Any early adoption of an emerging technology that promises a huge market advantage comes with risks. Generative AI promises organizations the potential for significant market differentiation, dramatic cost reduction, and a slew of other pluses, such as improved CX, but its safe implementation is by no means a given. Its dangers include potential resource overrun, customer-facing misfires, and significant PR fallout.

Recent mainstream media coverage of Canada Air’s AI bot mis-step and a New York lawyer’s submission of hallucinated case law show that, at least in the public’s perception, running effective AI instances leaves a great deal to be desired.

Perhaps the disparity between the technology’s potential and its real-world worst-case outcomes is down to the nature of decision-making in large organizations. In fact, an Innovation Catalysts study published this year found that 81% of business decision makers believe there are reasons to exclude the IT department from strategic business decision making. Sure, the IT function has a responsibility to investigate and advocate for technology’s benefits, but it could be argued that there may be broader enterprise concerns that need to be addressed which involves all stakeholders, including IT.

The advantages of deploying AI in workflows for data processing, creativity, and operations are well-known, although every use case varies according to the organization and its approach. But harnessing the technology in production where results are based on local data means considering safeguards around intellectual property and legal & compliance issues, plus the need to embed transparency into the solution. This transparency is important to satisfy regulatory authorities concerned over issues like data processing and sovereignty, as well as customers’ and service users’ concerns about privacy and data practice.

Trustworthy generative AI is a phrase that encompasses a set of smart services and practices that ensure safe operation: trustworthy, legally compliant, and transparent. Building those necessary elements is not a simple undertaking and represents a significant addition to the normal overheads associated with machine learning (compute and storage), and includes extra processes like query & response validation, bias monitoring, data sanitization, and provenance checking.

Source: Shutterstock

Some vendors offer pre-trained models that can form some of the basis of a GenAI solution. But until now, there has been nothing on the market where a solution includes data security, use and development guardrails, manageability, and vendor support. In short, those elements that are mandatory to transform what’s essentially experimental (and therefore has potential risk) into a reliable production-ready platform – which is what Dell and NVIDIA can now offer.

The AI industry is doing its best to address many of the needs of larger organizations that are concerned about some of the potential misfirings that a premature rollout of GenAI could create. NIST’s Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), for example, has come about to create safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence and comprises more than 200 bodies. It produces empirically backed standards for AI measurement and policy, so organizations leveraging GenAI have guides to safe and legal AI deployment.

NVIDIA, a key member of AISIC, now offers NeMo Guardrails which is designed to support enterprise data security and governance standards, acting as a two-way arbiter between user queries and AI responses.

In enterprise use cases, working with internal data also brings challenges with regard to an organization’s intellectual property. Without proper safeguards, any GenAI instance represents a potential danger to an organization’s ongoing viability. It’s with that challenge and those detailed above that Dell and NVIDIA have partnered to offer a GenAI system that boasts topical, safety and security features, producing the closest to a production-ready, drop-in GenAI solution currently available on the market.

Dell Technologies’ Generative AI Solutions encompass best-of-breed infrastructure designed to greatly simplify the adoption of generative AI for organizations that need the power of machine learning technologies to leverage the value of their digital assets without compromising their ethos, data, customers, or third parties.

Based around the Dell PowerEdge XE9680 GPU-accelerated server, it’s designed for generative AI training, model customization and large-scale inferencing. It comes with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software, which allows rapid deployment of production-ready models in local, hybrid, and remote computing topologies.

The Dell Generative AI Solution range is highly scalable, with hardware that can be expanded according to need, with eight NVIDIA H100 or A100 GPUs fully interconnected with NVLink. The air-cooled 6U devices offer any variation of local and remote deployment at a lower TCO than equitable processing power from other vendors.

With NVIDIA AI Workbench, developers can experience easy GPU environment setup and the freedom to work, manage, and collaborate across workstation and data center platforms regardless of skill-level.

The combination of hardware and software designed from the ground up for generative AI development and deployment, comes with guardrails, data governance, and security baked in. Together, the two mean that organizations can deploy powerful AI-based applications safely and responsibly.

Source: Shutterstock

Building trustworthy generative AI means greater buy-in from business decision-leaders outside IT, as many of their rightly-held concerns around the technology are addressed: transparent development and use, safeguarded IP and customer-facing responses, statutory compliance, and best-in-class operating costs.

To find out more about how the Dell Generative AI Solution portfolio takes machine learning to a fully-viable production setting, contact your nearest representative.

Dell Technologies: https://www.dell.com/en-sg/dt/solutions/artificial-intelligence/generative-ai.htm

NVIDIA: https://www.nvidia.com/en-sg/ai-data-science/generative-ai/

The post Trustworthy AI – the Promise of Enterprise-Friendly Generative Machine Learning with Dell and NVIDIA appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking change in technology since the birth of the internet is generative AI. Rarely does software have an impact on the business world as much as machine learning algorithms have. Always at the forefront of exploration of the frontiers of tech, the APJ region is already pushing the boundaries of what AI can offer: in media, business intelligence, data processing, marketing, engineering and a hundred other areas.

In one of the largest and widest-reaching surveys on IT in recent years, the Innovation Catalysts study quizzed over 6,000 respondents globally, who gave their answers to a range of queries around innovation, AI, and ML and how their organizations were responding to new technology. (The full survey from Dell Technologies is available here.) The majority of IT professionals (85%) agreed with the proposition that AI and GenAI will significantly transform their industry. And 76% of respondents reported that their organization is already providing intelligent technology in the form of AI optimization software that improves their work experiences.

