Video Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories - Duration: 01:30s - Published
US Curbs Export of More AI Chips to China
US Curbs Export , of More AI Chips to China.
On Oct.
17, the U.S. Department of Commerce said
it intends to prevent China from buying more of America's advanced AI chips in the coming weeks.
.
The new rules are meant to close loopholes
that surfaced "after last year's restrictions on AI
chip exports went into effect," CNBC reports.
Those restrictions banned selling the Nvidia H100
but still allowed Chinese companies to purchase
slower versions of the processor, the H800 or A800.
Those slower versions will now be banned as well.
The updates are specifically designed
to control access to computing power,
which will significantly slow the PRC’s
development of next-generation
frontier model, , U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, via statement.
... and could be leveraged in ways that threaten the U.S. and our allies, especially because they could be used for military uses and modernization, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, via statement.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
said that only a small percentage of chip exports to China will be affected.
The fact is China, even after the update of this rule, will import hundreds of billions of dollars of semiconductors from the United States, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, via statement.
The new rules will go into effect after
being on public notice for 30 days.
Following news of the development
on Oct.
17, shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell, AMD and Intel all dropped slightly.
Following news of the development
on Oct.
17, shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell, AMD and Intel all dropped slightly.
Following news of the development
on Oct.
17, shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell, AMD and Intel all dropped slightly.
Following news of the development
on Oct.
17, shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell, AMD and Intel all dropped slightly.
Following news of the development
on Oct.
17, shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, Marvell, AMD and Intel all dropped slightly
Key Federal Reserve Inflation Gauge , Rose 2.8% in March.
According to Commerce Department
data released on April 26.
the personal consumption expenditures
(PCE) price index, not including food or energy, rose 2.8% year-over-year in March. .
That exceeded Dow Jones
estimates of 2.7%, CNBC reports. .
When also accounting for food and energy, the all-items PCE measure rose 2.7%,
which was above the 2.6% estimate.
Inflation reports released this morning
were not as a hot as feared, , George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Wealth, via CNBC.
... but investors should not get
overly anchored to the idea that
inflation has been completely
cured and the Fed will be cutting
interest rates in the near-term, George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Wealth, via CNBC.
The prospects of rate cuts remain,
but they are not assured, and the
Fed will likely need weakness in
the labor market before they
have the confidence to cut, George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Wealth, via CNBC.
Consumers continue to spend despite
higher prices, CNBC reports.
Personal spending increased 0.8% in March, while personal income rose 0.5%.
The personal saving rate dropped to 3.2% as more people are having to dip into their savings to cover the cost of living.
The Fed continues to target 2% inflation, which the core PCE has exceeded for
the last three years, CNBC reports.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
March Retail Sales , Exceeded Expectations.
New Commerce Department data surprised
some analysts on April 15, 'The Hill' reports. .
The agency's latest estimates indicate
that March retail sales increased by 0.7%.
They were only expected
to rise 0.3% last month.
While sales exceeded estimates for March, the jump
was still below the 0.9% increase in February.
Compared to the same time last year, total sales
for the first three months of 2024 were up 2.1%.
On April 10, the Labor Department released data showing that inflation rose last month. .
The consumer price index (CPI)
increased 0.4% in March and 3.5% annually.
In February, consumer prices
increased 3.2% year-over-year. .
Still, the newest Commerce Department data suggests that Americans continue to spend despite prolonged inflation, 'The Hill' reports.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
Biden Administration to Invest $8.5 Billion , in Intel’s Computer Chip Plants.
Biden Administration to Invest $8.5 Billion , in Intel’s Computer Chip Plants.
In addition to $8.5 billion in direct funding, $11 billion will be provided in loans.
The money will come from
the CHIPS and Science Act.
The funds will go toward "computer chip
plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico
and Oregon," CBS News reports. .
According to Intel, the new funding and other investments will create a total of 30,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction.
According to Intel, the new funding and other investments will create a total of 30,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction.
The deal will help the U.S. to produce 20%
of the most advanced computer chips
in the world by 2030, according to
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Failure is not an option — leading-edge
chips are the core of our innovation
system, especially when it comes
to advances in artificial intelligence
and our military systems, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on a call with reporters.
We can't just design chips.
We have to make them in America, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on a call with reporters.
Biden's funding announcement comes
amid a heated presidential campaign.
Administration officials want to get chip technology funding
"out the door as quickly as possible so that the Biden campaign can point to concrete progress on one of the
White House's signature programs," analysts say.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger called the
CHIPS Act "the most critical industrial
policy legislation since World War II.".
