Tech production in China is getting more concerning by the day. Between the pandemic and international technology transfer restrictions, this could become the big story of 2023. China had tried to keep the Covid genie in the bottle since the pandemic started but is now shifting gears, relaxing testing and quarantine, and seemingly hoping for the best. This follows repeated interruptions to life and business in China, including technology manufacturing, over the last two years. But the country is also the subject of tightening restrictions, including new export controls on advance semiconductor manufacturing and equipment. How will they weather these two crises in 2023?
0:49 | Microsoft Picks Up Fungible
Microsoft has reportedly purchased Fungible. The DPU startup was picked up for $190 million, which is down from the $300 million they’ve taken in since being founded in 2015. Microsoft had been in talks to launch a deal for custom chips with the company but decided instead to buy the whole thing outright at a bit of a discount.The Fungible DPU would make a great addition to Microsoft Azure and position them as competitive against AWS Nitro. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed the purchase yet. Stephen did Microsoft pick up a great technology for a song?
Read More: Fungible sold to Microsoft for $190 million, say multiple sources
3:26 | VMware Execs Depart
Three of VMware’s senior executives have decided to take an extended holiday vacation. Tom Gillis, Mark Lohmeyer, and Ajay Patel are departing for “new ventures”. Gillis was the general manager of networking and security, Lohmeyer oversaw the cloud infastructure business unit, and Patel was the head of applications and management. The roles will be filled by other VMware folks but the questions remain about whether or not the departures are related to the pending acqusition of VMware by Broadcom and the rumored headwinds they may face from regulators.
Read More: VMware loses three top execs who owned growth products
6:04 | Ventana Launches RISC-V for Data Center with Veyron
Ventana Micro Systems announced the release of their newest high performance RISC-V chip this week. The Veyron V1 is positioned to be both an offering for end users as well as a form of IP that can be the basis for designing custom solutions. Veyron utilizes chiplet methodology to reduce time to market while also providing reliable components from proven suppliers. The chiplets also leverage parallel die-to-die connectivity instead of PCI-E for faster speeds. Stephen, we’ve talked about RISC in the data center several times this year. What does Veyron offer for those looking to make the switch?
Read More: Ventana Plans to Bring RISC-V Chip to HPC
9:53 | Android Signing Keys Leaked
It’s not a good day when your secure signing keys are out in the wild. Worse yet would be if they were the signing keys for an entire mobile operating platform. Google isn’t having a very good day for sure because the signing keys for Samsung, LG, and Mediatek are somehow out in the wild and being actively used to sign malware. Samsung released a statment saying they were aware of the leaked key and have been issuing patches to prevent exposure. Google is recommending for the near future to only install apps from the Google Play app store and to avoid sideloading apps that haven’t been verified by Google’s processes. Tom, how big of a deal could this be?
Read More: Samsung’s Android app-signing key has leaked, is being used to sign malware
13:03 | Microsoft Invests in Stock (Exchange)
Microsoft and the London Stock Exchange announced a 10 year partnership, including an investment in the exchange and a commitment to migrate to Azure. Microsoft is taking a 4% stake in the exchange but says it will net over $5 billion in revenue over the next decade. This seems like an awfully expensive way to win cloud business, but maybe it makes sense to win the exchange. Is this a smart move for Microsoft?
Read More: Microsoft invests $2 billion in London Stock Exchange cloud deal
15:44 | Will Covid and Politics Strangle Manufacturing in China?
Tech production in China is getting more concerning by the day. Between the pandemic and international technology transfer restrictions, this could become the big story of 2023. China had tried to keep the Covid genie in the bottle since the pandemic started but is now shifting gears, relaxing testing and quarantine, and seemingly hoping for the best. This follows repeated interruptions to life and business in China, including technology manufacturing, over the last two years. But the country is also the subject of tightening restrictions, including new export controls on advance semiconductor manufacturing and equipment. How will they weather these two crises in 2023?
Read More: Japan, Netherlands to join U.S. in China chip curbs: Report
27:12 | The Weeks Ahead
Networking Field Day 30 – January 18 through January 20, 2023
Cloud Field Day 16 – January 25 through January 27, 2023
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