https://www.scmp.com/rss/57614/feed Incorporated as “Cadabra” in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, the company went online the following year as amazon.com. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified into DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewellery. Apart from online retailing, Amazon also produces consumer electronics, notably the Amazon Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer, and provides cloud computing services. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng We all suffer from nostalgia bias, thinking back to a golden past, remembering the good and forgetting the bad. In looking to the future, we worry about the risks and are fearful of the unknown. This tendency makes us forget how the last financial crisis wiped out quite a few investors and created new wealth. McKinsey Global Institute marked the consultancy’s centennial year by publishing a book called A Century of Plenty, meant to show that mankind never had it so good. It puts forward a bold... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3354470/investors-ai-driven-bubble-risk-forgetting-painful-lessons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3354470/investors-ai-driven-bubble-risk-forgetting-painful-lessons?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2026 01:30:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Fewer Americans filed for jobless aid last week as lay-offs remain low despite a number of uncertainties that continue to cloud the economy. US applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labour Department reported Thursday. That is fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for US lay-offs and are close to a real-time indicator... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3354408/us-jobless-claims-fall-lay-offs-remain-low-despite-economic-uncertainty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3354408/us-jobless-claims-fall-lay-offs-remain-low-despite-economic-uncertainty?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 13:03:53 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Fuelled by excessive spending on artificial intelligence-linked commodities and computing capacity, AI infrastructure investment has become a global bubble that is unlikely to burst in 2026 or 2027, according to Viktor Shvets, head of global and Asia-Pacific strategy at Macquarie Group. “There are many parts of AI … from the underlying technologies to infrastructure – the things that are going to run on the back of the infrastructure of models; automation, quantum computing, biotech, gene... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3354118/ai-infrastructure-investment-bubble-unlikely-burst-2027-macquarie?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3354118/ai-infrastructure-investment-bubble-unlikely-burst-2027-macquarie?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 11:00:04 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow US tech giants are set to shake off the competition from cheap, open-source Chinese artificial intelligence models as investments in infrastructure drive down token costs and fuel a wave of demand for agentic AI, according to Eric Sheridan, co-head of tech, media and telecoms research at Goldman Sachs. Instead of an AI bubble, US tech leaders are standing at a pivotal “inflection point” where the arrival of economically productive agentic AI tools has provided early vindication of the industry’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3354007/us-ai-investment-deliver-returns-despite-open-source-chinese-rivals-goldman-sachs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3354007/us-ai-investment-deliver-returns-despite-open-source-chinese-rivals-goldman-sachs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 03:00:05 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao US President Donald Trump invested millions of dollars in Apple and Nvidia in the first quarter, according to financial disclosures released as he was wrapping up his first state visit to China since 2017. According to a filing disclosed by the US Office of Government Ethics on Thursday, Trump increased investment in Apple and Nvidia, whose CEOs were part of the president’s high-profile business delegation to Beijing this week, during the first three months of 2026. In the first quarter, the US... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3353752/trump-poured-millions-nvidia-apple-first-quarter-ethics-filing-shows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3353752/trump-poured-millions-nvidia-apple-first-quarter-ethics-filing-shows?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 12:30:57 +0000 Nayan Seth,William Zheng Nayan Seth,William Zheng Brett Ratner, director of the documentary Melania and the Rush Hour franchise, is travelling to China as part of US President Donald Trump’s delegation, sources familiar with the filmmaker’s plans have told the South China Morning Post. During the three-day trip, which begins on Wednesday, Ratner intends to advance preparations for the action-comedy franchise’s latest sequel, Rush Hour 4, including meetings with crew members, actors and potential Chinese film distribution partners. He is also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353296/melania-rush-hour-director-returns-china-trumps-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353296/melania-rush-hour-director-returns-china-trumps-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 11:30:04 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa This year’s Met Gala, sponsored by honorary co-chairs Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos, has been dubbed the “tech gala” for the number of Silicon Valley titans that walked the red carpet – from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and OpenAI’s Charles Porch to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, who celebrated fashion’s big night out with his wife, Monica Mosseri. He sported a hand-embroidered suit from the Delhi-based label Kartik Research, which has also dressed figures such as... