The following are some of the news items mentioned on [2025-02-13 Thu]:

  • Arm Holdings is a British semiconductor and software design company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1990, Arm specializes in designing central processing unit (CPU) cores that implement the ARM architecture, which are widely used across various computing devices, including virtually all modern smartphones.
  • Traditionally, Arm’s business model has focused on licensing its chip designs to other companies, which then manufacture and integrate these designs into their own products. This approach has made Arm’s technology integral to devices produced by major tech companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia.
  • In a significant strategic shift, Arm plans to launch its own chip this year, with Meta Platforms as one of its initial customers. This move marks a departure from Arm’s traditional licensing model, positioning the company to compete directly with its clients in the semiconductor industry. The new chip, designed for server data centers, will be produced by a manufacturer like TSMC.
  • This development aligns with Arm’s increased focus on artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The company aims to leverage its expertise in efficient, high-performance chip designs to meet the growing demands of AI workloads, particularly in data centers.
  • Arm’s evolution under CEO Rene Haas reflects a strategic effort to capitalize on the escalating demands of AI, while maintaining its integral role in the broader mobile and data center markets.
  • Trump Jnr supports enhanced games; The Enhanced Games is a proposed multi-sport event that aims to create an alternative to traditional competitions like the Olympics by allowing athletes to use performance-enhancing substances. Founded by Australian businessman Aron D’Souza, the event is scheduled to debut between late 2025 and early 2026 in the United States, featuring disciplines such as track and field, swimming, and strength events.
  • Mexicans are less wary about the tariffs impact as they believe that the economic rationale will prevail over political incentives
  • Trump has done an about turn on the Biden’s stance on Russia-Ukraine war. Russia now is in a much better position to take control of Ukraine than any time in the last three years
  • Chin is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for about 30 percent of the global total. But it is also rapidly developing renewable energy - its expansion of wind and solar energy capacity last year was nearly equivalent to the total installed in the US
  • The recent Los Angeles wildfires have inflicted substantial financial losses on the insurance sector, with estimates indicating insured losses ranging from $35 billion to $45 billion.
    • Impact on Major Insurers:
      • Travelers Companies Inc.: Anticipates losses of approximately $1.7 billion due to the wildfires.
      • Allstate: Expects losses around $1.1 billion.
      • AIG: Projects losses of about $500 million.
      • Chubb: Estimates losses at $1.5 billion.
      • Lancashire Holdings: A UK-based insurer, foresees losses between $145 million and $165 million.
  • Total loss from wildfires is estimated to be 250B dollars. Global insurance companies will take 40B of those losses
  • Since DeepSeek came out and said the training of the models need not be costly, many of the AI companies are now pitching their offering as more complete systems rather than just language model releases
  • Unilever picks Amsterdam for listing its ice-cream business - away from LSE
  • Porsche’s embrace of electric models has misfired in China, where sales slumed 28 percent as consumers failed to embrace Porsche’s EV offerings
  • A group of 26 financial institutions and pension funds from Australio to the US, including Scottish Widows etc, have asked their asset managers to more actively engage with the companies they are invested in about their climate risk
  • AGI is expected to arrive by 2030 by many experts in the field