Category: 3. Business

Samsung Electronics and SoftBank Corp. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for joint research into next-generation communications technologies, including 6G and AI-based radio access network (AI-RAN) innovations.

The two companies will categorize next-generation communications technologies into four candidate areas — 6G, AI for RAN, AI and RAN, and Large Telecom Model (LTM) — and collaborate on select fields to drive future innovation. Leveraging their advanced technological expertise and network deployment capabilities, they plan to identify new use cases, jointly develop core technologies and demonstrate the technologies’ effectiveness.

This year marks a significant push toward 6G standardization, with discussions emerging on new frequency bands such as the 7GHz spectrum. Under the “AI for RAN” concept, AI-RAN technologies are expected to play a pivotal role in optimizing wireless networks.

Moreover, AI-RAN orchestration technologies under the “AI and RAN” concept — designed to seamlessly integrate AI workloads with base station workloads and operate them efficiently — hold significant potential for network optimization and enhanced user experiences. The use of Generative AI within communications networks is being considered a viable area of research as well.

“Through this collaboration with SoftBank, we aim to define meaningful use cases for both operators and end users, while securing key technologies for future commercialization,” said JinGuk Jeong, Executive Vice President and Head of Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC) at Samsung Research. “Building on our advanced expertise in AI-RAN and 6G, Samsung will continue to lead innovation in next-generation communications.”

“We are very pleased to collaborate with Samsung, a global leader in communications technologies. By combining our advanced expertise, we will accelerate the realization of next-generation networks that evolve to become more efficient and highly reliable through AI-RAN,” said Hideyuki Tsukuda, Executive Vice President and CTO, SoftBank Corp. “SoftBank remains committed to taking on the challenge of building the next-generation social infrastructure essential for a future society where AI and humans coexist.”

Samsung Electronics continues to lead research in 6G and AI-powered communications technologies through its ACRC under Samsung Research. In November, the company plans to host the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit, an event aimed at fostering dialogue among industry leaders, academia and government organizations on AI-RAN research.

The memo did not specify how many layoffs would take place but said they would begin at the company’s Canadian operations in the first week of November.

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Employees in Calgary will be notified virtually on November 5 and those in the company’s Surmont oil sands operation in northern Alberta and its Montney shale play in British Columbia will be told in person the following day, the memo said.

“We will not be sharing area-specific workforce numbers for current or impacted employees and contractors,” ConocoPhillips spokesperson Dennis Nuss said in an email.

FALL IN OIL PRICES FORCES STAFF AND SPENDING CUTS

ConocoPhillips employed 950 people in Canada as of the end of 2024, according to the company’s website, and its 2024 Canadian production was 164,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

A fall in oil prices has put ConocoPhillips and its U.S. rivals under pressure this year, forcing them to cut staff, curb capital spending and reduce drilling.

But the U.S. industry’s pain has spread to Canada, with U.S.-owned companies beginning to cut their Canadian divisions as they consolidate operations and seek to become more efficient.

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(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks rose on Friday as a plan for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to meet eased nerves around a trade war. Oil prices edged lower ahead of US inflation data.

An MSCI gauge of Asian shares was up around 0.3%, following a move higher on Wall Street on Thursday. Technology stocks were among the best performers in the region, with South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. jumping more than 5%. That helped Korea’s Kospi Index add to its blistering rally this year, leading Friday’s gains with a 1.5% rise in early trading. The dollar was little changed.

The moves came after the White House said President Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Oct. 30, a chance for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to cool the temperature after a recent flare-up in trade tensions. But quantum-computing stocks also got a boost from reports that the Trump administration was mulling financial support for some firms, a move to counter China.

Investors are now turning their attention to the delayed inflation report from the US, which will be released on Friday. The cross-asset moves overnight suggest investors are optimistic the inflation reading won’t be a major drag to global markets that have zoomed higher over the past month.

“Valuations continue to be the best argument for bears, but the relentless buy-the-dip approach of investors has even the most pessimistic investors questioning their outlook,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.

Shares in Intel Corp helped lift the mood overnight, climbing in post-market trading after an upbeat revenue forecast. Treasuries had snapped a three-day rally overnight as yields rose across the curve, with the 10-year climbing five basis points to 4%.

West Texas Intermediate jumped 5.6% to settle near $62 a barrel on Thursday, the most since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict on June 13. The latest US oil sanctions signaled a major policy turn from the Group-of-Seven price cap strategy that sought to limit Russia’s earnings without disrupting supply or driving up global prices.

“As with the trade war, the fallout from the oil sanctions is murky at best, although we expect that from the perspective of the market at least, the kneejerk spike in crude will represent the bulk of the attention devoted to this matter, as it were,” said Ian Lyngen, Vail Hartman and Delaney Choi at BMO Capital Markets.

Inflation Focus

Investors will likely look past any evidence of stubborn inflation in Friday’s consumer price index report, as money markets brace for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.

The September CPI report was delayed due to the US government shutdown. Economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast the core CPI, which excludes food and fuel, to have climbed 0.3% for a third straight month as higher import duties continue to gradually filter through to consumers. The projected monthly gain will keep the annual core CPI at 3.1%.

Friday’s CPI is important in the sense that it’s one of the few economic data points that we will see given the government shutdown, according to Emily Bowersock Hill, founding partner of Bowersock Capital Partners.

“But since the Federal Reserve is likely more focused on the labor market, we don’t expect Friday’s CPI to weigh heavily on next week’s Fed decision,” she said. “We will likely see two more rate cuts this year, in October and December.”

Prospects for Fed easing, durable earnings growth and AI investment spending support the view that the equity bull market has further room to run, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management. But she also sounds a note of caution.

“Any setbacks in US-China relations or potential concerns about the durability of the AI-driven rally could trigger bouts of volatility,” she said.

How should regulators react to the blurring line between investing and gambling? Let us know in the latest Markets Pulse survey.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.7% to the highest since Oct. 10, 2025 Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1.2% Japan’s Topix rose 0.5% to a record high Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1618 The Japanese yen was little changed at 152.67 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1239 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $110,547.22 Ether rose 1% to $3,870.74 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.00% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.15% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $61.58 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,131.71 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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