German semiconductor materials supplier Siltronic has forecast stagnant sales for 2025 after a 7% decline last year, citing high inventory levels and weak demand in key sectors. The company’s shares fell more than 15% following the announcement, continuing a downward trend from 2024. While AI is driving some growth, it has not yet offset lower demand for automotive, PC, and memory chips.
CEO Michael Heckmeier stated that wafer demand is unlikely to recover soon, with the first half of 2025 expected to be weaker than late 2024. Siltronic plans to halt production of smaller silicon wafers at its Burghausen facility by the end of July, which will slightly impact sales but have little effect on earnings. The company also acknowledged that its mid-term targets set for 2028 will not be met, though it did not provide a new timeline.
Analysts reacted negatively to the outlook, with Stifel’s Juergen Wagner warning of possible downward revisions to 2025 earnings forecasts. Last week, STMicroelectronics also reported continued weakness in the automotive and industrial chip markets. Siltronic’s preliminary 2024 revenue stood at €1.41 billion, slightly above expectations, but the company has cut its dividend. A more detailed financial outlook will be presented in its annual report on 6 March.
Salesforce is cutting more than 1,000 jobs while simultaneously hiring employees to support its growing AI business, according to a Bloomberg report. Affected workers will have the opportunity to apply for other positions within the company, but it remains unclear which divisions will see the largest reductions. Salesforce has not yet commented on the job cuts.
The customer relationship management software giant had over 72,000 employees as of early 2024. CEO Marc Benioff previously announced that Salesforce had secured more than 1,000 paid deals for its AI-driven platform, Agentforce. The latest layoffs follow previous reductions, including 700 jobs cut in early 2024 and another 300 later in the year.
The job cuts highlight the company’s shift towards artificial intelligence, as it seeks to capitalise on growing demand for AI-powered tools. Despite the reductions, Salesforce continues to invest in AI products and expand its workforce in areas aligned with its future growth strategy.
The new OpenBusiness information system launched on Monday, replacing the previous NotifyBusiness system, which is now accessible only in a read-only format. The Greek Ministry of Development highlighted that OpenBusiness streamlines business procedures, significantly cutting costs, installation time, and startup delays for both private and public sector enterprises.
Minister Takis Theodorikakos praised the system, stating that it simplifies processes, reduces costs and time for starting economic activities, and enhances public administration efficiency.
OpenBusiness supports the licensing of 57 key economic activities and covers around 2,500 codes, offering businesses a more modern and accessible platform for their operations. It is designed to reduce bureaucracy, improve transparency, and foster a better business environment.
Apple has criticised the availability of a pornography app on iPhones in the European Union, blaming the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for undermining consumer trust. The regulation, which took effect in 2022, forced Apple to permit alternative app stores, leading to the distribution of an adult content app called Hot Tub via AltStore.
Apple expressed concern about the safety risks posed by such apps, particularly for younger users. AltStore, which received financial backing from Epic Games, stated that Apple’s notarisation process approved Hot Tub. Apple, however, dismissed this claim, insisting that EU rules compelled it to allow the app but that it would never have accepted it in its own store.
Epic Games’ CEO defended laws like the DMA, arguing that Apple had previously abused its control over competing apps. Despite its support for AltStore’s expansion, Epic Games clarified that its own app store in the EU does not carry the Hot Tub app and has never hosted pornographic content.
Alphabet is set to face investor scrutiny over its heavy spending on AI as it prepares to report earnings. Slower revenue growth in advertising and cloud services has raised concerns, especially as competition in AI intensifies. Chinese startup DeepSeek’s launch of low-cost AI models has fuelled worries about an industry price war. Alphabet’s capital expenditure, estimated at $50 billion for last year, is expected to rise further in 2025 to support AI-driven search features and cloud expansion.
Google Cloud’s growth is forecast to slow in the fourth quarter despite high expectations. Analysts suggest that while heavy investment continues, efficiency gains have helped maintain profits. The company’s search and advertising business remains strong, with an expected 11.2% increase in revenue, though this marks a slight slowdown from the previous quarter. Competition from Amazon and TikTok continues to challenge Alphabet’s dominance in search advertising.
Political advertising linked to the US presidential election may have boosted Google’s revenue, following a similar trend at Meta. However, Meta’s cautious outlook for the first quarter has raised concerns about broader ad market trends amid economic uncertainty. Alphabet’s shares have climbed 7% this year after a strong rally in 2023, largely driven by confidence in its AI strategy.
Investors will closely watch whether Alphabet faces the same cloud business challenges as Microsoft, whose Azure growth slowed due to a shift in AI priorities. Google Cloud revenue is expected to rise by 32% in the fourth quarter, slightly down from the 35% growth seen previously but still outpacing Microsoft and Amazon. Maintaining momentum in AI while balancing cloud growth remains a key challenge for Alphabet.