We think of this as a defining
moment for the United States, the
semiconductor industry and for Intel, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, via statement
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OpenAI and Microsoft Make Plans , for $100 Billion Data Center.
According to The Information, the two companies are planning to build a data center that would house an AI supercomputer
called "Stargate," Reuters reports.
According to The Information, the two companies are planning to build a data center that would house an AI supercomputer
called "Stargate," Reuters reports.
The project, which could cost $100 billion or more, is reportedly set to launch in 2028.
The tentative cost is roughly 100 times
more expensive than some of the
biggest data centers that exist today. .
Demand for AI data centers has increased due to
the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence technology, Reuters reports. .
This is because traditional data
centers aren't as capable of handling
the advanced tasks that AI requires. .
Several supercomputers
would be built across five phases.
"Stargate" would be launched in the fifth phase, while a smaller supercomputer would be launched
in the fourth phase, tentatively around 2026.
Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly
in the third phase currently.
We are always planning for
the next generation of infrastructure
innovations needed to continue
pushing the frontier of AI capability, Microsoft spokesperson, to Reuters .
The cost for the next two phases largely revolves around acquiring expensive AI chips.
In March, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said
that the newest "Blackwell" B200 AI chip
will cost between $30,000 and $40,000
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Mumbai Becomes Asia's , Billionaire Capital , on Global Rich List.
NBC reports that Mumbai has become the Asian
capital with the highest number of billionaires,
dethroning Beijing at the top of the exclusive list. .
NBC reports that Mumbai has become the Asian
capital with the highest number of billionaires,
dethroning Beijing at the top of the exclusive list. .
According to the Hurun Research Institute's
global rich list, India's financial capital
registered 92 billionaires in 2024. .
Beijing comes in just below Mumbai with
91 billionaires, and Shanghai rounds out
the top three with a total of 87 billionaires.
Beijing comes in just below Mumbai with
91 billionaires, and Shanghai rounds out
the top three with a total of 87 billionaires.
The top of the list globally is New York
with 119 billionaires, followed by
London with a total of 97. .
The top of the list globally is New York
with 119 billionaires, followed by
London with a total of 97. .
According to the report, there are a total
of 3,279 billionaires globally in 2024,
an increase of 5% compared to 2023. .
NBC reports that China as a whole still has the
most billionaires overall with 814 in 2024, but
the country lost 155 billionaires compared to 2023. .
China had a bad year.
Wealth creation in China has gone
through deep changes these last few
years, with the wealth of billionaires
from real estate and renewables down, Hurun Research Institute's global rich list report, via NBC.
The United States comes in second with
800 billionaires, and India registered
a distant third place with 271.
The United States comes in second with
800 billionaires, and India registered
a distant third place with 271.
According to the report, artificial intelligence
played a significant role in increasing the
number of ultra wealthy people in the U.S. .
Whilst [Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang
has grabbed many of the headlines
as Nvidia broke through the $2 trillion
mark, catapulting him into
the Hurun Top 30 as a result, , Hurun Research Institute's global rich list report, via NBC.
Whilst [Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang
has grabbed many of the headlines
as Nvidia broke through the $2 trillion
mark, catapulting him into
the Hurun Top 30 as a result, , Hurun Research Institute's global rich list report, via NBC.
... the billionaires behind Microsoft,
Google, Amazon, Oracle and Meta
have seen significant surges in
their wealth as investors bet
on the value generated by AI, Hurun Research Institute's global rich list report, via NBC
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
NVIDIA Sued , Over AI Copyright Infringement.
Authors have sued NVIDIA over NeMo, the company's AI language model that helps to create and train chatbots, Engadget reports.
Authors have sued NVIDIA over NeMo, the company's AI language model that helps to create and train chatbots, Engadget reports.
According to authors Abdi Nazemian,
Brian Keene and Stewart O'Nan, their
books were illegally used to train the AI.
They are seeking a jury trial and want NIVIDIA to pay damages and destroy the dataset that powers NeMo's large language models.
According to the authors, the Books3
dataset copied Bibliotek, a shadow library containing 196,640 pirated books.
In sum, NVIDIA has admitted
training its NeMo Megatron models
on a copy of The Pile dataset. , Via lawsuit against NVIDIA.
Therefore, NVIDIA necessarily also
trained its NeMo Megatron models
on a copy of Books3, because
Books3 is part of The Pile. , Via lawsuit against NVIDIA.
