Intel hasn't changed its mind about building plants in Ohio and Germany despite the downturn in the industry - but it may cut its project budget

This week the pages of the Intel corporate blog featured a post by Keyvan Esfarjani, executive vice president in charge of manufacturing operations for the corporation around the world.
He tried to reassure investors that deteriorating macroeconomic conditions would not force Intel to abandon its plans to build new facilities in the U.S.
and Europe, although he acknowledged that funding for these projects should be carried out in proportion to projected demand.Source image: IntelThe main idea of the message of the Intel representative was that the company should already prepare for the future growth in demand for semiconductor products.
It takes three to five years to build a plant and equip it with the necessary equipment, and the company simply cannot afford to ignore future market demands.
Intel's management shares the experts' optimism, predicting an average semiconductor market turnover growth rate of 5 percent a year by the end of the decade.
By the end of the forecast period, the market capacity should double to $1 trillion, so the company considers it necessary to invest in the construction of new enterprises, even now, when the current situation is not favorable to it.The second important idea, which broadcasts the executive vice president of Intel - the need for geographical diversification of chip production.
With 80% of capacity concentrated in one tiny region (meaning Taiwan), semiconductor manufacturing is very vulnerable, according to Intel.
Reportedly, this week the company acquired ownership of a piece of land in Magdeburg where a chip packaging and testing facility will be built, and eventually a second one will appear.
The company has also signed a contract with Bechtel, a construction contractor that will start building new Intel facilities in Ohio.
Here, the corporation expects to master mass production of chips using Intel 18A technology by 2025, with the U.S.
Defense Department mentioned among the first customers.
At the first stage, Intel expects to invest at least $20 billion at this site.
A management representative made it clear that the company will work closely with German and Ohio state authorities to determine when and how much funding is needed for the relevant projects.
Intel in this regard is going to be guided by the needs of the market and plan its major expenditures wisely.

TSMC will build another plant in Arizona for $12 billion - 3-nm chips will be produced there

Taiwan's TSMC is preparing to implement another project with multi-billion dollar investments - the company intends to expand the chip factory under construction in Arizona (USA).
In the coming months, the chipmaker plans to announce the construction of an advanced factory north of Phoenix, next to the already under construction facilities that were announced in 2020.
The volume of investments, according to some reports, will be the same as 2 years ago - $ 12 billion.Image source: Maxence Pira/unsplash.comThe company began to actively develop chip production in the U.S.
after Washington has promised semiconductor manufacturers all sorts of grants and incentives for the construction of enterprises on American soil.
Future plant TSMC will produce chips in accordance with the 3-nm process, one of the most advanced to date.In TSMC said that the official ceremony of installation of the first batch of equipment for the manufacture of chips at the first plant in Arizona will be held in December - the beginning of construction was announced two years ago and the beginning of production is scheduled for 2024.
While previously the company was going to produce 5-nm chips in Arizona, now we are talking about more advanced 4-nm variants.
Mass production should begin in 2024.
The timing of commissioning of the second plant is still unknown.The expansion indirectly indicates the manufacturers' optimism about the demand for semiconductors in the long term, even against the backdrop of disappointing market indicators for the current year.
Demand for some chips collapsed after two years of rapid growth during the pandemic, during which demand for computer hardware and electronics skyrocketed.
Many companies, including TSMC, had to go into savings mode and cut capital spending in the short term.Despite the downturn in the industry, semiconductor company executives still expect that in the next decade, global sales will exceed $1 trillion, so intensive investment in manufacturing infrastructure continues, especially since such plans in recent years are actively supported by the United States and Europe, hoping to move the \"center of power\" semiconductor industry from Asia.
Intel and Micron are also trying to save money in the short term, while investing heavily in future projects based on strong demand.This year, the U.S.
has distributed grants for chip production in the amount of $39 billion; the funds themselves will be allocated from next year.
In addition, it also provides tax incentives for equipment for the production of semiconductors.
Europe also intends to increase its production share in the global market of semiconductors up to 20% by 2030.
Large plants typically take several years to build and equip, so companies must make investment decisions in advance.Image source: Robert Murray/unsplash.comThe enormous subsidies in the US and Europe for chip production are a reflection of political leaders realizing their critical importance in the military and civilian sectors.
The active development of the relevant industry in China has caused deep concern in the West, after which the U.S.
stopped promoting the idea of freedom of market relations and imposed tough sanctions on Chinese companies, which include a ban on both exports to the country of advanced chips and equipment for their production.In addition, the United States and its allies are concerned that the most advanced technologies of semiconductors are concentrated in Taiwan, an island that China considers part of its territory.
It is known that in addition to the U.S., TSMC is considering expanding production in Japan and allows the construction of a multibillion-dollar plant in Singapore.

