Planned cut to bank hours sparks debate among customers

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday slammed a bill that would force states to consider standards to mitigate data centers' power price impacts as an "ineffectual participation trophy." His comments signal that Democrats could try to block the bill, which the Senate is expected to take up this week. "Americans are demanding real...

President Trump launched a website Tuesday that uses artificial intelligence to help Americans navigate the federal government and find information and services. Trump touted the website, America.gov, during an event at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington. He thanked Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who now leads the National Design Studio and serves as...

The investment and incubation firm Roadrunner Venture Studios will unveil a new quantum lab Tuesday in Albuquerque as New Mexico looks to bolster the U.S.’s position in the global race for quantum computing. The Roadrunner Quantum Lab will open as part of the state's $450 million commitment to quantum development. Those behind the project say...

Korea’s largest fashion shopping platform Musinsa is currently under investigation by the Seoul Regional Tax Office over CEO Cho Man-ho’s alleged appropriation of corporate funds for his real estate investment spinoff firm, Lapel. The investigation, which began last month, is being led by Investigation Bureau 4. Unlike other offices that primarily handle regular tax audits, Bureau 4 is known for conducting special investigations that can begin without prior notice and, in serious cases, develop into tax offense investigations, potentially exposing the targets to criminal complaints and significant business risks. The Bureau 4 investigation began while the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) was still investigating Musinsa in a separate case, which concluded earlier this month. The antitrust watchdog looked into whether Musinsa prevented some partner brands from selling through other retail channels in order to secure exclusive sales of their products. The investigation, which began in August 2024, ended with the FTC concluding that the arrangements were part of normal business or marketing

Samsung Electronics and five of its affiliates will invest $1 billion in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure firm established by global investment firm KKR, as part of their efforts to strengthen their foothold in the broader data center ecosystem. Samsung Group said Tuesday that Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will invest in Helix. Samsung Electronics will contribute $500 million, with the other affiliates investing the remaining $500 million. Helix was established in June as an AI infrastructure company providing integrated services across hyperscale data center development and operation, power generation, power transmission and distribution infrastructure, fiber-optic networks and other network infrastructure. It is led by CEO Adam Selipsky, former CEO of Amazon Web Services. The Samsung affiliates will join KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and U.S. power company Vistra as founding investors in Helix. The companies did not disclose details of thei

Korea's overseas direct investment rose 32.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, led by the financial and communication sectors. Overseas direct investment by Korea totaled $20.52 billion in the April-June period, up from $15.5 billion from the same three month period in 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The figure has posted on-year growth since the third quarter of 2025. By sector, overseas investment in the financial and insurance industry jumped 33.4 percent to $10.48 billion. The finance ministry attributed the increase to Korean businesses' efforts to diversify their global portfolios. Overseas direct investment in manufacturing rose 3.2 percent on-year to $3.57 billion. Investment in the information and communication sector more than tripled to $2.73 billion, the data showed. By destination, investment in the United States rose 53.6 percent to $8.86 billion, followed by Japan at $2.46 billion, sharply up from $300 million a year earlier. Investment in Luxembourg rose 14.2 percent to $1.59 billion, the latest findings sh

The chief of Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday he will work to "restore justice" after a local court recently cleared the way for the agency to resume its stalled probe into U.S.-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. Ju Biung-ghi, head of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), made the remarks during an interview with local radio broadcaster CBS, signaling the agency's intention to resume its investigation. Last month, Coupang refused to cooperate with the watchdog's on-site probe into allegations the company had shifted the costs of discounts onto its suppliers and asked a court to suspend the inspection. The court initially granted a temporary suspension of the FTC's on-site inspection but eventually rejected Coupang's request to halt the probe last week. "(Coupang) deals with various vendors, and the company could be subject to regulatory action if it has imposed unfavorable terms on them," Ju said. "It is a relief the judge handling the case ruled in favor of the public interest, including the rights of the economically vulnerable and hundreds of thousands of small merchants," he added

