The Biden administration is shoring up its CHIPS Act funding agreements before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has previously disparaged the CHIPS Act and called for higher tariffs instead of subsidies to incentivize companies to build semiconductor factories. What would be the future of TSMC under the Trump administration? See the full story here. …
Leave a commentBEIJING — China on Monday said it has launched an investigation into U.S. chip maker Nvidia over suspected violations of the country’s anti-monopoly law, in a move that will likely be seen as a retaliatory move against Washington’s recent chip curbs. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said Nvidia is also suspected of violating commitments it made during its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies Ltd, according to terms outlined in the regulator’s 2020 conditional approval of that deal. It did not elaborate on how Nvidia might have violated China’s anti-monopoly laws. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a requestmore
Leave a commentALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA — Richard Andre Newman thought he would live the rest of his life in his quiet, leafy neighborhood in suburban Virginia. He was born and raised in Bren Mar Park, where children ride their bikes and neighbors wave hello. But now, as he’s approaching 60, he’s considering selling his Fairfax County home and moving away. That’s because he’s getting a new neighbor: Plaza 500, a 466,000-square-foot data center and an adjacent electrical substation to be built a few hundred feet from townhomes, playgrounds and a community center. Newman feels helpless to stop it. “I planned on staying here untilmore
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote next week on an annual defense bill that includes just over $3 billion for U.S. telecom companies to remove equipment made by Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE 000063.SZ from American wireless networks to address security risks. The 1,800-page text was released late Saturday and includes other provisions aimed at China, including requiring a report on Chinese efforts to evade U.S. national security regulations and an intelligence assessment of the current status of China’s biotechnology capabilities. The Federal Communications Commission has said removing the insecure equipment is estimated to costmore
Leave a commentA federal appeals court in Washington on Friday upheld a law requiring the wildly popular social media app TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese owner or face closure in the United States by next month. The court cited “persuasive” and “compelling” arguments presented by the federal government that TikTok poses a risk to national security. The ruling could leave the 170 million Americans who regularly use TikTok without access to a social media platform that has enjoyed explosive global growth in recent years. It could also mean that the millions of Americans who create content for TikTok — somemore
Leave a commentUsing sailing ships to move cargo may be making a comeback. These days, eco-friendly watercraft are equipped with the latest technology. Elena Wolf has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Max Avloshenko …
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — Amid widespread protests in Kenya this summer over a controversial finance bill, the country’s Communications Authority announced it did not intend to shut down internet access. The next day, however, Kenya experienced a countrywide loss in internet connectivity. The main internet service providers said the outage on June 25 was caused by an issue with undersea cables. But the incident caught the attention of digital rights groups, who said the timing of the outage “strongly suggests” an intentional action. Various governments have used such shutdowns to maintain control, these groups say. Many governments justify the shutdowns as moves tomore
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — U.S. government agencies held a classified briefing for all senators on Wednesday on China’s alleged efforts known as Salt Typhoon to burrow deep into American telecommunications companies and steal data about U.S. calls. The FBI, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, the National Security Council and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were among the participants in the closed-door briefing, officials told Reuters. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told reporters after the briefing he was working to draft legislation on this issue, while Senator Bob Casey said he had “great concern” about the breachmore
Leave a commentThe Biden administration issued what is likely its final set of export control rules against Beijing earlier this week. The rules forbid companies from exporting an important chip component crucial for training artificial intelligence to China. Experts say it will further constrain the Chinese supply chain for AI. They also expect the next Trump administration to further expand Washington’s strategic tech blockade against China in a more assertive way. See the full story here. …
Leave a commentBluesky, a decentralized social media platform, recently experienced significant growth, surpassing 22 million users. The surge is attributed to users migrating from X due to their dissatisfaction with changes under Elon Musk’s ownership. Andrei Dziarkach has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: David Gogokhia …
Leave a commentAustralia’s competition watchdog said there was a need to revisit efforts to ensure greater choice for internet users, citing Google’s dominant search engine market share and its competitors’ failure to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that while the integration of generative AI tools into search engines is still nascent, Big Tech’s deep pockets and dominant presence give it an upper hand. The commission said it was concerned Google and Microsoft could integrate generative AI into their search offerings, including through commercial deals, which raises concerns about the accuracy andmore
Leave a commentIn Kenya, tech entrepreneurs who had trouble accessing resources as simple as an internet connection are getting an assist from American libraries. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is now operating six tech hubs, the newest of which opened in Nairobi last month. Victoria Amunga reports. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo …
