In case you were wondering how the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company became the dominant force in global chip production, we’ve got you covered.
TSMC’s journey from a low-key player to a linchpin of the global economy is explored by Kathrin Hille in Shanhua, southern Taiwan, where the company’s success has triggered a property boom.
The once-shabby rural town will be the home of the world’s most-advanced chip factory, where TSMC plans to make 3 nanometre chips, semiconductors expected to be up to 70 per cent faster and more power-efficient than the most advanced in production now and which will be used in devices from smartphones to supercomputers.
As a result, land prices on adjacent sites have nearly tripled.
Over in the US, Intel has plans of its own to make up for lost ground, having falling behind its Asian competitors such as Samsung and TSMC. It announced it will spend $20bn to build two new semiconductor factories in Arizona as part of an ambitious strategy that includes launching a new service to make computer chips for other companies.
The plan, reports Patrick McGee, demonstrates Intel’s commitment to build the majority of its own chips, ending any discussion that it should withdraw from manufacturing.
The Internet of (Five) Things
1. The anti-vaxx dirty dozen
Facebook, Google and Twitter are being urged to ban 12 people who, research suggests, are responsible for about two-thirds of online anti-vaccine content, among them Robert F Kennedy Jr and the alternative medicine entrepreneur Joseph Mercola. The Center for Countering Digital Hate said all three companies were failing to satisfactorily enforce their own policies. Perhaps we’ll learn more when they testify in front of US Congress about extremism and misinformation tomorrow.
2. Chinese tech giants face scrutiny
Antitrust regulation appears to be the next big trend in policymaking from the Chinese Communist party (CCP), perhaps a sign that tech giants’ business models are working a little too well, says Lex. Over the past six months, the State Administration for Market Regulation has gone from ignoring the booming tech industry to criticising companies including Meituan and Tencent, but the voice of China’s consumers is absent, writes Yuan Yang in Beijing. Meanwhile, Tencent’s chief executive Pony Ma has confirmed the company is “actively co-operating” with authorities.
3. TikTok’s owner takes on Tencent too
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is on a spending spree to expand beyond its video app by branching into gaming. In doing so, it is taking on the world’s largest gaming company, Tencent. Its latest purchase is Moonton, a Shanghai-based studio set up by a former Tencent staffer.
4. Sky Bet and data collection
As the popularity of gambling apps grows, so too are concerns about how companies may track and profile its customers, particularly those who may be dealing with addiction. This report from the New York Times tells the story of one problem gambler who requested his personal data from Sky Bet and was alarmed to receive a detailed file that included bank records and an “intimate portrait” of his habits.
5. GameStop’s ecommerce boost
The video games retailer, whose shares were the subject of a day-trading frenzy, has recorded its first quarterly increase in same-store sales in two years thanks to a healthy bump in online revenue sales over the Christmas period.
Tech tools — The Ground News Blindspotter
Considering I’ve been playing with it all day, it would be remiss of me not to direct your attention to the Ground News Blindspotter. In an increasingly partisan world, news comparison site Ground News has invited Twitter users to test whether they have a blind spot when it comes to the political leaning of their news consumption. Here’s how it works: You stick in your Twitter handle and the Blindspotter analyses your account and tells you to what extent you lean left or right (or stand firmly in the centre) based on the news organisations you engage with. The fun/frightening part is that you can enter any Twitter handle and as well as seeing the top three news sources for that account, you can view its top three “news influencers”. The tool went viral on Wednesday morning following its launch yesterday and was very quickly at capacity. Now a few hours have passed, try it for yourself here.
"chips" - Google News
March 25, 2021 at 02:58AM
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When the chips are down - Financial Times
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