The U.S. Department of Commerce is further curtailing the ability of American companies to sell China advanced chips for artificial intelligence. The national security objective is to avoid providing Beijing with sophisticated silicon that could potentially fuel breakthroughs, giving the nation an advantage in what’s been couched as an “AI arms race.” China is a large market for semiconductors, and the move is said to be fueling tension on both sides of the globe. The new restrictions attempt to plug loopholes in rules the Biden administration introduced in October 2022. Read more

Canon has made a breakthrough it says can help manufacture the world’s most advanced semiconductors. The company’s latest nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system challenges Dutch firm ASML, to date the leader in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. ASML creates tech used in TSMC’s chips made for Apple iPhones. Canon says its FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint semiconductor manufacturing equipment can produce chips equivalent to a 5-nanometer process, the current state of the art, and with further improvement expects to enable circuit patterning corresponds to 2nm nodes. The new equipment is also energy efficient, Canon says. Read more

YouTube has introduced three dozen new features that do everything from improve mobile playback and search to expand creator tools. When the words “like and subscribe” are uttered by creators, the buttons will respond with animations. Bigger preview thumbnails and a “lock-screen” feature designed to prevent mishaps are also in the new toolset. The improvements build on the “new look and feel” YouTube debuted last year, adding “more modern design elements and features that helped our viewers feel more immersed,” the company says. Some of the improvements target smartphones and connected TVs, while others are for the web app. Read more

Right on schedule and after a rocky start, Microsoft has closed the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard that regulators in the U.S. and UK had challenged. Big Tech is celebrating the move as a signal that their cash reserves can still be used to target expansion. The deal is consumer tech’s largest since AOL purchased Time Warner in a 2000 deal valued at more than twice that. Until now, Microsoft’s games unit, built around Xbox, has been a modest part of the company’s immense portfolio — representing just over 7 percent of total sales, or revenue of about $15 billion. Read more

Netflix is expanding its cloud gaming test to the U.S. after initially deploying trials in Canada and the United Kingdom. The streaming game service builds on mobile gaming efforts the company began in 2021 and is now targeting games on connected TV devices and smart TVs, including Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, and others, with mobile phones serving as game controllers. Netflix has made no secret of its intention to make games a major part of its business, and this next step is being called a bid to take on game giants Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox.
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