This week’s stories are about Apple, TSMC and sustainability research of EY

1-Apple Intelligence comes to EU in April 2025

The past week was full of Apple announcements, including new Mac mini, M4 Max and M4 Pro chips. One of those announcements was about Apple Intelligence and it will be coming to EU in April 2025, according to the Apple Ireland’s post.

When the features roll out to iPhones and iPads in the EU, they’ll include “include many of the core features of Apple Intelligence, including Writing Tools, Genmoji, a redesigned Siri with richer language understanding, ChatGPT integration, and more,” Apple announced in the post

However, if EU users want to get a taste of Apple Intelligence sooner, they can try the initial features on their Mac that are now available with macOS Sequoia 15.1. That first batch of features includes AI-powered writing tools, improvements to Siri, and e-mail summaries in Mail.

Apple also announced that Apple Intelligence will launch in localized English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK in December.

2– TSMC stopped shipments to China company after chip found on Huawei processor: sources

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has halted shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo after a TSMC-produced chip was identified in a Huawei AI processor, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

I saw this story at Reuters and Sophgo had ordered similar chips from TSMC, matching those found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, as the sources put it.

Sophgo stated on its website that it complies with all legal requirements and has never conducted business with Huawei. The company, associated with cryptocurrency mining firm Bitmain, has reportedly submitted an investigation report to TSMC to clarify its lack of ties with Huawei.

While TSMC and Huawei did not respond to comment requests, the U.S. Department of Commerce acknowledged awareness of reports regarding possible export control violations but did not confirm any ongoing investigations.

Tech research firm TechInsights discovered the TSMC chip in Huawei’s Ascend 910B multi-chip processor during a teardown, a separate source informed Reuters. TSMC alerted U.S. authorities around two weeks ago and halted shipments to a client following the discovery, as confirmed by a Taiwan official, who did not name the client. Further sources identified the client as Sophgo.

3- Most CFOs believe sustainability targets out of reach: EY

A recent research conducted by EY reveals that a majority of CFOs are doubtful about achieving sustainability targets, with only 47% confident that their own companies will meet net-zero goals on schedule. In contrast, institutional investors appear to be slightly more optimistic, with 53% expressing confidence that companies are on track to fulfill their sustainability commitments.

According to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, approximately 50,000 companies listed in regulated markets across the European Union will be required to submit detailed reports on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics starting next year.

The survey also indicated that over two-thirds of CFOs (69%) have observed an increase in inquiries from corporate stakeholders regarding sustainability and other non-financial value drivers in the past two years. Meanwhile, 96% of CFOs expressed concerns about the reliability of non-financial data, with 55% fearing they might face accusations of “greenwashing,” or inflating their sustainability performance, due to the lack of verifiable data in non-financial disclosures, per the research.(By the way I have a story here about Nivogo, a Turkish circular economy startup)

Interestingly, two out of five finance leaders believe that artificial intelligence (AI) could assist in reporting on sustainability and other business areas, although 29% expressed a desire to better understand the potential risks associated with this technology. Among institutional investors, over half (57%) believe that AI could enhance the assessment of both financial and non-financial disclosures’ integrity and accuracy, the data said.