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The World
A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity but which has riled China. Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China's embassy in Washington, said China firmly opposed the move and urged the United States to "immediately stop provoking troubles, escalating tensions and undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." (Reuters)
Chinese navy shows new heavy-lift ship carrier, revealing future role in wartime transport and vessel rescue. (South China Morning Post)
The U.S. will expand Trump-era restrictions to rapidly expel Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, President Biden said in his first major speech on border security. At the same time, the U.S. will allow up to 30,000 people from those three countries plus Venezuela to enter the country by air each month. (Reuters)
Mercedes-Benz plans to build its own global network of electric-vehicle chargers, making it one of the few major car companies aside from Tesla Inc. to invest directly in such a project. The German luxury auto maker said Thursday during an event at CES in Las Vegas that it intends to install roughly 10,000 high-power EV chargers worldwide, starting in the U.S. and Canada this year. (Wall Street Journal)
Panasonic Holdings plans to invest more than 50 billion yen ($375 million) over three years to expand production in China, betting on the country's long-term potential in the face of coronavirus and other headwinds. The Osaka-based company will bring its first new Chinese appliance factory in 19 years online in 2024. The Zhejiang province plant will have the capacity to ship an annual 2 billion yuan ($290 million) worth of microwave ovens, rice cookers and other small kitchen appliances. (Nikkei Asia)
Japanese official signals that Tokyo will join US in chip ban against China. Japan will “reinforce” its coordination with the United States to restrict hi-tech exports to China, a senior Japanese trade official said on Thursday amid US efforts to forge a united front with allies in the chip war with Beijing. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, also said Tokyo wanted to work more closely with Washington to jointly develop dual-use technologies, citing rising military challenges from Beijing following tensions across the Taiwan Strait after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in August. (South China Morning Post)
India eclipsed Japan in auto sales last year, according to the latest industry data, making it the third-largest auto market for the first time. India's sales of new vehicles totaled at least 4.25 million units, based on preliminary results, topping the 4.2 million sold in Japan. (Nikkei Asia)
Air travelers in Europe face more “major” disruption in 2023, in part because the skies are more congested than normal following the closure of Ukrainian and Russian airspace, the region’s air traffic manager has warned. Eurocontrol in late December warned that 2023 could be the toughest year in a decade for managing the region’s congested airspace as airlines start returning to pre-pandemic flight schedules. (Financial Times)
For months, Europe has been bracing for an energy crisis as it weans itself off Russian oil and natural gas amid the ongoing onslaught in Ukraine. But Mother Nature has given European countries a helping hand in recent weeks by keeping temperatures mild across much of the Northern Hemisphere – and reducing demand for gas needed to heat homes. (GZERO Media)
Economy
U.S. inflation has not “turned the corner yet” and it is too early for the Federal Reserve to declare victory in its fight against soaring prices, a top IMF official has warned. In an interview with the Financial Times, Gita Gopinath, the fund’s second-in-command, urged the US central bank to press ahead with rate rises this year, adding that the fund’s advice to the Fed was to “stay the course”. (Financial Times)
Job growth expected to have cooled in December but not enough to slow Fed rate hikes. (CNBC)
Japan's real wages fall at fastest pace in over 8 years in November, undercut by inflation. (Reuters)
Global Chinese firms try ‘decoupling’ from China as US business climate turns hostile: Public relations specialists note a growing trend of Chinese companies trying to localise their image and operations to remain competitive in the US. Between perceived security threats and an emphasis on new supply chain alternatives, US policies have left Chinese firms scrambling for cover. (South China Morning Post)
Buy-and-hold backfires for venture-capital firms: During the recent bull market, VC investors shifted from their typical strategy of exiting a stock after taking it public, instead holding their shares in the hope of maximizing returns. But then came the tech selloff. The price plunge by some of the splashiest startups of 2021 makes it unlikely those investors will recover the value of their earlier positions anytime soon—if at all. (Wall Street Journal)
