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

Topics: Open Source• China• Gitee•

Can You "Nationalize" Open Source?

The impending ban or acquisition of TikTok and ByteDance’s lawsuit against the Trump administration have sucked up all the oxygen in the US-China tech zeitgeist. A gigantic IPO, possibly the largest in the world, by Ant Financials is also looming on the horizon.

Topics: Blockchain• Azure• ByteDance•

August 23, 2020: Crypto, TikTok, JEDI, Zoom, Pinduoduo, Gitee

This issue covers the period between August 17 - 23, 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•

Where Can the Chinese Internet Go?

With all the executive orders, CFIUS edicts, and additional sanctions placed on Chinese tech companies by the US, it’s hard to see where these companies - and by extension the Chinese Internet - can expand to. Certainly, China’s own economy will continue

Topics: TSMC• ByteDance• Apple•

August 16, 2020: TSMC, CFIUS, iQiyi Fraud, ByteDance Ambitions, Apple, Beke

This issue covers the period between August 9 - August 16, 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. “China hires

Topics: AI• Azure• Meta•

GPT-3: An Abstraction of Time vs Money

Hype or not, GPT-3, OpenAI’s newest natural language AI model, has been percolating in the back of my mind ever since it was announced two months ago. This post will be some open musing of what I think its implications are in the

Topics: Clean Network• Zoom• TikTok•

August 9, 2020: Election Interference, Clean Network, TikTok and London, Zoom, Shandong, Huawei Chips

This issue covers the period between August 2 - August 9, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. I intentionally did not include any item directly related to the EOs on TikTok and WeChat. Until more

Topics: ByteDance• Regulation• Open Source•

A Framework to (Dis)trust and Verify TikTok

Last week, the New York Times tech columnist, Kevin Roose, wrote a well-reasoned piece arguing that the U.S. government should not ban TikTok, but use it as an example and opportunity to build a stronger regulatory framework around tech products. (To my surprise,

Topics: Antitrust• Open Source• 5G•

August 2, 2020: Antitrust in China, Open Source 5G, Electric Vehicles IPO, ByteDance, Huawei

This issue covers the period between July 27 - August 2, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources. I purposely did not include anything related to the antitrust hearing (too many out there) and TikTok’s

Topics: COVID-19• Open Source•

COVID, Open Source, Industrial Policy

By the time you read this post, you are likely bombarded with news and tweets about the antitrust hearing of the big four tech companies (Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet) and their respective quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, another announcement happened in the tech world that I

Topics: Weekly• COVID-19• Open Source•

July 26, 2020: Mars, Ant Group, New York Times, COVID-19, Open Source, ARM

This issue covers the period between July 20 - 26, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment, and geopolitics. All

Topics: India• China• Venture Capital•

Unicorns Entanglement: India, China, America

India is becoming an increasingly influential player in the ongoing technology conflict and competition between the U.S. and China -- from its border conflict with China (dating back to the 1960s), to the banning of all apps made by Chinese tech companies, to

Topics: Weekly• India• ByteDance•

July 19, 2020: TikTok Data, Huawei in UK, Google in India, SMIC IPO, Softbank ARM, Luckin Coffee

This issue covers the period between July 13 - 19, 2020 with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment, and geopolitics. All

Topics: Tesla• China• Semiconductor•

Tesla, China, the “Tech Cold-War”

Tesla may well be the biggest driver of China’s journey towards technological self-reliance, as the “Tech Cold War” between the U.S. and China deepens. This observation wasn’t obvious to me until I listened (three times) to Elon Musk’s Q&

Topics: Weekly• ByteDance• Self Driving•

July 12, 2020: Interconnected Weekly; TikTok, More TikTok, Canada, Elon Musk, Open Source, Blued

Note: This issue of Interconnected Weekly covers the period between July 5-July 12, 2020, with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment,

Topics: Cloud Industry• Southeast Asia•

Southeast Asia and the Pacific Light Cable Network

Long-time readers of Interconnected know I write a lot about the cloud computing industry. I like to dig deep into the cloud, not just because of my own existing expertise and experience in the industry, but also of its fascinating territorial and geopolitical implications.

Topics: Weekly• Antitrust• India•

July 5, 2020: Interconnected Weekly; Lasso, Antitrust, Linux, India, New Infrastructure, IPO

Note: This issue of Interconnected Weekly covers the period between June 29-July 4, 2020, with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment,

Topics: RISC-V• China• Open Source•

RISC-V, China, Nightingales

Last weekend, I read a long, epic piece of techlore that chronicled the fierce and bitter rivalry between TSMC and Samsung in their fight to become the world’s number 1 chip foundry, which stretched back three decades and continues today. Among the many

Topics: Weekly• Semiconductor• Open Source•

June 28, 2020: Interconnected Weekly; Semiconductor, Xiaomi, Facial Recognition, GPS, EDA Equipment, Agora

Note: This issue of Interconnected Weekly covers the period between June 22-28, 2020, with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment, and

Topics: China• E-Commerce• Open Source•

China-Scale Technology Sandbox

China’s Internet economy is often viewed by many people through the lens of U.S.-China relations or China’s domestic structure. Some times those lenses are useful, other times not so much. One aspect, where applying a geopolitical lens is not useful,

Topics: Weekly• Anti-Trust• Huawei•

June 21, 2020: Interconnected Weekly; Satellite, Antitrust, Zynn, Huawei, Samsung, Matlab

Note: This issue of Interconnected Weekly covers the period between June 15-21, 2020, with six news stories – three from English language sources, three from Chinese language sources – hand-picked by your humble author to further our exploration of the interconnections between technology, business, investment, and