02/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAR 2, 2026

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OpenAI strikes Pentagon deal with ‘safeguards’ o Anthropic vows lawsuit

India opens first semiconductor

assembly, test facility NEW DELHI: India inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility on Saturday, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology’s Semiconductor Assembly, Test and Packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his official YouTube channel. The plant will convert advanced semiconductor wafers from Micron’s global network into finished memory and storage products. India’s semiconductor market has expanded from US$38 billion in 2023 to an estimated US$45-50 billion in 2024-25, with government targets of up to US$110 billion by 2030. New Delhi is currently developing 10 chip projects worth more than US$18 billion, including two cutting-edge 3-nanometre design facilities in the cities of Noida and Bengaluru. Modi said at least three other semiconductor projects would begin production soon. “India, which is known for software, is now also building its identity in hardware,” he said. The prime minister linked the launch to deepening technological cooperation with Washington, noting India’s entry into the US-led Pax Silica alliance focused on artificial intelligence, critical minerals and supply-chain security – areas where China holds considerable sway. “The entire world wants to secure these supply chains which are key for humanity’s future,” Modi said. US ambassador to India Sergio Gor said the opening marked “India’s entry into the global semiconductor supply chain as a manufacturer nation”. “This is just the beginning,” Gor said. – AFP China’s new home prices fall at fastest pace in three years BEIJING: China’s new home prices fell at the fastest pace in more than three years in February, a private survey showed yesterday, underscoring the property sector’s struggle to find a floor despite a stream of policy support. New home prices in 100 cities slipped 0.04% month-on-month, reversing a 0.18% gain in January and marking the steepest decline since December 2022, according to China Index Academy, one of the country’s largest property research firms. Official February price data for 70 cities is due on March 16. The data has shown prices have not posted a monthly increase since May 2023. The prolonged property downturn, once a key engine of economic growth, has eroded household wealth, crimping consumption in the world’s second-largest economy. Demand has remained subdued despite rounds of policy support since the sector slid into crisis in 2021, including looser purchase rules and reduced down-payment requirements. Shanghai last week introduced steps to loosen home purchase restrictions, including allowing eligible buyers to purchase additional homes and to access higher mortgage limits. “Such measures could offer a short-term boost to the market, but cannot reverse the broad down-cycle,” said Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Group, in a research note. “Given the housing bust with home prices falling to the level in 2016, reversing such a trend would require much stronger policy intervention to reset market expectations,”Hu said, adding that he did not expect policymakers to introduce “unconventional measures”at this stage. – Reuters

“We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” the San Francisco-based AI startup said in a lengthy statement that outlined the dangers of the Pentagon’s demands. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier he was directing the Pentagon to follow through on the latter threat, and that “effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic”. “Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States government or the Pentagon,” Hegseth wrote on X. Calling Hegseth “the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our nation’s history”, top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries praised what he called Anthropic’s courage for pushing back “against this shocking invasion of privacy scheme.” “Mass surveillance of American citizens is unacceptable,” Jeffries added in his statement. The conflict had earlier drawn a show of solidarity from others in the industry, with hundreds of employees from AI giants Google DeepMind and OpenAI urging their companies to rally behind Anthropic in an open letter titled “We Will Not Be Divided”. “We hope our leaders will put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War’s current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and auto nomously killing people without human oversight,” the letter said. “They’re trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in. That strategy only works if none of us know where the others stand,” it added. – AFP

the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” Trump added. Altman told employees on Thursday that he was seeking an agreement with the Pentagon that would include demands similar to Anthropic’s, and that he hoped to help broker a resolution. “Humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions,” he wrote in a memo to employees, according to American media. Anthropic echoed those sentiments in a statement earlier on Friday, saying no pushback from Washington would “change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons”. The company said it remains “ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States”. The Pentagon had said Anthropic must agree to comply with its demand by 5.01pm on Friday or face compulsion under the Defence Production Act. The Cold War-era law, last invoked during the Covid pandemic, grants the federal government sweeping powers to direct private industry toward national security priorities. The Pentagon also threatened to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk – a label typically reserved for companies from adversary nations. But in response, Anthropic said it would seek to overturn the ban.

over Pentagon ban, slams ‘intimidation’

WASHINGTON: OpenAI said it struck a deal for the Pentagon to use its models in the US defence agency’s classified network, with “safeguards”, after President Donald Trump blacklisted AI rival Anthropic. Trump had ordered the government to stop using Anthropic, calling it a threat to national security after it refused to agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models. The firm vowed to sue over the “intimidation” in what has become a rare public dispute between a major tech firm and the US government, insisting its technology should not be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems. Hours later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a deal with the Pentagon to use its models with similar red lines to Anthropic, using “technical safeguards” that the Department of Defence had agreed to. “Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote on X, adding that those principles went “into our agreement”. The Department of Defence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington had lashed out at Anthropic over its ethical concerns, saying the Pentagon operates within the law and contracted suppliers cannot set terms on how their products are employed. “I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in Satellite images from tanker trackers showed vessels backed up next to big ports, such as Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, and not moving through Hormuz. Multiple vessels in the area have received VHF transmission from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that“no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz”, an official with the EU naval mission Aspides told Reuters. The British Navy said Iran’s orders were not legally binding and advised vessels to transit with caution. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has not completely stopped but disruptions are building rapidly, shipbroker Poten & Partners said in a note to clients. The tanker association INTERTANKO said the US Navy had warned against navigation in the area – the whole of the Gulf, Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz – saying it could not guarantee the safety of shipping. Greece’s Shipping Ministry advised vessels on Saturday to avoid the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, according to an advisory seen by Reuters. Some 20% of global oil, including from producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran, passes through Hormuz along with large volumes of LNG from Qatar.

Oil majors, traders suspend shipments via Hormuz LONDON: Several tanker owners, oil majors and trading houses have suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran said it had closed navigation, trading sources said on Saturday. “Our ships will stay put for several days,”one top executive at a major trading desk said.

An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz. – REUTERSPIC

experience delays, rerouting or schedule adjustments, the company said. Denmark’s Maersk said in an undated update on its website that it was coordinating with security partners on all operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden but cargo acceptance in the Middle East remained open. French shipping group CMA CGM said it had told its vessels inside or headed for the Gulf to proceed to shelter after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. – Reuters

Fourteen LNG tankers have shown signs of slowing down, U-turning or stopping in or around the Strait, said aura Page from consultancy Kpler,adding that the number would likely rise, posing risks to Qatari LNG exports. German container-shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said it is suspending all vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice. Services calling on ports in the Gulf may