Samsung and TSMC are facing a ban on the sale of their components and electronics in the United States

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) intends to launch an investigation against Samsung and TSMC related to alleged infringement of the companies' patent rights related to chips and mobile devices based on them.
Source image: SamsungThe USITC said the agency is launching an investigation based on a complaint filed in September by New York-based Daedalus Prime LLC.
The complaint alleges a possible violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, adopted to protect U.S.
businesses from foreign competitors.
The complaint is reportedly related to chips manufactured by Samsung using 14nm and newer technologies as well as chips manufactured by TSMC using 16nm and smaller technology.
The investigation will also cover smartphones, tablets and smart watches that use such semiconductors.
In other words, there could be a huge array of cutting-edge electronics involved.
In fact, the lawsuit demands to block the import and sale of all the patent-infringing products mentioned in the complaint.
A separate complaint is reportedly filed by the same company against Qualcomm.According to media reports, Daedalus Prime is a classic patent troll, owning a number of rights to products or processes without any intention of manufacturing or implementing them.
Such companies make money by licensing out technologies they have acquired in various ways or by filing lawsuits.
The case in question is Intel technology, the rights to which Daedalus Prime acquired earlier this year.Apparently, so far, these are only a few of the investigations initiated by the USITC at Daedalus Prime's initiative.
It is assumed that the company intends to make technobusinesses pay for the use of technologies, once patented by Intel - otherwise they will be threatened with a ban on the import of electronics in the United States.
However, while the USITC said that it had not yet made any decisions related to these complaints.
The agency intends to review the materials and evidence and establish the violation of Section 377 in the manner prescribed by law.Meanwhile, a few months ago, Intel announced the availability of another batch of about 5000 of its patents.
These are technologies whose rights have not yet expired, but which are no longer cutting edge.
Nevertheless, they can still bring Intel some income.

In Europe, the prices of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards were much higher than in the U.S.- the cheapest one will cost €1099

NVIDIA before the announcement of graphics cards GeForce RTX 40-series reduced the recommended prices for previous generation graphics cards in Europe (for example, GeForce RTX 3090 became cheaper by €350).
At the same time the company significantly raised the price of graphics cards GeForce RTX 40-series compared to its predecessors, and in Europe, the price increase was much more significant than in the U.S.
Source image: NVIDIA The recommended prices in the U.S.
for GeForce RTX 4090, RTX 4080 16GB and RTX 4080 12GB models are $1,599, $1,199 and $899 (excluding VAT).
By comparison, at the launch of sales the GeForce RTX 3080 10GB video card in the U.S.
was priced at $699.
It turns out that the most affordable version of the GeForce RTX 4080 is $200 more expensive than its predecessor.
In turn, the GeForce RTX 4080 16GB in the U.S.
was $400 more expensive than the GeForce RTX 3080 12GB.
And the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 is valued at $ 100 more expensive than the GeForce RTX 3090, but at the same time for $ 400 cheaper than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.The situation with the recommended prices in Europe is much worse.
For example, in Germany the most affordable videocard of a new generation - GeForce RTX 4080 12GB - is evaluated by NVIDIA at 1099 euros (which is about the same as $1090)! In turn, GeForce RTX 4080 16GB and GeForce RTX 4090 got recommended prices of 1469 and 1949 euros respectively.Of course, German prices include VAT, which is 19%.
However, in the past, European prices were not that much different from American prices.
For example, the already mentioned GeForce RTX 3080 10GB got a recommended price tag of 719 euros in Germany.
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti was sold in the U.S.
and Germany for the same price of 1199, the only difference is that in the U.S.
it was dollars, and in Germany - the euro.But now the difference has become huge - the European were more than 20% higher than the American.
And this applies not only to Germany, but to all of Europe.
For example in Poland the cheapest video card of new generation is valued at 5,299 zlotys or 1,117 euros according to the current exchange rate.

Intel intends to fight the U.S.semiconductor industry's staffing hunger decisively

Yesterday's announcement by Intel executives to allocate $50 million for research and training in Ohio for the current decade had good reason to be alive.
The U.S.
Department of Commerce estimates that there are now only 66 available workers for every 100 open jobs in the country.
With the development of U.S.
semiconductor industry the need for personnel will be measured by 280 thousand jobs, so Intel intends to actively fund educational programs.Image source: IntelThe allocation of $50 million to the appropriate needs of the state of Ohio is not limited to, as explained by representatives of the corporation.
Another $50 million over the next ten years will be spent on developing educational initiatives around the country, and an additional $50 million will come in the form of federal grants.
The package of laws supporting the semiconductor industry and science, signed by the US president recently, was designed to subsidize research and training at a cost of $13.2 billion.
Intel alone is planning to hire up to 6,700 highly skilled professionals in Ohio, Arizona and New Mexico in the coming years.
Thousands of jobs will appear in Oregon, and given the extensive ecosystem of partners and suppliers, the number of new jobs will run into the tens of thousands.
Intel officials in this context recall a statement by former chairman Andy Grove: \"The ingredient we start with is sand.
Everything else is values created by people\".Already in the coming years, Intel in cooperation with the U.S.
National Science Foundation will spend $10 million to train qualified personnel for the semiconductor industry.
It will cover colleges that provide two years of professional training, as well as universities with a four-year training program.
Special attention, in the spirit of the times, will be given to training women and various kinds of minorities not historically represented in the industry.
By 2030, Intel intends to increase the percentage of women in technical positions to 40 percent.
According to the company, if nothing is done now to train the workforce, it could result in an industry-wide loss of $1 trillion at the end of the decade, and the number of unfilled jobs in the U.S.
could rise to 2.1 million positions.

