Tech, AI and Semiconductor Industry News: Aug Week 1

Tech, AI and Semiconductor Industry News: Aug Week 1

Tech, AI and Semiconductor Industry News: Aug Week 1

1. Business Moves

i. China’s Honor Receives Strong State Support as It Prepares for IPO

Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker previously part of Huawei, received significant backing from local government authorities as it prepares for an IPO. This support includes research and development (R&D) funding, tax breaks, and assistance with overseas expansion, all designed to boost its investor appeal. The Shenzhen government is heavily involved, offering tailored aid such as tax savings, housing support, and financial incentives.

Takeaway: This extraordinary level of government involvement highlights Honor’s critical role in Shenzhen’s economy, especially in stabilising industrial development, boosting exports, and building a comprehensive ecosystem for the smart device industry.

Read the full article about Honor’s preparation for IPO.

 

ii. Malaysia Launches Chip Design Hub to Support Semiconductor Industry

Malaysia has established a chip design hub in Selangor to strengthen its semiconductor industry and attract foreign investments. Traditionally focused on testing and packaging, Malaysia now seeks to enhance its chip design capabilities and transition to higher-value activities. The hub, known as the Malaysia Semiconductor Accelerator and IC Design Park, partners with industry leaders like Cadence Design Systems and Arm Holdings.

Takeaway: The move, which will benefit from the growing demand for data centres, is expected to boost Malaysia’s exports and strengthen its position as a global chip exporter.

Read the full article about Malaysia’s chip design hub.

 

iii. Telkom Indonesia to Find Strategic Investor for Data Centre Business

Telkom Indonesia, the country’s state-owned communication giant, has engaged Goldman Sachs and Mandiri Sekuritas to help find a strategic investor for its data centre business, NeutraDC. The data centre business could be valued at over $1 billion. NeutraDC, a subsidiary of Telkom, operates many data centres, including global and edge facilities, and is expanding its footprint with new hyperscale data centres in Indonesia.

Takeaway: The valuation and Telkom’s move reflect the growing interest and investment in data centres across Asia fuelled by the artificial intelligence boom.

Read the full article about Telkom’s search for a strategic investor.

 

2. AI Developments

i. Alibaba Creates Sora-Based Video Generation Tool

Alibaba is advancing its efforts in artificial intelligence (AI) by developing a new video-generating tool called Tora based on the open-source Sora model from OpenAI. Tora uses an innovative architecture to generate videos that accurately follow specified trajectories, blending text, images, and video inputs.

Takeaway: The move reflects Alibaba’s broader push to solidify its position in the rapidly growing AI video sector, joining other Chinese tech companies in this competitive field.

Read the full paid article about Alibaba’s Sora-based tool.

 

ii. ByteDance Enters Sora Market with Jimeng AI App

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is entering the growing market for AI-driven text-to-video services in mainland China with its new app, Jimeng. This app, similar to OpenAI’s Sora, allows users to create images and videos from text prompts. Jimeng was recently made available on Apple’s mainland App Store and local Android app stores, following a desktop version release in May. The app’s capabilities have shown mixed results in tests.

Takeaway: The rollout of Jimeng highlights ByteDance’s strategic focus on expanding its AI capabilities. It also reflects a broader trend where major tech companies are investing heavily in generative AI to capture new market opportunities in content creation.

Read the full paid article about Bytedance’s Jimeng app.

 

iii. AI Chip Startup Groq Valued at $2.8b After Recent Funding Round

Semiconductor startup Groq recently raised $640 million in a Series D funding round, bringing its valuation to $2.8 billion. Groq specialises in AI inference chips and is positioning itself as a competitor to Nvidia in the AI chip market. The company has adapted Meta’s large language model, LLaMA, to run on its chips instead of Nvidia’s, showing its potential to rival established players. Groq plans to use the new funding to scale its tokens-as-a-service (TaaS) offering and enhance its cloud capabilities, with a significant expansion planned by 2025. They’ve also strengthened their leadership team by appointing industry veterans from Intel and Meta.

Read the full article about Groq’s funding.

 

3. People Moves: Anthropic

Anthropic: John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, has left the company to join its competitor Anthropic, citing a desire to focus more on AI alignment and return to hands-on technical work. This move is part of a broader trend of significant personnel changes at OpenAI, including:

  • Sabbatical: President Greg Brockman.
  • Exit: Product manager Peter Deng, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and founding member Andrej Karpathy.
  • Role Reassignment: AI safety leader Aleksander Madry.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who was also a co-founder, has also revived a lawsuit against OpenAI, criticising the company’s prioritisation of profits over public good.

Read the full article about Schulman’s departure from OpenAI.

 

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Image Sources:

  • Tubefilter
  • John Schulman
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