Unanswered Questions in the Aftermath of Fatal BMW Crash
By Colin Barnden
What’s at stake?
Who ensures the public’s safety when automakers test experimental automated driving technology on public roads? The answer may actually be nobody.
Opinion
Road Test Using ‘Live’ Kids Exposes AV Absurdity
Last weekend, a handful of Muskovite vigilantes used their children as guinea pigs to prove that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) functions are unlikely to mow down a small child crossing the road.
This dubious effort by amateur Tesla testers was triggered by a video clip posted on Twitter by Taylor Ogan, CEO of Snow Bull Capital, a technology hedge fund (see below). It showed a Tesla obliterating a child-size crash dummy on a test course.
Read More »Road Test Using ‘Live’ Kids Exposes AV Absurdity
Intel Should Adopt Pure-Play Foundry Model
To succeed as a viable manufacturer of semiconductors, a supply chain expert argues Intel Corp. should redirect resources from its chip R&D and design operations to instead focus on its foundry operations.
Read More »Intel Should Adopt Pure-Play Foundry Model
Their Credibility Shaken, Can AV Companies Recover?
What’s at stake?
As AV crashes on public roads pile up, public skepticism grows. The crisis the AV industry faces involves public safety, not public relations. Can any AV company prove—with evidence—how safe at this moment their vehicles are?
Tough Questions for Intel CEO and Its Board
By Bolaji Ojo
If Intel Corp. is to successfully complete its promised $200 billion-plus fab investment over the next decade it will need more than the $10 billion to $15 billion in seed funding analysts expect it to receive from the U.S. CHIPS Act passed recently by Congress.
Read More »Tough Questions for Intel CEO and Its Board
Beware the Semiconductor ‘Bullwhip Effect’
By Peter Clarke
Over the last few years, with strong IC demand exceeding supply, wafer fab operators have put the pedal to the metal with major capital expenditures.
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First, Semiconductors. Then, an Innovation Road Map
If the tortured debate over funding a revival of American semiconductor manufacturing is any indication, then the United States is far from forging a badly needed technology innovation strategy.
Read More »First, Semiconductors. Then, an Innovation Road Map
SAE’s Driving Automation Standard Is Not a Road Map
Level 5 is a fantasy destination for now, and consumers don’t even want to go there. Luckily there’s an alternative route to demonstrable automation competency.
China and the Turn of the Deep-UV Screw
By Peter Clarke
Reports that the United States is pressuring the Netherlands to withhold export licenses for deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment ratchets up the U.S.-China trade/cold war that has been growing in intensity since 2018.
Read More »China and the Turn of the Deep-UV Screw
U.S. CHIPS Act: Here’s Why and What Congress Should Swiftly Approve
By Bolaji Ojo
The U.S. CHIPS Act is languishing in Congress. But it can pass in the next weeks if the right actions are taken and if proponents offer the concessions that lawmakers can justify to the electorate.
Advocates of the $52 billion bill know exactly why it is stuck: there is tenuous support for it in both chambers. The support is especially lukewarm in the Senate where some members are wary of handing out billions to support an industry crying wolf even as it spends huge sums on share buybacks, stock dividends and executive compensations.
Read More »U.S. CHIPS Act: Here’s Why and What Congress Should Swiftly Approve