Google and Epic Games presented arguments before a US appeals court as Google attempted to overturn a jury verdict and a judge’s order requiring changes to its app store. Google’s lawyer argued that the trial judge made errors that unfairly benefited Epic, which had accused the company of monopolising access to apps on Android devices. A San Francisco jury previously ruled that Google had stifled competition.
The judge ordered Google to allow users to download rival app stores within its Play Store and to make its app catalogue available to competitors. Google’s appeal has put the ruling on hold, with its lawyer contending that the company faces strong competition from Apple’s App Store and was unfairly restricted from making that argument. Epic’s lawyer rejected Google’s claims, insisting that its dominance had harmed competition for years.
A judge on the appeals panel challenged Google’s position, highlighting key differences between Apple’s and Android’s business models. Google also argued that Epic’s case should not have gone before a jury, as it did not seek damages. Epic countered that the Play Store changes were necessary and disputed Google’s concerns about privacy and security.
The US Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, and Microsoft have backed Epic in the case. A decision from the appeals court is expected later in the year, with the possibility of further escalation to the US Supreme Court.
Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal is investing $230 million into Krutrim, an AI startup he founded, as part of India’s push to establish itself in the global AI market. The company, which develops large language models (LLMs) for Indian languages, aims to raise a total of $1.15 billion by next year, with Aggarwal seeking additional funding from external investors.
In a significant move, Krutrim has made its AI models open source and announced plans to build India’s largest supercomputer in partnership with Nvidia. The firm recently introduced Krutrim-2, a 12-billion parameter model that has demonstrated strong performance in Indian language processing and code generation. It has also launched BharatBench, a new evaluation framework designed to assess AI models’ proficiency in Indian languages.
The investment follows the launch of Krutrim-1, India’s first large language model, and aligns with broader efforts to position India as a key player in AI, traditionally dominated by the US and China. Krutrim has also begun hosting Chinese AI lab DeepSeek’s models on domestic servers, signalling India’s growing role in the AI ecosystem. With a supercomputer set to go live in March, the company is poised for rapid expansion in the coming months.
Dubai-based startup Qeen.ai has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Prosus Ventures to scale its AI-powered e-commerce platform. Founded by former Google and DeepMind researchers, the company develops autonomous AI agents that help businesses automate marketing, content creation, and sales, allowing smaller merchants to compete more effectively without relying on costly agencies or ad expertise.
Qeen.ai’s proprietary AI technology, which continuously learns from consumer interactions, has already generated over a million product descriptions and helped boost merchant sales by 30%. Its AI-powered Dynamic Content agent personalises online shopping experiences, adjusting marketing strategies in real time based on user behaviour. Since launching in mid-2024, the platform has served 15 million users, with notable clients including Dubai Store, 6th Street, and Jumia.
The startup plans to use the fresh funding to expand its team and enhance its AI capabilities, focusing first on the Middle East before expanding globally. With the e-commerce market in the MENA region expected to reach $50 billion by 2025, Qeen.ai aims to establish itself as a key player in AI-driven retail automation.
Paris-based startup Neuralk-AI has raised $4 million to develop AI models tailored for structured data, such as databases and spreadsheets. Unlike traditional AI, which excels at unstructured content like images and text, Neuralk-AI’s approach aims to help businesses extract deeper insights from their existing data warehouses. Retailers, in particular, could benefit from its models, using AI to optimise inventory, detect fraud, and refine customer recommendations.
The company, co-founded by Alexandre Pasquiou, plans to launch its AI models as an API for data scientists in commerce-focused industries. By automating complex workflows and enhancing data analysis, Neuralk-AI hopes to offer a more efficient alternative to traditional machine learning tools. The startup is already collaborating with major French retailers such as E.Leclerc and Auchan to test its technology.
Backed by Fly Ventures, SteamAI, and industry leaders including Hugging Face’s Thomas Wolf, Neuralk-AI is working towards becoming the leading AI solution for structured data. The first version of its model is expected to launch in the coming months, with a full benchmark release planned for later this year.
Bengaluru-based startup Presentations.ai has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Accel to enhance its AI-powered platform for creating business presentations. The company, which launched in 2019, saw rapid growth after the emergence of ChatGPT, gaining over a million users within three months of its beta release. Now, with over 5 million users worldwide, it aims to become the go-to AI tool for generating high-quality presentation decks.
The Indian platform uses advanced language models to streamline the presentation-making process, offering features like automated slide design, brand-aligned templates, and real-time collaboration. It also integrates text-to-image AI models, allowing users to generate custom visuals effortlessly. With a freemium model introduced in 2024, the startup has attracted tens of thousands of paying users, further solidifying its market presence.
With backing from key investors, including entrepreneurs from Paytm, CRED, and Freshworks, Presentations.ai is now working on an AI-powered assistant that can generate slides within any application. The company is also expanding its enterprise sales team to target businesses looking for more efficient ways to create presentations.
