Qualcomm’s new audio chips can make cheaper headphones sound more expensive

Jada Jones/ZDNET Qualcomm announced two new sound platforms for wireless mid-tier and premium earbuds, headphones, and speakers that allow manufacturers to include audiophile-level sound quality, enhanced ANC, improved call quality, and lower power consumption across a broader range of Bluetooth audio products. Manufacturers use Qualcomm’s chipsets and audio platforms in some of our favorite wireless … Read more

China’s new guidelines block Intel, AMD chips in government computers: FT

Digitally Generated Images Wong Yu Liang | Moment | Getty Images China has rolled out new guidelines that will phase out U.S. processors in government computers and servers, effectively blocking chips from Intel and AMD, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The procurement guidelines, unveiled on Dec. 26, are now being enforced and will also … Read more

The Mindblowing Experience of a Chatbot That Answers Instantly

If all that is true—and there’s no way to tell right now—Groq might well pose a threat to the dominance of Nvidia. Ross is careful when discussing this. “Let’s be clear—they’re Goliath, and we’re David,” he says. “It would be very, very foolish to say that Nvidia is worried about us.” When asked about Groq, … Read more

Meta’s Zuckerberg woos big tech in Asia to double down on AI chips

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is touring Asia countries this week, said in a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday that Meta wants to beef up its cooperation with Samsung Electronics for AI chips to offset geopolitical risk issue in Taiwan, where TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chip manufacturer, is headquartered. … Read more

OnePlus Watch 2 runs on two chips and operating systems for longer battery life

OnePlus’s new wearable, the OnePlus Watch 2, runs Google’s Wear OS, but it also runs a less-demanding OS in the background for longer battery life. The new watch, announced on the first day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, tries to get the best of both worlds in a pretty novel way. It runs Google’s … Read more

Intel’s CEO Says AI Is the Key to the Company’s Comeback

When veteran engineer and executive Pat Gelsinger returned to Intel as CEO in 2021, the once-great chipmaker was in a slump. After failing to adapt to the mobile era and then missing several steps in cutting-edge microprocessor manufacturing, it was now also falling behind in supplying chips to feed the tech industry’s growing hunger for … Read more

Intel’s AI Reboot Is the Future of US Chipmaking

Gina Raimondo, the US secretary of commerce, spoke at Intel’s event today and compared the US government’s current focus on revitalizing its chip industry to the space race of the 1960s. “The fact that we are so overly dependent on a couple of countries in Asia that we need for life-saving medical equipment, cars, every … Read more

China making more advanced chips — but Beijing still faces challenges

A Chinese flag next to a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips. Florence Lo | Reuters China’s biggest chipmaker SMIC seems to have been manufacturing advanced chips in the last few months — defying U.S. sanctions designed to slow down Beijing’s progress. But there are still some major challenges to China’s bid to become more … Read more

Etching AI Controls Into Silicon Could Keep Doomsday at Bay

Even the cleverest, most cunning artificial intelligence algorithm will presumably have to obey the laws of silicon. Its capabilities will be constrained by the hardware that it’s running on. Some researchers are exploring ways to exploit that connection to limit the potential of AI systems to cause harm. The idea is to encode rules governing … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg indicates Meta is spending billions on Nvidia AI chips

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the Meta Connect event at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 27, 2023. Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images Meta is spending billions of dollars on Nvidia’s popular computer chips, which are at the heart of artificial intelligence research and projects. In an Instagram … Read more