Given the obvious benefits of AI to all business functions, it’s important, therefore, to understand that access to the compute power and tools required for advanced intelligent algorithms is a prerequisite for today’s businesses. In today’s technology landscape, access to the most advanced AI tools and capabilities can be challenging, especially for businesses looking to innovate and differentiate themselves. The dominance of a few major technology providers has led to a proprietary approach, where the latest AI innovations may be tightly controlled and not easily accessible to a broader range of organizations. This proprietary nature of some AI ecosystems can present obstacles for businesses, especially those in the APJ region, to truly innovate and be creative with AI. They want to use the latest and greatest AI capabilities, but the lack of openness and compatibility between different AI systems gets in their way.

Source: Shutterstock

The need for openness

Developers need open standards to create new uses for AI because it gives them the flexibility to deploy their solutions on-premise, in the cloud, and on edge devices; wherever, in fact, the business’s needs dictate. In parallel with that is the need for compute engines optimized for different devices, capable of delivering AI performance at the point of consumption. Open standards in software and hardware enable interoperability, providing customers the freedom to leverage the AI tools and infrastructure that best suit their unique needs and workflows. This empowers businesses to innovate with generative AI on their own terms, without being limited by a single vendor’s ecosystem.

What the technology industry must pursue, therefore, is a policy of the democratization of GenAI, and those goals are realized by open ecosystems and silicon diversity. Organizations pursuing this strategy of flexibility and choice will gain a significant strategic edge over competitors who primarily rely on public cloud services to manage their AI workloads. This is the key strategy to helping organizations gain a competitive advantage. Empowering businesses with access to the latest hardware optimized for generative AI can further amplify these strategic advantages.

Source: Shutterstock

Powerful hardware

For organizations developing custom AI models and processing large bodies of data, the latest hardware designed from the ground up to be optimized for GenAI significantly lowers TCO, meaning leeway for research and experimentation even within tight budgets.

Better hardware also means projects reach production quicker, and end-users get faster results and an overall better experience. The new Dell PowerEdge XE9680 Server is designed for today’s GenAI workloads. It offers up to eight AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators and provides 1.5TB of coherent GPU accelerator memory per server (the highest ratio in the GPU market currently). That means a lower DC footprint, yet with an increased inference capacity, so very large training datasets can be ingested quickly.

Open software

Hardware power and capabilities unlock an organization’s freedom to innovate without cost overrun, but the software running on it has to offer compatibility with existing AI frameworks, libraries, and models for true portability and compatibility.

Without openness, it’s impossible to achieve that portability across platforms, and therefore, AI can’t be considered democratized. The AMD MI300X Instinct Accelerators in the Dell XE9680 Server, which will be ready to ship in May, offers over 21 petaflops of FP16 performance, yet out-of-the-box, run the common standards in data science of PyTorch and TensorFlow, plus natively supports JAX, Open Neural Network Xchange (ONNX), and OpenAI Triton, inside the AMD ROCm software stack.

ROCm consists of a collection of drivers, development tools, and APIs that enable GPU programming from low-level kernel to end-user applications, and brings together hardware and software optimized for GenAI, large models and fast time-to-market for a business’s AI projects.

AMD’s ROCm is optimized for Instinct MI300X accelerators and is a freely available open software stack that’s capable of evolution and adaptation according to a business’s evolving needs.

An integral part of democratized GenAI is, of course, the open-source ethos. OSS (open-source software) drives quality and excellence, with thousands of users and developers refining and improving the code, allowing increased innovation.

Source: Shutterstock

Better together

Open-source also equates to open flexibility, a situation that means developers can create GenAI-based products and services that operate on a range of devices with upstream support that is available from hundreds of the open-source projects that dominate the GenAI world.

The ultimate flexibility possible today is provided by the combination of the Dell PowerEdge XE9680, AMD’s Instinct MI300X accelerators’ 3rd Gen AMD CDNA (Compute DNA), and ROCm 6 software. A firm foundation and open portability allow businesses and organizations the tools and infrastructure needed to innovate at this critical juncture in technology’s evolution.

GenAI’s transformative powers offer APJ businesses a unique opportunity to develop the next generation of AI-powered software outside the constraints and deliberate roadblocks placed by big tech’s policies of separation and compartmentalization. The horizons can open with just a straightforward deployment configuration tailored to their needs and running on optimized hardware.

To find out more about the Dell PowerEdge XE9680, head to these pages according to your geography: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, or India. Plus, you can head here to read more about the AMD Instinct MI300X accelerator at the heart of Dell’s next-gen AI-focused hardware.

The post Strategies for Democratizing GenAI appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

As a result of this convenience, coupled with the sophistication of today’s smartphones and the transition to home-working, many workers now opt to use their personal devices for work. Indeed, a Gartner survey^* taken during the pandemic found that 55 per cent of employees used a personally owned smartphone or laptop to perform their duties.

However, employees will use their consumer-grade products for both work and personal use, making them more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. They also rarely meet the same security standards as bespoke workplace devices, creating a risk of non-compliance with cybersecurity policy. Furthermore, consumer mobiles tend to fall short of the requirements necessary for intensive use in a professional setting, and do not come with enterprise-level support when technical problems arise.

Zebra Technologies now offers a solution with its TC22 and TC27 mobile computers, which combine affordability with top-tier features that enhance productivity and workflow efficiency. Unlike typical consumer-grade smartphones, the TC22 and TC27 are purpose-built and drop tested, ensuring durability that lasts for years whether used inside the warehouse or at the mercy of the harshest outdoor elements. They come with liquid and dust resistance to IP68 and IP65 standards, and the display screen and scanner exit window are made from Corning Gorilla Glass for high durability.

