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☆ In AI rivalry with the U.S., China is behind on a key asset: Its own OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In China, which is angling to produce its own chips or get more from Nvidia, no dominant gen AI contender to OpenAI has emerged yet among dozens of Chinese tech titans and startups. Last year, funding of gen AI upstarts accounted for nearly half of $42.5 billion invested globally in artificial intelligence companies, according to CB Insights. "China is at a big disadvantage in building the foundation models for Gen AI," said Rui Ma, an AI investor and co-founder of investment syndicate and podcast TechBuzz China. China does have the tech talent to make a difference in the AI rivalry in the years ahead. Additionally, among top-tier AI researchers working at U.S. institutions, 38% have China as their country of origin, compared with 37% from the U.S.New Chinese gen AI market entries can also reach mass adoption quickly.

Persons: Ernie Bot, OpenAI, Paul Triolo, Jenny Xiao, Rui Ma, Triolo, Sora, Ma, Marco Polo, Baidu's, Ernie, Leong Organizations: Global, Trade, Hangzhou International, Nvidia, tech titans, titans Microsoft, Google, Amazon, U.S, Dentons Global Advisors, Leonis Capital, OpenAI, Paulson Institute, U.S ., Samsung, Apple, Baidu Locations: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, Washington ,, Silicon, San Francisco, The U.S, U.S, OpenAI

☆ China comes just shy of Japan as the world's largest car exporter
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"In the first eleven months of 2023, auto shipments to Russia rose about six times that of 2022 in value terms." While he said it's still unclear exactly why Chinese cars are growing so quickly in Mexico, part of the reason is international automakers. Germany's Volkswagen was among the foreign car companies on track for their worst China market sales in years. Local vs. overseas marketsChinese car makers will likely increase their share of the domestic auto market to 75% by 2030, said Francoise Huang, senior economist at Allianz Trade. That would result in a nearly 40% drop in European car sales in China, she said.

Persons: Sarah Tan, Tan, Jorge Guajardo, Guajardo, it's, they've, BYD, Francoise Huang Organizations: Publishing, Getty, Ministry of Commerce, Moody's, D.C, Dentons Global Advisors, CNBC, Volkswagen, China, Allianz Trade, European Union Locations: LIANYUNGANG, CHINA, Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, BEIJING, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Belgium, Washington, U.S, Europe

☆ GGV Capital, a top Silicon Valley investor, is splitting off its China business as pressure mounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —GGV Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has become the latest big investor to break up its US and China operations into separate companies as tensions between the two countries over tech and geopolitics continue to rise. The other side will focus on China, Southeast Asia and South Asia, run from its headquarters in Singapore, by managing partners Jenny Lee and Jixun Foo. Jenny Lee, managing partner of GGV Capital, at a conference in Singapore in September. Lee will co-lead the Asia side of the business as it becomes its own firm, according to GGV. Asked whether the US order or wider geopolitical tensions had factored into its decision, GGV Capital declined to comment.

Persons: Glenn Solomon, Hans Tung, Jeff Richards, Oren Yunger, Jenny Lee, Jixun, Lee, Slack, ByteDance, Didi, Biden, “, ” Organizations: Hong Kong CNN — GGV, Jiyuan, GGV, Bloomberg, Getty, CNN, Sequoia Locations: China, Hong Kong, North America, Latin America, Europe, Israel, India, California, New York, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Singapore, Asia, United States, China’s Xinjiang, Dentons

☆ China Is Full of Risks. So Why Can’t Corporate America Leave?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Alexandra Stevenson | More About Alexandra Stevenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, America’s corporate chieftains saw China as a money spinner. Western companies doing business in China are facing pressures that were unimaginable several years ago. The country’s economy is floundering and its relationship with the United States is strained. Many Western companies still see their China operations as a long-term bet, but the payoff is tempered with hazards. “There is a recognition among C.E.O.s that they need to mitigate some risks,” said Myron Brilliant, a senior counselor at Dentons Global Advisors-ASG.

Persons: ”, Myron Brilliant Organizations: Global Locations: China, United States

☆ Dentons: Global law firm splits off Dacheng, its China business
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Dentons, the world’s biggest law firm by number of employees, is distancing itself from its business in China in response to intensifying regulation in the country. The firm notified clients of the move this week in an internal memo shared with CNN Tuesday. Dentons said that starting this month, its China unit would operate as a standalone legal entity. Its China business operates independently under its Chinese name Hongshan. Leaders of the Silicon Valley firm said at the time that it had “become increasingly complex to run a decentralized global investment business.”

