Joint venture set to challenge Tesla’s charging power
Seven key car manufacturers, including General Motors [GM] and Hyundai [005380.KS] have formed a new company set to challenge Tesla’s [TSLA] dominance of US electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The joint venture aims to install 30,000 chargers across North America, though Reuters reports that some lawyers suspect there may be antitrust concerns. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the deal “an important step forward”.
Demand for chips is down, says Samsung
Samsung’s [005930.KS] profits fell 95% year-over-year in the second quarter, according to results announced Thursday, citing weak demand for memory chips. While Samsung expects demand to recover in the second half of 2023, it pledged to maintain output cuts while awaiting an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven recovery. Samsung’s shares gained 2.7% on Thursday, but rival SK Hynix [000660.KS] gained 9.7%, despite the launch of Samsung’s new foldable smartphone.
STMicro grows revenues by 13%
Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics [STM] boosted second-quarter revenue by 13% to $4.33bn, narrowly exceeding expectations of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. STMicro CEO Jean-Marc Chery attributed the increase to growth in automotive and industrial markets. However, JP Morgan [JPM] analysts, including Sandeep Deshpande, wrote that the results indicated that “the strong earnings momentum shown by the business in the past two years [is] losing steam”.
Top AI firms form group for responsible development
Microsoft [MSFT] and Google [GOOGL], together with their respective subsidiary AI houses OpenAI and Anthropic, have formed the Frontier Model Forum. The group seeks to research increasingly sophisticated AI and ensure its “safe and responsible development”. The initiative, which follows closely on from AI safety pledges agreed with the White House, “is a vital step to bring the tech sector together in advancing AI responsibly”, according to Microsoft’s vice-chair and president Brad Smith.
Intelligent recommendations paying off for Meta
Meanwhile, Meta’s [META] investment into AI-driven improvements to feed and personalised recommendations is “already paying off”, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta’s revenue rose 11% in the second quarter, the first time it has reached double digits since 2021, with net income increasing 16%. Recovering ad sales could drive revenue growth as high as 20% in the current quarter, the company said on Wednesday, buying time for Zuckerberg’s long-term Metaverse ambitions.
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