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All the latest Business, Financial & Legal news as it relates to tech, gaming, and science.

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Pentagon says no to Intel's $3.5 billion CHIPS Act grant, Department of Commerce to step in

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 14, 2024 10:08 PM CDT

The Pentagon has just pulled out of a plan to spend up to $2.5 billion on a new chip grant through the CHIPS Act to Intel, but now those billions of dollars will come directly from the Commerce Department.

Pentagon says no to Intel's $3.5 billion CHIPS Act grant, Department of Commerce to step in

In a new report from Bloomberg, the usual "people familiar with the matter" told the outlet that the Pentagon had pulled out of the billions of dollars going to Intel, which now threatens the total amount that Intel was expecting to receive through federal funding, which can have ripple effects... even though the company has a market cap of $180 billion, that $3.5 billion grant seems to be important.

Intel has been seeking around $10 billion through the CHIPS and Science Act, with defense funding to be part of that spending package that Joe Biden signed into law over the weekend. This would've seen Intel receiving $3.5 billion in funding to create advanced defense and intelligence-related semiconductors.

Continue reading: Pentagon says no to Intel's $3.5 billion CHIPS Act grant, Department of Commerce to step in (full post)

LG, Samsung and SK suspend US construction, spiralling costs causing problems

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 12, 2024 11:36 PM CDT

It appears as though there are some major issues in the US with South Korean companies in Samsung, LG, and SK hynix concerned over US operations.

LG, Samsung and SK suspend US construction, spiralling costs causing problems

The Korea Times has a new report that said "concerned about their investments in the United States amid a spike in construction costs and lingering subsidy uncertainties ahead of the upcoming presidential election in the world's largest economy," according to officials and analysts on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics invested a rather chunky $17 billion to construct a new chip factory based in Taylor, Texas, which will begin mass production of semiconductors usef for fifth-generation network systems or AI solutions in the second half of the year. But, because of soaring material and labor costs in the United States, Samsung is expected to pony up as much as $8 billion for the construction of the plant.

Continue reading: LG, Samsung and SK suspend US construction, spiralling costs causing problems (full post)

Dutch government kicks off 'Operation Beethoven' to stop ASML from moving to another country

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 12, 2024 7:02 PM CDT

ASML is the biggest company in The Netherlands, so it makes sense that the Dutch government is kissing the ring to ensure they don't move countries... or expand overseas.

Dutch government kicks off 'Operation Beethoven' to stop ASML from moving to another country

In a new report from Reuters, the outlet covers that the news of the Dutch government making its moves with ASML from newspaper De Telegraaf, citing -- as usual -- "anonymous sources" that said the Dutch ministries involved have called this project "Operation Beethoven".

Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens said that she wouldn't address every aspect of the paper's report, but during an interview with Reuters, she confirmed a meeting with ASML CEO Peter Wennick in The Hague on Wednesday. Adriaansens added: "I don't know if they would leave," the Netherlands, as "They want to grow. And they want to grow in such an amount, it puts a pressure on our infrastructure."

Continue reading: Dutch government kicks off 'Operation Beethoven' to stop ASML from moving to another country (full post)

NVIDIA sued by three authors for copyright infringement

Jak Connor | Mar 11, 2024 12:02 AM CDT

Three authors have sued chipmaker NVIDIA, claiming the company used their books without their permission to train its AI platform, NeMo.

NVIDIA sued by three authors for copyright infringement

The proposed class action lawsuit was filed last Friday in San Francisco federal court and claimed that NVIDIA had used the author's books without their permission in the dataset used to train the NeMo AI platform, which is designed to simulate ordinary written language.

The lawsuit didn't specify the damages the authors are seeking, but according to the lawsuit, the following books were used to train the AI model: Keene's 2008 novel "Ghost Walk," Nazemian's 2019 novel "Like a Love Story," and O'Nan's 2007 novella "Last Night at the Lobster."

Continue reading: NVIDIA sued by three authors for copyright infringement (full post)

Video might have killed the radio star, but Biden's DEI is killing the CHIPS Act for US tech

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 10, 2024 3:02 AM CDT

The Biden administration signed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, with $39 billion in grants and loans provided to semiconductor manufacturing companies to make chips on US soil... well, it's not going so well.

Video might have killed the radio star, but Biden's DEI is killing the CHIPS Act for US tech

We've seen multiple setbacks over the last couple of years in US semiconductor manufacturing, with TSMC building multiple new fabs in the USA, as well as Intel pushing virtually all-in on domestic manufacturing. TSMC has pumped billions of dollars into getting chip-making fabs up and running in Arizona, but back in late 2022 that TSMC's engineers in the United States were "babies" for leaving Taiwan after experiencing culture shock in the country.

But now, DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) rules in the US are strangling any hopes of domestic semiconductor manufacturing. In a new report, The Hill writes that DEI is killing the CHIPS Act, reporting that commentators noted the CHIPS and Science Act money has been "sluggish." Why? Because they haven't noticed that the CHIPS Act is "so loaded with DEI pork that it can't move."

Continue reading: Video might have killed the radio star, but Biden's DEI is killing the CHIPS Act for US tech (full post)

TSMC's older 28nm node used to shrink new temperature control chip for quantum computing

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 7, 2024 8:01 PM CST

The National Science Council in Taiwan has announced the latest results of the National Quantum Team. The IRTI team used a microwave IC design and TSMC's older 28nm process node to create new low-temperature control chip modules that control qubits inside a quantum computer.

