Day: May 13, 2025

SoftBank reports surprise $3.5bn profit as telecom valuations improve

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group recorded a surprise $3.5bn profit in its latest quarter as it prepares to deploy tens of billions to fulfil sweeping ambitions in artificial intelligence. The Japanese tech conglomerate said on Tuesday it made a net profit of ¥517.2bn ($3.5bn) in its fiscal fourth quarter, driven by gains in its telecommunications holdings and improved valuations for other key investments. The fourth-quarter profit was well ahead of the…

PLA Navy drill uses AI to trim warship’s magnetic field, gets 60% more efficiency

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The Chinese navy has marked its first use of artificial intelligence (AI) in an exercise for warship degaussing, or magnetic immunisation. Advertisement AI integration increased the efficiency of the process by 60 per cent, potentially boosting the stealth capacity and survivability of China’s expanding submarine fleet, state media reports said. The combat-readiness degaussing exercise took place recently at a PLA Northern Theatre Command naval base, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday. The simulated emergency drill marked the first operational deployment of an AI-assisted decision-making system, and enhanced performance far beyond…

China cautiously welcomes pause in US tariff war

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A 90-day pause in the US-China tariff war has been cautiously welcomed in China but tensions remain high, with Xi Jinping again accusing the US of “bullying”. After two days of talks between officials in Geneva over the weekend, China and the US agreed to substantially lower for the next 90 days the high tariffs each had imposed on the other in a tit-for-tat trade war. Under the agreement, US duties on Chinese goods will be lowered from 145% to 30%, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on US imports will be…

China’s Manus AI offers free registration after fresh funding amid AI agent competition

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The artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus AI is now open for public registration, eliminating its previous wait-list system following new funding and growing competition. Advertisement Since its invite-only launch in early March, the general-purpose AI agent, developed by a team of Chinese entrepreneurs, has captured the attention of the global AI community, thanks in large part to its ability to handle complex tasks. This has made it one of the hottest AI start-ups to emerge from China since DeepSeek. The decision to open registrations – making one of the most…

Battery maker CATL’s IPO goes against the current

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. It is good to launch a share sale on a strong day for the markets. CATL, the world’s biggest battery maker, charged its deal with news of a temporary US-China trade truce that lifted stocks around the world. Trouble is, the Chinese group’s $4bn listing in Hong Kong also underscores the risks for its new international backers.  CATL’s share sale is the world’s largest so far this year and gives…

China’s Xi backs Panama against US pressure over canal

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese politics & policy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Xi Jinping has pledged support for Panama against US pressure over ownership of its ports and offered greater co-operation with Latin American countries in areas including law enforcement as Beijing courts a region that Washington has traditionally considered its backyard. Addressing a summit of leaders of 33 Latin American and Caribbean states in Beijing on Tuesday, the Chinese president also announced measures to deepen ties with the region,…

As easy as ABC? How Pakistan unified radars, jets and warning aircraft against India

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Advertisement In a report on Monday, China Space News said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) deployed a “locked by A, launched by B, guided by C” combat system, integrating ground radars with fighter jets, and airborne warning aircraft. Unlike traditional air combat, where a single jet handles detection and missile guidance, Pakistan’s approach shared real-time data. First, ground systems locked onto targets, then patrol jets launched missiles from safe distances, and finally airborne warning and control systems (Awacs) seamlessly guided the ordnance to its mark, according to the report. Advertisement…

Honda warns of $3bn hit from Trump tariffs

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Japan’s Honda has estimated a $3bn blow from US tariffs that will cut annual profits by more than half, becoming the latest carmaker to warn of fallout from the trade war. The company estimated a hit of ¥650bn ($4.3bn) but said it believed it could offset about ¥200bn through countermeasures, such as adjusting production to minimise the tariff impact. As a result, annual operating profit would fall 59…

US to slash tariff on small China parcels from 120% to 54%

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The US has announced it is cutting the tariff on small parcels sent from mainland China and Hong Kong to the US from 120% to 54%, hours after Washington and Beijing agreed a 90-day pause in their trade war. Donald Trump signed an executive order more than halving the levy, which was brought in at the start of this month to close the “de minimis” loophole allowing low-value goods to be sent to the US without paying any import fees. The exemption – taken from the Latin phrase for “of…

‘Do not get into a fight’: police send warning after rare pub brawl in Tibet

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Dozens of people involved in a rare brawl in Tibet have been handed administrative penalties, according to police in the autonomous region, where security is tight for fear of independence or terrorist activities. Advertisement Police in Lhasa, capital of the western region, said in a statement on Monday that the fight had broken out in front of a pub in the city around 4am on May 7. Some of those involved in the melee had already fled the scene by the time police arrived, but all 31 people who took…