Both the TC22 and TC27 are equipped with Wi-Fi 6/6E^** connectivity, with the latter boasting 5G, ensuring constant, lightning-fast data transfer and superior voice quality in different working environments. The devices run on a Qualcomm 5430 2.1GHz processor that delivers twice the performance of its predecessors, meaning seamless multitasking across applications and fast response times.

Source: Zebra Technologies

Designed for usability, the TC22 and TC27 have advanced six-inch FHD+ displays that reduce the need for constant scrolling and can be used in bright sunlight. The ergonomic design, nearly 10 per cent thinner than previous models, runs on Android, guaranteeing access to the latest features and updates as well as a familiar interface, with future upgrades to Android 16 supported.

The devices also integrate enterprise-class scanning options that can read high rise shelfing in the warehouse, first-time-every-time barcode capture and support for contactless transactions and cards stored in Apple or Google wallets; features that are quickly becoming essential for merchants. Moreover, users get a built-in advantage at no-cost with Zebra’s Mobility DNA Professional suite, that provides security updates, lifecycle management and analytics that maximise user productivity and protection from cyber threats.

Source: Zebra Technologies

Both devices offer flexible battery choices to match various work patterns. The standard 3800 mAh battery suits full-shift power needs, while the optional extended 5200 mAh battery caters to multi-shift demands. The removable batteries ensures uninterrupted operations without downtime for charging.

Beyond their core features, the TC22 and TC27 offer purpose-built accessories such as single and multi-slot cradles for various charging options, snap-on trigger handles for quicker scanning and wearable arm mounts for hands-free operation. These accessories are tailored to different work environments, from retail to field service.

Zebra has provided mobile computing solutions for all businesses and budgets for the last 50 years. Unlike consumer smartphones, the TC22 and TC27 are designed specifically for workplace use with powerful business features at an affordable price. They are rugged and durable, working to boost worker productivity. To learn more about what the TC22 and TC27 can do for your business, visit the Zebra product site or contact one of the expert team today.

^*Source: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-04-26-gartner-survey-finds-1-in-5-workers-consider-themselves-digital-technology-experts-since-covid-19

^**Mobility DNA Enterprise License is required for Wi-Fi 6E

The post Zebra Technologies’ TC22 and TC27: An affordable enterprise mobile solution for businesses of every size and industry appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Tech Wire Asia spoke to Niko Walraven, Neat’s Area Vice President for APAC, about the impact videoconferencing has had on the region and Neat’s plan to take things one step further.

TWA: What do APAC businesses typically look to achieve with meeting technology?

NW: “It’s a different playing field in different countries –Japan is very different from Australia, which again is very different from India. Each country has its own unique properties and unique ways of conducting meetings.

“Going back, let’s say, five or ten years, during video meetings, users would ask things like ‘Hello, can you hear me?’, ‘Can you see me?’. But, when Microsoft came out with Teams and Zoom came out with Zoom Rooms, everything became much easier. Then COVID happened, and that changed the dynamic from simply meetings to collaboration. The question, besides, ‘Can you hear and see me?’, then became ‘Can you see my content?’, and people started to work together on the shared documents. Now, as Microsoft Teams and Zoom have matured, we got that sorted as well.

Source: Neat

“Today, the question is about meeting equity. Say I have a team of people around me in the same room, and we’re all discussing things with each other. How do we make sure that the remote attendees over video don’t feel like they are separated from the discussion? We’re trying to solve this with technology as much as we can. Body language and facial expression can be more important than our voices. Neat focuses on technology that brings out the full spectrum of how we as humans communicate and work together. No matter the customer and what they want to achieve with their meeting technology, simplicity and the ability to communicate naturally are key.”

TWA: [How is remote or hybrid work impacting the use of video conferencing technology in APAC? What are the main reasons businesses are adopting conferencing solutions?]

NW: “In Asia, a lot of organisations we work with have brought their staff back in the office at least four or five days a week, and the whole COVID discussion is gone. Therefore, talent is very concentrated in the main cities, so the technology is primarily used for communicating with subsidiaries or external contacts.

“In places like Australia, the situation is similar to the US and the UK with a hybrid model, combining work from home or in the office. There, the technology is really being used to connect people from different locations. For example, great talent could be based in Perth or Cairns, so how do you bring all these people into your organisation so that everybody can perform and feel part of a team? Technology helps to solve that problem.

“From a global perspective, Neat itself is a great example. We started this company with very talented people in 2019 and have grown with a mostly remote workforce. Bringing the development team in Oslo and the sales and marketing teams in Europe, USA and APAC together can only be done over video.“

TWA: [AI is a major consideration for businesses around the world. What do you see as the impact on AI in collaboration for businesses in APAC?]

NW: “There is so much going on in artificial intelligence (AI) at this point, which is why it is amazing to get in this now, compared to last year. We are getting so close to where AI simplifies technology even more and brings people much closer together.

“Products are evolving pretty fast, and AI makes them evolve even faster. For instance, in the Neat Center, which will be out soon, there is a lot of AI trying to understand simple things. For example, in a multiple-screen videoconferencing solution – the remote attendee is visible on one screen, their content on another screen and the in-person attendees could be on another screen.

Source: Neat

“The Neat center has three cameras that take a 360 view from the table in the middle of the room. It shoots people from the front regardless of whether they look at each other across the table or face the screen in front of the room. The strength of Neat is to make this as simple as possible. AI built into Neat Center identifies the people in the room and shows them just once on the screen. Every screen or room layout is different. We feed a lot of room configurations to the AI to learn and understand who should be shown and who should not in the meeting.

