SoftBank of Japan records a loss before making a substantial investment in AI technology with the Stargate Project. The firm reported a loss of US$2.4 billion in the last quarter of the year, while its founder, Masayoshi Son, is working to secure US$500 billion funding for Stargate.

Son, the Japanese billionaire and CEO of SoftBank, is considering project financing to generate funds. According to Bloomberg News, one option being examined is to secure 10 per cent of the total amount via equity, while senior loans may provide up to 70 per cent.

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman expresses interest in collaborating with China, as DeepSeek causes a stir in the tech industry. Altman's shift in attitude towards China from OpenAI's previous rigid position illustrates how the Hangzhou-based start-up, DeepSeek, has disrupted the worldwide AI sector.

"Is it crucial that we put in maximum effort to collaborate with China? Definitely, yes. In my opinion, it's truly significant," Altman commented in the video, without detailing the specific sectors OpenAI and the globe's second biggest economy would focus on.

Altman confessed his uncertainty about the US government's stance on OpenAI partnering with China, but emphasized his belief in the significance of pursuing such collaboration.

China is positioning itself to rival Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem through DeepSeek. The country's chipmakers are quickly embracing DeepSeek's widely used AI models, which is aiding China's campaign to reduce dependency on US technology.

Chinese chip manufacturers have long admired Nvidia, a leading American semiconductor company. Nvidia's dominance in the industry is undisputed, thanks to its advanced hardware and unique CUDA toolkit. This toolkit is widely used by engineers to create applications on the company's graphics processing units (GPUs).

After the introduction of the V3 and R1 models by DeepSeek, local chip manufacturers are making efforts to liberate themselves from Nvidia's sphere of influence.

The potential impact of DeepSeek's AI model advancements on Nvidia and other American tech giants has been a hot topic of discussion in the technology sector in recent weeks.

The exact number of chips utilized by the company based in Hangzhou for the training of its V3 and R1 models continues to be a point of discussion. Nonetheless, there are conjectures suggesting that chips supplied by Huawei Technologies contributed to DeepSeek's effective creation of robust, inexpensive AI models.

Activist investor from Hong Kong to close Webb-site data platform while fighting cancer

The loss of David Webb's informative platform will be felt by investors, according to brokerage industry expert Tom Chan

The absence of David Webb's informative site will be keenly felt by investors, says Tom Chan, a seasoned professional in the brokerage industry.

David Webb, a corporate governance advocate, has announced the closure of his information services website, Webb-site.com, after nearly thirty years of operation. He stated that his decision follows a prolonged fight with prostate cancer, and he now only has a few months to live.

The UK resident plans to gradually shut down his free and non-profit service from the forthcoming month, according to the 59-year-old ex-investment banker's Wednesday post. He further stated that once the New York server is deactivated, the Webb-site, including all of its editorial content, will cease to exist.

"Upon revealing my advanced-stage prostate cancer diagnosis in June 2020, I didn't anticipate surviving this long," Webb, who has been living in Hong Kong since 1991, stated.

"Nonetheless, having used up four types of treatment and turned to trial treatments only accessible abroad, I've come to the stage where results are now calculated in months instead of years."

Webb didn't promptly reply to a comment request.

Webb revealed that he invested HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) from his personal finances to back the enterprise he established in 1998. Prior to this, he had experience working as a stock market banker at the Barclays group in London and Hong Kong, and he also served as a consultant to Wheelock.

Hong Kong's activist investor to close Webb-site data platform while fighting cancer

Investors and trading industry expert Tom Chan express that they will feel the loss of David Webb's informative site.

David Webb's informative site will be a loss to investors, says trading industry expert Tom Chan.

David Webb, a champion for corporate governance, plans to close his data services website, Webb-site.com, following almost thirty years in operation. This decision comes as he reveals he has only a few months to live, following an extended fight with prostate cancer.

The UK national plans to shut down his non-profit, unprofitable service starting next month, according to the 59-year-old ex-investment banker's Wednesday post. He further stated that when the New York server goes offline, all editorial content of Webb-site will vanish.

Webb, who has been living in Hong Kong since 1991, stated, "When I revealed my advanced prostate cancer in June 2020, I didn't anticipate surviving this long."

"Nonetheless, having utilized four different treatment methods and turning to experimental procedures accessible only abroad, I've arrived at the stage where my future is calculated in months instead of years."

Webb hasn't promptly replied to a request for a statement.

Webb declared that he has invested HK$10 million (equivalent to US$1.3 million) from his personal savings to back the business he established in 1998. Prior to this, he had experience as a stock market banker with the Barclays group, operating in both London and Hong Kong, and additionally acted as a consultant for Wheelock.

China aspires to construct a globally competitive large aircraft. Is it possible without Western involvement? China is striving to create large aircrafts that can rival Airbus and Boeing, but the success of their plans might depend on Western regulators and suppliers' collaboration.

China has always harbored aspirations to transform the worldwide aviation sector into an "ABC" market by disrupting the Airbus and Boeing duopoly with the introduction of top-tier Chinese jets.

Currently, the Chinese airplane maker is intensifying efforts to grow its fleet, with plans to incorporate wide-body models. This includes their own creation designed to rival Boeing's legendary 747 jumbo jet.

Introducing the C929 and C939.

Comac seems highly concentrated on manufacturing its own aircrafts capable of performing long-distance flights, an effort influenced not only by market needs but also by political and strategic elements.

"Very few engineering products are as noticeable and identifiable as large aircraft," stated David Yu, a professor at New York University Shanghai with a specialty in aviation financing.

