Archive for 2024

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: I Know Just What’s Next for Nikki Haley. “Whatever goodwill Nikki Haley might have once enjoyed with Republican voters is burning up like a stack of million-dollar bills at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on How to Keep Your Lobbyist Warm at Night. Haley’s path to the nomination doesn’t even amount to a ‘twisty little maze of passages, all alike.'”

I’M BEGINNING TO THINK THAT THE “LIBERATION MOVEMENT” NARRATIVE MAY HAVE BEEN MISLEADING:

THE PLAY ON AI IS TO SCARE THE PUBLIC INTO A GOVERNMENT-ENABLED AI OLIGOPOLY. From my testimony yesterday

“But why not just let OpenAI or a handful of existing AI engines dominate the space?” you may ask. Trust in expertise and in higher education — another important developer of knowledge — has plummeted in recent years, due largely to self-inflicted wounds borne of the ideological biases shared by much of the expert class. That same bias is often found baked into existing AI, and without competing AI models we may create a massive body of purported official facts that we can’t actually trust. We’ve seen on campus that attempts to regulate hate speech have led to absurd results like punishing people for simply reading about controversial topics like racism. Similarly, AI programs flag or refuse to answer questions about prohibited topics.

And if you want to see the hearings, scroll down to end of my article here. You might want to have a drink first. 

OUCH: Hertz went all in on Tesla — and is paying the price. “Hertz, in reporting an adjusted loss of $1.36 per share, wider than the $0.76 loss expected, was saddled with losses stemming from its decision to sell 20,000 Teslas, representing a third of its EV fleet. Hertz said last month it would take a $245 million charge from the sale of those cars due to high depreciation costs, in addition to higher costs for repairs for EVs, which dragged on the bottom line.”

Yesterday: Hertz halts plan to buy 65,000 electric cars amid EV slump.

ARE YOU TIRED OF ALL THE WINNING? Is Trump Right About Bud Light? “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance.”

DECOUPLING: China close to shipping 5 nm chips, despite Western curbs.

The country’s biggest chipmaker, SMIC, has put together new semiconductor production lines in Shanghai, according to two people familiar with the move, to mass-produce the chips designed by technology giant Huawei.

That plan supports Beijing’s goals of chip self-sufficiency, with President Joe Biden’s administration tightening export restrictions for advanced chipmaking equipment in October, citing national security concerns. The US has also been working with the Netherlands and Japan to block China’s access to the latest chip tools, such as machines from the Dutch maker ASML.

According to two people with knowledge of the plans, SMIC is aiming to use its existing stock of US and Dutch-made equipment to produce more-miniaturized 5-nanometer chips. The production line will make Kirin chips designed by Huawei’s HiSilicon unit and destined for new versions of its premium smartphones.

While 5 nm chips remain a generation behind the current cutting-edge 3 nm ones, the move would show China’s semiconductor industry is still making gradual progress, despite US export controls.

Even Intel has trouble producing 5nm chips in-house, while Taiwan Semi began its smaller 3nm chip fabrication last year.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Disney’s Woke Chickens Keep Coming Home to Roost. “The woke corporate idiots might want to consider that there are a lot of non-leftists in America with money to spend. Disney more than most companies should know that its core fan base isn’t made up of raging commies.”