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(AWP Alliance News) - Nvidia Corp Chief Executive Jensen Huang is expected to visit South Korea next week, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Saturday, as the country rides a boom in artificial intelligence. The source, in South Korea's tech industry, who is not permitted to speak publicly, told AFP that Huang is due to arrive June 5 and attend a 'key event' in Seoul days later. The CEO of the semiconductor chip company is expected to meet with SK Hynix Inc, Hyundai Motor Co Ltd, LG Corp and Naver, to discuss so-called 'physical AI' applications such as robotics, local media including the Chosun Daily and MBC reported. His expected arrival will come after attending an AI conference in Taipei, local media reports said. A Nvidia spokesperson told AFP plans to travel to South Korea are 'undecided', without providing further detail. It comes as a global artificial intelligence boom drives strong demand for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix memory chips, helping support South Korea's economic growth and stock market rally. SK Hynix - the major supplier of high-bandwidth-memory products to Nvidia - topped USD1 trillion in market value for the first time on Wednesday, joining rivals Samsung and US-based Micron Technology Inc as an AI-driven rally lifted chip stocks. Huang previously made headlines after visiting South Korea for the APEC summit in the southern city of Gyeongju last year, where he announced Nvidia will supply 260,000 of its most cutting-edge chips to South Korea. During the visit Huang also travelled to Seoul where he drew crowds of spectators as he indulged in fried Korean chicken and beer or 'chimaek' with Samsung Chair Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Chair Chung Eui-sun. source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Wary of being vulnerable to the whims of foreign governments, the EU is preparing far-reaching new moves to ditch American digital companies and Chinese chips in favour of European alternatives. The EU's technological sovereignty package is among many measures taken by Brussels to slash dependence on foreign firms and boost local manufacturing - but risks opening up a new front in transatlantic tensions. The hotly awaited package of new rules on chips, cloud computing and AI will be presented on Wednesday as part of the EU's effort to 'reclaim its place in the global race for geoeconomic power', a draft strategy document seen by AFP said. Of particular concern is how much the EU relies on US cloud providers, which account for around 70% of Europe's market. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Europeans worry that critical digital infrastructure could be brought to a halt by an American 'kill switch' if tensions ever reached fever pitch. Top EU officials don't directly name their target as the US, but American tech dominates, from cloud computing to social media to e-commerce. 'We need to develop our own capacities. We cannot allow someone trying to influence our own decisions, our own values, our own well-functioning economy and services,' EU competition tsar Teresa Ribera said this month. EU officials often point to Washington's sanctions against International Criminal Court judges - imposed by Trump in February 2025 - to illustrate the grip of US firms. Judge Nicolas Guillou has described how he lost access to his card from Visa Inc since it is an American system. But US envoy to the EU Andrew Puzder has warned against any protectionist moves, while American companies have urged Europe not to keep them out. 'Europe will not be able to pull itself into the AI economy by bringing other people down,' Puzder told AFP last month when asked about the plans. Wednesday's package will include the 'Cloud and AI Development Act', aimed at speeding up the deployment of data centre infrastructure, a 'Chips Act' proposal to reinforce the security of supply for semi-conductors by reducing dependence on foreign providers, and a push for public authorities to use more open-source software solutions. EU lawmaker Oliver Schenk told AFP the package was 'not about opposing our trading partners or closing markets', but said: 'Europe must avoid becoming structurally dependent on any single external actor' for AI, cloud and chips. The draft strategy, which could still change before the announcement, said governments would be expected to conduct 'sovereignty risk assessments' for cloud and AI to 'improve resilience' and spot European alternatives. 'Europe must ensure that public investments in AI and cloud infrastructure strengthen European innovation capacity, resilience and security,' Schenk said. According to a second draft document on chips, the commission wants the power to intervene in the event of a crisis by forcing 'manufacturers to prioritise orders for crisis-critical products, overriding existing contracts'. It also proposes common purchasing, which means the EU would act as 'a central buyer for multiple member states facing severe shortages'. Aaron Cooper of tech industry group Business Software Alliance sought to offer reassurances to Europeans who fear any US administration could act to hurt the bloc at times of tension, following past frictions, including over tariffs. 'There is no such thing as a kill switch,' Cooper told AFP, adding companies 'want to comply with laws wherever they're doing business'. American tech companies have been keen to shift the focus of the debate, insisting Europeans would be in charge of their data while using US services. 