Similar to the United States and Europe, China also has numerous motivations to cultivate and utilize its own large aircraft that mirror its stature and aspirations.

Lack of funds and poor demand are hindrances to worldwide green-hydrogen initiatives, according to a report by BMI. The report reveals that 79% of these low-carbon hydrogen projects are unable to advance beyond the planning phase, as project developers face challenges with steep production expenses and weak market demand.

By the close of 2024, the number of low-carbon hydrogen initiatives had risen to 663, up from 409 the previous year, according to a report from BMI, a subsidiary of Fitch Solutions, released on Friday. Approximately half of these projects, 335 to be exact, were situated in North America and Western Europe, with most focusing on the development of green hydrogen.

Nonetheless, 79 percent of these initiatives are still in the conceptual stage, underlining the difficulty in obtaining funds and finalizing investment choices.

The firm stated that the entire process of hydrogen, from its creation to its exportation, is burdened with substantial initial outlays. Financial institutions are hesitant due to these costs and the unpredictability of returns, particularly in the context of elevated interest rates and insufficient transport and distribution systems.

The joint project in North Dakota by TC Energy and Marathon Petroleum, known as Prairie Horizon Hydrogen, has been terminated despite receiving $2 billion in federal funding, as reported by BMI.

The craze for DeepSeek leaves China's investors out of the AI game

DeepSeek creator, Liang Wenfeng, had previously expressed that Chinese investors were reluctant to support purely research-based projects.

Baidu Venture, a separate investment entity specializing in AI, which was established by the renowned Chinese internet behemoth bearing the same name, surprisingly didn't invest in DeepSeek. This is despite the fact that the start-up's Beijing office is located just a floor below the venture firm's location.

DeepSeek, a breakaway company from one of China's leading hedge funds, High-Flyer Quant, started in 2023, didn't express a need for outside investment, as per Gao Xue, the CEO and managing partner of Baidu Venture.

"High-Flyer's AI big-scale enterprise does not intend to secure additional funding, therefore, much like other venture capitalists, we have not been lucky enough to become an investor in DeepSeek," Gao informed a local news source.

The pair of companies have been in communication and shared a cordial relationship ever since DeepSeek relocated to the same premises last May, he stated.

Five in the morning

Could China's affordable DeepSeek signal the downfall of Nvidia's reign in the chip market?

Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, praises DeepSeek for their impressive work on AI chatbot technology. Despite being the creator of ChatGPT, he has also announced plans to meet with a Chinese start-up, though it won't be at the AI Action Summit in Paris.

In a conversation with The Times Tech Podcast, Altman expressed that the emergence of DeepSeek was unexpected, even though the arrival of a new competitor was inevitable.

Shares in Hong Kong decline from a four-month peak due to increasing worries about trade conflicts. Market participants believe that Trump's tariff strategies may trigger inflation, potentially compelling the Federal Reserve to maintain elevated interest rates for an extended period.

The Hang Seng Index experienced a decline of 1.1 per cent, closing at 21,294.86, marking the sharpest drop in close to three weeks. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Tech Index saw a decrease of 2.7 per cent. This downturn followed a period of growth driven by the rise of AI startup, DeepSeek. However, this growth halted after the market shifted into a bullish trend last week, following a 20 per cent increase from a low in January.

In the mainland, there was a 0.5 per cent decrease in the CSI 300 Index and a 0.1 per cent decline in the Shanghai Composite Index.

Automobile manufacturers, Geely Automobile Holdings and Li Auto experienced a minimum of 5% drop after the US President, Donald Trump, mentioned the possibility of his administration considering tariffs on car imports. Leading the descent among significant mainland Chinese tech firms trading in the city were Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding. Meanwhile, Zijin Mining Group, a gold producer, defied the trend as the value of the precious metal hit a record high, causing investors to shift towards safer assets.

The potential consequences of these tariffs could significantly affect the worldwide economy. Experts suggest that these duties could solidify inflation within the US, and postpone reductions in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.

OpenAI is on track to complete its initial proprietary chip design this year, reducing its dependency on Nvidia. The chip will be produced by TSMC utilizing the manufacturer's sophisticated 3-nanometer process technology.

Both OpenAI and TSMC chose not to provide any comments

The recent news indicates that OpenAI is progressing steadily towards its bold aim of large-scale production at TSMC by 2026. Usually, a tape-out process comes with a hefty price tag of tens of millions of dollars and requires about half a year to yield a complete chip, unless OpenAI decides to pay a significant premium for fast-tracked production.

There's no assurance that the silicon will operate correctly during the initial tape out. If it fails, the company will have to identify the issue and redo the tape-out phase.

Within OpenAI, the chip designed for training was seen as a tactical instrument to bolster OpenAI’s bargaining power with other chip manufacturers, according to the sources. Following the first chip, OpenAI’s engineers aim to create progressively sophisticated processors with expanded features with each subsequent version.

Jack Ma pays a visit to used goods platform Xianyu while Alibaba's AI continues to turn heads. Alibaba has been leveraging the digital swap meet as a proving ground for its swiftly advancing AI capabilities.

Images and short videos disseminated by Xianyu workers depicted Ma, aged 60, donning a vest bearing the Alibaba insignia and grinning widely. The corporation's youthful employees were observed eagerly trying to get a selfie with the retired business magnate, who continues to be highly respected as the symbolic head of the corporate giant he established in 1999 and as a prominent figure in China's private sector.