Barron’s (December 19)
“Tencent Holdings has secured access to high-end Nvidia artificial-intelligence chips that remain restricted to Chinese buyers even after President Donald Trump’s recent semiconductor agreement with the country.” The arrangement exploits a loophole. Tencent will not own the chips outright, but instead access them “through a cloud service operated by Tokyo-based Datasection, which recently announced a deal to buy Nvidia’s flagship Blackwell chips” for use in its data centers. The loophole “undermines a recent assurance by Trump that Nvidia’s top technology would remain off limits to China.”
Tags: Access, AI chips, Assurance, Blackwell chips, Buyers, China, Cloud service, Data centers, Datasection, Loophole, Nvidia, Off limits, Restricted, Semiconductor, Tencent, Tokyo, Trump, Undermine
The Guardian (January 1)
In 2004, “people shifted their attention, on average, every three minutes or so (including to interact with colleagues). When restricted to just computer activity, it was about 30 seconds quicker.” Eight years later, “the average time spent on any screen before switching was down to 74 seconds.” In 2021, that dropped to “just 47 seconds.”
Tags: 2004, 2021, 3 minutes, 47 seconds, 74 seconds, Attention, Colleagues, Computer, Interact, Restricted, Screen, Switching
Boston Globe (April 15)
“For many people hired remotely over the past year, the workplace has largely been restricted to the two-dimensional confines of their computer screens. They may be performing their jobs just fine, but they haven’t been able to benefit from the in-office osmosis that comes with being in a shared space. They haven’t observed their bosses’ body language or picked up tricks that aren’t in the handbook.” As a result, “pandemic hires” are thirsty for the office. They miss “the ‘real’ workplace.”
Tags: Body language, Bosses, Jobs, Office, Osmosis, Pandemic hires, Remotely, Restricted, Shared space, Tricks, Two-dimensional, Workplace