“Another example is with framing things properly. I can walk around, sit down and stand up, all while staying clearly in the camera frame. It also ensures that the colleagues next to me are also in the frame and visible in the same way as me, so we get equity.”

TWA: How do you see the role of AI in shaping the future of workspaces in the APAC market?

NW: “The discussion around AI is very focused on handling repetitive tasks so that employees can focus on creative solutions, complex problem-solving, and be more impactful with their work.

“The way that applies to videoconferencing is taking the complexity away so you can communicate and collaborate freely without having to think too much about the technology itself. That is the hardware perspective. Our focus at Neat is thinking about how you incorporate artificial intelligence into the hardware itself. You always have the base layer of the hardware that helps the software become smarter; they go hand in hand.

“On top of this, Microsoft and Zoom have a big role to play in how we incorporate AI in our devices. We work very closely with these two really large providers to make a Zoom meeting or Teams meeting on a Neat device better and smarter, which sets us apart.”

To find out how Neat devices can enable hybrid work for all types of workspaces in your offices, take a virtual tour of ‘The Modern Office’ today or visit the website.

The post Meeting equity in 2024: Overcoming challenges through videoconferencing innovation appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

In a twist of events, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) finds itself at a standstill as it faces hurdles from the US government in its endeavor to sell AI chips explicitly tailored for the Chinese market. This roadblock, part of Washington’s broader crackdown on exporting advanced technologies to China, sheds light on the intricate interplay between global trade dynamics and national security concerns.

AMD’s aspiration to secure approval from the US Commerce Department to sell the AI processor to Chinese customers has hit a snag. The chip in question, the MI309, is designed to cater specifically to the demands of the Chinese market, representing AMD’s ambitious foray to capture the attention of Chinese consumers and businesses alike.

Despite designing the chip with lower performance metrics to comply with US export restrictions, officials have still deemed it too powerful. Consequently, AMD finds itself in a quandary, with US authorities mandating the acquisition of a license from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security before the sale can go ahead.

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“AMD had hoped to gain a green light from the Commerce Department to sell the AI processor to Chinese customers since it performs at a lower level than what the company sells outside of China,” Bloomberg reported. 

The MI309 and its hurdles

One of the pivotal moments in AMD’s journey came with the realization that its presence in China’s AI chip sector lagged behind that of its competitors, most notably Nvidia. In response, AMD intensified its efforts to capture market share and establish itself as a formidable contender in China’s burgeoning AI chip market. But the path forward was uncertain as regulatory scrutiny and export restrictions loomed.

Despite the daunting challenges, AMD pressed forward, unveiling its latest innovation, the Instinct MI309 chip, tailored specifically for the Chinese market. With its advanced features and tailored design, the MI309 chip represented a bold step forward for AMD, signaling its commitment to innovation and growth in adversity. However, the journey was far from smooth sailing, as the MI309 chip encountered regulatory hurdles and faced scrutiny from US authorities.

What will AMD do about its AI chip hurdles?

While AMD remains tight-lipped about its next steps, the Bureau of Industry and Security too has refrained from commenting on the matter, leaving the situation uncertain. The ambiguity surrounding AMD’s potential course of action has naturally fueled speculation about its future trajectory and ability to navigate the intricate web of regulatory frameworks.

AMD received licenses from the Commerce Department last August to sell its advanced AI chips, including its flagship MI250 data center GPU, to Chinese customers like cloud giants Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu. AMD was poised to grab market share from rival Nvidia, which had most of its AI chip sales to China blocked by previous US export rules.

In fact, AMD’s opportunity in China looked huge, as the country aims to build a US$400 billion semiconductor industry to support its tech ambitions in areas like AI, 5G, and supercomputing. Chinese companies were hungry for advanced AI accelerators to power large language models, computer vision, and other cutting-edge applications.

But in early October, the Biden administration imposed new export controls restricting shipments of high-end AI chips and chip-making tools to China. The rules were intended to cut off China’s access to technologies that could aid its military capabilities. The new rules blindsided AMD and its Chinese partners. 

The MI250 and other advanced AMD AI chips appeared to fall under the new restrictions, halting the company’s AI chip sales to China. For now, the mystery persists over the identity of the Chinese client eyeing AMD’s AI chips, a crucial factor in the company’s potential licensing prospects. 

Meanwhile, Chinese tech giants like Tencent and Baidu have fortified their chip reserves from Nvidia, anticipating regulatory hurdles. On another front, Huawei is forging ahead with its AI semiconductor development, aiming to bridge the gap left by US restrictions and bolster China’s chip sovereignty.

The post AMD’s Chinese AI chip plan halted by US govt: What’s next? appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

When it comes to the landscape of semiconductor production, the US has found itself in a peculiar position: absent from the forefront of leading-edge chip manufacturing. This absence, glaring in recent years, reflects a complex interplay of factors ranging from outsourcing to regulatory hurdles. However, as the global pandemic tightened its grip on supply chains, the US embarked on a concerted effort to revitalize its semiconductor industry. 

Now, amid renewed urgency and a strategic vision, the nation has taken a reasonably ambitious stance to reclaim its status as a formidable player in chip manufacturing. “Our investments in leading-edge logic chip manufacturing will put this country on track to produce roughly 20% of the world’s leading-edge logic chips by the end of the decade,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on February 26, 2024.

“That’s a big deal,” Raimondo added. “Why is that a big deal? Because folks, today we’re at zero.” Her speech came a year following the initiation of funding applications under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act by the US Department of Commerce. With a staggering US$39 billion earmarked for manufacturing incentives, the stage has been set for a transformative journey in the semiconductor landscape. 

