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The U.S. has passed a series of export controls starting in October 2022 aimed at restricting China's access to advanced chip technology, particularly those used in AI applications. According to data from tech consultancy Omdia, China consumes nearly 50% of the world's semiconductors as it is the biggest market for assembling consumer devices. But, soon after, it was reported that Nvidia was working on a new chip made for China. The company did not respond to a request for comment on their plans for the China market. An analysis of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphone by TechInsights revealed an advanced chip made by China's top chip maker, SMIC.

Persons: Wong Yu Liang, Chris Miller, William B, Bailey, Donald Trump, TechInsights Organizations: AMD MU, P Global, Intel, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Marvell Technology, U.S, The, CNBC, Nasdaq, Intelligence, Micron Technology, AMD, Nvidia, Huawei, Semiconductor Industry Association, America's Micron, country's Cyberspace Administration, Micron Locations: China, The U.S, U.S, Washington, Xi'an, Netherlands, Beijing

☆ Apple has begun testing an AI-powered ad product similar to Google's Performance Max as it looks to supercharge its $7 billion ad business
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple is taking a cue from Google and Meta by experimenting with a new AI-powered way to buy its App Store ads, according to two people familiar with the matter. Commentators have previously speculated that Apple would soon bring ads to Maps, Apple TV+, and its Books app. Most of that revenue is derived from its App Store search ads, though it has recently made progress in other areas. Apple now offers sponsorships and other ad integrations within its broadcasts of MLS Soccer on Apple TV. It has also made key hires in areas including adtech and TV ad sales, which suggests it may have bigger advertising ambitions, such as following rivals like Netflix and Apple by adding an advertising tier to Apple TV+.

Persons: Max, it's, Apple didn't, Eric Seufert, Seufert, Apple Organizations: Apple, Google, Business, Meta, Mobile, MLS Soccer, Netflix

☆ Here's why the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro headset is so expensive
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A customer tries on the Apple Vision Pro headset during the product launch at an Apple Store in New York City on Feb. 2, 2024. The Vision Pro, the new virtual reality headset from Apple, can transport you to Hawaii or the surface of the moon. The Vision Pro provides a preview of what using a computer could be like in five years, early adopters say. The Vision Pro starts at $3,499. Each Vision Pro needs two of them, one for each eye.

Persons: It's, Omdia, Jacky Qiu, OTI, Qiu Organizations: Apple, Quest, Sony Semiconductor Locations: New York City, Hawaii

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is sitting on a mountain of the hottest commodity in tech right now
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. CEO Zuckerberg expects Meta to have amassed a total of 600,000 GPUs, including Nvidia's A100s and other AI chips, by year-end. That's three times more than to companies including Google, Amazon, and Oracle, Omdia estimates. Last September, Microsoft's chief technology officer Kevin Scott said that the tech company is finding it easier to get hold of Nvidia's chips, CNBC reported. AdvertisementStill, Zuckerberg said that Meta's current arsenal of Nvidia AI chips may spell trouble for other companies who want to cash in on the hype.

Persons: —, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Raymond James, OpenAI's, Ray, hasn't, it'll, Meta didn't, Kevin Scott Organizations: Service, Business, Nvidia, Omdia Research, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, CNBC, Meta Locations: Meta's

☆ Nvidia isn't the only winner from Meta Platform's massive spending on AI chips
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Meta Platforms is planning to pay Nvidia billions of dollars this year for its cutting-edge AI technology. Nvidia's stock has been off to a blistering start this year, up more than 20%, including a 3% gain Friday. Estimates on Nvidia's share of the AI training market vary, but is generally thought to be well above 80%. Still, Nvidia's stock more than tripled in 2023, leading the S & P 500, and has so far been a big winner in 2024. As Meta secures more AI chips, they will be placed in data centers where their computational capabilities will be utilized.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta, they've, Jim Cramer, Wells, Wells Fargo, Aaron Rakers, Jim, Eaton, We've, Jim Cramer's, Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, Kenzo Tribouillard Organizations: Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Taiwan Semi, Meta, Apple, Facebook, Reality Labs, Eaton Corp, CNBC, European Commission, AFP, Getty Locations: Taiwan, Wells Fargo, Brussels

Not every AI company is hot right now. While European and US tech investors are throwing funding at startups that look like the next Nvidia or ChatGPT, they're less optimistic about one big player: British AI chip company Graphcore. The UK tech industry is small, and Insider granted anonymity to these people to avoid jeopardizing their professional relationships. One founder operating in the same space as the AI chip firm speculated that Arm could be a leading contender to acquire Graphcore. In September, Toon pitched Graphcore in an interview with Insider as a viable rival to Nvidia, which holds around 70% of the AI chip market, per Omdia analysis.