Celltrion will use one of the world's largest pharmaceutical trade shows next month to seek partners in new drug development, contract manufacturing and supply chains, the Korean biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday. The company will take part in CPHI Worldwide, which runs Oct. 6-8 in Milan. Now in its 37th year, the event covers pharmaceutical manufacturing, supply chains and contract development and manufacturing. More than 60,000 industry professionals from about 2,400 companies in some 170 countries are expected to attend. Celltrion, best known for biosimilars — lower-cost versions of biologic drugs whose patents have expired — said it will look for partners in oncology, obesity and metabolic diseases, and autoimmune diseases. The company said its new drug research in these areas has recently begun producing results. It described the effort as part of its push to become a global developer of new drugs. As demand for its main products grows, the company also plans to strengthen existing partnerships with overseas raw material suppliers and contract manufacturers. It will look f

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that the number of customers for its foundry business could grow roughly fourfold by 2029 compared to 2017. "The number of customers has increased about threefold from when the foundry business was first established as an independent unit in 2017," Noh Mi-jung, a senior vice president at Samsung's foundry business, said during Korea Premium Week 2026. "We expect the customer number to grow about fourfold by 2029," she said. Samsung's foundry business plans to diversify its portfolio, which is currently focused on mobile products, toward artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). HPC accounted for just 5 percent of the foundry business in 2017 but has since risen to 28 percent. The company expects the share to reach 66 percent by 2029. "By 2029, we expect HPC customers to account for more than half of our customer base, while HPC will also account for well over half of our sales," the executive said. Samsung aims to begin mass production of its third-generation 2-nanometer process in 2028, followed by mass production of its 1.4-nanome

Korean food manufacturers, despite K-food’s growing presence in global markets, continue to face hurdles from overseas trade barriers that constrain further export growth, according to the head of the country’s major food industry lobby group, Tuesday. Park Jin-sun, chairman of the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA), said difficulties faced by the group’s member companies ranged from tariff to custom, certificates and food regulations in foreign markets. Global supply chains that prevent Korea’s imports of necessary materials for the industry also posed a threat. Issues related to food safety, production technologies, eligibility for government subsidy programs and sustainable operation practices were also major concerns for the companies. “We have witnessed rising crude oil prices worldwide, tightening naphtha supplies, disrupting packaging operations and a weakening Korean won,” Park said during a press conference in Seoul marking his first year as chairman. “Not just our importers, our exporters seeking to expand their global markets also suffered from various trade

LG Innotek will dispatch a fleet of sensor-packed test vehicles to Korean roads to gather real-world data aimed at sharpening technologies that determine how self-driving cars see the world. The company said Tuesday it has begun operating data collection vehicles in Korea in partnership with Applied Intuition, a U.S. autonomous driving software company. The two companies plan to expand the fleet to 20 vehicles by 2028. Operations will initially focus on Seoul, Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, with the fleet including both data collection vehicles and vehicles used to develop autonomous driving software. LG Innotek said direct access to road data will help it refine sensors that serve as the “eyes” of autonomous vehicles and strengthen its sensor-fusion technology. The vehicles combine cameras, radar and lidar to capture information about road conditions, vehicle movements, object locations and changes in weather, with the data to be paired with digital twin environments for sensor improvement and system validation. Sensor fusion combines camera imagery with radar measure

The chief of Korea's financial watchdog on Tuesday called on securities firms to shore up shareholder value and heighten risk management for rising interest rates. In a meeting with heads of 28 securities firms, Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said local brokerage firms had racked up record profits amid a stock bull run. "Securities firms that benefited the most from the growth of the capital market should play a greater role in leading market reform, and work to boost shareholder value," Lee said. The FSS chief also called for better management of loans extended to investors as part of efforts to reduce market volatility. Lee, in addition, urged securities firms to better prepare for rising interest rates.