Intel inaugurated construction of two plants in Ohio - they will start producing advanced chips by 2025

U.S.
authorities' delay in approving a $52 billion package of legislation to subsidize the construction of semiconductor facilities in the country has delayed Intel's schedule for building two facilities in Ohio somewhat, but only on a ceremonial level.
The president of the United States, the governor of the state and the head of Intel attended the ceremony this week.Image source: IntelAccording to a press release on Intel's website, other officials of various levels attended the grand opening ceremony for the Ohio site.
While Intel's intentions to spend $20 billion to build facilities in Ohio have long been known, this week the company emphasized a related educational initiative.
As clarified, it will allocate $50 million over ten years to core educational programs in Ohio that will cover more than 80 institutions in the state.
Over the next three years alone, Intel will allocate $17.7 million to support research and educational programs, which will be distributed among eight academic institutions in Ohio.Over the next three years, this program will provide training for about 9,000 graduates, and 2,300 students will become recipients of targeted scholarships.
About 7,000 people will be employed directly in the construction of plants in Ohio, and in the long term, they will provide jobs for about 3,000 skilled professionals.
As Intel representatives once again stressed, the company's two new facilities in Ohio will focus not only on manufacturing products for its own needs, but will also serve the interests of third-party customers.
Earlier it was explained, that it will be in Ohio, where advanced lithographic scanners ASML with high value of numerical aperture, which in the future will allow to produce products with Intel 18A technology.
It will allow Intel to regain technological leadership in lithography by the middle of the decade.
In addition to its own products, Intel is already considering making advanced products in Ohio for several customers.
Most likely, the talk is about representatives of defense industry interested in getting American-made products that meet the latest criteria.Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger thanked representatives from the U.S.
Presidential Administration, Congress and state leadership for their assistance in the company's effort to \"restore the deserved U.S.
position as a leader in the advanced chip manufacturing\".
In the coming years, Intel will build two new facilities in Arizona, expand its production capacity in New Mexico, and improve its research center in Oregon, which will focus on developing advanced packaging techniques for semiconductor components and innovations in lithography.
It will house an experimental production line that will allow advanced engineering ideas to be tested at prototype level.

MIT professor suspected of spying for China helped discover \"best material\" for semiconductor manufacturing

A team of researchers at the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the discovery that cubic boron arsenide has better characteristics for microchip production than silicon, calling it \"the best material for semiconductors ever found.
Notably, the team that made the discovery included a scientist of Chinese descent, previously suspected of spying for China.Image source: Muzammil Soorma/unsplash.comIn July, scientists from MIT, University of Houston and other academic institutions have proven that cubic boron arsenide conducts both heat and electricity better than the commonly used silicon in semiconductor production.
According to the study, cubic boron arsenide is 10 times more efficient conductor of heat than silicon.
It is also a better conductor for both electrons and electron holes - this is especially important for semiconductor performance.
Materials like boron arsenide, if they can be used commercially, could change the \"rules of the game\" in the industry.The research team included Gang Chen (Gang Chen), formerly head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT - for a year he was under investigation for suspicion of espionage, after which the U.S.
Department of Justice dropped the charges for insufficient evidence.
According to Fortune, during the Trump era, the Justice Department's China Initiative began investigating dozens of Chinese scientists and Chinese-American scientists, accusing them of having ties to Chinese agencies to transfer advanced technology to Beijing.It could be decades before commercial use of boron arsenide chips - if the technology is even recognized as suitable for use.
Nevertheless, the material is expected to produce better, faster and more compact chips than today - results that, according to Fotrune, the U.S.
could be deprived of because of pressure on specialists like Chen.Image source: Lucas Vasques/unsplash.comIt is known that authorities arrested the Chinese-born Chen (naturalized in the United States back in 2000), in January 2021.
He was accused, among other things, of hiding ties to Chinese agencies in grant applications from the U.S.
Department of Energy.
The prosecutors stressed the allegiance to China.
The scientific community, including scientists at MIT, criticized the arrest and wrote an open letter saying, \"They are all Gan Chen.
Under President Joe Biden, the Justice Department dropped all charges after the Department of Energy reported that no one had ever asked for information about Gang Chen's ties to China.
A month after the Chen case was dismissed, the Justice Department also terminated the China Initiative.Scientists stressed that this \"witch hunt\" discourages researchers - particularly those from China - from moving to the United States, making the United States unable to capitalize on their intellectual potential.
According to one study, the U.S.
would need to increase the staff of semiconductor manufacturing specialists by 50 percent in order to shift the center of chip production from Asia to North America.
At the same time, talent will have to be recruited from abroad, including China.

