It's raining chips, chips and chips

Hey there, you fabulous folks out there!

Welcome to another edition ?? of Brightwaves, out planet’s latest business + tech orientated newsletter with a side dash of culture, entrepreneurship, and society.?

In this week’s edition, there’s a lot about AI chips. Japan’s funding nearly US$10 billion to design chips. Jeff Bezos has just invested in an upcoming chips startup. Companies are also testing chips. Countries in Asia want to build chips (and grow their economy).

For a bit of fun, I’ve even thrown in one about where AI chips actually drive chipmaking. See whether you can spot that one. And there’s an analysis of the global chip market as well.

As usual, I’ve recommendations for tools and services, and significant business/tech news from Singapore and Canada. If you’re on the lookout for deals or hot takes on the world, definitely check those sections out.

DISCLAIMER

I’m writing this as a co-founder of my own tech firm and?we will advertise our own services here.?But I’ll strive to keep all things fair and you can check out other similar services that can help your business advance!

ICYMI - News Roundup ???

General/Regulation/Governance?

• Australia passes a law than bans social media for under-16s.?The law kicks in from 2026 with an initial first year trial period. (Source)
• Telegram reverses its position on child safety schemes?and will work with an internationally recognised body to stop the spread of CSAM. (Source)

Tech & Product

• Amazon to pilot AI-designed material for carbon removal?that will help data centres reduce emissions. (Source)
• A Chinese AI start-up founded in Tsinghua University?wants to widen test of virtual hospital with ‘AI doctors’ (Source).
• Chinese tech giant Alibaba enters the AI races?with an ‘open’ challenger to OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model. (Source)
• Amazon debuts its new AI chips in its cloud service to take on Nvidia,?with Apple being one of its first customers. (Source)
• You can now buy cryptocurrency with Apple Pay on Coinbase, albeit through third-party applications. (Source)
• Frito Lay (the guys who make Doritos) dives into AI?in an attempt to “innovate” new flavours and drive customer growth on shopping aisles. (Source)

Startups & Funding

• Jeff Bezos and Samsung backs upcoming AI chipmaker Tenstorrent.?(Source)
• Taiwanese chip-testing firm Winway expands?amidst rising AI demand. (Source)
• European fintech startup Brighty raises raises US$10 million?for its crypto-integrated digital banking platform. (Source)
• Japan’s government earmarks nearly US$10 billion for R&D development?into AI and chipmaking. (Source)
• Qatar will invest $1.3 billion in climate technology in Britain?with some money going to legacy firms as they transition. (Source)
• Figma sues Singapore AI UX startup Motiff?for copyright infringement. (Source)
• An affiliate of Taiwan’s TSMC and Dutch NXP have US$ 7.8 billion at hand?to expand its Singapore semiconductor plant. (Source)

Making Waves: Semiconductor Chips ??

When it comes to chips, there’s one that we can’t live without. And I don’t mean the Nacho Doritos that Frito Lays produces.

I’m talking about semiconductor chips. These are essential components that we all need in our device and systems such as smartphones and computers to cars and medical devices.

We’ve certainly had this in consumer electronics for close to a half century now, but there’re more use cases today with the meteoric rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IOT). Think automotive applications, data processing, and industrial automation.?

Semiconductor chips are seeing an increased demand thanks to the explosive growth of these industry. One study estimates that this semiconductor sector?will grow from US$ 611.35 billion in 2023 to US$2.06 trillion by 2032.

That’s a significant increase - and it could be higher depending on how we adopt and use technology. That growth could be a boom for companies across the ecosystem.

The Value Chain

You may know the big names such as Taiwan’s TSMC, and of course, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and others who build craft and build chips that companies such as Amazon, Apple and Dell use.

But beyond the actual chipmakers, one can also consider the value chain/ecosystem that the semiconductor industry is based around.?

The semiconductor industry is a multilayered beast, and many companies exist in this system to design, fabricate, and assemble these chips. Further to that, these chips will also have to be tested and packaged.

As it stands, countries in the global north are the design and IP leaders, while countries in East Asia have had a long history of being major players in chip manufacturing and assembly. But that’s slowly changing.

