GE moves HQ to Boston as it embraces digital age

New York

GENERAL Electric, the US's largest industrial company, makes products like jet engines, locomotives and gas turbines. Its corporate reputation is tied to producing big, heavy equipment - atoms by the ton, not the ephemeral bits of software.

Yet its chief executive Jeffrey Immelt predicted last September that GE would be a "top 10 software company" by 2020. In recent years, the company has steadily built up its software business, and its industrial products are increasingly loaded with digital sensors, all part of an effort to be a leader in the "industrial Internet".