WEBVTT - Amazon Cutting 16,000 Jobs, ASML Reports Record Bookings 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:12.880 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Bloomberg Tech is alive 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.759 from coast to coast, with Caroline Hide in New York 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.040 and Eva Low into San Francisco. 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.560 This is Bloomberg Tech coming up. Amazon cuts sixteen thousand 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:30.200 corporate jobs to remove letyers of bureaucracy and quote increase ownership. 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.240 That's ASML also announcing job cuts to boost efficiency and posting. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.800 Strong fourth quarter orders, and. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.880 Sources tell Bloomberg that SoftBank is in talks to invest 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.600 as much as thirty billion dollars more into Open AI. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.040 Let's check in on these markets though, because there's been 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.120 some interesting whipsawing airsm hell among them. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:49.760 But we go more macro right now. 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.240 One point, we saw the S and P five hundred 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.960 above that seven thousand dollars seven thousand level. We have 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.520 never seen that before, and that is as we see 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:00.520 the momentum in AI continuing. 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.080 But we have a crucial FED meeting. What is going 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:03.680 to be put to J. 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.040 Powell later today that independence of the Federal Reserve. We're 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:08.840 not thinking that there will be any move in terms 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.120 of race, but still there's nervousness, nervousness around Iran as well. 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:13.800 And there's a lot to be focusing in on. But 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:15.920 for now, now as that one hundred holds on to 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:17.960 a gains of four tens percent, what are you looking. 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:19.720 At the breaking new story of the morning. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:25.880 Amazon is cutting sixteen thousand more corporate roles, eliminate middle management, streamline. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.200 It confirms a lot of what Bloomberg had already reported. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:30.720 The slot kind of bouncing around in the session now 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:33.480 softer by seven tenths of one percent. We're going to 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:35.480 get to that later in the program and go deep 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.000 on what's happening in Amazon and tech more broadly. Then 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.880 there's ASML at one point in the session up more 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.639 than seven percent and pushing to a fresh record high, 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:48.720 great blockbuster bookings, bookending the thirteenth consecutive year of growth, 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:52.120 and also doing its own job cuts. I guess, you know, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:54.840 fix the roof while the sun is shining. Kind of 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.360 an allergy carrow. But now the stock is down softer 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.560 two and a half percent, something might have been happening 0:01:59.600 --> 0:01:59.960 on the core. 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:01.360 Yeah, we've got to. 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.559 Dig into it because, as you mentioned, seventeen hundred jobs 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:05.880 to go in the Dutch maker. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:07.360 The semiconductor equipment is. 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.840 World used, says it plans to cut seventeen hundred roles, 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.120 around four percent of the workforce, as an effort to 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.000 streamline the organization. The CEO has said. This is as 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.520 the company reported earnings that you mentioned, showing record fourth 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.959 quarter bookings field of course by AI demand. The SML 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.680 CEO Christophe Fuget, did speak with Bloomberg on the phone earlier. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:28.760 Take to listen to what he had to say. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.959 The last three months have brought a lot of clarity, 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.640 and I think what you see basically is that the 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.520 semi industry, our customers start to believe that this AI 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.639 demand is sustainable, and therefore they have moved into building 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.200 capacity and they are moving very aggressively. And I think 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.560 this has been very nicely translated indeed into a record 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.360 booking number. So that's of course very good news for 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:56.560 the mid term. 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.760 Why are the shares down, then, let's talk about. 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.200 The results when PFO is higher, global tech, infrastructure and 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:07.840 new street research. Why did we sell the rally the 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.880 record high and the shares earlier today? 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:14.600 Yes, that's a great question. So I think. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.640 A SML basically confirmed what everybody suspected that twenty twenty 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.800 six is going to be a great year. Now you 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:24.720 have to take a step back and think what does that. 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.000 Mean agrate great year? 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:30.440 The guided revenue grows between four and nineteen percent, which 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.120 in absolute term is very strong growth. As you mentioned, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.800 like the bookings were never seen. We've never seen that 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:43.360 level of orders at the SML, like exceeding thirteen billion 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.680 in a single in a single quarter. Now, when you 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.120 take a step back, think about what is the downstream 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:50.800 of SML. 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.800 Who are the clients. It's a Micron, it's a high. 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.920 Nix, it's a Samsuing, it's a TSMC, and these player 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.520 are actually growing much much faster than that. They're growing, 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:02.800 Like if you take for instance, c SMC is probably 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.720 going to grow like between thirteen and thirty five percent 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:10.200 this year. So we already see that semiicap equipment starts 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.520 lagging a bit their clients in terms of growth, and 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.160 that's a very natural thing because they sell equipment to 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.680 add capacity. And when you look at the trajectory of 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.479 growth of air, we are actually just passing the inflection points. 