Brian McCullough (0:04)

Welcome to the tech meme. Right home for Monday, December 2, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough. Today Pat Gelsinger is out at Intel. So where do they go from here? The first announces from the AWS Reinvent conference. More signs that crypto is in the ascendancy. Elon files to block OpenAI from going for profit. Is he the greatest threat to that company right now? And a new startup taking on Nvidia? Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. This is genuinely shocking news. Intel says CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired, effective yesterday December 1st and he stepped down from its board. David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus are now co CEOs. Given the situation intel is in right now, you have to imagine something serious has had to have gone down to do this now or else things inside intel are worse than we know. Quoting TechCrunch Zinsner is Intel's CFO and Holthaus, GM of Intel's Client Computing Group, has been appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, a division spanning the chipmaker's client computing group as well as its data center, AI network and edge business. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of intel, will become interim executive chair during the period of transition. Intel says that the leadership structure at Intel Foundry, its chip design and manufacturing org remains unchanged, and that the intel board has formed a search committee to find a permanent successor to Gelsing. Leading intel has been the honor of my lifetime. This group of people is among the best and brightest in the business, and I'm honored to call each and every one a colleague, gelsinger said in a statement. Today is, of course, bittersweet. As this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career, I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished together. It has been a challenging year for us all as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position intel for the current market dynamics. I am forever grateful for the many colleagues around the world who I have worked with as part of the intel family. Gelsinger joined intel at age 18 with an Associate's degree from Lincoln Tech. His technical brilliance quickly became apparent as he led the development of the fourth generation 486 processor in 1989. At just 32, he became the youngest vice president in Intel's history. As Intel's chief technology officer from 2001, Gelsinger spearheaded crucial technological innovations, including WiFi, USB and the development of both Intel Core and Xeon processor lines. Following this successful tenure, he went to EMC as president and CFO in 2000, later assuming the role of CEO at VMware in 2012. Gelsinger's return to intel as CEO came at a critical juncture with the company. Facing pressure from activist investors for organizational reform, he implemented an ambitious five year strategic plan centered on expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing. This initiative included substantial investments in new manufacturing facilities across the United States and internationally, with the goal of competing directly with industry leaders TSMC and Samsung. Technical difficulties have plagued several other key initiatives, however, particularly the 18Amanufacturing process, which failed to meet reliability standards and lost potential partnerships with Apple and Qualcomm. Market challenges have also mounted, with PC chip revenue declining 25% and data center market share eroding to AMD. Additionally, diplomatic missteps, such as comments about Taiwan's relationship with China, strained crucial industry relationships and resulted in lost cost advantages. Basically, TSMC stopped giving intel discounts because they were miffed. Intel's revenue fell to $54 billion in 2023, approximately 1/3 lower than when Gelsinger reassumed leadership of the company. The company now faces its first projected annual loss since 1986, with analysts forecasting a $3.68 billion deficit. These challenges culminated in reports of Qualcomm exploring acquisition possibilities in September, highlighting the extent of Intel's current difficulties, though recent reporting suggests even that lifeline might be gone as Qualcomm's interest seems to have cooled. Meanwhile, AWS Reinvent kicked off yesterday and here are the first announcements. AWS launched Data Transfer Terminal to let customers upload data to AWS Cloud by plugging in storage devices from a set of physical locations. More on that in a second. They also announced AWS Security Incident Response to help customers prepare for, respond to and recover from cybersecurity incidents, including ransomware attacks. And they added new generative AI features to Amazon Connect, which helps companies run their contact centers, including letting Lex powered assistants use Amazon Q But let's take that first headline quoting TechCrunch data transfer terminal is an unusual new service for AWS customers, a set of physical locations where customers can plug in their storage devices to upload data to the AWS cloud. So how does it work exactly? From the AWS Management Console, customers can reserve a time slot, optionally assign process and data transfer specialists from their organization, and visit a data transfer Terminal location to upload their data on your reserved date and time. You'll visit the location and confirm access with the building reception, chani Yun, a principal developer advocate at aws, explained in a blog post. You'll then be escorted by building staff to the floor and your reserved room of the Data Transfer Terminal location. Don't be surprised if there are no AWS signs in the building or room. This is for security reasons, to keep your work location as secret as possible. The initial Data Transfer Terminal locations have been open in New York City and Los Angeles, and more will be added in the future. Each location is