E-commerce and trade

Chinese tech firm Honor bets big on AI devices

Chinese smartphone maker Honor has unveiled a $10 billion investment plan aimed at advancing AI technologies across its product ecosystem. The announcement was made by CEO James Li at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where he outlined the company’s ambition to evolve beyond smartphones and expand into AI-powered PCs, tablets, and wearables.

The major funding initiative comes as Honor prepares for a public listing, following a shareholder restructuring completed in December. While a date for the IPO has yet to be confirmed, the company appears to be positioning itself as a key player in China’s AI race, spurred by growing domestic interest in large language models like those developed by DeepSeek.

Despite slipping to fourth place in China’s smartphone market last year, Honor continues to receive strong backing from the Shenzhen local government. Support has included R&D funding, tax incentives, and assistance with international expansion. The company’s strategic pivot to AI reflects broader trends in China’s tech sector, as firms seek to integrate smart features into a wider range of consumer devices.

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OpenAI CEO says India leads in AI creativity

Sam Altman sparked interest among Indian users on X after praising the country’s rapid AI adoption and sharing an AI-generated image of himself playing cricket. In his 2 April post, the OpenAI CEO called India’s AI creativity an ‘explosion,’ claiming the country was outpacing the world in adoption rates.

Users questioned why Altman singled out India, with some turning to AI chatbots like Perplexity and Grok for verification. His comments followed a February visit to India, where he met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and highlighted India as OpenAI’s second-largest market.

Altman’s remarks also came shortly after OpenAI’s GPT-4o update, which enhanced AI-generated images and illustrations. To showcase this, he shared an anime-style image of himself as a cricket player, sporting a Team India jersey.

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Emergence AI launches platform that builds AI with AI

The startup Emergence AI has launched a new no-code platform that allows users to generate custom AI agents simply by describing tasks in natural language.

These agents can then autonomously create other, more specialised agents to complete complex work, in real time and without requiring human coding expertise.

The system, which the company calls a breakthrough in ‘recursive intelligence’, checks its registry of agents for task compatibility. If existing agents aren’t suitable, new ones are created instantly to handle the job.

These can also anticipate related tasks, boosting automation across enterprise operations. Emergence AI claims the platform can seamlessly orchestrate collaboration among multiple agents, bringing a new level of efficiency to data transformation, migration, analytics, and even code generation and verification.

Users can select from a range of major large language models including OpenAI’s GPT-4.5, Anthropic’s Claude, and Meta’s Llama. Enterprises can also integrate their own models.

With safety and oversight in mind, Emergence AI has built in access controls, performance verification tools, and human review processes to ensure responsible deployment. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but interested parties are encouraged to contact the firm directly.

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The Financial Freedom Act could allow Americans to invest retirement funds in crypto

US Senator Tommy Tuberville is set to reintroduce the Financial Freedom Act. The bill would enable Americans to invest their retirement funds in cryptocurrencies.

Tuberville emphasised that the US is a ‘country of freedom.’ He criticised the previous administration for imposing strict regulations on investments.

He also praised President Trump, calling him the ‘Crypto President.’ Tuberville noted that the Biden administration had been reluctant to support crypto.

The Financial Freedom Act, initially introduced in 2022, seeks to reverse Department of Labor (DOL) guidance. The guidance limits investment options for self-directed 401(k) account holders.

Tuberville has argued that excessive regulation hampers financial growth and restricts personal liberty. The bill would allow more freedom for individuals to select the types of investments they want in their retirement funds, including cryptocurrencies.

Senator Cynthia Lummis has championed the idea of adding cryptocurrencies to retirement portfolios. Ivory Johnson, a financial planner, supports this, recommending that crypto make up 2% to 8% of a portfolio.

However, financial experts like Amy Arnott warn that adding crypto could increase risks. It might show especially if the market suffers a downturn during retirement.

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Japan targets Apple and Google with new law

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced on Monday that it has designated Apple Inc., its Japanese subsidiary iTunes K.K., and Google LLC under the new smartphone software competition promotion law.

The law targets dominant IT companies in the smartphone app market, regulating areas like smartphone operating systems, app stores, web browsing software, and search engines.

The primary aim of the law is to prevent these giants from blocking market entry for other companies or giving preferential treatment to their own services. The law will take full effect in December, with the designated companies required to correct any problematic practices.

Apple will be required to allow other companies into the App Store business instead of monopolising it, fostering price competition. Google will be prohibited from displaying its services in search results instead of favouring them.

In response, both companies expressed concerns, with Apple questioning the impact on user experience and Google vowing to engage in discussions to ensure fairness.