'Digital sovereignty is about control, not just borders,' said Ana Paula Assis, chair for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific at IBM Corp, adding that the company helps its clients 'maintain authority over their entire IT estate'. The EU says the package will drive innovation and help Europe catch up with the US and China in the AI race. But Ben Brake, director general of DOT Europe, whose members include Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc, said 'retaliating against US corporations in response to trade disputes will neither drive innovation nor strengthen Europe's competitiveness'. source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Shares ended higher in New York on Friday on hopes that US President Donald Trump will sign off on a 60-day ceasefire extension with Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 363.49 points, 0.7%, at 51,032.46. The S&P 500 rose 16.43 points, 0.2% to 7,580.06. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 55.15 points, 0.2%, at 26,972.62. For the week, the DJIA rose 0.9%, the S%P gained 1.4% and the Nasdaq climbed 2.4%. For the month, the DJIA advanced 4.4%, the S&P gained 6.2% and the Nasdaq rose 9.3%. 'US equity indices extended their gains with the Dow also hitting a new record as investors made the most of the AI-driven rally alongside falling oil prices. Both Brent and WTI - trading in the USD90 per barrel region - are set for a monthly drop amid hopes of the Strait of Hormuz re-opening in early June...With markets expecting the situation in the Middle East to de-escalate and the Strait of Hormuz to re-open next month, investors will focus on the US labour market, factory orders, manufacturing and services data for further insight into the strength of the US economy, potentially shaping expectations around the future path of Federal Reserve policy,' said IG Chief Technical Analyst Axel Rudolph. Next week brings a heavy US data calendar. Manufacturing PMI is due Monday, followed by services PMI on Wednesday alongside the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, ADP employment, total vehicle sales and factory orders. Weekly jobless claims are released Thursday. The week concludes with May nonfarm payrolls and average weekly hours on Friday. US President Trump said Friday that is meeting with officials to 'to make a final determination' on whether the US will commit to a 60-day ceasefire extension with Iran. Trump insisted that Iran 'must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon' and that the Strait of Hormuz must be 'immediately open.' However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state media that Tehran 'said goodbye to the language of 'must' 47 years ago'. 'Regarding the understanding... exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,' Baqaei added. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with 'no tolls', while the US would lift its blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would discuss the removal and destruction of Iran's enriched uranium. He also said 'no money will be exchanged, until further notice'. But Iran's Fars news agency reported that Tehran is requesting 'the immediate release of USD12 billion in frozen Iranian assets', and that 'until this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations'. A barrel of Brent was quoted at USD91.99 late Friday, down from USD93.91 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate fell to USD87.84 from USD89.19. On the corporate front, Dell climbed 32% after reporting better-than-expected first quarter revenue and earnings and raising 2026 guidance. On Wednesday, the company inked a USD9.69 billion agreement with the Pentagon to provide Microsoft software and cloud solutions. Costco shares dropped 3.9% despite reporting a 12% jump in financial third quarter sales to USD69.15 billion and a 15% increase in net income to USD2.19 billion, amid 'unprecedented' demand for fuel amid the Middle East crisis. The company reported slowed membership fee growth however, leading shares lower. CFO Gary Millerchip said at quarter-end total paid members were 82.9 million, up 4.1% on-year, but down sequentially from 4.8% in the prior three months. In the chip space, Micron closed up 5.1%, ending the month up 87%. Qualcomm rose 3.2% to end the month 61% higher. Nvidia ended down 1.5% on Friday. It closed out May up 0.9%. The Magnificent Seven ended the month mostly higher. Amazon gained 2.9% this month, Alphabet 8.4% and Microsoft 6.1%. Apple and Tesla climbed 16% and 17%, respectively. Meta shares lost 5.5% in May. The US Census Bureau on Friday said the country's goods trade deficit reduced by 3.4% in April to USD82.4 billion from USD85.3 billion in March. Exports of goods for April rose by USD8.5 billion on-month to USD219.7 billion, while imports climbed by USD5.6 billion to USD302.1 billion. Meanwhile, advance wholesale inventories for April edged up 0.5% to USD938.6 billion from USD934.3 billion in March, slightly underperforming against the FXStreet-cited consensus of a 0.6% increase. Finally, retail inventories for April rose 0.7% to USD827.3 billion from USD821.4 billion in March. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.44% on Friday from 4.46% on Thursday. The 30-year yield rose to 4.99% from 4.98%. Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1667 on Friday, up from USD1.1648 on Thursday. Sterling rose to USD1.3463 from USD1.3442. Against the yen, the dollar was at JPY159.24, up slightly from JPY159.22. Gold rose to USD4,555.55 an ounce late Friday from USD4,498.05 on Thursday. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed down 0.2%. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.1%. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.1% In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.7%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 2.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.6%. Monday's global economic calendar has US, China and Eurozone manufacturing PMI. By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.