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Raimondo’s ambitious vision, unveiled concurrently, delineates the path ahead. By 2030, the US aims to spearhead the design and manufacture of cutting-edge chips, establishing dedicated fabrication plant clusters to realize this audacious objective. She outlined how, besides everything else, there’s been a significant shift in the need for advanced semiconductor chips due to AI. 

(FILES) US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo testifies during the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP).

“When we started this, generative AI wasn’t even part of our vocabulary. Now, it’s everywhere. Training a single large language model takes tens of thousands of leading-edge semiconductor chips. The truth is that AI will be the defining technology of our generation. You can’t lead in AI if you don’t lead in making leading-edge chips. And so our work in implementing the CHIPS Act became much more important,” Raimondo emphasized.

The US meeting its goal will create “hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs,” Raimondo said Monday. “The truth of it is the US does lead, right? We do lead. We lead in the design of chips and the development of large AI language models. But we don’t manufacture or package any leading-edge chips that we need to fuel AI and our innovation ecosystem, including chips necessary for national defense. We don’t make it in America, and the brutal fact is the US cannot lead the world as a technology and innovation leader on such a shaky foundation,” she iterated.

Why is there a gap between US and chip manufacturing?

The US grappled with a significant gap in chip manufacturing for several reasons. Firstly, many semiconductor companies outsourced their manufacturing operations overseas to cut costs, leading to a decline in domestic chip production capacity. Secondly, as semiconductor technology advanced, the complexity and cost of building cutting-edge fabrication facilities increased, discouraging investment in new fabs. 

Additionally, global competitors like Taiwan, South Korea, and China expanded their semiconductor industries rapidly, intensifying competition. Furthermore, while other countries provided substantial government support to their semiconductor industries, the US fell behind. Then, there were regulatory hurdles, and environmental regulations make building and operating semiconductor fabs in the US challenging and costly. 

A combination of outsourcing, technological challenges, global competition, lack of government support, and regulatory issues contributed to the US’s gap in chip manufacturing, with none of the world’s leading-edge chips being produced domestically.

And then the world woke up one day in deperate need of leading-edge semiconductors to fuel the next industrial revolution, and the US realized its mistake.

“We need to make these chips in America. We need more talent development in America. We need more research and development in America and just a lot more manufacturing at scale,” Raimondo said in her speech at CSIS.

2030 vision: prioritizing future-ready projects

US President Joe Biden greets attendees after delivering remarks on his economic plan at TSMC chip manufacturing facility. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI/AFP).

Raimondo declared that the US will first prioritize projects that will be operational by the end of this decade. “I want to be clear: there are many worthy proposals that we’ve received with plans to come online after 2030, and we’re saying no, for now, to those projects because we want to maximize our impact in this decade,” she clarified.

The US will give priority to “excellent projects that could come online this year” instead of granting incentives to projects that will come online in 10 or 12 years from now. She also referred back to the goal mentioned last year – when the US is all said and done with this CHIPS initiative – to have at least two new large-scale clusters of leading-edge logic fabs, each of those clusters employing thousands of workers. 

“I’m pleased to tell you today we expect to exceed that target,” she claimed. So far, the Commerce Department has awarded grants to three companies in the chip industry as part of the CHIPS Act: BAE Systems, Microchip Technology, and, most recently, a significant US$1.5 billion grant to GlobalFoundries. Additional funding is anticipated for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics as they establish new facilities within the US.

Raimondo also highlighted her nation’s commitment to supporting the production of older-generation chips, referred to as mature-node or legacy chips. “We’re not losing sight of the importance of current generation and mature node chips, which you all know are essential for cars, medical devices, defense systems, and critical infrastructure.”

Yet the lion’s share of investments, totaling US$28 billion out of US$39 billion, is earmarked for leading-edge chips. Raimondo emphasized that this program aims for targeted investments rather than scattering funds widely. She disclosed that the Department has received over US$70 billion in requests from leading-edge companies alone.

For now, anticipation is high for the Commerce Department’s new round of grant announcements, scheduled to coincide with President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7. Among the expected recipients is TSMC, which is establishing new Arizona facilities.

Two months ago, the rhetoric was centered on China. Today, it’s firmly USA-first.

The post Zero to 20%: US aims for chip domination by 2030 appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

In an era where digital privacy is paramount, Apple is integrating PQ3 into iMessage. This announcement marks a watershed moment in messaging security, propelling iMessage to unprecedented heights of protection. As the first widely deployed messaging app to achieve Level 3 security, what does the announcement mean for iPhone users, and why should they care?

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At the heart of Apple’s PQ3 integration lies a revolutionary cryptographic protocol designed to withstand the challenges posed by quantum computing. Unlike traditional encryption methods, which may be vulnerable to future quantum attacks, PQ3 provides robust protection against even the most sophisticated adversaries. Using advanced cryptographic techniques, PQ3 ensures that iMessage conversations remain secure and private, regardless of the evolving threat landscape.

“To our knowledge, PQ3 has the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world,” Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR) team stated in a blog post a week ago.

The new state of the art in quantum-secure messaging at scale. Source: Apple.

A quantum leap in messaging security

Traditionally, messaging platforms rely on classical public key cryptography like RSA, elliptic curve signatures, and Diffie-Hellman key exchange for secure end-to-end encryption. These algorithms are based on complex mathematical problems deemed computationally intensive for conventional computers, even with Moore’s law in play. However, the advent of quantum computing poses a new challenge.