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3353234/meet-monica-mosseri-instagram-ceo-adam-mosseris-wife-who-attended-met-gala-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3353234/meet-monica-mosseri-instagram-ceo-adam-mosseris-wife-who-attended-met-gala-him?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 10:00:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters Netflix was sued on Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data ‌without consent and designing its platform to be addictive. The lawsuit says that for years, Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or share user data, when it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, making billions of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353202/netflix-sued-texas-allegedly-spying-children-addicting-users?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353202/netflix-sued-texas-allegedly-spying-children-addicting-users?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 23:08:13 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is preparing an overhaul of how local consumers shop online, betting that the next trend will feel more like chatting with an artificial intelligence chatbot rather than typing keywords into a search bar, according to a source. Users of the company’s flagship AI assistant Qwen – one of the most popular in China – would soon be able to use natural language to “talk” with the chatbot app to find and buy items listed on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3353044/alibaba-brings-chat-style-shopping-taobao-and-qwen-amid-ai-gateway-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3353044/alibaba-brings-chat-style-shopping-taobao-and-qwen-amid-ai-gateway-push?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 10:35:23 +0000 Coco Feng,Ben Jiang Coco Feng,Ben Jiang TikTok owner ByteDance is ramping up its spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, boosting its planned capital expenditure this year to more than 200 billion yuan (US$30 billion), according to two people familiar with the matter. This represented an increase of at least 25 per cent compared with a preliminary plan discussed late last year that proposed AI capex of 160 billion yuan, they said. The increase was necessary because of the company’s growing commitment to AI, as well as... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3352906/bytedance-raises-2026-capex-least-25-amid-ai-boom-rising-memory-costs-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3352906/bytedance-raises-2026-capex-least-25-amid-ai-boom-rising-memory-costs-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2026 06:00:10 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji A US$30 million carbon credit deal by tech giant Amazon with India’s Good Rice Alliance will boost carbon markets globally, according to experts, potentially showing agriculture – as well as industry – can be at the heart of emission reductions. The organisation, primarily backed by Bayer and in collaboration with GenZero and Shell, is designed to transform emissions-heavy rice cultivation in India through scientific advances. It helps thousands of smallholder farmers adopt climate-smart growing... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3352930/can-indias-rice-farmers-reap-us30-million-amazon-carbon-credit-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3352930/can-indias-rice-farmers-reap-us30-million-amazon-carbon-credit-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 May 2026 11:16:01 +0000 Ishani Sarkar Ishani Sarkar The first Monday of May has passed, but the Met Gala fever isn’t calming down any time soon. The high-profile event brought together the most prominent names in fashion, entertainment, business and Big Tech in support of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s “Costume Art” exhibition. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, served as honorary chairs and lead sponsors for the event, reportedly contributing US$10 million. Their involvement caused major... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3352899/meet-charles-porch-openais-vp-global-creative-partnerships-who-went-met-gala?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3352899/meet-charles-porch-openais-vp-global-creative-partnerships-who-went-met-gala?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The brightest stars in Hollywood, music, sports and style hit the red carpet for the Met Gala, the extravagant Manhattan charity ball that this year spotlights the intersection between fashion and art. The A-listers invited to New York’s biggest social event of the year were asked to follow the dress code Fashion is Art, which dovetails with the exhibit “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year’s function has drawn controversy after Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3352427/met-galas-red-carpet-looks-bad-bunny-and-beyonce-sabrina-carpenter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3352427/met-galas-red-carpet-looks-bad-bunny-and-beyonce-sabrina-carpenter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 01:54:06 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings US technology companies should stay in China, despite persistent political pressure for their exit, to capitalise on revenue potential and stifle local competition while monitoring consumer trends, according to a Washington-based policy think tank. Sales generated by American firms within China can be reinvested in research and development back in the United States, thereby helping “sustain US innovation leadership”, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) said in a new... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3352371/us-tech-can-use-china-listening-post-global-edge-washington-think-tank-explains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3352371/us-tech-can-use-china-listening-post-global-edge-washington-think-tank-explains?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 13:00:13 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The US stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights on Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Duelling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a US Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4 per cent, as of 9.35am Eastern time, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352398/wall-street-dips-oil-prices-rise-reports-strike-us-navy-vessel-near-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352398/wall-street-dips-oil-prices-rise-reports-strike-us-navy-vessel-near-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 12:44:31 +0000 Anthony Rowley Anthony Rowley Not a sudden, major crash but a series of mini-crises. That, according to some, is the prospect facing the global economy and financial system in the wake of conflict in the Middle East. But what if these mini-crises cascade into a collective collapse? And what if the Trump administration emerges as the only winner in the conflict by virtue of the fact that it has, in engineering the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, locked Europe and Asia into a desperate dependence on US oil and gas, especially... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352013/mini-crises-sparked-iran-war-may-add-big-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352013/mini-crises-sparked-iran-war-may-add-big-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen Artificial intelligence investments by US tech giants continue to soar, dwarfing those of Chinese AI firms, but China’s rising appetite for AI applications will compel its tech companies to increase their AI spending this year, according to analysts. The largest US tech companies are on track for more than US$700 billion in AI capital expenditures this year, driven in part by rising memory costs and continuously growing demand for AI applications. Google and Microsoft on Thursday both said that... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3352068/chinese-firms-face-pressure-ai-investments-us-peers-spending-keeps-soaring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3352068/chinese-firms-face-pressure-ai-investments-us-peers-spending-keeps-soaring?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:30:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse R&B singer D4vd used chainsaws he bought from Amazon to cut up the body of the teenage girl he murdered and left to rot in the trunk of his Tesla, prosecution documents claimed on Wednesday. The internet breakout star killed Celeste Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to reveal their long-standing and illegal sexual relationship, which began when she was just 13, charging papers allege. He then hacked up her corpse, using a plastic paddling pool to contain the blood, and stuffed it into bags... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351933/chainsaws-and-paddling-pool-gruesome-details-alleged-d4vd-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351933/chainsaws-and-paddling-pool-gruesome-details-alleged-d4vd-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:24:19 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Three Chinese companies – Alibaba Group Holding, ByteDance and Zhipu AI – have been named among Time magazine’s “10 Most Influential AI Companies of 2026”, marking the first time the publication has introduced an artificial intelligence-specific sub-list under its broader Time100 Most Influential Companies ranking. Of the remaining seven companies on the list, six are based in the US, while France’s Mistral AI is the only European representative. The launch of a dedicated AI ranking underscores... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351823/chinas-alibaba-bytedance-and-zhipu-ai-make-cut-times-first-ai-list?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351823/chinas-alibaba-bytedance-and-zhipu-ai-make-cut-times-first-ai-list?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 07:34:33 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin Yoyo Yue has spent much of her life navigating the complex US immigration system. The 31-year-old Chinese content creator moved from China to a US boarding school, went to university, secured an H-1B visa and later a “green card” – a path long considered the “gold standard” for skilled foreign workers. Now, she said, that path felt far less certain. “The H-1B path today comes with significant uncertainty, not just around job stability, but also around long-term prospects,” Yue said. US President... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3351544/why-tougher-us-visa-rules-skilled-foreign-workers-may-end-exodus-asia-europe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3351544/why-tougher-us-visa-rules-skilled-foreign-workers-may-end-exodus-asia-europe?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:00:10 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu More than 4 million small parcels from China have arrived at the freight airport in Liege, Belgium, every day since the beginning of the year. On the receiving end, the Belgian customs inspection team at the airport has only 80 members. Belgium’s top customs official, Kristian Vanderwaeren, said the airport, close to the Netherlands, Germany and France, was built, in part, to cater to e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Shein, Temu and Alibaba. But the “explosion” in the number of small parcels... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3351338/flood-small-parcels-china-pushes-belgian-airports-capacity-limit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3351338/flood-small-parcels-china-pushes-belgian-airports-capacity-limit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 07:00:10 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will step down as the tech giant’s chief executive officer in September, handing the top job to company veteran John Ternus. The announcement answers long-simmering questions about a successor for 65-year-old Cook, who said he will become executive chairman of the board when he cedes Apple’s CEO position. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350792/tim-cook-step-down-apple-ceo-handing-reins-firms-hardware-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350792/tim-cook-step-down-apple-ceo-handing-reins-firms-hardware-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 21:36:48 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng For pet food container seller Chen Junbin, customs used to be a major bottleneck when shipping from Shenzhen in southern China to his customers in the US. “In the past, we had to handle all the paperwork and coordinate with multiple logistics suppliers ourselves; a single [customs] inspection could delay our shipment by a week,” said Chen, founder of Shenzhen Lightning Technology. As one of the first sellers to test Amazon’s Global Warehousing and Distribution (GWD) facility, the US giant’s new... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3350409/how-amazon-uses-closer-china-supply-ties-counter-tariffs-shein-and-temu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3350409/how-amazon-uses-closer-china-supply-ties-counter-tariffs-shein-and-temu?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:00:09 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng US e-commerce giant Amazon has launched its first smart warehouse in Shenzhen, aiming to cut storage costs for local merchants by up to 45 per cent as competition with Chinese rivals Shein and PDD Holdings’ Temu intensifies in cross-border trade. The facility – Amazon’s first Global Warehousing and Distribution (GWD) centre – will serve as an “all-in-one” logistics hub for Chinese sellers targeting US customers, located at the heart of Shenzhen’s manufacturing base, the company said at a launch... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3350199/amazon-bets-shenzhen-smart-warehouse-cut-merchant-storage-costs-45-cent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3350199/amazon-bets-shenzhen-smart-warehouse-cut-merchant-storage-costs-45-cent?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:00:18 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, which aired its final episodes on Amazon Prime Video on April 3, features Anthony Norman as its unwitting star. In the eight-episode series, Norman is led to believe he has been hired as an office temp at a hot sauce company called Rockin’ Grandmas, where he finds he must lead his co-workers during a company retreat. The truth? The company is a fictional one, its employees are all actors, and it is all a hoax. View this post on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3349388/meet-anthony-norman-unsuspecting-star-amazons-jury-duty-presents-company-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3349388/meet-anthony-norman-unsuspecting-star-amazons-jury-duty-presents-company-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 11:00:11 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Project Hail Mary, one of this year’s most anticipated films, premiered on March 9 and has already become Amazon MGM’s highest-grossing film, having earned over US$300 million at the time of writing. Starring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a high school teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with no memories and has to figure out how to save the world from microscopic parasites that are eating the sun, Project Hail Mary is adapted from author Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name. Weir is also... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3349362/meet-lionel-boyce-project-hail-marys-security-officer-carl-and-hip-hop-musician?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3349362/meet-lionel-boyce-project-hail-marys-security-officer-carl-and-hip-hop-musician?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:00:14 +0000 Muhammad Faizan Fakhar Muhammad Faizan Fakhar Much Western discourse on artificial intelligence has lately focused on establishing safeguards and installing guardrails against powerful new AI systems, algorithmic bias, the collusion of governments and tech oligarchs, and rising related environmental costs. The growing AI backlash in the West has been labelled a “botlash” in a recent commentary by Stanford University’s Marietje Schaake, who includes anti-AI movements such as “QuitGPT”, “Resist and Unsubscribe” and “Stealing Isn’t... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349034/danger-global-souths-pursuit-ai-magical-cure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349034/danger-global-souths-pursuit-ai-magical-cure?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen Manycore Tech, a Hangzhou-based developer of spatial design software, has passed its listing hearing in Hong Kong, moving a step closer to an initial public offering (IPO) as it pushes deeper into what it calls “spatial intelligence” – the integration of artificial intelligence with the physical world. The company is one of Hangzhou’s “Six Little Dragons” – a group of rising start-ups that includes AI developer DeepSeek, robotics firms Unitree Robotics and Deep Robotics, Black Myth creator Game... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3348377/firing-manycore-first-hangzhous-six-little-dragons-near-hong-kong-ipo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3348377/firing-manycore-first-hangzhous-six-little-dragons-near-hong-kong-ipo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:00:11 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo There is no artificial intelligence (AI) race to dominate the technology except in the minds of America’s billionaire tech bros and the ruling elites in Washington. Unfortunately, the global news media often uncritically adopt this dog-eat-dog narrative, including sometimes this newspaper. Now, I am not denying the intense competition between China and the United States in AI and other major industries of the 21st century. I am, however, claiming that competition is basically an end in itself... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3346675/humane-chinese-ai-versus-dog-eat-dog-american-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3346675/humane-chinese-ai-versus-dog-eat-dog-american-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Meta is planning sweeping lay-offs that could affect 20 per cent or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalised, the people said. Top executives have recently signalled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346573/16000-meta-jobs-stake-zuckerberg-focuses-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346573/16000-meta-jobs-stake-zuckerberg-focuses-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 01:50:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters Indian households are rushing to buy electric induction stoves, draining ⁠stocks online and in stores, ⁠amid fears of a potential cooking gas ⁠shortage tied to the Middle East conflict. India, the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has invoked emergency powers to boost supplies for households even as availability tightens for commercial users including canteens, hostels and restaurants. Meanwhile, consumers are buying electric cooking appliances as a precaution,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346413/us-israel-war-iran-indian-homes-stockpile-electric-stoves-beat-gas-crunch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346413/us-israel-war-iran-indian-homes-stockpile-electric-stoves-beat-gas-crunch?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:00:13 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Southeast Asia is facing a growing cyber spillover risk from the widening US-Israel war with Iran, with security experts warning that state-linked hackers and criminal groups are seeking to exploit turmoil around energy, shipping and banking networks to hit targets far beyond the Middle East. The assessment comes as Iran said it would target economic and banking interests linked to the United States and Israel in the region after an attack on an Iranian bank, while the United Arab Emirates said... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3346342/southeast-asia-faces-spillover-cyber-risk-iran-war-blast-radius-widens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3346342/southeast-asia-faces-spillover-cyber-risk-iran-war-blast-radius-widens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Elon Musk’s estimated US$839 billion net worth has made him the wealthiest individual ever recorded, Forbes said on Tuesday, as billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge in the past year to an all-time high of US$20.1 trillion. Musk topped the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for the second consecutive year after his fortune swelled by roughly US$500 billion over the past 12 months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026. He... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346162/elon-musk-course-become-worlds-first-trillionaire-wealth-soars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346162/elon-musk-course-become-worlds-first-trillionaire-wealth-soars?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:30:21 +0000 Reuters Reuters Anthropic on Monday filed a lawsuit to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist, escalating the artificial intelligence lab’s high-stakes battle with the US military over usage restrictions on its technology. Anthropic said in its lawsuit that the designation was unlawful and violated its free speech and due process rights. The filing in federal court in California asked a judge to undo the designation and block federal ‌agencies from enforcing it. “These actions are... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346019/anthropic-sues-us-government-row-over-ai-use-military-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346019/anthropic-sues-us-government-row-over-ai-use-military-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:36:30 +0000 Zhu Wenqian Zhu Wenqian More of the world’s billionaires live in China than anywhere else, after stock market gains and artificial intelligence generated a record number of billionaires globally, according to the latest Hurun Global Rich List. China overtook the United States to recapture bragging rights on the annual report released by Hurun Group on Thursday, with 1,110 billionaires out of 4,020 globally. China added 287 billionaires since the previous edition of the report, more than recouping its losses over the... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3345577/china-worlds-billionaire-capital-again-hurun-rich-list-swells-stock-surge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3345577/china-worlds-billionaire-capital-again-hurun-rich-list-swells-stock-surge?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:30:13 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The unfolding Iran war has ricocheted across the region and beyond, with nearly every country in the Middle East sustaining damage from missile hits, drone strikes or shrapnel, many reporting casualties, and key embassies, economic engines and passageways closing down. Off the coast of Sri Lanka, a US submarine sank an Iranian warship as the war intensified and its footprint grew. Foreign governments have for days urged their citizens to leave Middle East countries on any available commercial... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345492/guide-how-iran-war-has-ricocheted-across-middle-east-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345492/guide-how-iran-war-has-ricocheted-across-middle-east-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 02:01:04 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng Tencent Holdings plans to expand its cloud-computing presence in Europe with new data centres in Germany, as the Chinese tech giant rides on the rising demand for artificial intelligence services globally. The Shenzhen-based company will open a new availability zone – a cluster of physically independent data centres – in the second quarter this year in Frankfurt, adding to the existing two in Germany, Tencent’s cloud-computing unit announced on Monday at MWC Barcelona. The move aimed to meet the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3345069/tencent-expands-cloud-computing-presence-europe-new-data-centres-germany?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3345069/tencent-expands-cloud-computing-presence-europe-new-data-centres-germany?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:00:09 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham For over a year, Europe has become the world’s geopolitical punching bag, taking economic roundhouses from the east and geopolitical uppercuts from the west without ever swinging back. From US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and covetous glances at Greenland to Beijing’s rare earth embargoes and lightning blockade of semiconductor shipments, Europe’s first response has been to freeze, not fight. But now, it may be ready to counterpunch. After a fresh Trump tariff threat emerged last week, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345028/europe-worlds-geopolitical-punching-bag-ready-hit-back-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345028/europe-worlds-geopolitical-punching-bag-ready-hit-back-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Cao Li Cao Li The risk of an artificial intelligence bubble has, for the first time, become the top concern among credit investors, overshadowing geopolitical worries, according to a Bank of America (BofA) survey. In a February survey of investment-grade clients who buy and sell debt, 23 per cent said the threat of an AI bubble was now their top concern, up from 9 per cent in December, according to BofA strategists Barnaby Martin and Ioannis Angelakis and analyst Mohit Agarwalla. “[An] AI bubble is now seen... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3344555/ai-bubble-overtakes-geopolitics-top-concern-credit-investors-bofa-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3344555/ai-bubble-overtakes-geopolitics-top-concern-credit-investors-bofa-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:51:38 +0000 Eunice Xu Eunice Xu US software company OpenMind, according to founder and CEO Jan Liphardt, caused a commotion last year at a park in San Francisco where the firm shot a promotional video. “A crowd of people came, children came running, cars stopped and the police came,” he said, because “there was a robot in the park”. In an interview, Liphardt told the South China Morning Post that such a scenario would have been treated differently on the other side of the world. “If a [Unitree] G1 walked across the street in... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3344172/software-connection-us-firm-opens-doors-global-adoption-chinas-humanoid-robots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3344172/software-connection-us-firm-opens-doors-global-adoption-chinas-humanoid-robots?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:00:15 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker must have mistaken China for his boss, Donald Trump. After all, it was the US president who kept saying he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last week, Whitaker claimed Beijing could stop Russia’s war in Ukraine in a day if it wanted to. “China could call Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” he said. “China could stop buying Russian oil... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3343643/china-and-un-are-not-problem-ukraine-and-palestine-west?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3343643/china-and-un-are-not-problem-ukraine-and-palestine-west?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:34:58 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The US stock market roared back on Friday, as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge, at least for now. The S&P 500 rallied 2 per cent for its best day since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,206 points, or 2.5 per cent, and topped the 50,000 level for the first time, while the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.2 per cent. Chip companies helped drive the widespread rally, and Nvidia jumped 7.8 per cent to trim its loss for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342738/dow-breaks-50000-first-time-us-stocks-rally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342738/dow-breaks-50000-first-time-us-stocks-rally?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:32:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced major job cuts Wednesday, saying that “painful” restructuring was needed at the storied newspaper. The newspaper, which gained legendary status when its reporting helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal, will see “substantial” reductions in its newsroom, Executive Editor Matt Murray said. The shrinking of The Washington Post comes as major traditional media outlets in the United States face... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342434/washington-post-cutting-hundreds-jobs-us-media-faces-trump-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342434/washington-post-cutting-hundreds-jobs-us-media-faces-trump-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:21:12 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former Google software engineer Ding Linwei was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco ‌on Thursday of stealing AI trade secrets from the US tech ‍giant to benefit two Chinese companies he was secretly working for, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday. Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was found guilty after an 11-day trial ⁠of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information. Each... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341909/ex-google-engineer-ding-linwei-convicted-stealing-ai-secrets-chinese-companies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341909/ex-google-engineer-ding-linwei-convicted-stealing-ai-secrets-chinese-companies?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 21:30:30 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass lay-offs for the e-commerce company in three months. The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that increased during the pandemic. Beth Galetti, a senior vice-president at Amazon, said in a blog post on Wednesday that the company has been “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy”. The company did... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341581/amazon-cuts-16000-jobs-amid-ai-shift-post-pandemic-restructuring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341581/amazon-cuts-16000-jobs-amid-ai-shift-post-pandemic-restructuring?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:24:47 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier The world’s largest retail show held last week in New York saw a mood of measured optimism amid the bustle, cheap swag and canned smiles – a sense that the worst of last year’s tariff turmoil was over and that Chinese goods would continue to fill Walmart and Costco, even if they had to travel through a third country. “I feel more optimistic for this year,” said Teagan Pollard, an IT expert with TP Industries, which sells vaping equipment from China. “The economy and tariffs have been rough. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3340995/americas-biggest-retail-show-china-question-never-really-goes-away?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3340995/americas-biggest-retail-show-china-question-never-really-goes-away?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:00:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Wednesday announced a plan to deploy 5,408 satellites in ‍space for a communications network that will serve data centres, governments and businesses, jumping into a satellite constellation market dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Deployment of satellites was planned to begin in the last quarter of 2027, Blue Origin said, adding the network was designed to have “data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere ⁠on Earth”. That speed, possible with the satellites’... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340750/bezos-blue-origin-deploy-thousands-satellites-rival-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340750/bezos-blue-origin-deploy-thousands-satellites-rival-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:18:25 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng In a seismic shift for the global retail landscape, Temu, the budget shopping platform owned by PDD Holdings, has caught up with Amazon.com in cross-border market share globally. The platform, which launched in 2022, saw its share surge from less than 1 per cent then to 24 per cent last year, on par with American giant Amazon, according to a survey published by International Post Corporation (IPC), an association of 26 national postal services in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. Amazon’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340415/chinese-owned-temu-catches-amazon-global-cross-border-e-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340415/chinese-owned-temu-catches-amazon-global-cross-border-e-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:15:08 +0000 Ningrong Liu Ningrong Liu The anticipated rise of Shenzhen’s Nanshan district to a “trillion-yuan district” marks a monumental milestone, placing it alongside Shanghai’s Pudong and Beijing’s Haidian as the only districts to reach such a GDP threshold. Beyond a mere numerical benchmark, the “trillion-yuan” label signifies China’s transition into a technology-powered economic era. This achievement underscores more than local success – it amplifies the resilience of China’s economy, increasingly driven by hi-tech... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3339686/chinas-trillion-yuan-districts-reveal-gains-and-gaps-its-hi-tech-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3339686/chinas-trillion-yuan-districts-reveal-gains-and-gaps-its-hi-tech-push?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:30:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday as part of an investigation into sharing secret government information, officials said, ‍in a move that press advocates said threatened journalistic freedom. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, has covered US President Donald Trump’s campaign to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents had executed the search at the request... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339930/fbi-raids-home-us-journalist-who-reported-trump-firings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339930/fbi-raids-home-us-journalist-who-reported-trump-firings?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 18:27:57 +0000