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.279 Going forward, gross is going to continue to be very strong, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:29.760 but it is going too slow and so it's going 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:34.760 to translate into slower growth at semicap equipment manufacturers. And 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:39.080 I really think this is the way the street is 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.680 digesting the news today and overnight. Initially the stock was 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.960 up and now the street is raising. Okay, but if 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.120 twenty twenty six is a peak spending air, maybe it's 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.800 time to actually take profits on SML as a stock. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.520 So you think this is peak, I mean, that's not 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.120 what one would hear from Johnson one who thinks we 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.240 still got trillions to go. Still in this mode of 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.440 trying to question whether we're in an AI bubble or not, 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.359 do you think that we've got any curacy on that 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.000 from ASML after we of course got TSMC of skah 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.560 next showed such strength and memory. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:17.920 Yeah, so we're definitely not at peak on AI. And 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.560 you look at the TSMC guide to twenty twenty nine 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.240 growth between fifty five and sixty percent, so we are 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:26.239 still in a very. 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.359 High growth environment in AI. The peak I refer to 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:31.320 Caroline is. 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.200 A peak in actually capacity increase, because if in twenty 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.440 twenty seven you still grow very fast but a bit 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:42.039 slower than twenty twenty six, you will not need more 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.479 equipment than you needed in twenty twenty six. So this 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:50.480 is this idea that Semica players are driven by incremental capacity, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.320 not by growth directly. It's the first order of derivative 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.640 of the growth of their clients. And that's the reason 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.640 why the market is right to be a bit nervous 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.039 specifically on submitting now when it comes to their clients. 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:05.239 Like the groser for twenty six is amazing. It's already 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.359 very strong for twenty twenty seven, and it looks really 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.640 good for twenty twenty eighteen, twenty twenty nine. So we 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.800 are still in very, very very strong growth environments in AI. 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.360 Yeah, if the stocks down and twenty twenty six is 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.800 the peak, the market doesn't believe mister Fuque, he thinks 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:22.280 it's about sustainability. 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:23.240 Listen to this real quick. 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.720 I think we have all been surprised by the magnitude 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.640 of AI, and we all saw it coming a bit. 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.160 But at the same time, you know, we see those 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.800 investment coming out and it's really big, and I think 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.760 that all of us are continuing to watch basically for 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.320 the sustainability of those investments. I think sustainability is a keyword. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.560 I think the question is always. 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:48.560 Is this going to last? 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.400 I think that more and more of our customer are 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.080 responding positively to that question. 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.080 Is this going to last? And he's saying that the 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.760 signals from its customers are that it is going to last. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.480 And you're saying the market isn't showing us. 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:08.040 That, whereas the market is showing is being careful about 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.840 it because this is going to last. For the CEO 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.440 of might mean we still have very good level of 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.600 spending in twenty twenty seven. But if twenty twenty seven 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.360 is as good as twenty twenty six, how is the 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:22.640 STUG going to work on that? 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:23.880 It's rightly not going to work. 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:28.120 Well, I have a question for you, what is the 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.239 leading indicator in the world of tech? 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:30.600 Right? 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:32.480 I can give you a chart right now. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.520 It shows you expected capital expenditures for the hyperscalers and 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:40.640 other associated names like Meta and Oracle. Right, is that 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.520 the leading indicator? Or Bloomberg's Ian King is going to 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:45.560 come on next and tell us that Texas Instruments is 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.080 a leading indicator for the health of the economy, or 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.920 ASML and EUV demand is a leading indicator? Which data 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.680 set is most critically important to you right now? 0:07:54.720 --> 0:08:01.120 Per So what's most critically important? Ed east to connect 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:02.800 these data sets rightfully? 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.040 I love that chart you just showed. 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.960 This is like capex and you see that we expect 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.320 capex to grow a lot this year growth next year, 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.800 and as we are not too sure, we don't model 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:18.080 much beyond that. This is a leading indicator. Now, what 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.880 is going to drive the business of ASML is how 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.880 much incremental capex you add every year. And what you 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.239 see very clearly is that this incremental capex is now 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.520 plateauing and coming down. And that's the reason why in 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:33.880 semi cap equipment you have to be careful and expect 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.280 like a significant slowdown. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.360 In revenue growth for the rest of the industry. 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.640 Capex growth is a very very good indicator and it 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:46.760 takes us instrument is actually a very interesting indicator. That 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:51.520 is the most important indicator today outside of AI, because 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:53.880 it's quite important to understand what is the global economy 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.920 doing outside of AI. And we've been into like a 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:02.120 very very painful, lengthy downce I can in automotives, in 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.920 industry roles and what simply said, it's confirmed signals that 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.880 we've had already for a few weeks that we are 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.040 at the bottom and things are improving. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.600 Just trying to answer the question is this going to last, 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:18.440 Pierre fair Agree from New Street Research, thank you very much. 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.080 I alluded to it just then. Shares of texts instruments 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:25.240 soaring after the company gave a surprisingly robust forecast for 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.920 the first quarter, signaling that customers have worked through inventory 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.400 and a returning for chips analog chips. Multiple analysts are 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.640 raising price targets, calling the outlook encouraging. Bloomberg's inking is 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:40.160 here analog chips simple translation of a touch of a 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.640 button into a signal. But we always write in our story, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.800 in our summary of earnings, this is like the bell weather, 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.959 the crystal ball for the economy. What do we learn 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:50.079 through their earnings prece. 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.240 I mean, they've got tens of thousands of products, tens 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.880 of thousands of customers, so they are literally everywhere everything 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.200 that's got a on and off switch, that's where they are. 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.240 What they said was again, you were very careful, and 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:04.280 they're incrementally better. They had been talking about a recovery 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.640 being kind of off pace, not as kind of robust 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:11.160 as we would normally get. Now they're saying, actually orders 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.840 are improving and are continuing to improve. The signs are 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:14.400 now better. 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.560 How much are they able to harness any of the 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:23.160 AI vibes rather than auto's industrials, the bell Weather part. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.800 Yeah, that's a very good question. The answer is they 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.880 confirmed the AI vibe is good for them. It's now 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:33.040 a significant business, but really it's not the main business. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:37.440 The main business for them remains industrial and automotive, the 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.920 things that are a broader I mean, we know that 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.400 data centers is a big right and they confirm that. What 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.040 they told us was that industrial is getting better as well, 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:47.160 which is what we want to hear. 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.960 We've really focused right now on how global these companies are, 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.720 like currency impacts, like China, what's going on with China. 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:56.960 Is there anything kind of extra that Texas Instruments can 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.240 tell us about different geographies, other industries? Industrial good? Is 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:02.439 there anything that's pretty bad? 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:03.080 Yeah? 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.480 I mean they talked about consumer electronics not being fantastic, 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.280 and that's because consumer electronic actually recovered earlier than other 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.640 markets and now it's kind of slowing down a little bit. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.880 Some of the consumer electronics devices, home theater maybe PCs 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:20.680 a little bit memory dependent. We talked about memory. The 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:22.920 press of memory is going up. That's snow secret and 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:24.679 that has a knock on impact. 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.640 Thinking as always breaking it down, and you mentioned memory, 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.920 We're going to go there check out Skhiinex shares. They 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.880 have really rocketed on the back of their earnings, and 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.079 there's this relentless appetite for AI memory, which s CA 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.360 Heinex serves. They're also in fact going to be establishing 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.200 an AI data center. Solutions from here in the usaid 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.520 how much has that to do with South Korea US 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.800 relationships going forward and the need to invest in the 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.160 United States. It's going to be backed by ten billion 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.480 dollars of capital to pursue partnerships and investments in the sector. 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:56.560 So keep an eye on that stock. And that was 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.479 its training in South Korea today. 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:03.440 Hey, coming out, trade tensions rise between the US and 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:04.520 South Korea. 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.559 More on the why. Next, this is Bloomberg Tech. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.040 Taking a look at shares of Amazon softer seven tens 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.760 of one percent, the company announcing the card of sixteen 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:26.720 thousand corporate jobs worldwide, saying it's an effort to remove 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.880 layers of bureaucracy and to quote, increase ownership. It also 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.240 confirms quite a lot of what Bloomberg has been reporting 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:37.840 of late. Bloomberg Spencer Soper, who covers Amazon joins us. Now, 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.480 sixteen thousand corporate jobs is the latest. 