Former president of Arm left the board of directors of Chinese SMIC

The worsening controversy between the PRC and the United States, provoked by the recent visit to Taiwan of American Parliament Speaker Nancy Pelosi, touched the activities of those companies that work in the segment of semiconductor components production.
After nine years on the board of directors of SMIC, former Arm president Tudor Brown was forced to announce his departure from the position.Image source: Ceres Power HoldingsThis move by the industry veteran, who was president of British processor architecture developer Arm until May 2012, was reported by Bloomberg with reference to his personal comments on the social network LinkedIn.
Tudor Brown admitted that he regretted leaving the board of directors of Chinese contract chip maker SMIC, where he had served for the previous nine years.
He held the post of president of Arm from 1990 to 2012, but left it even before the British developer bought the Japanese corporation SoftBank.According to Tudor Brown, international controversy in recent times only intensified, which forced him to leave the board of directors of the Chinese company SMIC.
It became known recently that the U.S.
export control rules were tightened and now China's SMIC will not be able to receive from any supplier lithographic equipment using U.S.
technology suitable for the production of chips at 14nm and coarser, although previously the border was held at 10nm.
According to independent experts, this has not prevented SMIC from setting up last summer's supply of components with characteristics close to the 7nm products of Taiwan's TSMC.

The flagship GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is already on sale in the US for just $1500 - $500 less than the recommended price

NVIDIA's key US partner that sells reference versions of graphics gas pedals has significantly reduced the price of the flagship GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card.
The recommended price of the gas pedal, released in March of this year, is $2,000, but the BestBuy chain is now selling it for $1,600.
At the same time GeForce RTX 3090 Ti can be found even cheaper.Image source: VideoCardzThe NVIDIA gas pedal based on the GPU AD102 entered the market at a time when prices for graphics cards began to rapidly creep down.
The latter, in turn, was the result of the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, as well as the glut of graphics cards market.Image source: BestBuy retail network is an official partner of NVIDIA and exclusively sells graphics cards \"green\" in the Founders Edition in the United States.
NVIDIA itself has not announced an official reduction in the recommended prices of its graphics cards.
Therefore, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti discount is most likely a promotion by BestBuy itself.
Obviously, the store itself does not sell these cards at a loss.
It is very likely that we are talking about some kind of agreement with NVIDIA.Image source: NVIDIAThe recommended price of GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, according to the official NVIDIA website, is still $2000.
However, given the fact that this gas pedal sells cheaper not only in the U.S., the current manufacturer's recommended price will be difficult to justify.
Image source: NewEggA further monitoring of the video card market in the U.S.
showed that the $1600 GeForce RTX 3090 Ti in the reference version may not be the best choice.
The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gaming 24GB is available for another $100 cheaper at Newegg.

ASML shares fell due to rumors that the U.S.is trying to cut off its supplies to China - shares of Chinese chipmakers on the contrary jumped

After the recent publication of Bloomberg about the pressure on the lithography equipment manufacturer ASML from the U.S.
authorities in order to cut off supplies to China, the company's shares immediately went down in price.
Paradoxically, the shares of Chinese semiconductor manufacturers after that began to rise in price.Image source: Laura Ockel/unsplash.comThe Dutch ASML, which is the largest supplier of advanced lithography equipment for chip production, some time ago already prohibited to supply its most advanced tools to China.
Nevertheless, Bloomberg reported on a possible complete ban on supplies, including mature process machines.
The source cited \"people familiar with the issue.\" ASML itself refused to comment on the rumors.After the publication Bloomberg share price ASML plummeted by 7.2%.
Valuations fell cheaper and securities of other equipment manufacturers for chip makers - the company Lam Research by 3.6% and Applied Materials by 2.4%.
Refusal to sell to China may be extremely unprofitable for the ASML - in 2021 about 16% of its sales accounted to the Celestial Empire for 2.1 billion euros.
Each sold machine is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
At the same time, an export license is required to supply such tools.
Since 2019, the Dutch government, under an agreement with the United States, denies ASML export licenses for sales of the most advanced machines for EUV lithography in the Middle Kingdom.
Only less advanced DUV variants have been sold there.That said, most chips are still produced using DUV lithography and limiting sales of the machines in question could have a devastating effect on the Chinese semiconductor industry, with it likely exacerbating the global semiconductor deficit.In 2021, the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, chaired by former Google head Eric Schmidt, recommended that the US State Department and Commerce Department pressure allies with Securities for various Chinese chip makers rose 10 percent or more.China's chip manufacturing industry is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, and after the U.S.
imposed sanctions on giants like Huawei and Hikvision, demand for locally made components only increased.
According to Chinese industry representatives, prices are rising on expectations of import substitution by Chinese companies of foreign solutions.The share price in the Chinese segment was also fueled by preliminary, extremely optimistic data on the revenues of local Advanced Micro-Fabrication, which produces equipment for semiconductor production.
In addition, fears that chipmaker revenues would be too low due to pandemic restrictions have not materialized to the extent expected.
Finally, there is still no reliable data on the discontinuation of ASML sales.

