Semiconductor provider Spectra7 Microsystems appoints Omar Javaid, ex-Avaya, as CEO ... Scripps promotes Teresa Morgan to vice president-general manager-WFTS-TV Tampa, effective Jan. 1 ... Tegna appoints Dhanusha Sivajee, previously Angi, as chief experience officer ... Archtop Fiber names Keith Taub, ex-Technical Safety Services, as CFO ... Cybersecurity company Menlo Security names Bill Robbins, ex-Sophos, as president.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and DOJ are investigating U.S. mobile phone parts producer Lumentum for potentially violating U.S. export controls on shipments to Huawei, according to corporate filings.
Technology services provider DXC Technology appoints James Walker, previously IBM, as chief administrative officer ... Semiconductor supplier Renesas appoints Utae Nakanishi, ex-Micron, as senior vice president-chief human resources officer; promotes Malini Narayanamoorthi to India country manager and vice president-MID engineering; and transitions Julie Pope to senior vice president-strategic initiatives and UX Group.
Gogo's Galileo satellite connectivity service and its 5G air-to-ground connectivity service are on the verge of hitting the market, CEO Oakleigh Thorne told analysts Tuesday as it announced Q3 results. He said recent FAA certification means Gogo could potentially ship its HDX low earth orbit satellite terminal commercially to customers by year's end, targeting smaller and mid-size aircraft. It said the 5G chip for receivers should ship in Q2 2025. The HDX and faster FDX "are critical" to Gogo competing with SpaceX, William Blair's Louie DiPalma noted Tuesday. Galileo service "is critical to preserving the competitive positioning and capturing a portion of the untapped 14,000 business jets registered outside the U.S. that do not have broadband connectivity," DiPalma said. Thorne said Gogo expects it will close on Satcom Direct (see 2409300065) by year's end. Gogo is collaborating with OneWeb on satellite connectivity.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., noted interest Friday in having the chamber repeal the 2022 Chips and Science Act before quickly reversing course following a bipartisan outcry against the idea. During a campaign appearance Friday in Syracuse, New York, Johnson said that a GOP-led House next year “probably will” try repealing the Chips and Science Act, but “we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet.” The statute allocated $52 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing (see 2207280060). “What we oppose to in that bill is that it had too much crammed into it,” Johnson said: “When you take the Green New Deal out of the equation you will save trillions of dollars in the long run.” Johnson later clarified that instead there “could be legislation to further streamline and improve the primary purpose of” the Chips and Science Act by eliminating “its costly regulation and Green New Deal requirements.” Rep. Brandon Williams of New York, a Republican facing a tough reelection fight whom Johnson was campaigning for, issued a statement that he “spoke privately with the Speaker immediately after the event. He apologized profusely, saying he misheard the question. He clarified his comments on the spot and I trust local media to play his full comments on supporting repatriation of chips manufacturing to America.” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presidential nominee against former President Donald Trump, criticized Johnson Saturday. “Let's be clear why he walked it back: because it's not popular,” Harris said during a campaign appearance in Milwaukee. “It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing, the work being done by American workers” to invest “in American industries, including our industries of the future. That is the way we are going to win the competition with China for the 21st Century.”
As states gear up to spend tens of billions on subsidizing broadband network expansions, some also plan on designating public funds for "wraparound services," such as transportation and childcare for the broadband deployment workforce. Our analysis of states' broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program volume 2 plans found many states saying they will prioritize subgrant applicants that provide such services. Wireless Infrastructure Association President Patrick Halley told us states that anticipate or potentially could have funds remaining from BEAD deployment activities must begin thinking about using that money, including putting it toward workforce development needs.
DOJ, the Commerce Department, the State Department and other agencies must improve “security and diversity of chip supply chains” to protect U.S. AI leadership, the White House said Thursday in a national security-related memorandum. President Joe Biden addressed the memo to DOJ, Commerce, State, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the CIA, the Director of National Intelligence and several other agencies. “Our competitors want to upend U.S. AI leadership and have employed economic and technological espionage in efforts to steal U.S. technology,” a White House fact sheet said. The memo “makes collection on our competitors’ operations against our AI sector a top-tier intelligence priority” and directs U.S. agencies to give AI developers “the timely cybersecurity and counterintelligence information necessary to keep their inventions secure." A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday that the memo addresses “the importance of protecting advanced AI technologies so that they’re not used against us by adversary militaries or intelligence services.” The memo warns about the risks of not taking enough steps to protect and harness AI. If the U.S. government doesn’t “act with responsible speed and in partnership with industry, civil society, and academia to make use of AI capabilities in service of the national security mission -- and to ensure the safety, security, and trustworthiness of American AI innovation writ large -- it risks losing ground to strategic competitors,” it said. “Ceding the United States’ technological edge would not only greatly harm American national security, but it would also undermine United States foreign policy objectives and erode safety, human rights, and democratic norms worldwide.”
Carriers can't rely on technology vendors or other companies to find a path forward on AI, Danielle Rios, acting CEO of software company Totogi, said Tuesday during a TelecomTV forum on the AI-native telco. Vendors themselves are still figuring out AI, Rios said. Other speakers agreed that companies must collaborate to make AI in telecom a success.
CTIA announces board changes, including Laurent Therivel, UScellular, as chairman, and Kyle Malady, Verizon Business, as vice chairman, both effective Jan. 1; Mike Finley, Boingo Wireless, as secretary, effective immediately; and Stephen Bye, Ookla, as member ... Kansas telecom provider Twin Valley appoints John Sullivan, previously Charter, as vice president-operations ... Semiconductor provider Lattice announces Corporate Vice President-Controller Tonya Stevens as interim CFO, succeeding Sherri Luther, who resigns and joins Coherent as CFO-treasurer.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked that the Commerce Department Friday “provide more transparency on key issues” involved in contracts on Chips and Science Act funding. With more than $50 billion in funding for the measure, “the public deserves to know that semiconductor manufacturers have committed to upholding high standards in developing new plants,” including on “health, safety, labor, and environmental provisions subject to transparent company-specific public progress reporting,” the lawmakers said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Commerce “should use its role in the grant-making process to ensure that the U.S. semiconductor industry is safe and sustainable, creates high-quality jobs, and does not simply enrich shareholders and executives through stock buybacks.” The lawmakers scolded the department for withholding “important terms” of its first chip manufacturing plant agreement, worth $123 million, when it announced the deal last month. Commerce has also “not articulated how it will hold grant recipients accountable if they fail to meet their contractual terms,” the senators said: “Communities near manufacturing facilities and American chip manufacturing workers deserve -- and need -- more transparency around these federal contracts to ensure manufacturers are held accountable to meaningful commitments.”