Last week's highlights: Alibaba's large language model is open to the global open source community. Microsoft, BlackRock and others have jointly invested in the construction of artificial intelligence data centers. Qualcomm approached Intel about the acquisition. TSMC began producing Apple phone chips in United States factories. The iPhone 16 series sold lower than expected pre-orders in the first weekend. TikTok urged United States courts to block the ban. Volkswagen of Germany lays off employees at its headquarters in China. The expansion of Tesla's Supercharger network has slowed. The Boeing union strike led to the suspension of production of the 737 aircraft. The high-frequency riders of Meituan in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have a monthly income of more than 10,000 yuan. 1
Alibaba's large language model is open to the world
Alibaba has opened more than 100 large language models to the global open source community and continues to focus on the field of artificial intelligence (AI). It's also the company's most extensive open source initiative to date. Alibaba said the new open-source models are part of Alibaba Cloud's Qwen 2.5 series of large language models, covering different language, audio and visual models. Related: In the past four months, Tsai Chongxin has increased his holdings of Alibaba shares by about 1.45 million shares. According to Alibaba, as of August 28, Alibaba co-founder and chairman Joe Tsai held 276.75 million shares of the company, accounting for about 1.44%. According to previous disclosures, as of May 20, Tsai Chongxin held 275.30 million shares of Alibaba.
2. Microsoft and others jointly invested in the construction of AI data centers
BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, MGX and Microsoft will invest up to $100 billion to expand and build AI data centers, and NVIDIA will support their cooperation. The partnership, known as the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, will also build energy infrastructure projects to provide a source of electricity for these facilities. BlackRock and others said the partnership would initially seek $30 billion in private equity capital.
Related: Infrastructure investment, including energy projects, will be primarily in the United States, with some funds deployed in United States partner countries.
3Qualcomm approached Intel about the acquisition
Qualcomm has approached Intel Corp. about the acquisition, a deal that could be a record in the chip industry. Intel, once the world's largest chipmaker, is struggling with weak sales and widening losses. The company's market capitalization is currently less than $100 billion, about half that of Qualcomm. Still, the acquisition would be the largest deal in the semiconductor market's history and could be industry-changing. Related: Intel says it will further separate its chip manufacturing and design operations, one of a series of new measures in response to one of the company's worst crises in its 50-year history. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said · Intel will also significantly reduce the number of office locations. Intel Foundry, the foundry business, will be established as an independent subsidiary, becoming an independent operating entity within Intel. Intel said that as the majority shareholder of Mobileye, an Israel self-driving technology company, Intel is confident in the future of its business and has no plans to divest a majority stake in the company at this time.
4 TSMC began producing chips in United States factories
TSMC has begun producing Apple's iPhone chips at a foundry in Arizona, United States, and the first chip to be produced in the United States will be the A16. Planning for the Arizona foundry project dates back to 2020. After four years of construction, the plant is now operational and has started producing chips for Apple. At the moment, production is mainly a test of the plant, but more production is expected in the coming months. Related: Intel has made Amazon's AWS a customer for the company's manufacturing operations. Intel and AWS will jointly invest in a custom chip for AI computing within a "multi-year, multibillion-dollar framework."
5iPhone 16 series pre-order sales were lower than expected
Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at Tianfeng International, said that Apple's iPhone 16 series pre-order sales in the first weekend are estimated to be about 37 million units, a year-on-year decrease of about 12.7% from last year's iPhone 15 series sales in the first weekend, and the key is that the iPhone 16 Pro series is lower than expected. One of the possible keys to lower-than-expected demand is that the biggest selling point, "Apple-style AI", will not be available at the same time as the iPhone 16 launch. In addition, fierce competition in the Chinese market continues to affect iPhone demand. While both the iPhone 16 Plus and the standard version saw year-over-year sales in the opening weekend, it helped limited overall iPhone shipments.
Related: Apple has received a warning from the European Union to open up the iPhone and iPad operating systems to rival technology or risk ending up with hefty fines. The regulator has announced under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) that Apple must comply with strict new rules to make the operating system fully compatible with other technologies. The Brussels-based authorities gave Apple six months to comply or face penalties in the future. While the move is one step away from a formal investigation, the EU's goal is to force Apple to redesign its services to allow rival companies access to the iPhone and iPad operating systems.