If U.S.government fails to provide subsidies, Intel will spend more on building facilities in Europe

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger's activism last month was aimed at encouraging U.S.
lawmakers to pass a $52 billion package that would subsidize the national semiconductor industry.
The company even said that it might focus on investments in Europe if it does not get support.
It will spend 12 billion euros to expand facilities in Ireland, and a chip packaging and testing facility is set to appear in Italy, with 4.5 billion euros earmarked for the project.
Research centers will appear and expand in France and Poland.
However, in the case of European investments, Intel expects significant material support from the local authorities.Last Wednesday, as noted by CNBC, Patrick Gelsinger allowed himself to say that if U.S.
lawmakers do not form the conditions for granting subsidies to the U.S.
semiconductor industry, the company will have to focus more efforts in Europe.
From the very beginning, as the head of Intel stressed, the company was counting on the support of the authorities in the construction of a new complex in the state of Ohio.
It will either take a long time to build and reach a modest scale if the company has to finance it at its own expense, or reach a significant scale in a more modest time if the authorities provide subsidies.
In the first case, the budget could be as low as $20 billion, while in the second it could be as high as $80 billion.According to Gelsinger, Intel canceled a groundbreaking ceremony for a manufacturing complex in Ohio scheduled for this summer because it wants to make sure it gets state subsidies first.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has suggested that Gelsinger is using the delay in building the facilities in the U.S.
to pressure lawmakers.
On the other hand, the governor's own sources in both houses of the U.S.
legislature make it clear that a $52 billion subsidy package will be passed soon.
State officials are prepared to give Intel about $2 billion in incentives to build the manufacturing complex, of which $700 million will be used to build the engineering infrastructure.
Intel representatives explained that Ohio attracted them not only by availability of developed base for qualified personnel training, but also by access to sufficient water resources.

U.S.: Attempts to buy counterfeit chips amid component shortages lead to increased fraud activity

According to ERAI Inc, an American company that tracks counterfeit chip shipments and industry fraud, the semiconductor shortage has led to a record number of fraudulent transfers of funds to sham contractors by U.S.
customers.Image source: Brian Kostiuk/unsplash.
ERAI reports that in 2021 there were 101 reported incidents of wire transfer fraud, compared to 70 incidents in 2020 and just 17 five years ago.According to ERAI President Mark Snider, companies are desperate to find chips not available from authorized and trusted distributors, so they turn to so-called \"shady brokers\" who they transfer money to, often without receiving any products in return.
It is alleged that all reported fraud cases involve Chinese brokers, reports to ERAI are made on a voluntary basis.Although there is a counterfeit parts database GIDEP and the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program in the United States, anonymous appeals to government agencies are not allowed, so the ERAI database has become the main for companies wishing to learn more about problems with counterfeit purchases or report on problems that have already occurred.The latest data show the number of incidents with counterfeit chips, information about which is not available to the public.
That's much lower than the 963 incidents reported in 2019.
Snyder said it is possible that quarantine measures related to the pandemic have made it more difficult for counterfeit suppliers to do business in such an environment.
The findings were made public at the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering's Symposium on Counterfeit Parts and Materials, organized by the University of Maryland (USA) and industry group SMTA.
According to experts, the actual number of incidents may be much higher, because many companies are afraid of reputational damage and prefer not to report attempts to purchase counterfeit chips at all.

U.S.Secretary of Commerce urged lawmakers to speed up $52 billion in subsidies for the semiconductor industry

President Joseph Biden already expressed concerns about the protracted consideration of the bill to allocate $52 billion in subsidies for the U.S.
semiconductor industry.
Now Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo appealed to lawmakers to speed up work in this area - she thinks it's crucial to pass the law by the beginning of September.Source image: Intel \"Mark my words, if Labor Day passes and Congress does not approve the package of laws, these companies will not wait and will expand their presence in other countries,\" she thought it necessary to warn members of the American officials.
This year, Labor Day in the U.S.
is September 5, and in August, U.S.
lawmakers are on vacation, so ideally the final version of the law should be approved in the summer.
Apparently, in her speech, Gina Raimondo referred to companies like TSMC, Samsung, Intel and GlobalWafers, which confirmed the intention to build new semiconductor plants in the U.S.
announced yesterday plans of Taiwan's GlobalWafers to build a silicon wafer fab in the U.S., which could cover all the needs of the local semiconductor industry by 2025, to some extent dependent on the willingness of U.S.
authorities to subsidize the construction.
At least, GlobalWafers head Doris Hsu shared exactly such considerations with Gina Raimondo, referring to the upcoming $5 billion cost of building the facility.According to the minister, the consequences of delaying the passage of this package of laws for national security would be most unfortunate.
Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger also visited Washington this month to consult with top officials.
He said the company's project to build two $20 billion advanced facilities in Ohio will largely depend on subsidies from the authorities.
If they do not, Intel will either have to stretch out construction over time or scale it back.