A powerful enough quantum computer could solve these mathematical problems in novel ways, potentially jeopardizing the security of end-to-end encrypted communications. While quantum computers capable of decryption aren’t yet available, well-funded attackers can prepare by exploiting cheaper data storage. They accumulate encrypted data now, planning to decrypt it later with future quantum technology—a tactic termed “harvest now, decrypt later.”

When iMessage launched in 2011, it became the first widely available messaging app with default end-to-end encryption. Over the years, Apple has continually enhanced its security features. In 2019, the iPhone maker bolstered its cryptographic protocol by transitioning from RSA to elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) and safeguarding encryption keys within the secure enclave, increasing protection against sophisticated attacks. 

“Additionally, we implemented a periodic rekey mechanism for cryptographic self-healing in case of key compromise. These advancements underwent rigorous formal verification, ensuring the robustness of our security measures,” the blog post reads. The cryptographic community has been developing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to address the threat of future quantum computers. These new public key algorithms can run on today’s classical computers without requiring quantum technology. 

Designing PQ3

Designing PQ3 involved rebuilding the iMessage cryptographic protocol to enhance end-to-end encryption, meeting specific goals:

1. Post-quantum cryptography: PQ3 protects all communication from current and future adversaries by introducing post-quantum cryptography from the start of a conversation.
2. Mitigating key compromises: It limits the impact of critical compromises by restricting the decryption of past and future messages with a single compromised key.
3. Hybrid design: PQ3 combines new post-quantum algorithms with current elliptic curve algorithms, ensuring increased security without compromising protocol safety.
4. Amortized message size: To minimize additional overhead, PQ3 spreads message size evenly, avoiding excessive burdens from added security.
5. Formal verification: PQ3 undergoes standard verification methods to ensure robust security assurances.

According to Apple, PQ3 introduces a new post-quantum encryption key during iMessage registration, using Kyber post-quantum public keys. These keys facilitate the initial critical establishment, enabling sender devices to generate post-quantum encryption keys for the first message, even if the receiver is offline.

Furthermore, PQ3 implements a periodic post-quantum rekeying mechanism within conversations to self-heal from crucial compromise and protect future messages. This mechanism creates fresh message encryption keys, preventing adversaries from computing them from past keys.

The protocol utilizes a hybrid design, combining elliptic curve cryptography with post-quantum encryption during initial critical establishment and rekeying. Rekeying involves transmitting fresh public key material in line with encrypted messages, with the frequency of rekeying balanced to preserve user experience and server infrastructure capacity.

PQ3 continues to rely on classical cryptographic algorithms for sender authentication and essential verification to thwart potential quantum computer attacks. These attacks require contemporaneous access to a quantum computer and cannot be performed retroactively. But Apple noted that future assessments will evaluate the need for post-quantum authentication as quantum computing threats evolve.

A man uses an Apple iPhone in Beijing on September 12, 2023. (Photo by Pedro PARDO/AFP).

Why PQ3 on iMessage matters for iPhone Users

Integrating PQ3 into iMessage signifies a huge leap forward in privacy and security for iPhone users. With the exponential growth of data and the looming specter of quantum computing, traditional encryption methods face unprecedented challenges. PQ3 mitigates these risks by providing quantum-resistant protection, ensuring that your conversations remain shielded from future threats. 

PQ3’s implementation in iMessage demonstrates Apple’s interest in safeguarding user privacy and staying ahead of emerging security threats. Beyond its robust encryption capabilities, PQ3 introduces a host of additional security features designed to enhance the overall integrity of iMessage. These include secure fundamental establishment mechanisms, cryptographic self-healing protocols, and real-time threat detection capabilities. 

By incorporating these advanced security measures, Apple hopes to ensure that iMessage remains a bastion of privacy in an increasingly interconnected world.

When can iPhone users expect the update?

Support for PQ3 will begin with the public releases of iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4. Already available in developer previews and beta releases, PQ3 will automatically elevate the security of iMessage conversations between devices that support the protocol. As Apple gains operational experience with PQ3 globally, it will gradually replace the existing protocol within all sustained conversations throughout the year.

The post Apple adds PQ3 protocol into iMessage appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Once a dominant semiconductor force, Intel has faced significant challenges from rising competitors in recent decades. But, fueled by a strategic overhaul and innovative technologies in recent years, the Silicon Valley behemoth is primed for a resurgence. In 2021, Intel initiated its comeback with an extensive technology roadmap, culminating this week in the launch of its contract chip manufacturing business. Branded as the “world’s first systems foundry” for the AI era, the move signals Intel’s intention to challenge Asian rivals like TSMC and Samsung for industry supremacy.

In a strategic pivot unveiled on February 21, Intel rebranded its contract chip-making venture from Intel Foundry Services to the sleeker, more succinct title of Intel Foundry. This renaming marks a significant step in CEO Pat Gelsinger’s plan, announced in early 2021, to revitalize Intel’s manufacturing sector and establish a formidable presence in the chipmaking ecosystem. Embracing Gelsinger’s ambitious IDM 2.0 strategy, Intel Foundry represents an evolution of the company’s integrated device manufacturing model. 

Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO, introduces Intel Foundry during the Intel Foundry Direct Connect event on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, in San Jose, California. (Credit: Intel Corporation).

This initiative involves substantial investments in manufacturing capabilities, alongside a renewed focus on contract chip manufacturing and strategic collaborations with external foundries. With Intel Foundry at its core, Gelsinger’s comeback blueprint aims to fortify Intel’s product lineup and position the company as a leading provider of cutting-edge semiconductor solutions for a diverse range of partners and clients.

