U.S. silicon photonics chip startup Ayar Labs gets AI funding boost

By Jane Lanhee Lee OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – Silicon Valley chip startup Ayar Labs raised another $25 million after its latest funding round closed, as demand has increased for faster, more energy-efficient computing for artificial intelligence applications, the company said on Wednesday. The funding will be used to accelerate commercialization of Ayar Labs’ silicon photonics…

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World balance sheet may need AI-style productivity leap: Mike Dolan

By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) -Hype or hope, this year’s boom in artificial intelligence along with other productivity-enhancing tech developments may be one of few ways to sustain an increasingly fragile “global balance sheet” over coming decades. There is little doubt about the market heat, corporate alarm and social anxieties created in the mere six…

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China was reducing Micron chip purchases years before ban

By Eduardo Baptista BEIJING (Reuters) – In the years before China declared U.S. firm Micron Technology’s products a national security risk, authorities were already scaling back purchases of its chips, opting instead for domestic or South Korean options, documents showed. A Reuters review of over a hundred public government tenders found that while previously Chinese…

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Factbox-US-China tensions intensify over tech to Taiwan flashpoints

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A U.S. lawmaker’s demand for trade curbs on a Chinese memory chipmaker in response to China calling products from Micron Technology a national security risk is the latest escalation of tension between the big powers. The United States and China have been tussling over a range of issues, from Taiwan to technology,…

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Chinese hackers attacked Kenyan government as debt strains grew

By Aaron Ross, James Pearson and Christopher Bing NAIROBI (Reuters) -Chinese hackers targeted Kenya’s government in a widespread, years-long series of digital intrusions against key ministries and state institutions, according to three sources, cybersecurity research reports and Reuters’ own analysis of technical data related to the hackings. Two of the sources assessed the hacks to…

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Sony says independent player status paying off in streaming war

By Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Group Corp said on Wednesday that its status as an independent provider of content to streaming services is paying off at a time when platform operators are coming under pressure to demonstrate profitability. “Our decision years ago to stay out of the crowded general streaming space and instead…

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China’s Micron ban ‘not based in fact,’ White House says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Chinese government’s recent ban on U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology over security concerns is “not based in fact,” the White House said on Tuesday. The Biden administration is troubled by Beijing’s recent actions and by raids targeting American firms, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. The White House is communicating…

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