A former ASML employee escaped trial in the US and set up a successful semiconductor business in China

Patriotism allows Chinese citizens not only to serve their country, but also to make big money.
Zongchang Yu, an engineer who used to work for the famous Dutch chipmaker ASML, established Dongfang Jingyuan Electron in China and Xtal in Silicon Valley, USA a few years ago, after which ASML began leaking employees and presumably data.
Source image: ASML According to Bloomberg, the two companies have worked in tandem, probably receiving technology and transferring it to China - the latter is in dire need of advanced solutions for creating advanced semiconductors, but because of sanctions can not get legal access to the most advanced technology and is forced to informally attract the cooperation of specialists working in the United States.Xtal was sued and during the proceedings she filed for bankruptcy.
However, a lawyer representing the company argued that the company has not earned \"a penny\" on the technology received.
In addition two employees of ASML were tried in the United States and suffered rather symbolic punishment in the local criminal proceedings, Yu himself managed to fly to China and now heads Dongfang, receiving substantial funds and benefits from the Chinese authorities.
Beijing has taken unprecedented measures to close the gap with the West amid sanctions.
In particular, in 2014, the country launched a $150 billion project to support the semiconductor industry in order to develop local manufacturing.According to the FBI, China often \"borrows\" intellectual property from Western companies and later uses it to compete with them.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry calls such accusations \"malicious hype\" and argues that \"China does not make technological advances by stealing or robbing others.
\"The Dutch ASML has the technology to produce the most productive computer chips and controls more than 90 percent of the lithographic equipment market.
Some of the technology generates less than 1% of all revenues, but it is the key to creating advanced semiconductors.Before Yu founded the two companies, he was educated in China and then worked in Japan and the United States, including at ASML, which he left in 2012.
After founding his own companies, he poached other employees from ASML.
As it turned out, some of them had taken millions of lines of code out of the company, and when the investigation began, they began to destroy traces of their activities - on one laptop alone more than 60 GB of information had been erased.
However, Xtal's lawyer claimed that other Xtal employees knew nothing about the illegal activity.Image source: Santa Clara County District Attorney's OfficeAccording to ASML, Yoo was behind the thefts.
In this case, the company Xtal not only engaged in the transfer of technology to China, but also conducted business activities, only in January 2016, signed a contract with Samsung to supply specialized software for $ 27 million - previously the South Korean giant has cooperated with ASML in the same area.Although ASML directly pointed to theft of technology, the company preferred not to focus on the possible involvement of official Beijing, calling the topic \"speculation\" and said that several employees of Silicon Valley just wanted to get rich by stealing.
It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities themselves mentioned ASML a few months earlier, but quickly dropped any accusations.The problem with such companies is that many Western businesses prefer to gloss over sensitive issues, keeping both the public and investors and shareholders in the dark, since many do business in China and, among other things, would not want to get into new problems with the local authorities.
Xtal's bankruptcy has had no effect on Beijing-based Dongfang's prosperity - in 2015, the company entered into an agreement with the Institute of Microelectronics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to form a joint venture to develop semiconductor technology.
Since then, Dongfang has been celebrated repeatedly by the authorities, and its head and founder has been lavished with millions of dollars by Chinese authorities.
In an interview in 2020, Yu was called the \"standard-bearer\" of China's semiconductor industry.

The first road with wireless charging for electric cars will appear in the U.S.

The piggy bank of unusual global transportation solutions will soon be added to the American project.
A road that provides wireless charging for electric cars will be commissioned in Detroit next year.
In the future, the system could be useful for dedicated bus lanes or for areas where traffic jams often occur and cars have to stand for a long time.Image source: ElestrainThe Israeli company Electreon is responsible for the project, which plans to finish construction already in 2023.
Test road will be only one mile long (about 1.6 km).
It is known that under the road there will be charging induction coils, connected to the power grid.
Electric cars will need a special receiver - similar to smartphones - to get power.
The system does not work without an active receiving device within reach and will be safe for others.
It will get a modular design and if the road is damaged, the work will not stop - each coil is connected to the power grid in parallel.How much power the electric car will get will depend on the design of the car itself and how fast it moves.
Of course, the road will not be able to fully charge the battery, especially over such a short distance, but it is able to provide some energy, enough to get to the nearest charging station.According to a representative of Electreon, the optimal location of charging coils will be under the dedicated lanes for public transport, since the traffic moves here predictably and regularly.
In addition, the system can be useful in places with frequent traffic jams - you can recharge your battery while standing in a traffic jam.
At the same time, the charging will not be free - the user will receive a bill for payment.Something similar is already being implemented in other areas.
For example, the Logitech Powerplay system involves using a special mat to charge a wireless mouse directly at work.

Samsung SDI and Stellantis will build a facility in Indiana to produce traction batteries

While LG Energy Solution and SK On already have facilities in the US and are building new ones, Samsung SDI will launch its first North American site only in the first half of 2025, when it and Stellantis will build a traction battery manufacturing facility in Indiana.
The project budget will range from $2.5 to $3.1 billion.Image source: Samsung SDIIn the first phase, as explained by Bloomberg, the joint venture between Samsung SDI (51%) and Stellantis NV (49%) will be able to produce battery cells with a combined capacity of 23 GW‧h annually, but later production capacity can be increased to 33 or even 40 GW‧h per year.
The plant will employ about 1,400 people, and the location is convenient for Stellantis because transmissions and internal combustion engines for the company's cars are already manufactured nearby, and cars are assembled nearby in Ohio and Illinois.
Obviously, as Stellantis transitions to electric cars - by 2030 Stellantis expects to convert at least half of its U.S.
sales to electric power - employees will migrate from traditional to new facilities, but their rights are closely guarded by the union.
The Indiana government is ready to provide its partners with at least $186.5 million in subsidies and Kokomo municipality and other local structures will provide additional support.Stellantis itself intends to launch at least five large enterprises in Europe and North America by 2030 that could eventually produce traction batteries with a combined capacity of 400 GWh per year.
By the end of the decade, the automobile concern intends to sell 5 million electric cars per year worldwide.
By then, the entire European range of passenger cars will be converted to electric power.
In March, Stellantis reached an agreement with LG Energy Solution to build a facility to produce traction batteries in Canada.
The competitor Samsung SDI has facilities in China, South Korea and Hungary, and the Indiana plant will be its first in the United States.

The market is almost cleared of video card resellers - consumers have gone to the stores

The time of domination of speculators in the graphics gas pedal market has come to an end, writes PCMag.
At least for now.
The interest in buying graphics cards from the hands of consumers has decreased significantly, and with it the resale value of gas pedals has fallen.Image source: PCMag \"Everybody's sick of videocards,\" - said in a conversation with the publication of one of the resellers videocard.For examples do not go far.
Enough just look at the statistics of online trading platform eBay - one of the fiefdoms of speculators.
Over the past year, the average selling price of NVIDIA graphics cards has fallen to almost the recommended prices for these gas pedals.
The average selling price of a GeForce RTX 3070 on eBayInstead of buying on eBay, it is becoming more profitable to simply go to your local electronics store and purchase a brand new graphics card at a retailer's price, especially since major retailers Newegg and Best Buy have greatly improved their availability.
And for some models the retailers even offer a discount and as a result the cards are even sold below the recommended prices.
Even used gas pedals are more profitable to buy from the same Amazon Warehouse, and not go to eBay, where many miners are trying to get rid of graphics cards on the wave of plummeting cryptocurrency market, says PCMag.
The average selling price of GeForce RTX 3080 on eBay \"Yes, the reseller sphere is effectively dead.
Sales, of course, are still going on, but at much lower prices.
For those same miners, it has become much harder to get rid of their inventory,\" commented representatives of Falcodrin Stock Alerts service, which monitors new arrivals and availability of video cards in various retail outlets.In online communities of resellers similar atmosphere.
\"The graphics gas pedal market has come to an end.
PS5 consoles only bought well into the New Year,\" complained one reseller.
\"Rest in peace graphics cards,\" added another.
Graphics card prices at NeweggThe only exception are the reference versions of NVIDIA Founders Edition gas pedals, particularly the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti models.
In this version graphics cards are sold at the lowest prices.
In other words, resellers can still make a profit from reselling them.
However, these graphics cards are hard to get.
In the U.S., the only retailer that sells NVIDIA Founders Edition gas pedals is Best Buy.
New shipments of these graphics cards usually occur every month, but immediately dispersed.Instead of video cards, resellers are beginning to focus on other resale items, for which at the moment there is still a rush.
NFT tokens, for example, are one of them.
One of their resellers, by the way, who is still in high school, told PCMag that he has decided to stop reselling game consoles and instead focus on selling non-interchangeable tokens.
\"NFTs are a really cool thing.
I like them because all the sales happen online.
Besides, they make a lot more profit,\" said a young Ostap Bender of western tailoring.The decline in interest in video cards from resellers plays into the hands of regular gamers who are considering upgrading their PCs.
Computer hardware manufacturers, in turn, predict a further decline in graphics card prices and a surge of interest in self-assembly of computers.
This opinion is held, for example, by Corsair, which believes it will happen in the second half of this year.
The current situation in the cryptocurrency market also acts in favor of the forecast.
However, the demand for graphics cards can grow significantly again, as NVIDIA and AMD are going to release a new generation of gas pedals in the second half of this year.
If demand is high enough and availability is low, then resellers may again turn their attention to the lucrative market.