Persons: Graphcore, Baillie Gifford, it's, Nigel Toon's, Toon, we'll, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Nvidia, Graphcore, Insider, Sequoia Capital, Bloomberg, UK, China Locations: British, Europe

☆ West’s latest China corporate risk: medical graft
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Karen Kwok | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

An employee wearing a face mask is seen at a workshop of computed tomography (CT) scanners of medical device firm Siemens Healthineers in Shanghai, China, February 24, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - China corporate risk has spread to Western medical device companies. According to BMI analysts, about two-thirds of Chinese medical devices used by local hospitals and clinics are imported from Western groups. That implies a direct hit to the order and revenue growth for medical device firms. Domestic brands, which have historically lagged in the advanced end of the medical device market, took the whole of last decade just to hike their share from around 20% to 30%, Deloitte says.

Persons: Aly, Philips, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Siemens, REUTERS, Reuters, Volkswagen, Philips, GE Healthcare, BMI, National Health Commission, Siemens Healthineers, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Deloitte, GE, Healthineers, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, People’s Republic, Beijing, United States

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals. It marks a career-defining moment for Spencer, who first joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and has helmed Xbox since 2014. When the companies announced a planned merger in January 2022, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made clear it would be "critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward” on its commitments to improve its workplace culture. As of late last year, Activision Blizzard had 13,000 employees, about 72% in North America, according to a regulatory filing. “It is a new day for workers at Activision Blizzard,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. in a statement Friday.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, “, ”, Gil Luria, Davidson, he’s, Bobby Kotick, who's, Kotick, Satya Nadella, Joe Biden's, ” Luria, George Jijiashvili, Elder, ” Jijiashvili, Claude Cummings Jr, ” Cummings Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Activision, PlayStation, Sony, U.S . Federal Trade, ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks, Communications Workers of America Locations: Southern California, U.S, United Kingdom, San Francisco, Bethesda, North America, Canada

☆ Graphcore, which wants to be an AI chip rival to Nvidia, has shut offices and needs more investor cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's boom times for pretty much every business in artificial intelligence or chips — but not for British firm Graphcore. Graphcore, founded out of Bristol in 2016, develops specialized hardware for AI and machine-learning applications. Graphcore stated in its filing that it was in discussions with investors but had yet to agree a deal. Insider reported in October that existing investor Sequoia had written down its stake in Graphcore. In his September interview, Toon said Graphcore was at an "expensive" incubation phase as customers test out its processors.

Persons: Nigel Toon, Graphcore, Toon Organizations: Nvidia, Sequoia, Microsoft Locations: Bristol, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Graphcore

But Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani snatched IPL rights away in a $2.9 billion bid last year, and then streamed games for free. Soon, Disney subscribers fled - out of 61 million users in October, roughly 21 million had left by July. It retains digital streaming rights but last year licensed the TV broadcast rights to Indian's Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) for around $1.5 billion, a source said. In the United States, ad-free Disney+ streaming service subscription rates are set to rise by 27% to $13.99 per month. By contrast in India, Disney+ Hotstar service costs $3.62 a month.

Persons: Anushree, India's Ambani Hotstar, Walt Disney, Disney, Mukesh Ambani, That's, JioCinema, Sivanandan, Daoud Jackson, Bob Iger's, Nancy Lee, Ambani, Aditya Kalra, Munsif, Dawn Chmielewski, Muralikumar Organizations: ICC Men's Cricket, REUTERS, Companies Disney India, Century Fox, Indian Premier League, Disney, Reuters, Asia, Cricket, Indian's Zee Entertainment, IPL, Blume Ventures, Hotstar, Staff, Media Partners, Netflix, JioCinema, Thomson Locations: Gurugram, India, Burbank, Disney India, United States, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles

☆ iPhone 14 Pro Max tops global smartphone shipments as people shun budget phones for top-end devices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In the January-to-June period, Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max shipped 26.5 million units — the most out of any model from any manufacturer — compared with 21 million unit shipments for the iPhone 14 Pro. That's according to Omdia's "Smartphone Model Market Tracker - 2Q23" report, which tracks sales of different models of phone. Apple accounted for all four of the top-shipping models, with the iPhone 14 coming in third on 16.5 million units, and the iPhone 13 selling 15.5 million units. This year, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the most expensive of the Cupertino, California, tech giant's smartphone array, has taken the crown. Sky-high prices north of $1,000 attached to the top-end phones from companies like Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi have also put people off buying flagship phones more generally.

