DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Book Bans Rising Rapidly in the U.S., Free Speech Groups Find
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Free speech advocates are troubled by not just the sharp rise in book bans, but also the new ways in which books are being targeted. Until fairly recently, most book removals occurred when a parent raised concerns about a title with a teacher or librarian. Complaints were typically resolved quietly, after a school board or committee evaluated the material and determined whether it was appropriate for students. The rise of these networks meant that specific books — often titles that center on L.G.B.T.Q. PEN and other free speech groups say that the new laws have had a chilling effect.

☆ Texas County Keeps Public Libraries Open Amid Book Ban Controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( David Montgomery | Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A small Texas county decided to keep its public libraries open during a heated public meeting in which county commissioners weighed whether to shut down the library system after a judge ordered the county to restore banned books to its shelves. The decision was seen as a victory for a group of residents who had sued the county and library officials, arguing that the book removals were unconstitutional and violated citizens’ First Amendment rights. The judge, Robert Pitman, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, ordered Llano County to return the books to their place while a lawsuit over the banned books, brought on by a group of county residents, proceeds. After the judge’s order was issued, county commissioners called a special meeting to decide whether to “continue or cease operations” at the library. The ongoing fight has divided the community and made Llano, a rural county in central Texas about 80 miles northwest of Austin, a new testing ground for citizens invoking First Amendment protections in the face of rising book bans.

☆ A Swashbuckling Tale of Mutiny Took Him Where ‘the Soul of Man Dies’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Often, his stories take a dizzying turn when Grann introduces a new set of facts or a perspective that undermines the narrative he has presented. Rather than trying to lay down a concrete version of events, Grann often invokes a queasy uncertainty that the truth can ever be known. He’s drawn to unsolvable mysteries and stories that explore the fallibility of our perceptions — including his own. “He looked for stories in which an artful manipulation of the reader was an appropriate way to illuminate the story,” said Daniel Zalewski, Grann’s longtime editor at The New Yorker. “Sometimes they were dark entertainments, but because the stakes were real, there was a gravity to them, and a morality to them.”

☆ US puts trade curbs on 5 Chinese firms over alleged role in Uyghur repression
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed new trade restrictions on five Chinese companies for allegedly aiding in the repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority but China rejected the accusation as "lies" aimed at constraining it. According to Hikvision's 2021 half-year report, at least four of the companies facing new curbs belong to the Chinese surveillance camera maker including Luopu Haishi Dingxin Electronic Technology Co, Moyu Haishi Electronic Technology Co, Pishan Haishi Yong'an Electronic Technology Co and Urumqi Haishi Xin'an Electronic Technology Co.Yutian Haishi Meitian Electronic Technology Co Ltd was also added. "The idea that there exists so-called repression of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang has long been debunked," Mao said at a regular briefing on Wednesday. She also said that China would take all necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese firms. The United States has increasingly used the list to target Chinese firms.

☆ US slaps trade curbs on 5 Chinese firms over alleged role in Uyghur repression
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed new trade restrictions on five Chinese companies for allegedly aiding in Beijing's repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority group. According to Hikvision's 2021 half-year report, at least four of the companies facing new curbs belong to the Chinese surveillance camera maker including Luopu Haishi Dingxin Electronic Technology Co, Moyu Haishi Electronic Technology Co, Pishan Haishi Yong'an Electronic Technology Co and Urumqi Haishi Xin'an Electronic Technology Co.Yutian Haishi Meitian Electronic Technology Co Ltd was also added. Being added to the entity list means U.S. suppliers must get a special and difficult-to-obtain license before shipping goods to the targeted companies. Washington has increasingly used the entity list to target Chinese firms. Reporting by Alexandra Alper, David Shepardson, and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Franklin Paul and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden administration adds 14 Chinese firms to unverified list
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Being added to the list can potentially start a 60-day clock that could trigger much tougher penalties. ECOM International and HK P&W Industry Co Ltd were among those added to the list. They and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Enforcing our export controls is a crucial part of protecting American national security,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in a statement following the announcement. Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Courts blocked a prior bid by the Trump administration to ban the app in part on the grounds that such a move violated free speech protections. Courts struck down former President Donald Trump's bid to block TikTok in 2020 with an executive order that granted the Commerce Department similar authorities as the RESTRICT act. But the bill will likely provide no immediate solutions for those calling for a ban on the app. Some experts said using the new legal tools to ban TikTok could still invite First Amendment challenges. "And there will most likely be a legal challenge if its used to ban TikTok."

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, March 15 (Reuters) - A chip plant that South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) is building in Taylor, Texas, will cost the world's biggest memory chipmaker over $25 billion, up more than $8 billion from initial forecasts, according to two people familiar with the matter. The increase in cost is primarily due to inflation, the people said, declining to be named because the information was not public. "The higher construction cost is about 80% of the cost increase," one of the sources said. Meanwhile, Intel Corp (INTC.O) announced a $20 billion chip factory in Ohio that it could expand to cost up to $100 billion. Samsung, the world's No.2 contract chip manufacturer, announced its Taylor, Texas, plant in 2021.

