big tech

Micron, the US semiconductor maker, has reported earnings that are drawing heavy attention in Japan's tech and investment circles. Forbes Japan reports analysts see sharply divergent outcomes for the stock a year out, with forecasts ranging from an 81 percent rise to a 45 percent fall. The wide spread reflects uncertainty over memory chip demand and pricing tied to the AI boom.

Google is preparing to launch an experimental satellite into orbit, marking the first move by a major technology company toward building AI data centers in space. The project signals how Big Tech firms are looking beyond Earth to find power and cooling capacity for energy-hungry artificial intelligence systems. The announcement, reported by the New York Times, has drawn wide attention to the feasibility of orbital computing infrastructure.

Food industry news roundup covers major food companies' recent actions on climate change, nutrition reformulation and technology. The roundup highlights corporate sustainability commitments, health-focused product changes and tech investments as the key trends shaping the global food sector.

A roundup examines gadgets that were heavily promoted as the next big thing but never delivered on their promises, arguing that early skepticism about them proved correct. The piece revisits the gap between launch hype and real-world performance for products that failed to win lasting consumer adoption.

Amazon is investing $1 billion in next-generation semiconductor technology, according to reports. The move signals the company's push to secure advanced chips, likely to support its cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations. The investment comes as major technology firms race to lock in supply of cutting-edge processors amid surging demand for AI infrastructure. Details about the chipmaker or specific technology involved remain limited.

AMD has acquired World Labs, an AI startup, according to a report by Ars Technica. The move is framed as an escalation of AMD's competition with Nvidia in the AI chip and computing market. Further details about the deal's value, terms, or World Labs' role within AMD have not been reported, and reactions are still limited to initial coverage of the announcement.

The European Commission has issued a non-compliance decision against Google under the Digital Markets Act, case DMA.100193, finding that the company self-preferences its own services. A Wolters Kluwer analysis titled 'Without Fear or Favour' examines the decision and its legal reasoning. The ruling marks one of the first major enforcement actions under the new digital competition rules.

German media are asking whether the country's young startups could become its next big tech champions. The discussion highlights emerging companies and the question of whether Germany can produce globally competitive technology firms, a long-standing concern given the country's strong industrial base but relatively few new tech giants compared with the United States or China.

The Vatican has announced the theme for the next World Day of Social Communications, focusing on the pitfalls of the 'attention economy' — the business model in which tech platforms compete to capture and monetise human attention. The choice signals Pope Francis's ongoing concern with how digital media shapes public discourse, empathy and truth, continuing his criticism of manipulative online practices.

Privacy advocates are arguing that technology should be built around people rather than controlled by a handful of billionaire-owned corporations. The argument, gaining traction in online tech circles, holds that it is possible to create human-centric, empowering platforms owned by users themselves, and that anything less is a substandard approach to digital rights.

A satirical cartoon tagged 'TheVampiress' is circulating online, playing on themes of vampires, the Apple brand and religion. The piece, shared under the handle KätToon, draws a hissing reaction and uses vampire imagery to mock the intersection of big tech and religious devotion. It has drawn modest but amused engagement so far.

Google has filed a legal challenge against European Union orders requiring it to share data with rivals under the Digital Markets Act, intensifying its conflict with Brussels over the landmark tech rules. The case marks one of the most significant legal tests yet of the DMA, which forces major online platforms to open up their services and data to competitors.

An expert argues the technology industry operates as a 'winner takes most' market, meaning a small number of leading firms capture the bulk of profits and market share while competitors struggle to keep up. The observation points to the concentration of power among dominant tech companies in areas like software, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, a trend that continues to draw scrutiny from regulators and analysts.

Alex Kantrowitz, who runs the Big Technology newsletter and podcast, says OpenAI is taking bigger risks and making bolder moves in artificial intelligence than Meta. His comments come as the two companies compete to shape the next generation of AI products, with OpenAI advancing new models while Meta pushes its own open-source alternatives.