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“AI is profoundly transforming the world and how we think about technology and the silicon that powers it,” said Gelsinger. “This is creating an unprecedented opportunity for the world’s most innovative chip designers and Intel Foundry, the world’s first systems foundry for the AI era. Together, we can create new markets and revolutionize how the world uses technology to improve people’s lives.”

The company emphasized customer support and ecosystem partnerships. Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, and Ansys are ready to expedite chip designs for Intel Foundry customers using validated tools, design flows, and IP portfolios for Intel’s advanced packaging and 18A process technologies.

Intel Foundry roadmap extends past 5N4Y

Foundry process roadmap graphic. Source: Intel

At this week’s event, Intel, for the first time since 2021, provided an update to its process roadmap. Intel confirmed that its ambitious plan to introduce five nodes within four years, known as 5N4Y, is progressing as planned. In fact, Intel anticipates reclaiming its position as a process leader from TSMC with Intel 18A by 2025. Intel also reaffirmed its mission to dethrone Samsung and claim the title of the world’s second-largest foundry by 2030. 

An Intel factory employee holds a wafer with 3D stacked Foveros technology at an Intel fab in Hillsboro, Oregon. (Credit: Intel Corporation).

Beyond that, Intel revealed plans for enhanced versions of Intel 3, Intel 18, and Intel 14A, each fine-tuned to elevate performance, introduce innovative features, or incorporate the groundbreaking Foveros Direct 3-D stacking technology for cutting-edge chip designs. Furthermore, Intel hinted at extending the capabilities of Intel 3 with the introduction of Intel 3-T, where the “T” signifies the integration of Foveros Direct technology, connecting chips through a pioneering method known as through-silicon vias. 

The company then announced the forthcoming Intel 14A, slated for commercialization in late 2026, and teased a revolutionary leap in lithography technology with High NA EUV. The roadmap promises a future brimming with innovation and transformative possibilities for Intel and the semiconductor industry.

After all, each successive node heralds a surge in performance-per-watt, reflecting Intel’s pursuit of innovation propels it closer to its lofty aspirations.

Also highlighted are mature process nodes, including new 12 nanometer nodes expected through the joint development with UMC announced last month. These evolutions are designed to enable customers to develop and deliver products tailored to their specific needs. Intel Foundry plans a new node every two years and node evolutions along the way, giving customers a path to evolve their offerings on Intel’s leading process technology continuously. 

“Intel also announced the addition of Intel Foundry FCBGA 2D+ to its comprehensive suite of ASAT offerings, which already include FCBGA 2D, EMIB, Foveros, and Foveros Direct,” the company added. To date, Intel has rolled out products on the first two nodes of Gelsinger’s plan—Intel 7 and Intel 4—and now, the company is gearing up for the next stage with Intel 3 ready for high-volume manufacturing.

 The first product on Intel 3 will be a new generation of Xeon server CPUs, codenamed Sierra Forest, focusing on high-core density, slated for release in the first half of this year. 

Intel scored Microsoft

Intel claims that customers are backing Intel’s long-term systems foundry strategy. Intel Foundry has secured design wins across various process generations, including Intel 18A, Intel 16, and Intel 3, with substantial customer volume on Intel Foundry’s advanced packaging capabilities. 

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella announced during Gelsinger’s keynote that they’ve selected a chip design for Intel 18A production. “We are in the midst of a fascinating platform shift that will fundamentally transform productivity for every individual organization and the entire industry,” Nadella said. 

“To achieve this vision, we need a reliable supply of the most advanced, high-performance, and high-quality semiconductors. That’s why we are so excited to work with Intel Foundry and why we have chosen a chip design that we plan to produce on the Intel 18A process,” he added.

Intel Foundry anticipates a lifetime deal value exceeding US$15 billion across wafers and advanced packaging.

The post Intel Foundry: racing for chip supremacy with 18A tech and Microsoft onboard appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

In semiconductor manufacturing, there is a battle raging between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics. As the demand for advanced chips skyrockets in the era of AI, 5G, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the competition between these industry giants has intensified, with each vying for dominance in the lucrative chip market.

Not too long ago, in a compelling twist unveiled during Samsung Electronics’ fourth-quarter financial disclosure of 2023, whispers of a meaningful deal echoed through the tech sphere: the company’s foundry division had clinched a coveted contract for 2-nanometer (nm) AI chips. At that point, shrouded in mystery, Samsung kept the identity of this pivotal partner concealed. 

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Earlier this week, a revelation from Business Korea unveiled the patron: Japanese AI startup Preferred Networks Inc. (PFN). Since its inception in 2014, PFN has emerged as a powerhouse in AI deep learning, drawing substantial investments from industry giants like Toyota, NTT, and FANUC, a leading Japanese robotics firm.

Samsung vs TSMC

Samsung, headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, is set to unleash its cutting-edge 2nm chip processing technology to craft AI accelerators and other advanced AI chips for PFN, as confirmed by industry insiders on February 16, 2024. 

Should news of this landmark deal be legitimate, it would prove mutually advantageous. It empowers PFN with access to state-of-the-art chip innovations for a competitive edge while propelling Samsung forward in its fierce foundry market rivalry with TSMC, as per insider reports.

Ironically, PFN has had a longstanding partnership with TSMC dating back to 2016 but is opting to shift gears hereon, going for Samsung’s 2nm node for its upcoming AI chip lineup, according to a knowledgeable insider. PFN also chose Samsung over TSMC due to Samsung’s full-service chip manufacturing capabilities, covering everything from chip design to production and advanced packaging, sources revealed.

Experts also speculate that although TSMC boasts a more extensive clientele for 2nm chips, PFN’s strategic move to Samsung hints at a potential shift in the Korean giant’s favor. This pivotal decision may pave the way for other significant clients to align with Samsung, altering the competitive landscape in the chipmaking realm.

