Baidu – ERNIE 1.0

The real ERNIE 1.0. Baidu rolled out the latest version of its ERNIE chatbot which is a great improvement over previous versions and in my opinion, is what the company wanted to launch back in March but was simply not ready. Instead, like Google, it had to rush to market with something to demonstrate that China was not being left...

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USA vs. China – No loophole

Nanoimprint lithography unlikely to solve anyone’s problems. Canon has announced that it will begin selling an alternative technology for advanced semiconductors that I suspect is unlikely to see a lot of traction in the market or help China circumvent the restrictions that have been placed upon it. After many years of development, Canon is ready to start selling a lithography...

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Short pause – Cost of business travel.

RFM has contracted a mild illness from the last three weeks of travel. RFM Intends to return on Monday, October 16th.    

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Samsung Q3 2023 – Bottom canary pt. II.

More results to support the notion of a bottom. Samsung’s preliminary results came in better than expected adding weight to the possibility that the inventory correction is coming to an end which will allow revenues on consumer electronics to stabilise. Preliminary Q3 2023 revenues / EBIT were KRW67tn / KRW2.4tn which were in line with expectations but crucially, were better...

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Artificial Intelligence – Regulatory debate pt. III.

Regulation will be better if targeted at people, not machines. Governments and regulators are moving to impose regulations on Artificial Intelligence but a lack of understanding on their part may mean that regulation ends up destroying most of the value that large language models bring. Furthermore, their requirements for certainty could easily lead to certain functionalities being simply lobotomised resulting...

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TSMC – Bottom canary.

TSMC Q3 23 revenue signals a potential bottom. TSMC reported its monthly sales for September implying that Q3 2023 revenues have declined by less than expected giving me some hope that the decline in the smartphone market may be drawing to a close. Implied Q3 2023 revenues were NT$546.7bn which was ahead of consensus of NT$531.5 but still represented a...

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Google – Chronic affliction.

Google still hides its light under a bush. Google held its Made by Google 2023 event where it once again demonstrated some great innovation which would work much better if it was in a device made by Samsung device rather than Google. However, both companies continue to be afflicted with chronic engineering disease meaning that Apple will remain pretty much...

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Meta Platforms – Priced to fail.

Meta doesn’t expect anyone to pay for Instagram. Meta’s proposal to charge $10.5 per month for Instagram looks deliberately priced to fail creating a strong incentive for users in the EU to explicitly allow targeted advertising which will also test just how valuable the service is to its users. Meta Platforms is currently embroiled in negotiations with the EU with...

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Apple, Google & Microsoft – Always searching.

No solution to Google Search. Court documents confirm that while Apple would love to become self-sufficient in a number of core technologies, there are a number of areas where it will remain dependent on others for the foreseeable future. As part of the Department of Justice’s (DOC) suit against Google, documents are coming to light that demonstrate just how much...

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Meta Platforms – Dial M pt. III

Here we go again. Even though the launch of a chatbot is a rinse and repeat of 2017’s Facebook M (see here), Meta Platforms’ complete dominance of the open-source community puts it in a powerful position with developers. Meta Platforms made three big announcements at its Connect 2023 conference, all of which involve AI (of course). First, chatbot is not dissimilar...

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