X-energy, a closely held nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company, has joined Incompas to support the group’s work on AI, Incompas said Thursday. “Collaboration is needed to address the energy needs for advanced technologies,” said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering. “A reliable, clean energy supply, leveraging advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors, promise the enhanced safety, flexibility and reliability to support AI’s growing energy requirements.”
The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday night on a 51-45 party-line vote. Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the vote, as did several communications sector groups, including CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., opposed Lutnick on the floor, citing concerns that he “would not commit” during his confirmation hearing “to standing by” Commerce Department commitments for disbursing Chips and Science Act funding (see 2501290047). Other Senate Commerce Democrats objected to Lutnick because he refused to say he would defy a potential directive from President Donald Trump to halt or alter distribution of $42.5 billion in BEAD funding and wouldn't commit that NTIA would maintain its approval of jurisdictions’ plans for that money. House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said Lutnick “is the right person to run the Commerce Department” as it “plays a central role in promoting American leadership in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, along with closing the digital divide and utilizing the full range of communications technologies.”
Changes at chip manufacturer Skyworks Solutions: Philip Brace, formerly Lantronix and Inseego, named CEO, replacing Liam Griffin, who remains an adviser for 90 days; Christine King, Henry Schein One, becomes board chair … DCI Group taps Jayne Millerick, ex-office of New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), as vice president-governors and attorneys general … America’s Public Television Stations elects to board: Dolores Fernandez Alonso, South Florida PBS, chair; Adrienne Fairwell, South Carolina Educational Television, professional vice chair; Garrett King, Friends of OETA, lay vice chair; trustees: Darren LaShelle, Northern California Public Media; Mary Nelson, Nine PBS; Deborah Smith, Alaska Public Media; Sylvia Strobel, Twin Cities PBS.
The loss of funding under the Chips and Science Act of 2022 could mean companies will retreat from investments they’re making in the U.S., experts said Thursday during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar. Advanced chips are critical to smartphones and many other devices made and sold in the U.S., they noted. Few smartphones are made in the U.S., but chips are integral to other wireless gear manufactured here. Experts also said investment in chip research helps drive innovation in the communications sector.
The Chips and Science Act of 2022, which has successfully funded the launch of U.S. facilities where chips are made, and it's unlikely President Donald Trump will reverse its work, experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Trump was sharply critical of the act as a presidential candidate, saying that subsidies were a bad idea (see 2412090046).
Incoming President Donald Trump said Friday he has tapped former Special Assistant to the President-Technology, Telecommunications and Cybersecurity Policy Robin Colwell as National Economic Council deputy director. Meanwhile, additional communications industry entities hailed Thursday night and Friday Trump’s choice of Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer Olivia Trusty as his intended nominee for the FCC seat that then-Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel planned to vacate Monday (see 2501160077).
Telecom infrastructure vendors in mature 5G markets like North America will face "a critical pivot" this year, as operators' capital spending plateaus because of completed 5G rollouts, ABI Research said Tuesday. In a white paper, ABI said vendors also will find themselves competing with specialized AI companies for operators' technology budgets. The result will be strategic partnerships between infrastructure companies and AI-focused firms, offering telecommunications network expertise with AI capabilities. ABI said AI-enhanced personal computers will become the new normal in 2025, moving from premium to a standard market feature. In addition, the U.S. and Europe will realize this year that onshoring their semiconductor manufacturing and building self-sufficient local supply chains will require far more time and resources than initially projected. 2025 will become an inflection point for multi-protocol adoption in smart home devices, with manufacturers learning that no single wireless technology can address modern connected home requirements. Companies like Samsung, Apple, and Amazon will expand their whole-home coverage strategies, embedding combinations of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth into mainstream devices like TVs, soundbars and displays. But don't expect to see industrial IoT users flocking to private 5G in 2025. Instead, they will rely on 4G or noncellular connectivity technology, ABI said. It predicted 2025 will see the launch of Amazon's Kuiper commercial service, providing competition for SpaceX, and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project's Release 19 should come out this year, enabling new satellite communications technologies.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at fast-tracking the buildout of large-scale AI infrastructure in the U.S. Meanwhile, during an Analysys Mason webinar, industry officials said the telecom industry remains in the very early stages of figuring out how it will use AI.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming export controls on advanced AI semiconductors will introduce hurdles that could push U.S. allies closer to China, a technology think tank and a semiconductor industry group said this week. Both the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Semiconductor Industry Association urged President Joe Biden's administration to reverse course. ITIF said it should “immediately” rethink the "overdesigned, yet underinformed" restrictions, which are expected to be published as an interim final rule before Biden leaves office. SIA, "deeply concerned by the unprecedented scope and complexity" of the potential regulation, asked the government to instead issue the restrictions as a proposed rule -- which would allow for industry feedback and possible revisions without a set effective date -- or allow the new Trump administration to decide how to move forward.
ARIA Sensing announced on Monday the launch of what it says is a “groundbreaking” ultra-wideband radar system-on-chip (SoC) offering 3D beamforming with programmable bandwidth up to 1.8 GHz. “The ‘Hydrogen’ SoC introduces advanced waveforms supporting both single-pulse and pulse-compression capabilities, delivering unparalleled precision in radar sensing application,” the Italian company said. Beamforming is a technology that improves the signal-to-noise ratio of received signals, more accurately directing a wireless signal toward a specific receiving device.