TSMC's older 28nm node used to shrink new temperature control chip for quantum computing

Taiwan's National Science Council joined forces with the Academia Sinica and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2021 to integrate industry, government, academia, and research and kick off a national quantum team. Today, they held a press conference to announce the technological progress of quantum computing.

IRTI is the team responsible for developing the required hardware for the quantum computer subsystem, within the quantum national team. Project host and leader of the Institute of Electronics and Optoelectronics Systems of ITRI, Xu Shixuan, explained at the meeting that quantum computers needed to feature freezers and countless instruments.

Continue reading: TSMC's older 28nm node used to shrink new temperature control chip for quantum computing (full post)

Elon Musk wanted to merge OpenAI into Tesla or gain 'full control' reveals leaked emails

Jak Connor | Mar 7, 2024 1:50 AM CST

OpenAI has decided to air out some of its dirty laundry in a new blog post that fires back at Elon Musk's recent lawsuit that accused OpenAI of turning against its morals as a company.

Elon Musk wanted to merge OpenAI into Tesla or gain 'full control' reveals leaked emails

OpenAI has since taken to its blog to post a lengthy article authored by several of the company's top officials, such as Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. Within the blog post, OpenAI has leaked email chains with Elon Musk that reveal a plethora of details regarding Elon Musk's intentions and involvement with the company during its infancy. In one message sent in 2018, Musk suggested that OpenAI merge with Tesla and use the electric car company as its "cash cow", even going as far as to say, "Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google."

Elon Musk departed from OpenAI in 2018 when he attempted to gain control of the company and was denied, severing a large portion of the revenue that he was supplying. Since OpenAI's rise in popularity through its creation of ChatGPT, Musk has been accusing the company of betraying its founding principles of staying open-source, hence the name, and being a non-profit company. OpenAI has seemingly reverted on both of those principles, signing a more than $10 billion deal with Microsoft, which spawned Windows Copilot, an AI-powered chatbot powered by OpenAI's underlying GPT technology.

Continue reading: Elon Musk wanted to merge OpenAI into Tesla or gain 'full control' reveals leaked emails (full post)

Spotify moves to kick Apple while its down following $2 billion App Store fine

Jak Connor | Mar 6, 2024 12:33 AM CST

Spotify is preparing to take full advantage of the European Commission's (EC) recent ruling against Apple that claims the company is "abusing its dominant position" in the music streaming app distribution business.

Spotify moves to kick Apple while its down following $2 billion App Store fine

The ruling by the EC featured a massive fine of €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for Apple and claimed the iOS developer has anti-steering rules within its App Store that prevent developers from informing users about alternative and cheaper subscription services outside of the app. According to European Commission's competition head Margrethe Vestager, Apple's guidelines are a violation of EU law, and the practice is "illegal".

In a nutshell, the EC claims Apple's guidelines to developers prevent services such as Spotify from informing its users about cheaper or even alternative pricing for subscriptions from outside of the iOS app, which is a tactic to get users to checkout through the App Store where Apple takes a 30% cut of all purchases. The EC has ordered Apple to lift its strict rules for developers and "allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users," which would look like app developers providing pricing information to users within apps.

Continue reading: Spotify moves to kick Apple while its down following $2 billion App Store fine (full post)

Samsung Foundry renames SF3 process node to SF2, rewrites contracts changing 3nm to 2nm

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 5, 2024 8:01 PM CST

Samsung Foundry is reportedly rebranding its 2nd generation 3nm-class fabrication technology -- aka SF3 -- to SF2, its 2nm-class manufacturing process... a move requiring a rewritten contract.

Samsung Foundry renames SF3 process node to SF2, rewrites contracts changing 3nm to 2nm

A source told ZDNet: "We were informed by Samsung Electronics that the 2nd generation 3nm [name] is being changed to 2nm. We had contracted Samsung Foundry for the 2nd generation 3nm production last year, but we recently revised the contract to change the name to 2nm."

The site reports that renaming its SF2 process node will see Samsung better competing against Intel Foundry, as it has its Intel 20A production node, also a 2nm-class technology, arriving later this year. Samsung unveiled its process technology roadmap through to 2027 back in 2022, listing many nodes along the way: SF3E, SF4P, SF3, SF4X, SF4, SF3P, SF2P, and SF1.4.

Continue reading: Samsung Foundry renames SF3 process node to SF2, rewrites contracts changing 3nm to 2nm (full post)

Here are the tech companies that made the 2024 World's Most Ethical Companies list

Kosta Andreadis | Mar 5, 2024 6:31 PM CST

Ethisphere's annual World's Most Ethical Companies list aims to highlight global businesses that are "committed to doing business with ethics and integrity" through a detailed assessment process. In 2024, 136 organizations spanning 20 countries and 44 industries were recognized by Ethisphere for their "unwavering commitment to business integrity."

Here are the tech companies that made the 2024 World's Most Ethical Companies list

Of the 136 organizations, only five are from the 'Technology' industry - Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, Inc., Juniper Networks, and Western Digital. IBM, which also makes the list, is listed under Information Technology Services. According to Ethisphere, making the list involved a rigorous review process of a company's practices, documentation relating to ethics, and overall conduct.

To become eligible, companies must complete an extensive questionnaire and provide "over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics," covering social, environmental, governance, diversity, inclusion, and other practices.

Continue reading: Here are the tech companies that made the 2024 World's Most Ethical Companies list (full post)