Indian manufacturer boAt remained in fourth place, achieving 7% growth, with shipments of 2.9 million units; Huawei rushed to fifth place, with shipments of 2.2 million units.
Japan, South Korea and Australia tighten rules to curb big tech companies
Japan, South Korea and Australia are tightening rules to curb the market power of big tech conglomerates, creating new regulatory challenges for Apple and Google after similar crackdowns by the European Union and the United States. Japan's cabinet recently approved landmark legislation aimed at preventing the largest online platform from using its dominance in the mobile software space to thwart the entry of new competitors.