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.040 Wave of more than one wave. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.080 And the messaging and in line with your reporting, right 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:52.600 is that this is about efficiency and streamlining, not about AI. 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.520 What are the details of this particular trim that we're seeing. 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.200 Yeah, definitely delayering, the kind of targeting the middle. And 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.320 this is something that goes back to last year when 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:08.360 Jase was talking about you know, more more people who 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.080 are doing the direct work and fewer people managing the 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.800 work you know in the middle. So there's that in there. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:21.280 It also hit a large you know, different parts of 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.480 the organization. So when they had initially laid off fourteen 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.320 thousand back in October, departments were given a choice, they 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.600 said they had to hit some numbers. They were given 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:32.079 a choice, do you want to cut people now or 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.680 wait until after after the holiday season. And so a 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.480 lot of departments, particularly the retail division, waited until after 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:41.640 Christmas to do their cuts. So now we're seeing a 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:46.640 total of thirty thousand, which is the biggest in Amazon's 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.120 history for the corporate side. 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.720 And that's you know, compared. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.280 To I think twenty seven thousand, which was a few 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.079 years ago, Back in twenty twenty one and twenty two now. 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.880 Phil Spencer that they've been at length to say this 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.400 isn't some regular occurrence. I know, Beth Galetti, who's really 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.160 in charge of people experience technology, is this isn't going 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.960 to be some rolling set of cuts that we see 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.199 every few months. But thirty thousand last three months is 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:13.120 a huge amount. 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.199 Yeah, thirty thousand is a big amount. But also if 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.760 you read her statement very carefully, it's really corporate goblety 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:24.280 Google trying to strike that tone between you know, reassuring 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.840 employees but also not making any promises, you know what 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.240 I mean. So's she's saying some might ask if this 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.480 is going to be a rolling theme and you know, 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.480 but she's not really saying, hey, we're not going to 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.520 cut anymore over this period of time. So it's kind 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.880 of just not noncommittal Gobletygoog if you really read it carefully. 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.520 Yeah, saying is this the beginning of a new rhythm. 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:45.040 That's not our plan. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:47.920 But just as we always have, every team will continue 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:51.480 to evaluate the ownership, speeding capacity to invent for customers. 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:55.200 Bloomberg Expense of Sofa thanks for breaking it down for us. Now, 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.120 the Trump administration is demanding the South Korea implement it's 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.640 a six month old trade deal with the US to 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.760 prevent Harrison rising to twenty five percent. Trade Tensions between 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.440 the two countries have been rising mean worse by the 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:10.440 US's frustration with Korean digital services regulations. New Vaccinia tech 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.120 editor Mike Shephard joined US Now to unpack what is 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.800 a tech centric story in many ways because it involves 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.040 key chip makers over in Korea, for example, Well, it 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:20.520 really does. 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.640 And we saw actually the flashes of this growing as 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.200 long as ten days ago Caroen, we saw Howard Lutnik 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.320 threatening those memory makers with tariffs of up to one 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:34.040 hundred percent if they didn't step up their investments here. 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:34.440 In the US. 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.440 And that is one of the issues that we have 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.760 seen surge more recently with the president's threat of increasing 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.880 tariffs to twenty five percent from the current agreed upon 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.560 fifteen percent level. And a lot of that has to 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.080 do with what is happening with those investments. Remember, under 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.240 the deal, South Korea had promised to invest as much 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.120 as three hundred and fifty billion dollars in the US 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.880 over the next several years, but that step has been 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.400 installed in the South Korean parliament. They are just beset 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.440 by a lot of issues, including currency woes and capital outflows, 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.920 and so lawmakers there have really not been able to 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:13.880 codify how this investment would go forward. 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:15.400 But we heard this morning from. 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.920 US Trade Representative Jamison Greer that time is up in 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.000 South Korea needs to start moving otherwise the US will 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.000 move to the next step, perhaps, and that is implementing 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.000 a potential tarer of increase. 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:28.400 Mike. 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.960 The other news story at the intersection of tech and 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:35.280 what's happening in Washington, DC is Intel pledging to match 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.000 Trump account contributions for its employees. 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:40.960 What do we need to know about that? 