FirstFT: US seeks information on chips utilized in Huawei’s new smartphone

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Good morning. The White Home is searching for detailed data on Huawei’s newest flagship smartphone, which analysts have described as an vital milestone for the Chinese language tech group 4 years after US restrictions crippled its handset enterprise.

US nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Tuesday that Washington wanted to get “extra data” on the exact “character and composition” of a chip powering Huawei’s newly launched Mate 60 Professional, in reply to a briefing query on whether or not US controls on exports of superior semiconductor expertise have been being thwarted.

Whereas Huawei has declined to disclose particulars of its suppliers for the Mate Professional, a dismantling of the cellphone by the consultancy TechInsights final week prompt it contained a 7-nanometre processor made by Semiconductor Manufacturing Worldwide Corp.

The partially state-owned Chinese language chipmaker grew to become topic to export restrictions three years in the past, when the US commerce division stated there was an “unacceptable threat” of chip expertise being diverted to it for “navy finish use”. Learn the total story on Huawei’s “Made in China” smartphone — and what it might imply for the US-China tech warfare.

• Extra on chips: US personal fairness group KKR is planning an preliminary public providing for a chip tools maker on Tokyo’s change within the fourth quarter, in what can be the market’s greatest IPO since 2018.

Right here’s what else I’m retaining tabs on at this time:

• EU GDP: Second-quarter progress figures are set to be launched at this time.

• Tencent: The Chinese language tech big will unveil its synthetic intelligence chatbot, becoming a member of the worldwide race to dominate generative AI.

• Australia LNG strike talks: Staff at Chevron’s Western Australian pure fuel services agreed to pause deliberate industrial motion till Friday, simply hours earlier than they have been anticipated to start strike motion amid a dispute over pay and situations. Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone operations in Australia account for greater than 5 per cent of worldwide liquefied pure fuel capability. (Reuters)

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5 extra prime tales

1. WeWork is searching for to renegotiate almost all of its leases around the globe, weeks after the SoftBank-backed workplace area group warned that there was “substantial doubt” about its means to proceed as a going concern. The corporate’s drive to chop lease prices threatens a business actual property trade that’s already affected by the surplus capability that adopted a coronavirus pandemic-driven surge in working from house. Learn the total story.

2. Unique: Common Music has struck a cope with French streaming service Deezer to direct extra royalties to artists and away from a “sea of noise” that features amateurs, bots and white-noise soundtracks. The settlement is the largest shift to the streaming enterprise mannequin because the launch of Spotify in 2008. Right here’s how this deal might reshape streaming economics.

3. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has deserted his life-long hostility to rate of interest rises, vowing to make use of “tight financial coverage” to counter hovering inflation, which the federal government stated would hit 65 per cent by the top of this yr. The remarks from Erdoğan, who had beforehand lashed out on the “rate of interest foyer”, are an indication he’s backing the extra orthodox financial coverage of his new financial crew. FT’s Adam Samson stories from Ankara.

4. Officers in China and Japan are pushing again in opposition to the power of the US greenback as a rally by the dollar threatens to drive each the renminbi and the yen to historic lows. The Folks’s Financial institution of China set the buying and selling band for the Chinese language forex larger than anticipated on Wednesday whereas Japan’s prime forex diplomat issued his sharpest warning but in opposition to the yen’s fall. Right here’s what analysts are saying.

5. Indonesia has threatened to curb TikTok’s procuring platform, months after the Chinese language-owned viral video app stated it might make investments billions of {dollars} within the fast-growing south-east Asian nation. The minister of co-operatives and small and medium enterprises, Teten Masduki, accused TikTok Store of “monopolistic” enterprise practices, and stated Indonesia ought to comply with the lead of different nations together with the US and India in limiting the corporate’s actions.

The Large Learn

Greater than 100 nations are exploring the thought of a central financial institution digital forex, starting from China’s “e-yuan” to the UK’s “digital pound”. However as plans for digital money achieve momentum, so have the conspiracy theories. A rising throng of tradition warriors have decried CBDCs as a instrument designed by international elites and the World Financial Discussion board to destroy freedom or impose unwelcome environmental and social agendas.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Chart of the day

Warmth data within the 2023 northern hemisphere summer time have been “not simply damaged however smashed”, scientists from the EU earth commentary company reported. Learn extra on the world’s hottest season on document.

Take a break from the information

Our ancestors have been on the point of extinction round 900,000 years in the past, in line with a brand new scientific report, with little greater than a thousand breeding people eking out a lonely existence for greater than 100,000 years. However this new idea has been met with scepticism, highlighting the problem of reconstructing the story of our personal species.

Extra contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith