Topics: Developer• Global by Nature•

Global by Nature (Part I): Developers

I write Interconnected as a place to help me think and a space for anyone to think with me. One of the big themes I’ve been thinking about is what will the next phase of globalization look like and what kind of people,

Topics: Facebook• Alibaba• Huawei•

November 29, 2020: P(Good for the World)

Hello Interconnected Readers: Last week -- American Thanksgiving plus my birthday week -- I re-read a few books. One of them was “Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk.” One small part of the book talks about Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel Laureate in

Topics: IPO• SPAC• Regulation•

November 22, 2020: Birthday or Birthplace

Hello Interconnected Readers: Next week is both Thanksgiving week in the US and my birthday week. (Programming note: I will not publish my usual Thursday deep dive analysis due to the holiday.) I have never been a big birthday celebration person. Living in the

Topics: Meta• Open Source• Developer•

Building a Bilingual Newsletter: 2020 Edition

I’m taking a departure from my usual deep dive analysis to write this “under the hood” exploration of how I’ve been building this bilingual newsletter. I want to share some behind the scenes information, because I’ve always treated Interconnected as a

Topics: Antitrust• Alibaba• Jack Ma•

November 15, 2020: 16 Days

Hello Interconnected Readers: I had a busy week last week that was mostly self-created. While still doing volunteer work at the Reno campaign office (work doesn’t stop when Election Day is over) and continuing my day job as an investor (doing calls with

Topics: Alibaba• Jack Ma• Regulation•

Jack Ma, P2P Lending, Responsibility, Legacy

When I was in my 20s, I dreamed of becoming a presidential speech writer. I’d stay up reading books, like Ted Sorensen’s memoir “Counselor” (he was JFK’s speechwriter) and “White House Ghosts” (chronicles all the speechwriters from FDR’s). I idolized

Topics: Jack Ma• Alibaba• IPO•

Bonus: Jack Ma's Bund Finance Summit Speech

I don’t normally do any translation, because Interconnected is focused on original work and thinking. But I felt compelled to provide an English version of Jack Ma’s speech on October 24 at the Bund Finance Summit in Shanghai, because mainstream media coverage

Topics: Jack Ma• Cloud Industry• Semiconductor•

November 8, 2020: Due Process and Procedural Justice

Hello Interconnected Readers: I want to start off by citing a phrase from Matthew Prince, the CEO of Cloudflare: I, personally, believe in strong Freedom of Speech protections, but I also acknowledge that it is a very American idea that is not shared globally.

Topics: Open Source• Semiconductor•

Some Bearish Thoughts on RISC-V

I have been a supporter, if not an outright cheerleader, of RISC-V, the open source instruction set architecture (ISA). In my writings here on Interconnected and elsewhere, I’ve often used RISC-V as an example of technological innovation, broadly, and an antidote to countries

Topics: Twitter• Apple• IPO•

November 1, 2020: Trump Supporter and His Grandmother

Hello Interconnected Readers: I’ve been spending the last week in Reno, Nevada, doing volunteer work for the US election during this final phase. (Nevada is the swing state closest to me.) Thinking back, I’ve spent every single Election Day, both presidential and

Topics: IPO•

Wall Street Blunts the “Delisting” Hype

The “delisting” narrative of Chinese companies from the US has largely not materialized. Instead, just about every other week there’s news of a new Chinese company about to IPO in New York. The next one, Lufax, may even end up being the largest

Topics: Cloud Industry• China• Data Center•

October 25, 2020: Be Good at Destroying Your Best Ideas

Hello Interconnected Readers: I’m trying something new starting this week. In addition to the six stories summary that you’ve been getting, I will open this weekly issue with a more raw, personal, and reflective letter to you about something I thought about

Topics: Apple• India• China•

iPhone: “Made in China -> India?”

I always try to live by the framework of “strong opinion, weakly held”. That’s how I treat all my thoughts shared on Interconnected. I write, not just to share what I know, but also to learn from others, absorb new information, and update

Topics: Apple• Facebook• Huawei•

October 18, 2020: Censorship, Apple in India, Huawei Selling Honor, Lithography, Chinese IPO

This issue covers the period between October 12 - 18, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you go

Topics: Cloud Industry• Alibaba• Tencent•

China's Cloud Ceiling

Cloud computing is hot. All cloud stocks are hot. Cloud was already growing everywhere and now accelerated by COVID, with massive adoption trends like remote work, e-commerce, digital health, and who knows what else. What used to be an outlandish approach to enterprise IT

Topics: Remote Work• Semiconductor• Developer•

October 11, 2020: Remote Work, AMD-Xilinx, Developer Experience, BiliBili, Tuber Browser, China’s Snowflake

This issue covers the period between October 4 - 11, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you go

Topics: Semiconductor• China• CFIUS•

When "Jurassic Park" Goes to China

I spent last week in the French Polynesian islands for a quick vacation.  One of my favorite moments there was approaching the magnificent landscape of Moorea on a ferry, because it reminded me of one of my favorite movies growing up -- Jurassic Park.

Topics: Open Source• Geopolitics• India•

[Enhanced] The Future of American Industry Depends on Open Source Tech

This post is an enhanced republication of an OpEd I wrote jointly with Jordan Schneider a month ago that was published in Wired Magazine. This enhanced version includes more information on how governments around the world are adopting open source technology, like Israel, India,

Topics: AI• Azure• Huawei•

September 27, 2020: Facebook, OpenAI & Microsoft, Germany, Apple, Huawei

This issue covers the period between September 21 - 27, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you go

Topics: Huawei• Open Source• China•

300 Years: Huawei's Open Source Strategy

Lost in the fog of TikTok was an important announcement: Huawei open sourced its homemade mobile operating system, HarmonyOS, now dubbed OpenHarmony. This announcement flew under the radar, but has far-reaching implications to not just the future of mobile technology, but also how that

Topics: Tesla• RISC-V• TSMC•

September 20, 2020: Unreliable Entity List, RISC-V, TSMC, Tesla in China

This issue covers the period between September 14 - September 20, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you

Topics: Oracle• ByteDance• Regulation•

Era of Regulatory Grift: TikTok-Oracle, NXP-Qualcomm, Arm-Nvidia

The dictionary definition of the word “grift” is as follows: “to acquire money or property illicitly”. It may be a strong word, but also more or less encapsulates the regulatory ethos that’s governing cross-border technology businesses these days. The TikTok-Oracle deal flaunts this

Topics: Semiconductor• China• India•

September 6, 2020: China’s Semiconductor Woes and Investments, India’s New Apps Ban

This issue covers the period between August 31 - September 6, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you

Topics: ByteDance• Azure• Oracle•

What is TikTok Worth to Whom and Why?

There is no doubt that geopolitics is a major driver of TikTok’s fate in the United States. But if and when it does get sold, it’s still a multi-billion dollar transaction that has to make some business sense. I have written quite

Topics: Open Source• TSMC• ByteDance•

August 30, 2020: Open Source, Zhang Yiming, TSMC, Loongson, XPeng, MediaTek

This issue covers the period between August 24 - 30, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. Disclaimer: all translated article titles are done by me, not official translations from the media outlets. Before you go