Huawei's Meng Wanzhou Takes Over as Rotating Chairperson

FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's rotating chairperson and chief financial officer, speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's rotating chairperson and chief financial officer, speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan/File Photo
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Huawei's Meng Wanzhou Takes Over as Rotating Chairperson

FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's rotating chairperson and chief financial officer, speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's rotating chairperson and chief financial officer, speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan/File Photo

Meng Wanzhou on Tuesday took over from Eric Xu as the rotating chairperson of China's Huawei Technologies for the next six months, the Shenzhen-based telecoms giant and smartphone maker said.
Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, will also continue to serve as the company's chief financial officer concurrently, Reuters reported.
The 52-year-old is taking the reins at a time when Huawei is going head-to-head with rival Apple over smartphone sales. Both companies launched their latest devices on the same day in September, with Huawei rolling out a premium tri-fold phone that costs $2,800.
Meng, described as the "Princess of Huawei" by Chinese media, was caught up in an extradition drama several years ago.
She was detained in Vancouver in December 2018 after a New York court issued an arrest warrant, saying Meng had tried to cover up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of US sanctions.
Meng was allowed to return to China in September 2021 after reaching an agreement with US prosecutors to end a bank fraud case against her.



AI Firm CoreWeave Denies Contract Cancellations with Microsoft

FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
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AI Firm CoreWeave Denies Contract Cancellations with Microsoft

FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

IPO-bound AI cloud startup CoreWeave said on Thursday it had not seen any contract cancellations after the Financial Times reported that the company's largest customer Microsoft had moved away from some agreements.

"We pride ourselves in our client partnerships and there have been no contract cancellations or walking away from commitments. Any claim to the contrary is false and misleading," a CoreWeave spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.

The FT had reported, citing sources, that Microsoft withdrew from some of its agreements with CoreWeave over delivery issues and missed deadlines. However, the report also said that Microsoft retained a number of ongoing contracts with CoreWeave and it remained an important partner.

The agreement with Microsoft accounted for 62% of CoreWeave's revenue, or $1.2 billion in total, in 2024, according to a company filing.

The startup had warned that any negative changes in demand from Microsoft or a shift in company' relationship with Microsoft would adversely affect its business.

Founded in 2017, Nvidia-backed CoreWeave provides access to data centers and high-powered chips for AI workloads and competes against cloud providers such as Microsoft's Azure and Amazon's AWS.

CoreWeave has been laying the groundwork for a New York flotation at a valuation of over $35 billion, in what could be one of the biggest IPOs in recent times. It is also likely targeting to raise over $3 billion from its share sale, Reuters has previously reported.