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Japanese chip venture Rapidus needs $54bn to begin production, says chairman

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Japanese chip venture Rapidus needs $54bn to begin production, says chairman

Japan’s state-backed chip venture Rapidus will need about 7 trillion yen ($54 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass producing advanced logic chips in around 2027, its chairman, Tetsuro Higashi, told Reuters on Thursday.

That plan may be Japan’s last best chance to revive its ageing semiconductor industry as Japan and the United States set aside old industrial rivalries to take on China amid growing geopolitical tension.

“In the past, the United States hindered Japan’s chip industry growth. Now we have America’s support,” Higashi said in an interview.

Japan and the United States worry that friction with China will result in semiconductor shortages that could threaten economic growth.

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That concern has escalated as China has increased pressure on global chip hub Taiwan, with nearby military exercises after Chinese anger over visits by U.S. politicians to the self-ruled island.

TWO NANOMETRES

Following an agreement by Japan and the United States to cooperate in semiconductor technology, Rapidus in December announced a tie-up with IBM Corp (IBM.N) to develop and produce two-nanometre chips.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a metre and the smaller the number, the more cutting-edge the chip is. Japan’s most advanced semiconductor factory is a 40-nanometre plant owned by Renesas Electronics (6723.T).

Rapidus will announce the location of its first factory in March, Higashi said.

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The former boss of chip machinery maker Tokyo Electron (8035.T) declined to say where, but said it would not be near the site on Kyushu island that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW) recently picked for its first Japan factory.

To pay for the factory and buy production equipment, Rapidus will need sustained investment from Japan’s government, which in December announced 70 billion yen ($544 million) of initial funding.

Eight corporations that have small stakes in Rapidus, including Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Sony Group Corp (6758.T), are unlikely to stump up any money soon, Higashi said.

“They are future customers. For them, the decision to invest will be taken when they are able to assess our technology and production plans.”

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Huawei says Chery’s Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

Huawei says Chery’s Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

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Huawei says Chery's Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

 Huawei said that a shortage of semiconductors and factory relocation issues that had delayed production and deliveries of its Luxeed S7 sedan should be resolved from next month, local media outlet Cailianshe reported on Saturday.

It quoted Huawei managing director and chairman of its smart car solutions, Richard Yu, who was speaking about the issues surrounding Chery’s (CHERY.UL) Luxeed S7 sedan at an annual forum organised by the EV100 think tank.

Reuters reported in January that Chinese automaker Chery and another Huawei partner, Changan Auto (000625.SZ) had lodged complaints with Huawei over how production issues with a computing unit the tech giant manufactured had caused delays to deliveries of their flagship model.

The Luxeed S7 sedan – the first model for Chery’s Luxeed EV brand – had orders of about 20,000 as of Nov. 28. Luxeed said in January that buyers could be reimbursed by up to 10,000 yuan if they were unable to pick up the car as promised. The S7 is priced from 249,800 yuan ($34,716.62).

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The brand was only launched in November and had been much hyped by Huawei with Yu previously claiming the S7 would beat Tesla’s luxury Model S in performance and at a price lower than the Model 3.

Yu also told the EV100 forum that its autos business unit would likely turn a profit from April after losing billions of yuan in the past year, due to strong sales of mid to high-end models built by its partners.

Huawei launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent electric vehicle (EV) era and supply software and components to partners.

But it is the only money-losing unit among Huawei’s main six and brought in only one billion yuan revenue in the first half of 2023, a fraction of the company’s 310.9 billion yuan total.

Last year, Huawei announced that it would spin the unit off into a new company which will receive the unit’s core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan. 

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US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

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US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

US prosecutors in Virginia are probing whether Facebook-parent Meta’s (META.O) social media platforms facilitated and profited from the illegal sale of drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing documents and people familiar with the matter.

The prosecutors sent subpoenas last year and have been asking questions as part of a criminal grand jury probe, the report said, adding that they have also been requesting records related to drug content or illicit sale of drugs via Meta’s platforms.

The Food and Drug Administration has also been helping with the investigation, the newspaper added. It noted that investigations do not always lead to charges of wrongdoing.

The paper quoted a spokesman for Meta as saying in a statement: “The sale of illicit drugs is against our policies and we work to find and remove this content from our services”.

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“Meta proactively cooperates with law enforcement authorities to help combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs,” he added.

The prosecutors’ office and a spokeswoman for the FDA declined to comment to WSJ.

Meta, the FDA and the Virginia Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said on social media platform X on Friday that Meta had joined up with the US State Department, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Snapchat to help disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online and educate users about the associated risks.

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Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

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Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

Malaysia’s central bank said on Saturday that Google had misquoted the ringgit’s exchange rate, undervaluing the currency against the dollar, and that it would seek an explanation from the tech giant.

The ringgit, which declined to a 26-year low last month, has weakened about 2.44% this year. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has said the currency is undervalued and does not reflect Malaysia’s positive economic fundamentals.

The bank said in a statement that Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) published “inaccurate” information on Friday and had also done so on Feb. 6.

“As this is the second instance of misreporting, BNM will be engaging Google for an explanation of how the inaccurate reporting occurred and the corrective measures taken given that this is a recurring issue that has afflicted Malaysia and other countries in the past few months,” BNM said in a statement.

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It did not elaborate. Google was not immediately available for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

The search giant does not verify data provided by financial exchanges and other content providers, and disclaims any obligation to do so, according to disclaimers on its website.

Google quoted the ringgit at 4.98 to the dollar on Friday, BNM said, while the Malaysian currency’s weakest level on official data was 4.7075.

BNM quoted the ringgit at 4.7015 at 9 a.m. and 4.7045 at 5 p.m. on the onshore interbank market. For comparison, LSEG data used by many international market participants quotes a Friday close of 4.7020.

BNM Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said last week Malaysia’s government and central bank were taking coordinated action to further increase flows into the foreign exchange market to ensure the ringgit remains stable.

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