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The World Salon is delighted to launch the "Daily Digest", where we handpick must-know news of each sector for our subscribers. In today's fast-paced world, staying informed is paramount, but it is easy to get overwhelmed by the numerous newsletters that bombards your inbox each day. Our solution offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of the most significant developments impacting various industries.
SEC conducts investigation on OpenAI's financial practices:
The Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing internal communications by OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman as part of an investigation into whether the company’s investors were misled. The SEC’s civil investigation has been undergoing in the background as OpenAI officials pitched investors as part of its recently closed tender offer, which valued the company at $86 billion. (WSJ)
Hong Kong Exchange CEO leaves amid Hong Kong market decline:
Nicolas Aguzin, CEO of the Hong Kong Exchange, is leaving his position on Thursday. The three-year tenure of Aguzin, which started on May 24, 2021, coincided heavily not only with the COVID-19 pandemic but arguably more importantly with the drastic shift in how global investors perceive China. With the Hang Seng Index declining over the past four years, the HKEx’s share price almost halved under Aguzin to close at HK$242.80 on Thursday. (Nikkei)
German inflation drops in February:
German inflation fell for a second straight month in February, coming in slightly lower than expected, likely a relief for European Central Bank policymakers despite services inflation remaining relatively sticky. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, held steady at 3.4% in February, according to Destatis. Service inflation also was stable, again at 3.4%, indicating that price pressures in the sector remain persistent . Meanwhile, energy prices also were slightly hotter than in January, 2.4% lower than at the same point a year ago, falling less steeply than the 2.8% on-year decline registered last month. (WSJ)
Dutch Farmers backed Geert Wilders to combat Europe Green Laws:
The anti-immigrant, Euroskeptic Geert Wilders leads the Party For Freedom (PVV), which calls against the increasingly green measures and politics that would add to a huge environmental cost on European farmers. In the past few weeks, farmers across Europe engaged in protests to fight back EU regulations. Wilders are trying to form a center-right coalition government, which proves to be difficult. (Politico)
Fossil Fuel Company revisiting Geothermal Energy:
Oil-and-Gas companies rediscovered the capacity of geothermal energy when new technologies significantly reduced its cost. Fervo Energy, a startup in the sector, understands critically that Geothermal energy can converge the interest of tech companies, energy companies, and green initiatives. Fervo is raising $244 million from investors including Devon, billionaire former Enron trader John Arnold, Liberty Mutual Investments and commodity trader Mercuria. (WSJ)
Aramco dropped its order with Saipem after cutting down plans:
Italian energy contractor Saipem's CEO said on Thursday it expects a 20% drop in average annual orders from Saudi Aramco to 2027 as a result of the state oil company's decision to drop its capacity expansion plans. In a new business plan for 2027, Saipem said it would pay investors between 30% and 40% of its operating cash flow, triggering a 13.7% rise in its shares by 1500 GMT, along with the upbeat tone of its management. "We are experiencing a booming market in the offshore engineering and construction business." (Reuters)
Data Center creates Green risks:
Just a decade ago, data centers drew 10 megawatts of power, but 100 megawatts is common today. The Uptime Institute, an industry advisory group, has identified 10 supersize cloud computing campuses across North America with an average size of 621 megawatts. This growth in electricity demand comes as manufacturing in the United States is the highest in the past half-century, and the power grid is becoming increasingly strained.Developers are focusing on squeezing additional efficiency out of their operations. (NYT)
Microsoft changes its default font from Calibri to Aptos:
This slight change may affect millions of lives on the smallest scale. The significant distinction within typography lies between serif typefaces, characterized by small lines or tails attached to the edges of letters, and sans serif typefaces, which lack these lines, resulting in a sleeker appearance. Most people thought sans serifs looked better on a computer, which was rapidly becoming the writing instrument of choice worldwide. “Even though some people can see the difference and passionately care about it, and others may seem like they don’t care about it, the moment we change it, people notice something changed,” said Mr. Friedman, the company’s corporate vice president for design and research. (NYT)
ByteDance engages in AI production:
TikTok owner ByteDance is mobilising resources to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) projects, as the Beijing-based tech giant doubles down on efforts to catch up with OpenAI’s conversational bot ChatGPT and text-to-video generator Sora. In early February, executive Kelly Zhang relinquished her role as Douyin’s CEO to devote more time to CapCut, saying that “AI technology will substantially disrupt content creation and even give birth to new content creation platforms”. (SCMP)
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