The company is also planning to roll out new models that specialize in tasks such as transcription, reasoning, speech and images, the report said, citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans

International News via Reuters:

Microsoft will unveil a suite of new homegrown AI models next week at its annual “Build” conference for developers in San Francisco, including a coding model to boost the usage of its GitHub Copilot tool, the Information reported on Thursday.

The company is also planning to roll out new models that specialize in tasks such as transcription, reasoning, speech and images, the report said, citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans. Microsoft declined to comment on the report.

Here are some details:

• Microsoft shares climbed on the report, and were last up nearly 3%.

• It has been rushing to beef up its own AI products as it gears up for a future independent of its once-vital partner OpenAI — the companies have changed their partnership terms in recent months to reduce reliance on each other.

• The tech giant has primarily relied on AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Big Tech rival Google to power its GitHub Copilot AI tool for software developers.

• While the tool had seen encouraging uptake initially, products such as Anthropic’s Claude Code have quickly risen to the top spot in AI-assisted coding.

• Microsoft is now eyeing AI startup acquisitions, Reuters reported earlier this month, to diversify beyond its OpenAI partnership.

• The ‌potential deals could help Microsoft beef up AI talent and deliver on its stated goal of building a cutting-edge AI model by next year, three sources had told Reuters.

• Market sentiment on Microsoft has soured this year as investors question the viability of its early lead in AI as its OpenAI partnership unravels, while rivals Google and Amazon report strong progress in their own AI efforts.

Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

While the Chips Act focused on supply side measures, the Chips Act 2.0 will focus on the demand side, the EU document said

International News via Reuters:

The European Commission wants governments to buy chips made by EU startups as it seeks to reduce Europe’s reliance on U.S. and East Asian products, a document seen by Reuters shows.

The proposal dubbed Chips Act 2.0 supplements the original Chips Act implemented three years ago, which has so far failed to achieve its ​goals of attracting advanced ​manufacturing and ⁠doubling the bloc’s global chip market share to 20% by 2030.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen will on June 3 lay out details of the latest attempt to develop and control critical technologies and services, which has been driven mainly by tensions with the United States and China and their dominance in these areas. Europe makes about 10% of global semiconductors.

While the Chips Act focused on supply side measures, the Chips Act 2.0 will focus on the demand side, the EU document said.

“Through Demand Accelerators, the Chips Act 2.0 will also aim to boost the use of EU-designed and EU-made chips by linking suppliers with users via offtake agreements and a demand forum,” the document said.

“To stimulate demand and support EU-based start-ups and scale-ups, the Chips Act 2.0 will deploy public innovation procurement, as a strategic tool,” the paper said.

The Commission also proposed fast-tracking environmental approvals for chip facilities.  

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara Lewis

Under the European Union’s crypto rules, MiCA, crypto companies have until June 30 to get a licence to continue operating in the bloc

International News via Reuters:

France’s top markets regulator warned crypto companies they could be blacklisted and sued if they do not get an EU licence to operate by end of June, as the bloc fully rolls out tighter regulation of crypto.

Under the European Union’s crypto rules, MiCA, crypto companies have until June 30 to get a licence to continue operating in the bloc. European regulators have already warned that companies without licences need to have “orderly wind-down plans” in place.

The rules, which were agreed in 2023, bring regulatory oversight to the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry’s operations in Europe, even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has eased regulation for the crypto sector in the U.S..

“It’s becoming very, very urgent to finalise the licences applications,” Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, president of the French markets regulator, AMF, told journalists on Thursday.

Crypto companies which have not secured licences by the EU’s deadline will be put on blacklists and will face enforcement action, including prosecution, if they continue to seek EU customers without authorisation, Barbat-Layani said.

Under MiCA, crypto companies have to apply for licences from regulators in individual EU countries, which they can use as a “passport” to operate throughout the 27-nation bloc. 

Last year, some regulators became concerned about differences in how countries were applying the rules, with the speed of licence approvals in Malta drawing scrutiny from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Barbat-Layani reiterated that France would be prepared to block the passporting of licences granted by other countries if it does not agree with that country’s decision, a stance first reported by Reuters in September.

Still, she said, this would not be what the regulator would want, as it would represent a “serious collective failure”.

Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, editing by John O’Donnell