No doubt, in the cutthroat world of contract chipmaking, TSMC reigns supreme, clinching major deals with industry giants like Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. But, as the demand for top-tier chips escalates, the race for technological superiority is heating up, with TSMC and Samsung at the forefront of the battle. While TSMC currently leads the pack, boasting 2nm chips for clients like Apple and Nvidia, Samsung is hot on its heels. 

“Apple is set to become TSMC’s inaugural customer for the 2nm process, positioning TSMC at the forefront of competition in the advanced process technology,” TrendForce stated in its report. Meanwhile, according to Samsung’s previous roadmap, its 2nm SF2 process is set to debut in 2025. 

Samsung’s Advanced Node Roadmap Down to 1.4nm in 2027. Graph: The Korean Economic Daily.

“As stated in Samsung’s Foundry Forum (SFF) plan, Samsung will begin mass production of the 2nm process (SF2) in 2025 for mobile applications, expand to high-performance computing (HPC) applications in 2026, and further extend to the automotive sector and the expected 1.4nm process by 2027,” TrendForce noted.

Compared to the second-generation 3GAP process at 3nm, it offers a 25% improvement in power efficiency at the same frequency and complexity and a 12% performance boost at the same power consumption and complexity while reducing chip area by 5%. In short, with TSMC eyeing mass production of 2nm chips by 2025, the competition between these tech titans is set to reach new heights.

Yet, in a strategic maneuver reported by the Financial Times, Samsung is gearing up to entice customers with discounted rates for its 2nm process, a move poised to shake up the semiconductor landscape. With its sights set on Qualcomm’s flagship chip production, Samsung aims to lure clients away from TSMC by offering competitive pricing. 

This bold initiative signals Samsung’s determination to carve out a larger market share and challenge TSMC’s dominance in the semiconductor industry.

The post Samsung’s leap: Securing 2nm AI chip deal, nipping at TSMC’s Heels appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Source: Zebra Technologies

A logical solution involves replacing disparate, legacy devices with a single, multipurpose digital solution capable of adapting to different work environments and tasks. This approach simplifies IT infrastructure, reduces expense and enhances productivity. Choosing a specialist provider with significant industrial experience also helps ensure a reliable solution for long-term satisfaction in diverse use cases.

Zebra Technologies‘ recently launched the ET60 and ET65 Android rugged enterprise tablets with ten-inch displays designed to address these challenges. The most versatile in the industry, they can be used primarily as tablets, fitted on a vehicle dock or converted into a laptop for intensive data entry by snapping on an optional fiction hinge keyboard. The models’ adaptability ensures they transition between all work environments, eliminating the need for multiple digital solutions and the headaches of a fragmented hardware environment.

The ET60 and ET65 are purpose-built for challenging working conditions and have been extensively stress-tested for drops onto hard surfaces that exceed MIL-STD-810H, liquid and dust resistance to IP66 standard and extreme temperatures. Both the display screen and scanner exit window are made from Corning Gorilla Glass for high durability, and the display screen is rated at 1000 nits to be clear even in bright sunlight.

In addition to excelling in varied environmental conditions, the ET60 and ET65 go beyond conventional capabilities. The devices come equipped with front and rear cameras that can capture diverse data types like barcodes, registration plates and Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) via Zebra’s proprietary OCR Wedge to improve workforce efficiency and accuracy. The 16MP camera is ideal for occasional barcode scanning, but users can also use the integrated SE55 scan engine with IntelliFocus™ technology to capture barcodes as far as 12.2 metres away. With removable batteries allowing for full-shift or multi-shift use, hot-swap battery mode and no-battery configurations when in-vehicle, the ET60/ET65 ensures uninterrupted operations wherever it is stationed.

To support the cold chain environment, Zebra has a purpose-built ET60 Freezer model that can be mounted on a patent-pending rugged vehicle dock. This model thrives in sub-zero environments through its heated touch panel that reduces condensation, heated pogo pins to avoid loss of connection, securely covered ports that increase its longevity and adjustable warehouse keyboard for gloved operations.

Source: Zebra Technologies

Another issue with retaining fragmented, legacy devices is their lack of ongoing support. This creates vulnerabilities and hampers the devices’ ability to adapt to evolving technological landscapes. However, Zebra’s ET60 and ET65 provide a long lifecycle with four years availability for sale and up to eight years of service and support. The tablets ship with Zebra’s Mobility DNA, a suite of complimentary software that helps optimise, integrate, manage, secure and deploy devices. Optional LifeGuard™ for Android provides regular operating system and security patches, offering greater protection against security threats – there was a hack on Australian assets every six minutes[1] in the first half of 2023 – reducing risk and extending the device’s lifespan.

ET60 and ET65 are powered by fast Qualcomm 6490 octa-core 2.7 GHz processors designed to support the fastest networks, plus the AI and machine learning apps of tomorrow. The devices are compatible with the latest wireless networks, Wi-Fi 6/6E and come with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for maximum IIoT connectivity. The ET65 model also adds 5G connectivity for public and private networks and improved outdoor performance.

The ET60 and ET65 tablets have been purpose-built to cater to diverse work environments, from warehouses, ports and yards to manufacturing plant floors, working outdoors and in freezer units. They offer multiple uses in one device, reliability, security and longevity. To learn more about the ET60 and ET65, visit the Zebra product site or contact one of the expert team today.

The post Choosing a tablet for seamless site work: Boost productivity everywhere in the business with Zebra’s ET60 and ET65 solutions appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.