China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said.
Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said.
Photo: REUTERS
They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said.
The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor output and reduce reliance on China and Taiwan with US President Joe Biden’s administration’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
It is designed to bolster US semiconductors and contains financial aid for domestic production with subsidies for the production of advanced chips.
Separately, Apple Inc has discussed using Baidu Inc’s (百度) generative artificial intelligence (AI) in iPhones and other devices within China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, a potentially big win for the domestic search leader.
Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its gadgets, the Journal said, citing sources familiar with the matter. The US company sought a local partner because regulators there must vet all AI models, the newspaper added.
Baidu is considered one of the leaders in AI in China, where start-ups and tech giants are investing billions on developing their own answers to ChatGPT. OpenAI’s seminal creation and other foreign services are not available in China’s tightly regulated online sphere.
Apple has held discussions with Alphabet Inc’s Google and OpenAI about using their AI software on the iPhone. The company could tap multiple partners, as it does with search in its web browser.
Samsung Electronics Co, Apple’s top smartphone rival, uses Baidu as an AI provider in China for its latest Galaxy phones.
Meanwhile, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc CEO Kwak Noh-jung on Friday met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤) to discuss cooperation.
Wang said he hopes SK Hynix would continue expanding investments in China as its market offers huge opportunities. Kwak said the company would keep pushing for greater development in China, which is one of its most important production bases and markets, in a statement shared yesterday.
SK Hynix is the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker after Samsung. Despite US-China technological tensions, Washington last year gave the two companies indefinite waivers to keep bringing some high-end equipment into China.
Wang also met with Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, who unveiled plans to invest further in applied research in China. Apple gets almost 20 percent of its revenue from China and is SK Hynix’s largest customer, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
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