Will Taiwanese chipmakers expand to Europe? Some Taiwanese chip companies are in talks with European countries about potentially setting up shop in Europe, Taiwan’s Deputy Economy told reporters, according to Reuters. The EU has had its sights on bringing Taiwan’s chip manufacturers to its shores under the European Chips Act, which is meant to address chronic supply shortages. The EU held-high level trade talks with Taiwan in June, but shortly thereafter the world's largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) said that it had no solid plans for a factory in Europe. Last year, TSMC said it was assessing a potential expansion into Germany but no substantial moves have since materialized.

A few big companies like Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway could pay the bulk of the new 15% corporate minimum tax that US President Joe Biden signed into law last month, the Wall Street Journal reports. A University of North Carolina Tax Center study found that had the levy been imposed last year, just six companies including Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway would have paid half of the estimated USD 32 bn in revenue the tax would have generated, and fewer than 80 publicly listed US companies would have paid any tax at all. The new tax is directed at big corporations that, despite reporting profits to shareholders, do not pay a lot of taxes, relatively. The tax would also increase taxes on some of the wealthiest shareholders in the US, including Warren Buffett at Berkshire and Jeff Bezos at Amazon.

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An Alzheimer’s breakthrough — albeit not without drawbacks: Japan’s Eisai Co. and US-based partner Biogen Inc. said their med Lecanemab significantly slowed the progress of Alzheimer’s disease by 27% in a large-scale trial. A study involving 1.8k patients over the course of 18 months yielded hopes for slowing the disease, but did not restore mental capacity or totally stop memory loss. The benefits also came with side effects including brain swelling and bleeding in 21.3% of participants, though severe symptomatic cases only accounted for 2.8% of patients, Bloomberg reports

A fast-tracked approval process is underway: The med is currently being reviewed by US regulators for approval under a special accelerated path, with the companies hoping to apply for full US clearance by March 2023 while filing for approvals in Europe and Japan.

AirPods can double as hearing aids in a pinch, making them a cost-effective solution for those with mild to moderate hearing loss, the Washington Post’s Help Desk writes. Apple devices allow you to adjust sound levels using an audiogram, or hearing test, administered by an app to estimate your levels of hearing loss. By loading the results into your health app, you can then use “custom audio setup” within your phone settings to set the amplification, transparency, tone, ambient noise reduction and conversation boost levels on AirPods.