The Netherlands' government on Wednesday said it plans new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining the United State's effort to curb chip exports to China. Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher announced the decision in a letter to parliament, saying the restrictions will be introduced before the summer. It specified one technology that will be impacted is "DUV" lithography, the second-most advanced machines that ASML sells to computer chip manufacturers. Major ASML customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel are engaged in capacity expansions. ASML has never sold its most advanced "EUV" machines to customers in China, and the bulk of its DUV sales in China go to relatively less advanced chipmakers.

☆ Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sued over allegations the rocket company discriminates against older workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A spokesperson for Blue Origin did not respond to a request for comment. It's not the first time that Blue Origin has faced criticism from a former employee. In 2021, Alexandra Abrams, the former head of Blue Origin employee communications, published an open letter alongside a group describing itself as 21 former and current Blue Origin employees. At the time, a Blue Origin representative told Insider the company doesn't tolerate harassment and would investigate the claims. Do you work for Blue Origin or have insight to share?

March 8 (Reuters) - The Dutch government is set to inform parliament as soon as Wednesday that it plans to draft additional rules restricting exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move follows months of discussions between the Netherlands, the U.S. and Japan, in which Washington has tried to get allies to adopt similar restrictions to those it introduced in October aimed at hobbling China's ability to make semiconductors and to slow its military advances. Reporting by Toby Sterling Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

March 7 (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) and other tech firms are scrambling to assess whether they must halt sales to units of China's Inspur Group Ltd after its addition to a U.S. export blacklist last week. The United States last week added Inspur to its trade blacklist for allegedly acquiring U.S.-origin items in support of the China's military modernization efforts. Executives from AMD and Nvidia were questioned about dealings with Inspur Group Co Ltd. at an investor conference on Monday. An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment beyond her remarks. An AMD spokesperson did not return a request for additional comment on AMD Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster's remarks made at the same conference.

☆ Exclusive: Nvidia's plans for sales to Huawei imperiled if U.S. tightens Huawei curbs-draft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The logo of Nvidia Corporation is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan May 30, 2017. Nvidia's plans to sell to Huawei have not been previously reported. Reuters could not learn the details of the specific policy change whose impact was being assessed in the report. The report suggested Qualcomm would likely suffer a "moderate economic impact" from the change in policy, in contrast to Huawei. Indeed, the loss of access to Qualcomm's modem chips would have a bigger impact on Huawei, the report forecast, since Huawei "relies heavily on Qualcomm's modem chips to support its smart phone offering."

☆ U.S. outbound investment measure should not be overly broad, Biden official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is considering a pilot program to address risks about outbound investment in China, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday. Anything that's overly broad hurts American workers and the economy." Raimondo told Reuters after the forum that it was not clear when the administration will finalize any outbound investment restrictions. Efforts to incorporate an outbound investment screening plan in legislation failed in Congress last year. Departments of Treasury and Commerce $10 million each to identify what it would take to implement a program to address national security threats from "outbound investment" in certain sectors.

REUTERS/Eric ThayerMarch 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Thursday added 37 companies to a trade blacklist, including units of Chinese genetics company BGI (300676.SZ) and Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur, in a move that promises to further ratchet up tensions with Beijing. The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, added BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hongkong), over allegations that the units pose a "significant risk" to contributing to Chinese government surveillance. The Commerce Department accused Inspur of acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S. goods to support China's military modernization efforts. Commerce added 26 other Chinese entities to the list - which makes it hard for targeted companies to receive shipments of U.S. goods from suppliers. In 2020, the Commerce Department added two units of BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, to its economic blacklist over allegations it conducted genetic analyses used to further the repression of China’s minority Uyghurs.

Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration approved more than $23 billion worth of licenses for companies to ship U.S. goods and technology to blacklisted Chinese companies in the first quarter of 2022, a Republican lawmaker said on Tuesday. The data comes amid growing pressure on the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to further expand a broad crackdown on shipments of sensitive U.S. technology to China from Republican lawmakers, who now control the House of Representatives. The data comes a week after the Biden administration added new Chinese companies to the trade blacklist for aiding Russia’s military and months after announcing a sweeping new policy aimed at dramatically curbing shipments of chips and chipmaking tools to China. Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was added to a trade blacklist known as the entity list by former Republican President Donald Trump in 2019, amid allegations of sanctions violations, spying capabilities, and intellectual property theft. Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Marguerita Choy and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. approved $23 bln worth of licenses to ship U.S. tech to blacklisted Chinese companies early last year- lawmaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration approved more than $23 billion worth of licenses for companies to ship U.S. technology to blacklisted Chinese companies in the first quarter of last year, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul said on Tuesday. McCaul also said the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, denied only 8 percent of license requests to sell to those companies during the January to March period last year. Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. policy allowing some U.S. tech shipments to China’s Huawei “under assessment”- U.S. official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - A Trump administration policy that allowed companies to ship some U.S. technology below the “5G level” to China’s blacklisted telecommunications equipment maker Huawei is “under assessment,” a key U.S. official said on Tuesday. “A licensing rule of the previous administration still stands for Huawei that allows things below 5G, below cloud level, to go, and I will say that all those things are under assessment,” U.S. Commerce Department official Alan Estevez, who oversees export control policy, said at a Congressional hearing. Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. hits Chinese, Russian firms for aiding Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday added Chinese and Russian companies, including Russia's no. 2 mobile phone operator, to a trade blacklist for allegedly supporting the Russian military, deepening its crackdown on Moscow on the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. The moves show President Joe Biden's administration is broadening its efforts to thwart Russia's military, targeting companies globally for helping Moscow evade export restrictions and access key technologies. The U.S. Commerce Department added Public Joint Stock Company Megafon, Russia's second largest mobile phone operator, to its entity list for allegedly "acquiring and attempting to acquire" U.S. technology to support Russia's military. Of the scores of new additions to its trade restriction list, 79 were Russia-based, five are listed under China, and two are based in Canada.

☆ Norway's Pettersen named Europe captain for 2024 Solheim Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Suzann Pettersen will return as captain of the European team at the Solheim Cup in 2024, the Ladies European Tour (LET) announced on Tuesday, with the Norwegian saying the move will offer players "more consistency". Pettersen is already serving as captain for the 2023 European team that will face the United States at the Sept. 22-24 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. "I love the Solheim Cup and it's such a unique honour to be asked to captain Team Europe again in 2024," Pettersen said. Europe are champions after edging the United States 15-13 at Inverness Club in Ohio in 2021 to retain the Solheim Cup. Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, will host the 2024 Solheim Cup.

An Austrian official said that Austrian authorities were monitoring the situation at Raiffeisen and its business in Russia closely because of the bank's importance. Almost a year since Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Raiffeisen is among a handful of European banks that remain in Russia. Raiffeisen made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business. Alternatively, OFAC can also resort to less stringent measures such as levying fines and sending warning letters over sanctions violations. OFAC has sanctioned five major Russian banks, including state-backed Sberbank (SBER.MM) part of a response to that country's invasion of Ukraine, as well as wealthy oligarchs.

☆ What’s in Our Queue? ‘Gudetama’ and More
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

I loved Helen DeWitt’s novel “The Last Samurai” and never want to miss one of her books. I couldn’t resist this slender and beautifully packaged novella, which can be devoured in a sitting and has an unforgettable narrator. Though it’s just around 60 pages, it has a twist or two, and stays with you.

The ban is expected to apply to some investments tied to chip production, two of the sources said. China hawks in Washington blame American investors for transferring capital and valuable know-how to Chinese tech companies that could help advance Beijing's military capabilities. The White House declined to comment and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That could include the long-awaited outbound investment order. Efforts to incorporate an outbound investment screening plan in legislation failed last year in Congress.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationWASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - An American official on Tuesday made the most direct comments by a U.S. authority to date acknowledging the existence of a deal with Japan and the Netherlands for those countries to impose new restrictions on exports of chipmaking tools to China. "But you can certainly talk to our friends in Japan and the Netherlands." The United States in October imposed sweeping export restrictions on shipments of chipmaking tools to China, seeking to hobble Beijing's ability to supercharge its chip industry and enhance its military capabilities. For the restrictions to be effective, though, Washington needed to bring on board the Netherlands and Japan, home to chipmaking powerhouses ASML (ASML.AS) and Tokyo Electron (8035.T), among others. The Commerce Department said in an email it will continue to coordinate on export controls with allies.

☆ U.S. investors have plowed billions into China's AI sector, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

According to the report, 167 U.S. investors took part in 401 transactions, or roughly 17% of the investments into Chinese AI companies in the period. Those transactions represented a total $40.2 billion in investment, or 37% of the total raised by Chinese AI companies in the 6-year period. According to the report, U.S. investor GSR Ventures invested alongside China's IFlytek Co Ltd (002230.SZ) in a Chinese AI company after the speech recognition firm was added to a trade blacklist. Silicon Valley Bank and Wanxiang American Healthcare investments group made investments in Chinese AI firms alongside China's Sensetime before the powerhouse in facial recognition technology was added to the same trade blacklist. Only one Chinese AI company that received funding from U.S. investors is involved in developing AI applications for military or public safety uses, according to CSET.

Search resuls for: "Alexandra A"

25 mentions found