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.480 Well, it's an interesting step, and it's one that other companies, 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:49.720 including Blackrock, have already taken and that they are in Dell, 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.920 of course, Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computing, is 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.960 one of the pioneers behind this Trump accounts project and 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:00.800 has made some big pledges that we've talked about. 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.480 On this program before. 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.359 But Intel is getting in line with that. And of 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.360 course the stakes for Intel are quite different. And when 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.159 I say stakes, it's quite literal. The US government owns 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.840 currently five point five percent of the company and is 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.480 on course to own as much as ten percent of 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.000 the chip maker. And it's also interesting ed that in 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:26.000 December the company hired Robin Colwell from the White House 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:29.399 to serve as its next government head of government affairs 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.160 here in Washington. So Intel is in a way really 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:37.920 aligning with this initiative, the Trump Accounts, which are designed 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.720 to encourage saving and investment by parents four young children 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.240 over the next several years, to try to get people 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.160 not only invested in the stock market, but saving over 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.800 the long haul. And in this way, Intel is trained 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:55.879 to get on the right side of the story with 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.159 the administration in another one of the president's priorities. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.600 Blouemberg's Mike Shefard, thank you very much, Caro. 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:05.600 It's time now for talking tech ed first up. 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.000 Elil Musk has suggested the timing of SpaceX is possible. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.119 Blockbuster IPO could come in mid June and is according 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:13.879 to a report in the Financial Times. The owner of 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:15.679 the rocket maker, of course, is wanted to be targeting 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.239 the IPO for when Jupiter and Venus will appear very 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:20.320 close together in the sky. 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:23.560 Mask's fifty fifth birthday is also in June. 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.080 Plus, Snap has created a subsidiary dedicated to augmented reality 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.720 glasses specs. Now the unit is intended to give the 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.200 smart Iwear team more independence. 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:34.280 Will allow it to raise some money. 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.080 A spokesperson confirmed Snap will launch the AAR glasses regardless 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:42.199 of external investment, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.720 joined other tech leaders weighing in on the killing of 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:48.920 Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota. In an internal memo, 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.480 Cook called for de escalation. He said he had spoken 0:18:52.520 --> 0:19:01.359 to President Trump about the situation. Soft Bank as in 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.040 talks to invest as much as thirty billion dollars. 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.439 More into Open Ai. And now that's according to sources, the. 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:08.639 Japanese firm is already one of opening Ice big as 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.520 backers within eleven percent steak in the chatchipt maker and 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.359 with More's bloomgs AI and data centers are Lin Dwan. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.919 And so thirty billion really makes massa all in. I mean, 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:19.040 we know he takes big bets. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:22.040 Yeah, and I think we had one of the nalysts 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.359 out in Asia saying he is literally betting the house 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:27.680 on open in other AI. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:28.040 Six. 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.200 Now that being said, it's probably worth pointing out that 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.159 it's as much as thirty billion dollars as opposed to 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:36.480 thirty billion dollars itself, So we'll see exactly where he 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.840 lands there. But I mean, let's face it, like Saffink 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:43.520 has already invested tens of billions of dollars in open Ai, 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.000 so it's another thirty billion dollars at this point, right. 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:49.320 Lynn, There are lots of people in my world asking 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.239 equally if open ai is good for it in all 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:56.040 their capital commitments for infrastructure and where the soft bank 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.639 has up to thirty billion dollars. But the main thrust 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:00.879 of it is that this is part of a that 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.119 we know is happening. Right open ai wants to raise money. 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.920 What do we know about its target raise overall and 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.000 the valuation it wants to hit irrespective of how much 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:11.879 soft Bank contributes to that. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.040 That's exactly right, and we've been reporting on this funding 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.880 round that open ai has been orchestrating over the past 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.280 several months for a while now. Obviously stop Bank isn't 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.960 the only name that is intended to invest in this round. 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.280 We very recently broke the news that open ai has 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:35.720 been in conversations with very big name investors in the 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.760 Middle East, and so it's possible that we see some 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.200 sovereign wealth money wind up in this round. Now in 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.680 terms of like what their targeting valuation wise, very difficult 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.719 to say. It's even like difficult to say exactly how 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:50.720 much they may end. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:51.679 Up raising in the end. 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.480 The ranges that you see out there from us, from 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.280