equipped with a patch panel, fiber optic cable and a PC for monitoring data transfer jobs. The service delivers upload speeds of up to 400 gigabits per second through secure high throughput connections designed for demanding workloads. However, the pricing structure requires careful consideration in capacity planning. Amazon is implementing a port hour billing model where customers are charged for the duration of their port reservations at Data Transfer Terminal locations. These charges apparently apply continuously throughout the reservation period, regardless of whether active data transfer is occurring. More signs that crypto is in the ascendancy According to CoinGecko, Ripple linked, XRP's market cap has reached $137 billion to become the third large cryptocurrency, up from less than $30 billion on November 5th when Trump won the election. Quoting Bloomberg Trump's win has sparked a wave of speculative enthusiasm across crypto markets, with the president elect expected to make good on pledges to nurture a favorable landscape for digital asset firms in the U.S. even against that backdrop, XRP's rally is striking. In recent weeks, its market value has surpassed that of rival Solana and USDT Tether stablecoin, the coin Gecko data show. Ripple Labs was sued in 2020 by the US securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed the San Francisco based company broke the law when it raised money by selling XRP without registering it as a security, end quote. So is this merely a rally in anticipation of Trump firing Gensler, as he has vowed to do? The overall crypto market has gained about $1.2 trillion in market value since the election, again, according to Coingecko. Elon Musk has filed for an injunction to halt OpenAI's for profit transition, alleging that OpenAI is discouraging investors from backing rivals like his ex AI, quoting TechCrunch the motion for an injunction, which was filed late on Friday in the U.S. district Court for the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, President Greg Brackman, Microsoft LinkedIn co founder and former OpenAI board member Reid Hoffman and former OpenAI board member and Microsoft VP D. Templeton of various illicit activities and seeks to halt them. The allegations include discouraging investors from backing OpenAI rivals like Musk's own AI company, Xai, benefiting from wrongfully obtained competitively sensitive information through OpenAI's connections with Microsoft, converting OpenAI's governance structure to a for profit and transferring any material assets, including intellectual property owned, held or controlled by OpenAI, its subsidiaries or affiliates, and causing OpenAI to do business with organizations in which any defendant has a, quote, material financial interest. Attorneys for Musk assert that, quote, irreparable harm will ensue if the injunction isn't granted. Quote plaintiffs and the public need a pause, they wrote in the filing. An injunction to preserve what is left of OpenAI's nonprofit character free from self dealing is the only appropriate remedy. If not, the OpenAI promise to Musk and the public will be long gone by the time the court reaches the merits, end quote. In his motion for an injunction, Musk asserts that Microsoft and OpenAI are continuing to share proprietary information, information and resources unlawfully. The motion further claims that certain defendants, including Altman, are engaging in anti competitive self dealing. As evidence, it cites OpenAI's selection of stripe as its payment processor, noting Altman's substantial financial interest in Stripe, reportedly worth billions. The legal filing argues that without an injunction, OpenAI may lack the financial capacity to pay potential damages if the court ultimately rules in Musk's favor, citing OpenAI's current expenditure of over $5 billion and its distance from profitability. Furthermore, Musk' attorneys contend that if a court were to invalidate OpenAI's transition from nonprofit status, unwinding the company's transactions would become virtually impossible without causing significant losses to investors, particularly if OpenAI continues to accept new investments. 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Also, there were talks of them maybe introducing advertising soon to gin up some extra revenue. Why? Well, sources say OpenAI, as just mentioned, is spending around $5 billion a year and is not close to breaking even. But as that last segment highlights, is Elon Musk himself and his vendetta against the company may be the primary risk for OpenAI at the moment. The Journal says a number of tech executives, including Sam Altman, worry that Elon Musk's new proximity to President Elect Trump could supersize rivalries in ways that favor Musk. Since the election, people close to Musk have said he despises Altman. Musk has cranked up the heat on their feud, filing an expanded version of his lawsuit calling OpenAI a market paralyzing Gorgon. Musk also pinned his personal correspondence with Altman to his X account and gave Altman his own Trump style nickname on X Swindle Sam Altman, a registered Democrat who chose not to endorse a candidate in this election, felt blindsided, a person familiar with his thinking said. Musk's scorched earth tactics have sent waves of concern through his lengthy list of business rivals, who over the years have included Microsoft co founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. They have watched him ascend to an unprecedented level of power for a private citizen while continuing to nurse his private business griev grievances. The richest man in the world is poised to have significant influence not only over how his six companies, including x, Tesla and SpaceX, interact with the federal government. SpaceX has accumulated more than $15 billion in federal contracts over the last decade, but also over how the new administration treats his rivals. Musk's influence with Trump extends far beyond the