Scientists have created solar cells with a record efficiency of 39.5% - they are multi-layered and have \"quantum wells\"

Researchers at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reported creating innovative solar cells with a record efficiency of almost 40% in normal light.
By comparison, the efficiency of conventional photovoltaic cells ranges from 15% to 30%.Image source: NRELIt is noteworthy that the 39.5% figure is achieved in lighting that is generally equivalent to natural sunlight.
This clarification is important because during the experiments, scientists often manage to achieve efficiencies up to 47%, but only under \"concentrated\" light, which does not correspond to the natural conditions of the Earth.To achieve this result was achieved thanks to a special design of the elements known as an inverted metamorphic compound (IMM).
It involves the use of three layers of solar cells, each of which is made of a different type of material.
Specifically, we are talking about the top layer of indium-gallium phosphide, the middle layer of gallium arsenide, and the bottom layer of indium-gallium arsenide.
Each layer captures light at different wavelengths, allowing more energy to be produced using a significant portion of the solar spectrum.In addition, the panels use so-called \"quantum wells,\" which limit the movement of electrons to two dimensions instead of three.
It is claimed that the layer with such pits also allows capturing more light and leads to greater energy output.The previous efficiency record for solar panels was set by the same team, achieving a figure of 39.2 percent in 2020 - we are talking about the struggle for every fraction of a percent.
Tests have already been conducted to demonstrate how the new cells behave in space.
In this case, the efficiency was 34.2 percent.
Scientific breakthroughs can be extremely important for solar cell technology.
Nevertheless, the developers emphasize that the production of this type of cells is quite expensive and mass production is not planned yet, there is still a lot of work to be done to reduce the cost of cells.

In the US, Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards are already selling for an average of 5% more than the recommended price, and some are even cheaper

The popular HardwareUnboxed YouTube channel has shared fresh statistics on graphics gas pedal prices in the US.
The author notes that the price of GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards and Radeon RX 6000 continues to decline.
In this case, the cost of the latter now on average only 5% higher than the recommended price.Image source: VideoCardzIn some cases, graphics cards Radeon RX 6000 are sold even cheaper than the recommended price tag.
We are talking about the models Radeon RX 6900XT, RX 6600XT and RX 6500XT.
At the same time Radeon RX 6800 series gas pedals are still 31% more expensive than the recommended prices.
If not for the impact of this factor, the average price of the entire current Radeon series of gas pedals would have been only 2.4% higher than the recommended price.
In one of the largest U.S.
electronics stores Newegg video cards Radeon RX 6000 fell in price for the month from 6 to 8%.
Price dynamics of AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic cards in US.
The third column on the right is current price The situation with NVIDIA gas pedals is worse.
Although GeForce RTX 30-series cards also fell in price by 6% over the month in the same Newegg, they are still sold at 24% markup of the recommended price.
However, there are exceptions here as well.
For example, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is offered this month for the recommended $1200.
Price trends for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards in the US.
The third column on the right is the current priceAs noted earlier, the sharp price drop in gas pedals is causing problems for NVIDIA in the mid- and low-end price segments.
That's why the company is going to release the GeForce GTX 1630, which will replace the old GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.It is very likely that soon NVIDIA will change tactics, which will lead to an even more serious reduction in the price of graphics cards.
This will allow to quickly sell out the current inventory for the release of the new generation of GeForce RTX 40-series gas pedals.

Uber to begin robotic food delivery in California

Uber Technologies said Monday it will launch pilot delivery services using autonomous vehicles in two California cities.
The company will also add a map of electric charging stations to the global version of its driver app.Image source: UberThe announcement came as part of Uber's annual event reporting on changes to citizen transportation and meal delivery mechanisms, including app updates.
One version of the service will use autonomous cars, the other - small robots moving on sidewalks.
Both services will be available to Uber Eats users in California's Santa Monica and West Hollywood.The pilot project involving autonomous cars is being done in conjunction with Motional, a company jointly owned by Hyundai and Aptiv.
The sidewalk robots are provided by Serve Robotics, a company affiliated with delivery company Postmates, acquired by Uber in 2020.In both cases, the service is closely monitored by human operators and, according to Uber, it will be some time before the technology is adopted on a larger scale.
For now, there are very few fully automated driving system projects in operation in the U.S.A.
On Monday, Uber also announced the release this summer of a map showing the locations of electric charging stations in its driver app.
Charging stations from around the world will also be mapped at a later date.
This is expected to encourage drivers to switch to electric cars.
Uber itself plans to use only electric vehicles on its platform in the U.S., Canada and Europe by 2030, and the lack of the necessary number of charging stations is cited as one of the main obstacles to the spread of the technology.