New: Chinese firms aim to install ~115,000 advanced Nvidia chips in dozens of AI data centers. Construction is underway. DeepSeek wants to collaborate
What’s unclear is how they plan to get hardware that the US has effectively banned from sale to China
🧵https://t.co/R9MhZhK5RR
& this one was with great colleagues in the Bloomberg newsroom
I'm gonna go back to being off this website now but if you have info on travel restrictions in China — or other tips, Qs, complaints (be nice) — I'm @/mackhawk.71 on Signal. DM for WeChat
https://t.co/aZ6Ez7NjPq
I’ve covered a lot of DC debates over what AI chip policy *should be*
But this week, the argument is over what the policy *has been*
Paywall-free explanation of the Nvidia China loophole drama: https://t.co/dHe2bZGcEP
& free links to other China-getting-Nvidia-chips stuff:
The Thai AI firm allegedly involved in the Super Micro smuggling scandal: https://t.co/knySpS0v2g
Taiwan's first attempt to crack down on chip diversion, the (possibly first) case focused on Japan: https://t.co/1nPOTUJUOE
New: Records filed with Chinese regulators suggest a little-known computing company procured hundreds of Super Micro servers with banned Nvidia H100/H200 chips
The firm is the parent of one of Nvidia’s few official cloud partners in China
Free to read: https://t.co/1ypoZB0z5H
I’m not on this site much these days, but I’m always happy to talk about chips on Signal @/mackhawk.71. I treat messages there as off record unless agreed otherwise & take source protection very seriously
Here's the free link to our Megaspeed story
12/12
https://t.co/lybxtaARYa
New: Nvidia’s biggest Southeast Asian partner imported tens of thousands more AI chips than Nvidia saw in its data centers, told potential investors about a “specific area” facility in an unnamed country — & has something of a Chinese corporate twin
1/ https://t.co/lybxtaARYa
There's a lot more in our piece, which is free to read for a week. It was a big team effort with @imandylin2, @KariSoo1, @villeheiskanen & many others
This story isn't just about export controls enforcement. It's also about underlying policy — for China & everywhere else
11/
Scoop: OpenAI is seeking to build a massive new data center in India that could mark a major step forward in Asia for its Stargate-branded artificial intelligence infrastructure push https://t.co/jzcKTjGJAl with @mackhawk
Lutnick confirmed talks between the admin & Intel for the US to take a stake in the chipmaker, casting the plan as a bid to turn Chips Act grants into equity
“It’s not governance, we’re just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity,” Lutnick told CNBC. “Non-voting.”
Trump admin is in talks for a 10% stake in Intel that would involve converting some/all of the company’s Chips Act grants into equity. Nothing finalized
Intel has been in line for $7.9b in grants for commercial manufacturing & $3b for military production https://t.co/U7nk08XiMW
New: Intel is hemorrhaging cash. It wants $ from the Chips Act, up to an $8.5b grant & $11b loan, ASAP
Right now the company & Biden admin are stuck in a holding pattern — with no guarantee of when, or if, that money will be disbursed
🧵& free link: https://t.co/F3aZH4rfy7
Trump admin is in talks for a 10% stake in Intel that would involve converting some/all of the company’s Chips Act grants into equity. Nothing finalized
Intel has been in line for $7.9b in grants for commercial manufacturing & $3b for military production https://t.co/U7nk08XiMW