Certain books written by Plaintiffs
are part of Books3— including
the Infringed Works—, Via lawsuit against NVIDIA.
... and thus NVIDIA necessarily trained
its NeMo Megatron models on one or
more copies of the Infringed Works,
thereby directly infringing the
copyrights of the Plaintiffs, Via lawsuit against NVIDIA.
NVIDIA responded to the suit, telling 'The Wall Street Journal,' "we respect the rights of all content creators and believe we created NeMo in full compliance with copyright law.".
OpenAI and Microsoft were hit
with a similar lawsuit last year.
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Biden Is Giving $6 Billion , to Micron Technology , for Semiconductor Production.
On April 25, President Biden will travel to Syracuse, NY, to announce over $6 billion in federal grants that his administration is awarding to Micron Technology, NPR reports. .
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who was heavily involved in enacting the CHIPS and Science Act, issued a statement about the investment. .
This is the federal government taking back the reins, putting money where its mouth is when we say we want the future of tech to be stamped: 'Made in America.', Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, via statement.
Micron will invest $100 billion of the funds to construct a manufacturing facility in Syracuse.
Schumer referred to the plan as "quite a
great return" on the government's investment.
A factory will also be built in
Boise, Idaho, NPR reports. .
That facility is expected to be ready for production by 2026, while two New York factories will likely be ready by 2028 and 2029.
The White House estimates that
the projects could create 20,000 jobs
in construction and manufacturing.
in addition to "tens of thousands of
indirect jobs in the regions," NPR reports. .
The CHIPS and Science Act has also provided funding for Intel, TSMC and Samsung
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published
Biden Announces Deal With Taiwan’s TSMC , to Ramp Up US Chip Production.
On April 8, the White House said that it has reached an agreement with TSMC to help build new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Arizona, 'The Hill' reports. .
The Biden administration will
provide up to $6.6 billion in funding
via the CHIPS and Science Act.
The president said that the money
will “support the construction of
leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing facilities right here in the United States.” .
Funding would also go toward
training local workforces at the new facilities.
A year and a half ago, I toured
the site of TSMC’s first new
fab in Phoenix, Arizona, President Joe Biden, via statement.
TSMC’s renewed commitment
to the United States, and its
investment in Arizona.., President Joe Biden, via statement.
... represent a broader story for
semiconductor manufacturing that’s
made in America and with the strong
support of America’s leading technology firms
to build the products we rely on every day, President Joe Biden, via statement.
America's ability to produce its own microchips remains a key area of concern for Biden.
The CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed
with bipartisan support in 2022, is intended to
make the U.S. less dependent on foreign suppliers.
The White House has also made
agreements with Intel, GlobalFoundries
and Bae Systems, 'The Hill' reports.
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Intel’s Chip-Making Unit , Posts $7 Billion Operating Loss.
On April 2, Intel disclosed that its chip manufacturing unit endured "$7 billion in operating losses for 2023," Reuters reports.
The year before, the unit had
operating losses of $5.2 billion.
Revenue for 2023 was $18.9 billion,
a 31% decline from the prior year.
Intel shares dropped 4.3% after the disclosure.
Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger
told investors that this year would be the worst for Intel's chipmaking business.
Gelsinger expects the company "to break even on
an operating basis by about 2027," Reuters reports. .
He also said that the foundry business was affected by bad decisions such as not utilizing extreme ultraviolent (EUV) machines a year ago. .
Intel has since adopted the use of
EUV tools which will increase production.
In the post EUV era, we see that we're
very competitive now on price,
performance (and) back to leadership, Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, via Reuters.
And in the pre-EUV era we carried a lot
of costs and (were) uncompetitive, Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, via Reuters
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Netflix Exceeds Earnings Estimates , As Subscribers Increase.
Netflix Exceeds Earnings Estimates , As Subscribers Increase.
Netflix released a Q1 earnings report on April 18, indicating that its number of subscribers jumped 16% year-over-year to reach 269.6 million.
Analysts only expected the streamer to have about 264.2 million subscribers, CNBC reports. .
The company also brought in $9.37 billion in revenue versus analysts' expectations of $9.28 billion. .
However, Netflix said that its membership numbers are no longer the main factor contributing to the company's growth.
As a result, the company will stop providing "quarterly membership numbers or average revenue per user" beginning in 2025, CNBC reports. .
Instead, it will divulge "major subscriber milestones as we cross them.".
Price hikes, terminating password sharing
and offering an ad-supported tier are all tactics that have boosted revenue.
