Observe. Think. Chat. Do. Trade. Repeat…
Isaac Asimov 1920 – 1992
This quote suggests that technology can be helpful and convenient, but also dangerous and unpredictable.
It warns us to be careful and responsible with how we use and create technology, as it may have unintended consequences or turn against us.
The U.S. reportedly announced new restrictions on exports of advanced chips to China, including two made-for-China chips from Nvidia.
U.S. chip stocks fell as the curbs also hit Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.
The curbs are aimed at closing loopholes that became apparent after the U.S. announced export curbs on microchips in October 2022. The restrictions are designed to prevent China’s military from importing advanced semiconductors or equipment.
Nvidia has said in a filing that the new export restrictions will block sales of two high-end artificial intelligence chips it created for the Chinese market – A800 and H800. It said that one of its gaming chips will also be blocked.
Although the curbs also affect other chip makers, analysts believe Nvidia will be hit the hardest because China accounts for up to 25% of its revenues from data centre chip sales. Nvidia’s shares, which are considered a star stock, fell by as much as 4.7% in the wake of the announcement.
The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue, said in a statement that the new measures are ‘overly broad‘ and ‘risk harming the U.S. semiconductor structure without advancing national security as they encourage overseas customers to source elsewhere’.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy also said that it ‘firmly opposes‘ the new restrictions, which also target Iran and Russia and go into effect in 30 days.
Two months ago, China retaliated by restricting exports of two materials, gallium and germanium, which are key to the semiconductor industry.
The materials are ‘minor metals‘, meaning that they are not usually found on their own in nature, and are often the by-product of other processes. It’s not only the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands – which is home to key chip equipment maker ASML – have also imposed chip technology export restrictions on China.
The constant ‘fall-out’ between the world’s two biggest economies has raised concerns over the rise of so-called ‘resource nationalism‘ – a practice where governments hoard critical materials to exert influence over other countries.
The UK rate of inflation is stuck at 6.7% for September 2023, the same rate as August 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It means prices are still rising at the same rate as the previous month.
Petrol and diesel costs kept inflation up, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says, but food and non-alcoholic drink prices fell for the first time since September 2021.
Milk, cheese and eggs are among the products that went down the most; the price of household appliances and airfares fell to.
In response to the latest figures, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said, ‘inflation rarely falls in a straight line’. He pledged to stick to the government’s promise to get the main rate of inflation down to 5% by the end of the year.
Thank you for that enlightening comment, Mr Hunt. May I remind you that even if you hit the target the government set of 5% by the end of the year; inflation will still be a whopping 3% above the Bank of England (BoE) original target!
Come on – get your act together! You really should have prepared batter and seen this coming.