Juro Osawa

Hong Kong

Reporter at The Information

Reporter for @theinformation covering tech in Asia. Ex-WSJ. DMs open. Tips to: [email protected]

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Articles

China’s Alibaba Expands Influence With Open-Source AI Success

5 days ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationAlibaba Group is quickly establishing itself as a leader in open-source artificial intelligence models thanks to the successful launch of its latest models known as Qwen3. And that’s triggering changes both inside and outside the Chinese tech giant.
SoftBank’s Son Proposes Joint U.S.-Japan Sovereign Wealth Fund

1 week ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: Financial TimesSoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son has floated the idea of creating a U.S.-Japan sovereign wealth fund for investments in technology and infrastructure in the U.S., the Financial Times reported. The move could help the U.S. Treasury Department earn revenue without raising taxes, the newspaper said, citing a person briefed on the situation. Son, who knows President Donald Trump personally, discussed the joint fund idea with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Alibaba CEO Expects Large-Scale AI Adoption in China

3 weeks ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationChinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Thursday that revenue from its cloud computing business in the March quarter grew 18% year on year, accelerating from 13% growth in the previous quarter, thanks to stronger demand for artificial intelligence offerings. Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said during a conference call with analysts that Alibaba Cloud’s growth is driven by demand for AI inference from a wider range of customers.
Tencent President: We Have Strong Stockpile of AI Chips

3 weeks ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationA top executive of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings said the company’s existing stockpile of artificial intelligence chips should allow it to continue training a few more generations of AI models, despite tightening U.S. restrictions on the export of Nvidia chips to China“We have a pretty strong stockpile of chips we acquired previously,” Tencent President Martin Lau said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday after the company reported its quarterly results.
U.S., China Agree to Slash Tariffs for 90 Days

3 weeks ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationThe U.S. and China on Monday agreed to suspend most tariffs on each other for 90 days, sending stocks higher on hopes for easing trade tensions between the two superpowers. The U.S. will cut its tariffs to 30% from 145% and China will cut its duties to 10% from 125% for the 90-day period, while the two countries continue their discussions about economic and trade relations, according to a joint statement from the two governments.
U.S. Treasury Reviewing Benchmark’s Investment in Chinese Startup Behind Manus AI Agent

4 weeks ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: SemaforThe U.S. Treasury Department is reviewing Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark’s recent investment in the Chinese startup behind the hit artificial intelligence agent Manus, Semafor reported. The department is looking into whether the deal is subject to U.S. rules for investments in China, according to Semafor.
Trump Says 80% Tariff on China “Seems Right”

4 weeks ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationPresident Donald Trump said in a social media post Friday that an 80% tariff on imports from China “seems right,” signaling his support for a sharp reduction from the current 145%. Trump’s remark comes ahead of closely watched trade talks between the U.S. and China this weekend. Last month, Trump sharply increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145% in a move that has escalated the trade war between the two nations.
OpenAI Hires Instacart CEO For Major Leadership Role

1 month ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationOpenAI has hired Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to oversee some parts of the company in a major leadership restructuring at the artificial intelligence firm. Simo and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the news after The Information on Wednesday reported that OpenAI was planning to hire a senior executive for a major leadership role. Altman said in a post on X that Simo’s role will be “CEO of applications” and that she will report to him.
Tesla Chair Denies Report on Plans to Look for New CEO

1 month ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The Wall Street JournalTesla Chair Robyn Denholm on Thursday denied a Wall Street Journal report that said the electric car maker’s board of directors contacted executive search firms to look for a replacement for Elon Musk as the company’s CEO. In a post on Tesla’s X account, Denholm called the Journal’s report “absolutely false” and said the board is “highly confident” in Musk’s ability as CEO.
Alibaba Launches New Generation of Open-Source AI Models

1 month ago | theinformation.com | Juro Osawa

Source: The InformationAlibaba Group on Tuesday released Qwen 3, a new generation of its open-source artificial intelligence foundation models. The company said the largest one among the new models outperforms competitors’ popular existing models like DeepSeek’s R1 and OpenAI’s o1 based on multiple industry benchmarks.