Did Apple Just Cancel the Future of AVs?
In Star Trek parlance, the AV industry has been confronted with a Kobayashi Maru, or a no-win situation, since its inception.
Opinion
The Beetle: ‘Love, love me do!’
As we drive pell-mell into an era of AI and bewildering technology, I have lately harbored the hope that Volkswagen will seize the notion of a “simple car.”
Intel CEO Asks Altman $7 Trillion Question
What’s at stake:
If Sam Altman is right, we are heading into the world where more content are generated by AI than by humans. We don’t know its implications, neither Altman does.
I had the good fortune to see and listen to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, live at the Intel Foundry event this week.
Was I glad to be there? Yes, because I saw firsthand the emperor with no clothes. More accurately, perhaps a nothingburger without a bun.
The venue for this alleged world leader in AI was a fireside chat with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.
Read More »Intel CEO Asks Altman $7 Trillion Question
Memo to Auto Chipmakers: AVs’ Failure is Your Failure, Too
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
When autonomous vehicles do not perform as expected, the entire industry, including the semiconductor companies supplying the subsystems and other components, will be negatively impacted. End-users will ask: Why are you teaming up with auto OEMs to put on the roads vehicles that clearly need further technology development and design work?
Cruise and Waymo have one thing in common. Their autonomous vehicles have earned the humiliating disdain of some intended customers.
If you are a semiconductor supplier whose products have been designed into Cruise’s autonomous vehicle or Waymo’s robotaxi, you’ve got the beginning of a public relations nightmare.
Read More »Memo to Auto Chipmakers: AVs’ Failure is Your Failure, Too
Vegas Falcons Patrol the Sphere
Lately, when the physical world poses a problem, the first instinct of the Silicon Valley mind is to respond, “Oh, there’s a technology to fix that.”
Throwing more tech at the flaws in technology is a malaise not new, but increasingly prevalent in recent times.
For sure, there are technologies that can solve technology problems. But we often forget that there are effective alternatives that don’t require the services of an EE, or even an electrician.
Or electricity.
I was reminded of this humble truth during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Read More »Vegas Falcons Patrol the Sphere
TSMC: Name Change Anyone?
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
The “Taiwan” in TSMC’s name is a justifiable source of pride to the Taiwanese. In countries where political leaders are saying “foreign” domination of the chip business is not in their national interest, though, even TSMC can’t keep out the irritating whiff of China, which is claiming Taiwan. To satisfy foreign customers, TSMC will have to do more than build fabs overseas. It must become a part of each country’s “local” supply chain and enterprise system. A rebranding that includes a name change will help.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) is entering a new phase in its evolution. Sadly, it begins with the end of the Morris Chang era.
Taiwan was at the heart of the TSMC founder Chang founded in 1987. As the founding generation moves, TSMC of the future must have the globe at its core.
To become a truly international player able to melt into the cultural fabrics of its host communities, TSMC needs a rebranding that comes with a neutral sounding name.
Read More »TSMC: Name Change Anyone?
Automotive: Industry Drowning in Tech
Many automotive OEMs are completely unsuited to harnessing the flood of technological innovation that their industry is now drowning in.
The Moral Bankruptcy of the Tech Titans
Observed in Davos: How to bamboozle with BS
Synopsys-Ansys to Bridge Digital, Physical Worlds
What’s at stake?
Synopsys’ planned acquisition of Ansys will first tackle complex multi-die silicon design issues for data centers and automotive. But will it also address the tension growing between digital and physical worlds such as AI-driven autonomous vehicles and the real-world traffic?
I don’t pretend to know a lot when it comes to designing and engineering systems. I’m not an engineer. But as I write more and more about so-called “smart” digital systems–whether in highly automated vehicles, ChatGPT, software-defined vehicles or AI-augmented devices–I can’t help but wonder how the software, semiconductors and components inside these systems are tested and validated for real-world challenges.
Read More »Synopsys-Ansys to Bridge Digital, Physical Worlds
To Meet the STEM Crisis, We Need Less STEM
By Peter Norton
Depending on your source, the so-called “STEM crisis” is either a grave threat or fabricated hype. As a STEM educator, I think it’s both.
Everyone who cares enough to look into the subject knows that tech companies allege shortages in the quantity and quality of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields more to ensure a steady stream of employable graduates than to address any real national crisis.
But this does not mean that all is well in STEM education.
Read More »To Meet the STEM Crisis, We Need Less STEM