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — Dentons, Dentons, ” Dentons, Bain, “ who’s, ” Michael Hart, “, ” Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, Hong, Dentons, Group, American Chamber of Commerce, British, of Commerce, European Union Chamber of Commerce, Sequoia Locations: Hong Kong, China, Dentons, ”, Shanghai, New York, Beijing, Europe, United States, India, Southeast Asia

Dentons, the largest Western law firm in China in terms of staff, said yesterday it would separate from Dacheng, its unit there. The two firms merged in 2015, and Dentons even added Chinese characters to its logo to signal its commitment to the country. That made it impossible to follow legal industry standards and best practice, a person familiar with Dentons’ decision-making told DealBook. “Standards are diverging between China and Western economies,” Eswar Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell and a former head of the I.M.F.’s China division, told DealBook. Employees at financial firms operating in China have reportedly been forced to attend lessons in the ideology of President Xi Jinping.

Persons: Dentons, DealBook, Eswar Prasad, “, Xi Jinping Organizations: Cornell Locations: China, Western, ’, Sequoia

In mid-2020 Rome secured the lion's share of a 724-billion-euro kitty aimed at helping EU members emerge from COVID greener and more tech-friendly. Italy's 191.5 billion euros ($210 billion) of cheap loans and grants, to be received in tranches through 2026, was intended for productive investments in the bloc's most chronically stagnant economy. MICRO-PROJECTSMore than half the EU money is meant to go on digitalisation and ecological transition, with the rest devoted to sustainable transport, education, social cohesion and health. The government is still awaiting a 19-billion-euro tranche of the EU funds blocked in March over missed policy targets stemming from 2022. It brings Italy's byzantine rules closer to EU standards, but Gobbato said people will initially find it hard to adapt.

Persons: Flavio Lo Scalzo, Rome, Roberto Perotti, Giorgia Meloni, Mario Draghi, Giuseppe Conte, Carlo Messina, Intesa, Vittorio Soldavini, Davide Carlucci, It's, Gustavo Piga, Rome's, Ilaria, Dentons, Gobbato, Catherine Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Milan's Bocconi University, Treasury, European Central Bank, Technology, Tor Vergata University, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, ROME, MILAN, tranches, Brussels, Italy's, Italian, Parma

☆ The guy AOC crushed in her first election is back on the Hill — and this time he's trying to save TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok has hired Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's predecessor to lobby on Capitol Hill. Former Rep. Joe Crowley reportedly helped TikTok's CEO set up meetings with lawmakers in DC. Ocasio-Cortez has come out against banning TikTok, breaking with the Biden administration. But this time, Crowley finds himself on the same side as Ocasio-Cortez, who recently announced her opposition to banning TikTok. The Trump administration similarly called for TikTok to be sold to an American buyer and former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2020 banning TikTok.

☆ Companies Rush to Trace Sprawling Supply Chains as Sustainability Rules Loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The rules come as businesses, especially small and midsize companies, have a limited view of their supply chains and are struggling to broaden their oversight, sustainability analysts say. Imagine that in the landscape of supply chain,” said Tim Constable, partner at law firm Dentons advising companies on supply chains. There are a host of other regulatory developments threatening to affect companies’ supply chains. Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg NewsUnilever has a sprawling global supply chain, with around 54,000 suppliers in 150 countries. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated the program is.”Internet-of-things startups can go beyond aggregating data and instead track actual items.

☆ Canada Looks Poised to Pass Law on Forced Labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Canada could require that companies report on their efforts to stop goods made with forced labor from entering their supply chains, adding to momentum among Western governments to tackle the practice. Pending legislation would compel many companies to report on steps taken to prevent or reduce the use of forced labor in their supply chains by detailing, among other things, parts of the supply chains where forced labor might be occurring and the company’s due-diligence procedures. We are consuming products that contain forced labor.”With the passage of S-211, Canada would join several other Western governments in trying to stop businesses’ use of forced labor. Canada’s legislation would apply more broadly than, for example, France’s law, having an impact on some companies with as few as 250 employees. Photo: AssentCanada pledged in the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which became effective in 2020, to block the import of goods made with forced labor.

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Squire Patton Boggs on Monday said it will open an office in Dublin next year, becoming the latest international law firm to expand into Ireland. Agnew was a founding partner of Pinsent Masons' Dublin office. A Squire Patton Boggs spokesperson said the firm is currently looking at space in Dublin's central business district. Agnew said in an email that the exact timing of his departure from Pinsent Masons "has still to be agreed." Squire Patton Boggs was created in 2014 by the merger of Washington, D.C.-founded Patton Boggs and Cleveland-founded Squire Sanders.

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