Battleground Asia-Pacific (South-East)

Increasingly, companies from East Asia are increasing their investments in Southeast Asia to drive semiconductor projects, notably in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

• Singapore has?ambitious plans to be an artificial intelligence (AI) hub?and that would also?include a growth in manufacturing high-end semiconductor chips.
• Malaysia’s a semiconductor veteran but it has?a new masterplan?to propel itself into?upgrading?its chip manufacturing capabilities for new industries.
• In fact, Malaysia?accounts for 13% of the world’s global test, assembly and packaging segment, including for end-sectors such as automobiles.
• Vietnam’s a newcomer and?aims to grow its semiconductor industries?with newly earned investments, but?they have a skills gap and infrastructure deficits.
• These ASEAN nations remain technology takers, but Singapore’s aim is to shoot for the stars and?grow into areas of IP and design.

Geopolitics, in a sense, plays a big role in these countries courting investments. Malaysia - a country that’s non-aligned - attracted investments from Chinese companies?because importers in the US couldn’t source China supplied components directly, or to assemble things that they wanted.

Furthermore, as you may have read in the story above, Taiwan’s TSMC has also weighed these geopolitical concerns in diversifying its supply chain?with a purported increased investment?in an affiliate plant in Singapore.

Trends and Threats

The growth of semiconductor sector is tied to the successes in the field of AI and automotive technology.?Breaking that down:

• With more demand for AI services and the use of edge computing, or even just basic data storage, semiconductor chips will be demanded.?
• R&D to make these chips more efficient for power-hungry AI applications will advance so that energy and operational costs can come down
• With the growth of these sectors come improvements in human capital worldwide, not just in manufacturing but also in R&D
• Supply chains have also the chance to grow more resilient, including building better forecasting to predict demand.

With that said, we’ve to consider the geopolitics. These’s a chance that?countries in the ASEAN region end up in a race to compete for projects and things can get nasty.?

The incoming Trump administration could?ramp up controls on assembly and packaging. Or worse, China?might attempt to invade Taiwan.

It’s not the scope of this analysis for today, but we should consider these points for business and investment because there no region has self-sufficiency in all levels of the supply chain. A big crisis will cause major issues for the sector.

Nevertheless, even if there’s an unfortunate disruption in future, the sector will grow. It is inevitable as humanity grows, and as long as we have waves in the ocean.

Noteworthy Articles/Opinions??

• Can AI hallucination actually be good? Check out Equivariant Lab’s take on this hot issue?here.
• How can AI governance in Southeast Asia help states reap the rewards of this game-changing technology? Read more?here.

Person of the Week ??

Fellow colleague and intellectual?Shivam Arora, Ph.D, is the person of the week. Shivam’s also a co-creator of a casual podcast project that we’re putting together (watch out for that).?

But he’s currently most famous for Equivariant Labs, a new weekly AI Governance newsletter which you can find?here. Or if you prefer LinkedIn, it’s?here.

Hailing from India, Shivam was a long time researcher with the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he received his doctorate in Mathematics. He also worked for a couple of years as a postdoctoral research scientist in scientific machine learning.

Now a digital nomad, Shivam’s pivoting to AI safety (hence the newsletter) and has been doing research into the field, which he shared with me as we attempted to record a podcast. Stay tuned.

Did I also mention that he dances well too????

Well, if you’re interested in having a chat with him about machine learning and AI to get a better idea how these technologies can impact your businesses, do so! He’s a great guy.

Useful Tools/Resources??

Want transcription tools for your business??Check out?Fireflies. They have a free tier if you’re trying them out for the first time.

Need a service for a free (simple) application for accounts, inventory, or sales??Odoo provides a free tier with one application, or a yearly paid service for unlimited apps.

Unclassified (Services you can use)??

Software Development:?Lumina Future builds digital stuff,?with a focus on AI, small widgets/plugins, and websites.?Check out our services?and?get in touch with us here!

E-Learning:?Need creative e-learning solutions for your business or organisation? Montreal based OctoD covers you in English and French. Check them out?here.

Co-living consultation:?New to digital nomadism and want to head to Japan for a couple of months??Check out Nomad University?and book a call with the founder.

Support us and stay informed! ??

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I hope it has been a good read for you! I’d love to hear what you think about this newsletter, and we’ll keep iterating to make this more useful for you. And if you have any suggestions or things I can feature or awesome folk to interview, and if you’d like to be featured - do reach out!

Till the next issue - have a great week ahead!