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Nokia expands 5G partnership with Airtel

Nokia has signed a multi-year deal with Bharti Airtel to expand their core network collaboration instead of maintaining a limited partnership, aiming to enhance 5G service delivery.

The move will integrate 5G and 4G technologies into a unified server setup instead of running them separately, while also helping Airtel grow its 4G/5G customer base.

Nokia’s Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will provide additional solutions for home broadband and enterprise-critical applications instead of relying solely on traditional infrastructure.

The rollout will cover network automation across most Airtel service regions in India, helping the telecom giant optimise its hardware footprint and reduce costs per bit by using appliance-based Packet Core gateways.

Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon highlighted that Nokia’s Packet Core deployment will improve network quality and reliability instead of allowing congestion to impact customers.

Nokia’s president of cloud and network services, Raghav Sahgal, emphasised that this collaboration strengthens Airtel’s 5G standalone (SA) readiness, reinforcing Nokia’s leadership in core network solutions in India and globally.

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OpenAI is now valued at $300 billion after new funding

OpenAI has secured a $40 billion funding deal from SoftBank, pushing its valuation to $300 billion instead of staying below that mark, making it the third most valuable private company in the world.

It now ranks behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX, valued at around $350 billion, instead of taking the top spot, and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which stands at approximately $315 billion.

The valuation surpasses major firms like Chevron, Salesforce, McDonald’s, Pepsico, and Samsung instead of lagging behind them.

Funding is structured in two phases, beginning with an initial $10 billion investment. The remaining $30 billion is expected to be provided by the end of 2025, as reported by the New York Times.

OpenAI stated that this capital will allow the company to advance AI research instead of stagnating and expand its infrastructure with more powerful tools.

Founded in 2015 as a non-profit, OpenAI later shifted to a capped-profit model to attract investment instead of relying solely on donations while continuing its work in AI development.

Despite facing operational challenges and legal disputes, including a high-profile lawsuit from Musk opposing its transition to a profit-driven model, OpenAI has continued to grow.

Its ChatGPT platform now boasts 500 million weekly users instead of seeing a decline. In February, investors, including Musk, sought control of the firm, but CEO Sam Altman firmly rejected the proposal, reaffirming that ‘OpenAI is not for sale’ instead of giving in to external pressure.

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Alphawave acquisition eyed by arm for AI advancements

Arm Holdings, owned by SoftBank, recently considered acquiring UK-based semiconductor IP supplier Alphawave to bolster its artificial intelligence processor technology.

The focus was on Alphawave’s ‘serdes’ technology, essential for rapid data transfer in AI applications requiring interconnected chips.

Despite initial discussions, Arm decided against pursuing the acquisition. Alphawave had been exploring a sale after attracting interest from Arm and other potential buyers.

Alphawave’s joint venture in China, WiseWave, added complexity to the potential deal due to national security concerns raised by US officials.

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Guangdong eyes global role in AI and robotics

Guangdong is stepping up efforts to become a world leader in AI and robotics by offering generous subsidies to attract start-ups and top tech talent.

The province will grant up to 50 million yuan to major AI manufacturing hubs and millions more to smaller firms and developers.

Officials also plan to fund five open-source communities and ten industrial applications of AI each year, with up to 8 million yuan in support for each.

Local tech giants like Huawei and Tencent are expected to play a key role in the ecosystem.

The move follows the rise of AI firm DeepSeek in neighbouring province of China, Zhejiang, whose founder hails from Guangdong.

The government hopes to replicate that success at home by turning the region into a centre for innovation and global competitiveness.

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Hut 8 launches American Bitcoin Corp. with Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

Hut 8 Corp. has unveiled the launch of American Bitcoin Corp., a new venture focused on large-scale Bitcoin mining. The venture is in collaboration with Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

The goal is to become the largest and most efficient pure-play Bitcoin miner, while also establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. It marks a significant shift in Hut 8’s operations as it transfers most of its ASIC miners to American Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin is now the sole operator of Hut 8’s Bitcoin mining activities. Hut 8 remains serving as the exclusive partner for infrastructure and operations. The reorganisation is designed to support long-term growth.

The leadership of American Bitcoin includes Mike Ho as Executive Chairman, Matt Prusak as CEO, and Eric Trump as Chief Strategy Officer. Hut 8 will provide critical services such as ASIC colocation and managed services.

The partnership aims to significantly strengthen both companies’ positions in the rapidly growing Bitcoin sector.

Mati Greenspan, CFO of Quantum Expeditions, highlighted the significance of the Trump family’s involvement. He noted that it signals strong potential for investment in Bitcoin infrastructure.

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