Department of Government Efficiency, or doge, the newly created advisory board that he will co lead with Vivek Ramaswamy with the goal of slashing federal headcount and regulations. He has rarely left Trump's side since the election, sleeping at Mar a Lago, Trump's private club and informal MAGA headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. That puts personal rivals like Altman in an unenviable position. It's known that he is png, or Persona non grata, said one person close to the Trump family, speaking of Altman. The new administration will hold huge sway over the regulation of the nascent AI sector, including over Musk's own rival AI company, xai. Altman has been in contact with friends and business associates within Trump's circle, including Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law, and Josh Kushner, his brother and the owner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital that is a major investor in OpenAI. Not much has worked so far. Some Altman contacts have been hesitant to pass on his entreaties, knowing how unwelcome they would be to Musk. In recent weeks, Altman asked a mutual friend to arrange a meeting with Howard Lutnick, co chair of the president elect's transition team, people familiar with the meeting said. Lutnick ranks as one of Trump's closest advisors and is also close to Musk. At a meeting in Palm Beach, Altman touted the investments OpenAI intends to make in the US by building building large data centers and making lots of hires, some of the people said. Lutnick has since become Trump's pick to lead the Commerce Department, which oversees AI regulation. End quote. Meanwhile, everybody can see how much money Nvidia is making by basically being the main game in town vis a vis chips to do AI stuff with. Where's the competition? Because if you could create a rival technology, you could gobble up some portion of Nvidia's substantial lunch, right? That's the premise behind Toronto based AI chip designer TensingTorrent, which just raised a $700 million Series D from Jeff Bezos, Samsung and others at a $2.6 billion valuation and is reporting nearly $150 million in contracts already. So is TensorTorrent an Nvidia killer? Quoting Bloomberg as the quest for more power and cost efficiency in AI ramps up, smaller companies are sprouting up trying to snatch market share from Nvidia's power hungry chips. Tent Torrent An Nvidia neighbor in Santa Clara, California is one of many now engineering solutions aimed at delivering a more affordable path to AI development that's built on open source, commonplace technology, avoiding complex and pricey components like the high bandwidth memory Nvidia favors. You can't beat Nvidia if you use hbm because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage, founder Jim Keller said. But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets. Nvidia offers developers a full suite suite of proprietary technology covering everything from the chips to the interconnects and even data center layouts, with the promise of all parts working better because they were designed in concert. Companies like rival Advanced Microdevices and tenstorrent are instead aiming for greater interoperability with other technology providers, whether through shared industry standards or opening their designs for others to use. Tenstorrent is also a proponent of an alternative kind of logic processor based on an open standard called RISC V, which poses a challenge to arm. Keller, known for his silicon design work at Apple, Tesla and amd, is an advocate. In the past I worked with proprietary tech and it was really tough, keller said. Open source helps you build a bigger platform, it attracts engineers, and yes, it's a bit of a passion project. Much like RISC V and Japanese partner Rapidus, TensingTorrent still has a lot to prove. To date, the nascent company has signed contracts with customers totaling nearly $150 million, which pales in comparison to Nvidia's tens of billions of dollars of data center revenue each quarter. Tense Tor plans to release a new AI processor at a cadence of every two years, Keller said. Nvidia, on the other hand, intends to refresh its AI chip offerings on an annual cycle, its boss, Jensen Huang, said in June. And finally today on this Black Friday, a gadget for you real nerds out there. Say hello to the $89 plus open source router OpenWRT1 offering a hacker friendly device with two ether ethernet ports, three USB ports and dual band Wi Fi.6 quoting Tom's hardware according to the Software Freedom Conservancy, one of the groups working alongside OpenWRT, this wireless router will never be locked and is forever unbreakable, as it was built for and comes with the open source OpenWRT firmware pre installed. The group worked together to draft the specifications for this router and then OpenWRT tapped banana PI for the device production. You can now order a complete set with a case on AliExpress for just $89, although it's out of stock at the time of writing. But the tinkerers among us could choose just the logic board for $68.42, though it's unavailable in the US at the moment too, the OpenWRT one comes at a crucial time when many network and storage devices are becoming outdated and essentially turned to e waste. This is because of vulnerabilities that the original manufacturer refuses to patch, citing end of product life reasons. This makes the OpenWR a great solution for those who want a new router with hardware specifically designed for the OpenWRT firmware. At just $89, it's the perfect option if you want something that will last you a lifetime and not have to worry about getting a bricked device because the manufacturer no longer supports software updates for it. However, if the gear you have is supported by OpenWRT, you might not need to purchase a new router at all. Just download the OpenWRT firmware and flash it onto your device and you're good to go out. Nothing more for you today. Talk to you tomorrow.