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks after the home-goods retailer came up short on sales during the critical holiday season, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The retailer is in the early stages of planning for a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the discussions could extend into February, these people said. Bed Bath & Beyond warned earlier Thursday that it might file for bankruptcy protection and that it has substantial doubt it can stay in business after enduring another quarter of deep losses and slumping sales. (Wall Street Journal)
In a far-reaching move that could raise wages and increase competition among businesses, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled a rule that would block companies from limiting their employees’ ability to work for a rival. The proposed rule would ban provisions of labor contracts known as noncompete agreements, which prevent workers from leaving for a competitor or starting a competing business for months or years after their employment, often within a certain geographic area. The agreements have applied to workers as varied as sandwich makers, hairstylists, doctors and software engineers. (New York Times)
A new law that went into effect this week requires most California employers to disclose salaries on job listings. The law affects every company with more than 15 employees looking to fill a job that could be performed from the state of California. It covers hourly and temporary work, all the way up to openings for highly paid technology executives. That means it’s now possible to know the salaries top tech companies pay their workers. (CNBC)
Home sellers are doing way more to entice homebuyers these days: 42% of sellers offered at least one concession to buyers, often in the form of cash credit for things like repairs, closing costs, or mortgage rate buydowns. That's up from 31% a year ago, and back to the same level as July 2020, when the boom was just getting underway. (Axios)
Technology
OpenAI, the research lab behind the viral ChatGPT chatbot, is in talks to sell existing shares in a tender offer that would value the company at around $29 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, making it one of the most valuable U.S. startups on paper despite generating little revenue. Venture-capital firms Thrive Capital and Founders Fund are in talks to buy shares, the people said. The tender could total at least $300 million in OpenAI share sales, they said. The deal is structured as a tender offer, with the investors buying shares from existing shareholders such as employees, the people said. (Wall Street Journal)
New York City public schools have restricted access to ChatGPT, the AI system that can generate text on a range of subjects and in various styles, on school networks and devices. As widely reported this morning and confirmed to TechCrunch by a New York City Department of Education spokesperson, the restriction was implemented due to concerns about “[the] negative impacts on student learning” and “the safety and accuracy” of the content that ChatGPT produces. (TechCrunch)
The former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network misled investors, leading them “down a path of financial ruin,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday in a lawsuit against Alex Mashinsky that seeks to ban him from doing business in the state. In her lawsuit filed in state court in Manhattan, James said Mashinsky, a co-founder of Celsius, “engaged in a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of investors” by getting them to put billions of dollars’ worth of their digital assets in his platform. The lawsuit alleges that Mashinsky promised hefty returns and said Celsius was as safe as a bank, but meanwhile was engaging in risky investments and not telling investors when those investments failed. (Associated Press)
Japanese official signals that Tokyo will join US in chip ban against China: Japan must ‘address the misuse of critical and emerging technologies by malicious actors’, trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura says in Washington. “We hope to build up the development of dual-use technologies and supply chain cooperation” with the United States, says the minister. (South China Morning Post)
Struggling Huawei runs out of advanced in-house-designed chips for smartphones amid US trade sanctions. (South China Morning Post)
BofA top banker Rick Sherlund sees tech comeback, delivers bullish software call. (CNBC)
Smart Links
Hillary Clinton to join Columbia University as global affairs professor. (The Guardian)
FTC Proposes Banning Noncompete Clauses for Workers. (Wall Street Journal)
Delta is rolling out free Wi-Fi for all travelers: Here’s how to sign up. (CNBC)
Teslas Now Over 40% Cheaper in China Than US as Prices Cut Again. (Bloomberg)
Samsung sees Q4 operating profit down 69% amid recession worries; South Korean tech giant hit by low demand for chips, smartphones. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Facebook Wanted Out of Politics. It Was Messier Than Anyone Expected. (Wall Street Journal)
Chicago’s woes are over-hyped. (The Economist)