Netflix is also seeking to gain traction within the video game space and recently partnered with TKO Group Holdings to offer WWE on the platform.
We’re in the very early days of
developing our live programming and
I would look at this as an expansion of
the types of content we offer, the way
we expanded to film and unscripted and
animation and most recently games, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, via earnings call.
We believe that these kind of event cultural
moments like the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson
fight are just that kind of television, and we
want to be part of winning over those
moments with our members as well, so that
for me is the excitement part of this, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, via earnings call.
As of the morning of April 18,
Netflix's stock was up 27%
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Google Fires Employees , for Protesting Israel Contract.
28 Google workers have been fired for protesting
a $1.2 billion contract that the company has with
the Israeli government and military to provide
cloud and AI services, NBC News reports. .
The firings follow an April 16 sit-in at
Google's offices in California, New York and Seattle in which nine workers were arrested.
The group that coordinated the demonstration
is known as No Tech for Apartheid. .
Google issued a statement about the recent firings.
A small number of employee
protesters entered and disrupted
a few of our locations. , Google spokesperson, via statement.
Physically impeding other employees’
work and preventing them from
accessing our facilities is a clear
violation of our policies, and
completely unacceptable behavior. , Google spokesperson, via statement.
We have so far concluded
individual investigations that
resulted in the termination of
employment for 28 employees,
and will continue to investigate
and take action as needed, Google spokesperson, via statement.
No Tech for Apartheid claims that the
workers were fired "indiscriminately.".
This excuse to avoid confronting
us and our concerns directly,
and attempt to justify its illegal,
retaliatory firings, is a lie, No Tech for Apartheid, via statement.
Meanwhile, many of Google's workers have
reportedly quit after experiencing "mental health consequences of working at a company that is using their labor to enable a genocide," No Tech for Apartheid said.
On a personal level, I am opposed
to Google taking any military
contracts — no matter which
government they’re with or what
exactly the contract is about. , Cheyne Anderson, a Google Cloud software engineer based
in Washington who was arrested during a sit-in, to CNBC
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
Amazon Cuts Hundreds , of Cloud Computing Jobs.
An Amazon Web Services (AWS)
spokesperson issued a statement about
the job cuts on April 3, CNBC reports. .
We’ve identified a few targeted areas of
the organization we need to streamline
in order to continue focusing our efforts
on the key strategic areas that we
believe will deliver maximum impact, AWS spokesperson, via statement.
We didn’t make these decisions
lightly, and we’re committed
to supporting the employees
throughout their transition to new
roles in and outside of Amazon, AWS spokesperson, via statement.
Cuts are being made to the store technology division “as a result of a broader strategic shift in the use of some applications in Amazon’s owned as well as in third-party stores,” the spokesperson said.
The layoffs come after Amazon announced that it was ending its Just Walk Out technology in Fresh stores.
The cashierless technology is overseen
by teams within the AWS unit. .
Beginning in 2022, Amazon started
its largest layoffs in history by letting
go of 27,000 roles company-wide. .
So far in 2024, the retail behemoth has cut jobs at Audible, Buy with Prime, Prime Video, MGM Studios and Twitch, CNBC reports. .
This latest round of cuts will
allow U.S. employees to collect pay
and benefits for a minimum of 60 days.
They will also be offered a severance package.
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UPS to Become US Postal Service’s , Main Air Cargo Provider.
On April 1, United Parcel Service announced
that it will replace FedEx as the primary air
cargo provider for the USPS, CNBC reports. .
On April 1, United Parcel Service announced
that it will replace FedEx as the primary air
cargo provider for the USPS, CNBC reports. .
FedEx is walking away from a
22-year partnership after failing to
secure a better contract with the agency. .
FedEx is walking away from a
22-year partnership after failing to
secure a better contract with the agency. .
In fiscal year 2023, USPS paid FedEx $1.73 billion
for its services, down from the $2.4 billion
FedEx received in fiscal year 2020.
The decrease in payments was partially due
to the postal service using more economical
trucks in place of planes, CNBC reports. .
The parties were unable to reach
agreement on mutually beneficial
terms to extend the contract, FedEx, via securities filing.
Since FedEx will lose nearly $2 billion in annual
business from letting go of the contract, .
hundreds of pilots will likely
lose their jobs, CNBC reports .
Following the announcement, UPS shares
increased 1.4% while FedEx stock dropped 1.6%.
FedEx's current contract is
set to expire on Sept. 29
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:30Published