Leave a commentBangkok — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports. The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications. The ratcheting up of trade restrictions comes as President-elect Donald Trump has been threatening to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentiallymore
Leave a commentMost of the world’s airlines are not doing enough to switch to sustainable jet fuel, according to a study by Brussels-based advocacy group Transport and Environment, which also found too little investment by oil producers in the transition. The airline sector is calling for more production of the fuel, which can be made from materials such as wood chips and used cooking oil. “Unfortunately, airlines at the moment are not on the trajectory to have meaningful emissions reduction because they’re not buying enough sustainable aviation fuel,” Transport and Environment aviation policy manager Francesco Catte said. As it stands, SAF makesmore
Leave a commentElectric vehicle manufacturers are hoping for continued growth under President-elect Donald Trump, especially as Tesla CEO Elon Musk now appears to be one of his top advisers. Genia Dulot has our story from the Los Angeles Auto Show. …
Leave a commentWashington — The United States announced new export restrictions Monday taking aim at China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors — used in weapon systems and artificial intelligence as competition intensifies between the world’s two biggest economies. “The United States has taken significant steps to protect our technology from being used by our adversaries in ways that threaten our national security,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a statement. He added that Washington will keep working with allies and partners to “to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how.” The latest rules include amore
Leave a commentDAKAR, SENEGAL — Interpol arrested 1,006 suspects in Africa during a massive two-month operation, clamping down on cybercrime that left tens of thousands of victims, including some who were trafficked, and produced millions in financial damages, the global police organization said Tuesday. Operation Serengeti, a joint operation with Afripol, the African Union’s police agency, ran from September 2 to October 31 in 19 African countries and targeted criminals behind ransomware, business email compromise, digital extortion and online scams, the agency said in a statement. “From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophisticationmore
Leave a commentNew data released Wednesday from a Chinese government-affiliated research firm showed sales of foreign-branded smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, fell 44.25% year-on-year in China in October, while overall phone sales in China have increased 1.8%, Reuters reported. The data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology revealed sales of foreign-branded phones in China decreased to 6.22 million units last month, down from 11.149 million units a year earlier. The decrease of foreign phone sales comes in the wake of Chinese tech conglomerate Huawei’s rise to the top of the phone market in China. Huawei was widely popular inmore
Leave a commentThe U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach toward business, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air. The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitivemore
Leave a commentMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to $33 million for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. The legislation passed 102 to 13. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penaltiesmore
Leave a commentSYDNEY — Google and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms urged the Australian government on Tuesday to delay a bill that will ban most forms of social media for children under 16, saying more time was needed to assess its potential impact. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left government wants to pass the bill, which represents some of the toughest controls on children’s social media use imposed by any country, into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday. The bill was introduced in parliament last week and opened for submissions of opinions for only one day. Google and Meta said in theirmore
Leave a commentsydney — Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island will be connected by subsea cable to the northern garrison city of Darwin, a project backed by Alphabet’s Google that Australia says will boost its digital resilience. Christmas Island is 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) west of the Australian mainland, with a small population of 1,250, but strategically located in the Indian Ocean, 350 kilometers (215 miles) from Jakarta. The cable announcement comes as the Australian and U.S. militaries upgrade airfields in Australia’s north, where a rotating force of U.S. Marines will be joined by Japanese troops next year. Google’s vice president ofmore
Leave a commentALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that Google illegally dominated online advertising technology in seeking a second antitrust win against the company. The closing arguments in Alexandria cap a 15-day trial held in September in which prosecutors sought to show Google monopolized markets for publisher ad servers and advertiser ad networks and tried to dominate the market for ad exchanges, which sit between buyers and sellers. “Google rigged the rules of the road,” said DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum, who asked the judge to hold Google accountable for anti-competitive conduct and added that Google is “once, twice,more
Leave a commentChinese hackers are positioning themselves in U.S. critical infrastructure IT networks for a potential clash with the United States, a top American cybersecurity official said Friday. Morgan Adamski, executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, said Chinese-linked cyber operations are aimed at gaining an advantage in case of a major conflict with the United States. Officials have warned that China-linked hackers have compromised IT networks and taken steps to carry out disruptive attacks in the event of a conflict. Their activities include gaining access to key networks to enable potential disruptions such as manipulating heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in servermore
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