Followers of Elon Musk didn’t know what to expect from his trip to China. Would he speak about Tesla, a company with a large market and manufacturing footprint there? Or SpaceX, with its symbiotic relationship with the American state? Or even Twitter, the social network he bought because “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy”? The one thing no one expected: silence. Musk sent his last tweet late on Monday night. The uncharacteristic hiatus was broken only on Thursday morning when he returned to the US and wrote…
Tag: Technology sector
Biden trade curbs on China risk huge damage to US tech sector, says Nvidia chief
The US risks causing “enormous damage” to its tech industry if it continues restrictions on trade with China, according to the chief executive of the chipmaker Nvidia. Jensen Huang said curbs introduced by the Biden administration, which include restricting the export to China of advanced chips made with US technology, had left the business with “our hands tied behind our back”. In an interview with the Financial Times, Huang said: “If [China] can’t buy from … the United States, they’ll just build it themselves. So the US has to be careful.…
China bans US chipmaker Micron from vital infrastructure projects
The Chinese government has told operators of important infrastructure in the country to stop buying products from the US chipmaker Micron Technology. Its products carry “serious network security risks” that pose hazards to China’s information infrastructure and affect national security, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement on its website. The move is the latest example of tensions between the US and China over technology, after a US ban on using the social video app TikTok on government phones and restrictions imposed by Washington on the export of…
‘We in the west were blinded’: China crackdown on business has Maoist roots
To many western investors, China under president Xi Jinping is a tough nut to crack. While Chinese leaders insist that they welcome foreign investment, the ruling party’s extension of control to companies, with crackdowns on domestic tech giants and more recently the “anti-spying” raids on consulting firms, including America’s blue chip Bain & Company, are puzzling to the outside world. Chris Marquis, author and professor of Chinese management at the University of Cambridge, believes that part of the explanation lies in the ruling party’s ideology. He says one must “dig…
UK’s £1bn strategy for semiconductor industry lacks ambition, say critics
The UK government has announced an investment of up to £1bn in the domestic semiconductor industry, but has been criticised for declining to join the spending race that has seen the US and EU announce significantly bigger programmes. Labour accused the government of lacking ambition in its announcement, while one UK startup said the £1bn figure was less than the cost of one basic semiconductor plant. The UK’s long-awaited national semiconductor strategy would focus on the country’s existing strengths in the technology. Semiconductors, or microchips, are the “brains” of electronic…
The Guardian view on US-China chip wars: no winners in zero-sum battles | Editorial
Rishi Sunak is readying a billion pounds to subsidise the UK’s fledgling microchip industry. It sounds big. But the British government is merely reacting to US economic warfare against China. Behind the talk of “friendshoring” and resurgent industrial policy is a struggle to avoid collateral damage in the battle between China and the US for tech supremacy. The EU plans almost to match the US promise of $52bn (£42bn) in chip subsidies. India is spending $30bn (£25bn) on its semiconductor mission. Mr Sunak looks to be bringing a peashooter to…
Missing Chinese billionaire banker Bao Fan assisting authorities in investigation, company says
The Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan, who was reported missing 10 days ago, is cooperating with Chinese authorities conducting an investigation, a China-based boutique bank has said. It is the first time China Renaissance Holdings has given a reason for the disappearance of its founder and chairman, though no details about the investigation were shared. “The board would like to reiterate that the business and operations of the group are continuing normally,” the bank said in the exchange filing on Sunday. Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that authorities took…
China to take ‘golden shares’ in tech firms Alibaba and Tencent
China is to take “golden shares” in two of its biggest tech companies, Alibaba and Tencent, as Beijing extends its influence on the country’s star tech firms and its most powerful and wealthy business people. Beijing’s move marks a shift away from imposing hefty fines and sanctions in its two-year tech crackdown, which was launched after Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, criticised regulators, The crackdown has proved tumultuous for Chinese tech firms, with billions wiped off their value, and moves including blocking the flotation of Ma’s financial services firm, Ant Group,…
Newport semiconductor factory: ‘Losing these jobs would be devastating’
The clean room in Newport, south Wales, is the size of a football field, but in the industry they call it a ballroom. Workers in full bodysuits move silicon wafers from one end to another in a series of careful steps. The 20cm slices of silicon are rigorously cleaned in chemical baths before light is used to draw precise patterns that are then etched out. It all takes place in an orange gloom to prevent light-sensitive chemicals from reacting. After robots and people test for defects, the owner Nexperia ships…
China braces for wave of workers fleeing iPhone factory in Covid-hit Zhengzhou
Cities in central China have hastily drawn up plans to isolate migrant workers fleeing to their home towns from the country’s largest iPhone factory, amid fears they will spread coronavirus after leaving the plant in Covid-hit Zhengzhou. Videos shared on Chinese social media showed people who are allegedly workers at the Foxconn plant climbing over fences and carrying their belongings along a road. It was previously reported that a number of workers had been placed under quarantine because of an outbreak of the disease. Foxconn, a supplier to Apple that…