Artificial Intelligence – Magic Money Tree

Money grows on trees until it doesn’t. Capital continues to pour into the AI sector with very little attention being paid to company fundamentals in a sure sign that when the music stops there will not be many chairs available. The latest sign of this reckless abandonment is the fact that Cohere is able to raise money at a valuation...

Apple AI – From Zero

Almost anything will be an improvement. The scene is set for WWDC to be the launchpad for Apple’s ambitions in AI and given its history in this area, almost anything will represent a significant improvement. To be fair to Apple, its products already use AI but it’s the sort of AI that runs in the background which makes the user...

Electric Vehicles – Last man Standing

Lucid likely to be the survivor. The combination of economic pressure on consumers and brutal competition from China makes it very clear that the EV shakeout will continue, and I think that Lucid will be the last man standing but only as a private company. A series of factors including cost, charging and immaturity is causing demand for EVs to...

China vs. USA – Economics is Everything

China blocks the USA with no viable alternative. China has moved to remove Intel and AMD from its data centres but with Huawei and the rest of the semiconductor struggling to come up with a viable alternative, China’s technology sector may take yet another hit from this move. On December 26th China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued...

USA vs. Apple – Legal Eagle.

There is a case to answer but it will be hard to prove. There is little doubt in my mind that over the years Apple has engaged in some questionable competitive practices, but conclusively proving that Apple has harmed consumers through its practices will be difficult to prove. The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal...

Google & Apple – Desperate bedfellow

Discussions do not mean a deal. A deal with Google to provide generative AI services for the Apple ecosystem would be a desperate move because Apple would be at risk of ceding more of the value in its ecosystem to Google which will not be easily taken back. The New York Times has added its voice to Bloomberg’s in terms...

Nvidia GTC 2024 Day 2 – Picks and shovels

An exhibition of where the real money will be made. The exhibition floor of GTC is all about bringing products and services (all powered by Nvidia obviously) to market which is a reflection of Nvidia’s approach to provide the tools to bring whatever works now to market and worry about the rest later. The COVID pandemic conclusively proved that online...

Nvidia GTC 2024 Day 1 – Entrenchment

Nvidia knows exactly what it is doing. Nvidia once again distanced itself from its rivals revealing yet more hardware advances and new features for its platforms that aim to increase the degree of its entrenchment which will support its revenues and gross margins for some time yet. The highlights were: First, Blackwell: which replaces Hopper and once again puts Nvidia...

China vs. USA – Tit for Tat pt. III.

Tit for tat battle spreads to automotive. A switch by Chinese OEMs to Chinese semiconductor suppliers in the Chinese automotive industry is unlikely to have much impact beyond media headlines but represents a great opportunity for MediaTek to pick up business for its new automotive products. The Chinese state is asking EV makers to source semiconductors for their vehicles from...

China vs. USA – The TikTok War pt. III.

TikTok makes the USA’s case for it. The chances of TikTok coming under severe pressure have increased with the passage of the bill through the House of Representatives and with TikTok’s recent actions offering a clear demonstration as to why the bill has been put together in the first place. The bill gives ByteDance 180 days to divest TikTok to...