Persons: Max, That's Organizations: Max, Apple, Samsung Locations: Cupertino , California

☆ How Nvidia Built a Competitive Moat Around A.I. Chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Don Clark | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over more than 10 years, Nvidia has built a nearly impregnable lead in producing chips that can perform complex A.I. trend early, tailoring its chips to those tasks and then developing key pieces of software that aid in A.I. That has turned Nvidia, for all intents and purposes, into a one-stop shop for A.I. chips, Nvidia today accounts for more than 70 percent of A.I. revolution became clear when it projected a 64 percent leap in quarterly revenue, far more than Wall Street had expected.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s Organizations: Nvidia, Google, Meta, IBM, Wall

☆ Samsung sues Chinese rival over alleged patent violation on iPhone displays
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | Industry Insight | Corporate Attorneys Don T Want To Pay Law Firms For Chatgpt When They Could Use It Themselves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN FRANCISCO, July 3 (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Display has filed a lawsuit against BOE Technology (000725.SZ), accusing the Chinese rival of infringing five of its patents for displays used in mobile devices including Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone 12. Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), asked a federal jury in Texas to award damages for the infringement of patents regarding organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays supplied by BOE. Samsung also seeks an injunction from the court to halt the import and sale of the affected displays. Apple has been using OLED displays on some of its Apple Watch and iPhone models, including the latest iPhone 14. The OLED display market is dominated by Samsung Display, with BOE narrowing the gap, overtaking South Korea's LG Display (034220.KS) as the No.

Persons: BOE, Apple, OLED, Omdia, Choi Kwon, Hyunjoo Jin, Stephen Nellis, Matthew Lewis Organizations: FRANCISCO, Samsung, BOE Technology, Samsung Electronics, U.S, Apple, Apple Watch, South, LG, U.S . International Trade Commission, San, Thomson Locations: Texas, East Texas, South Korea, China, San Francisco

☆ Some Diablo 4 players reported invalid license error messages after the video game's early access launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Early access for Diablo 4 faced issues, including licensing errors for some PlayStation users. Diablo 4 marks the latest installment of Blizzard "Diablo" series, which began in 1996, and arrives more than a decade after Diablo 3 was released in May 2012. Here's what you need to know about Thursday's early access launch and the coming official release of Diablo 4. It's unclear how many early access players have been impacted by the error. According to Blizzard, Diablo 4 is set decades after the events of "Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls."

Persons: Blizzard, Rod Fergusson, Adam Fletcher, Inarius, Liam Deane, Omdia Organizations: Diablo, PlayStation, Morning, Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Activision, Windows, Blizzard, Xbox, Druids, Sorceresses, Microsoft, European Union, Sony, Associated Press Locations: U.S

☆ Some Diablo 4 players are reporting invalid license error messages after the video game's early access launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Early access for Diablo 4 faced issues, including licensing errors for some PlayStation users. Diablo 4 marks the latest installment of Blizzard "Diablo" series, which began in 1996, and arrives more than a decade after "Diablo III" was released in May 2012. Here's what you need to know about Thursday's early access launch and the coming official release of "Diablo IV." It's unclear how many early access players have been impacted by the error. According to Blizzard, Diablo 4 is set decades after the events of "Diablo III: Reaper of Souls."

Persons: Blizzard, Rod Fergusson, Adam Fletcher, Inarius, Liam Deane, Omdia Organizations: Diablo, PlayStation, Morning, Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Activision, Windows, Blizzard, Xbox, Associated Press, Druids, Sorceresses, Microsoft, European Union, Sony Locations: U.S

☆ Exclusive: LG Display to supply OLED TV panels to Samsung Elec - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Heekyong Yang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Initial supplies to Samsung would likely be 77-inch and 83-inch white OLED (WOLED) TV panels. OLED panels cost nearly five times more than liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels. Analysts have speculated that LG Display was in talks to supply OLED TV panels to a new client. LG Display supplies OLED TV panels to LG Electronics and Sony. Samsung Electronics has its own display-making unit Samsung Display which focuses on OLED screens for mobile phones made by Apple and Samsung.

Besides YouTube's 2.6% first quarter ad revenue decline, Google is facing multiple challenges to its advertising business. While Google's search revenue was up about 2%, Microsoft is in the early stages of a big play to go after it. Matthew Bailey, principal analyst at research firm Omdia anticipates Google will post digital ad revenue growth at around 5% in 2023 and in 2024. Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend.

Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But neither pose the threat to Google's search dominance that ChatGPT-powered Bing does today, according to an agency source. But ChatGPT-Bing has a bigger opportunity to grab budgets earmarked for Google search because it will change the entire way consumers search for information. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend. Morgan Stanley recently estimated that adtech firms are poised to win $26 billion out of a $130 billion retail media market by 2025.

Giant screen options include pioneer IMAX and various premium large formats (PLF) created by theater chains. For Missouri-based B&B Theatres, about half of a multiplex's grosses now come from premium formats, compared with 30% before the pandemic, said Chief Content, Programming and Development Officer Brock Bagby. B&B operates 531 screens in 14 states and offers large format screens with heated recliners, 270-degree Screen X screens, immersive audio and MX4D seats timed to rumble with the action. "Post-COVID, our premium screens are selling better than ever," Bagby said. As a sign of its importance, Universal's Orr and other studio distribution executives said they consult Gelfond about IMAX screen availability before setting movie release dates.

☆ The city without TikTok offers a window to America's potential future As Americans face a future without TikTok, Hong Kong offers a glimpse into that reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Across the United States, more than 150 million people are being faced with the possibility of a new reality: life without TikTok. In Hong Kong, there’s no need to imagine that reality: TikTok discontinued its services there in 2020. Lost opportunitiesTikTok announced its exit from Hong Kong in July 2020, a week after China imposed a controversial national security law in the city. At the time, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts had yet to arrive in Hong Kong. And while they occasionally wonder what’s happening on TikTok outside Hong Kong, the allure of it is lost when nobody else around them uses it either.

☆ Lawsuits over Stability AI's Stable Diffusion could threaten the future of AI-generated art
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Stability AI, the startup that makes the popular AI art tool Stable Diffusion, faces two lawsuits. The company's most well-known product is the controversial Stable Diffusion (also known as DreamStudio to users). Enter text into a search bar, and Stable Diffusion will, for a lack of a better word, draw an image to match, right on the spot. What's old is new againStability Diffusion released Stability AI in August, a time when the generative-AI market was starting to heat up. Mostaque's tweet added that Stability AI would offer "opt outs" and use alternate datasets and models with content licensed under the more-permissive creative-commons copyright process.

☆ China’s video game makers come in from the cold as crackdown eases
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] The Tencent Games logo is seen on its game on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken August 3, 2021. "We believe the approvals indicate a more benign regulatory environment for the China gaming industry," JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday. "With rich game supply, we are more positive on overall online game market growth during Chinese New Year, a traditional strong season for the China online game market." Whether the gaming market can return to form also depends on the recovery of the Chinese economy, which has been thumped by a surge in COVID infections. However, data shows China’s total gamer population remains stable, slipping just 0.33% in 2022 from 2021 to 664 million.

☆ Gen Z loves the flip phone
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Now, Gen-Z’s latest “vintage” obsession is the flip phone – that mid-1990s era phone that has suddenly become oh so popular with millennials. “I’m team flip phone revolution,” singer Camila Cabello tweeted Thursday, posing with a TCL flip phone, vintage. Maybe I can write the theme song guys 💪💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/yOJgCdAgNq — camila (@Camila_Cabello) January 13, 2023“I found a little 90s, Matrix-y flip phone,” Cameron said. “At parties people will say, ‘oh my goodness, is that a flip phone?,’” Palazzolo said. And yes, new Nokia flip phones are still available – the Nokia 2760 Flip is sold at Walmart from prepaid brands such as Verizon for $19.99.

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☆ Meta laid off 11,000 of its staff, and Apple is a big reason for the social media giant's sudden decline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Meta is laying off 11,000 employees, or 13% of its staff, and Apple is a big reason why. Zuckerberg has often cited Apple's threat to Meta's ads business, and recently pointed to Apple as a major culprit for its second successive quarter of revenue decline. Revenue in Apple's services business — which also includes sales from the App Store, Apple TV+, and Apple music — grew 5% to $19.2. "Apple previously said it didn't take a share of developer advertising revenue, and now apparently changed its mind." Of course, Apple's ATT restrictions and its push into becoming an ad seller itself isn't the only threat to Meta's ad revenue.

☆ U.S. tech giants face pressure from Europe's telcos to pay for building the internet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Michael Bocchieri | Getty ImagesIn Europe, the battle between U.S. Big Tech companies and telecommunications firms has reached fever pitch. In May 2022, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said she would look into requiring Big Tech firms to pay for network costs. In South Korea, companies have similarly lobbied politicians to force "over-the-top" players like YouTube and Netflix to pay for network access. Tech companies, naturally, don't think they should pay for the privilege of sending their traffic to consumers. There's also the matter of why internet users pay their providers in the first place.

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