6TikTok urges United States courts to block the ban
TikTok has urged a federal appeals court to block a law that could soon ban the social media app in United States, arguing the consequences for free speech would be "striking." According to the law signed by Biden earlier this year, TikTok will be banned in the United States if it does not separate from its parent company, ByteDance, by Jan. 19, 2025. TikTok's lawyers have urged the federal appeals court to revoke a rule requiring its Chinese owners to divest or shut down the app. The United States federal appeals court has signaled skepticism about TikTok's legal challenges. Related: Brazil's Supreme Court ordered Elon Musk's X to pay a fine of nearly $1 million a day until he blocked users from accessing the platform, which is banned by the country. The Supreme Court also accused the billionaire of using technical means to try to circumvent the authorities after X changed network providers, allowing some users to temporarily circumvent the injunction imposed on X by the Supreme Court three weeks ago. X said it had no intention of circumventing the ban and that the social platform was forced to switch network providers after closing its offices and operations in Brazil, resulting in "inadvertently and temporarily reinstating services to users in Brazil." The company's lawyers said that Platform X had complied with the relevant order of the Supreme Court of Brazil and hoped that the court would lift the ban on its Platform X in Brazil.
7
Volkswagen lays off employees at its headquarters in China
Volkswagen of Germany, which aims to reduce its overhead costs by 20% within three years, has begun to lay off employees at its headquarters in China. Volkswagen China will reduce its headcount at the group level to the hundreds, as the company is unable to halt the continued decline in sales in its largest market. Volkswagen's premium brand, Audi, is also laying off employees separately. Volkswagen said the move was part of its global efforts to reduce costs, but declined to disclose the exact number of layoffs. Some foreign employees will be transferred back to Germany, while some middle and senior managers will be dismissed. In addition, SAIC Volkswagen is preparing to close a plant in Nanjing as early as next year.
Related: As the European car market shrinks, the Volkswagen Group may cut up to 30,000 jobs in Germany to strengthen its competitiveness. Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, believes that in the medium term, it is feasible for the Volkswagen Group to reduce the number of employees in Germany by 30,000 (about 10% of the total number of employees in Germany). However, the Volkswagen Group Works Council said the 30,000 job cuts were "baseless and nonsense." The largest layoffs in the Volkswagen Group's R&D department are likely to be the largest, with 4,000 to 6,000 of the 13,000 R&D employees in Germany losing their jobs.
8
The expansion of Tesla's supercharging network has slowed
The expansion of Tesla's Supercharger network has slowed in recent months after the company's massive layoffs in April led to the hollowing out of the team responsible for installing new EV chargers and charging stations. The data shows that while Tesla has been working to rebuild the team, including rehiring some previously laid off employees, the number of newly opened Supercharger ports between May and August fell 28% from a year earlier. The company is currently opening up its charging network to other automakers and obtaining more public funding for the construction of charging stations.
Related: General Motors announced on September 18 that starting today, customers will have access to more than 17,800 Tesla Superchargers using GM-approved NACS DC adapters, and with the addition of the Tesla Supercharger network, GM customers will have access to more than 231,800 public Level 2 and DC fast charging stations in North America, and that number will continue to grow. GM-approved NACS DC adapters will be available to customers in the United States first, followed by customers in Canada later this year.
9
The Boeing union strikes to suspend production of 737 aircraft
Boeing's largest union went on strike, causing production of its best-selling aircraft, the 737, to be suspended, dealing a new blow to the struggling aerospace giant. Thousands of mechanics building Boeing 737, 777 and 767 aircraft went on strike shortly after midnight Pacific time on Sept. 13 after rejecting a collective bargaining agreement between union leaders and Boeing executives. The agreement proposes a 25% salary increase over four years. The strike cast a shadow over the 737 Max's production targets and raised concerns about a cash shortage. The company's chief financial officer said the company would work hard to maintain its investment-grade credit rating. The company's debt burden has ballooned to $53 billion.
Related: Boeing says it will freeze hiring and delay raising wages for salaried employees. The aircraft maker is grappling with the financial impact of a strike by its largest union. Boeing announced the cost-saving measures in a notice to employees and said it would also cut supplier orders for the 737, 767 and 777 aircraft. Boeing is also considering taking employees and managers on temporary leave, the notice said.
10. The high-frequency riders of Meituan in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have a monthly income of more than 10,000
Food delivery riders have become the choice of transitional employment for many workers, showing the characteristics of strong transition. Meituan Research Institute said that among the 7.45 million riders who have received orders in 2023, nearly half of them have received orders for less than 30 days. Of the 7.45 million riders with order income, 11% of the total number of riders receive orders for more than 260 days a year, about 819,500 people, and about 48% of riders with order income receive orders for less than 30 days a year. In June 2024, among high-frequency riders, the average income of crowdsourcing (no requirement for running orders) and Lerun (with requirements for running orders) riders in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be 7,354 yuan and 11,014 yuan respectively. Related: Meituan CEO Wang Xing issued an all-staff letter internally, mentioning that more than 5,000 fresh graduates have been recruited each year for the past three years, and 6,000 are planned to be recruited for the class of 2025, and the internal promotion rate is as high as 69%. Last year, about 7.45 million riders earned income on the Meituan platform, and they were paid more than 80 billion yuan.
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