Cybersecurity company Sophos moves interim CEO Joe Levy to permanent post and taps Imperva’s Jim Dildine as chief financial officer … GVTC Communications, fiber optics communications provider, elevates Josh Pettiette, vice president-product, business development and strategic planning, to president-CEO, effective July 1, following retirement of current President-CEO Ritchie Sorrells ... SambaNova Systems, chipmaker for generative AI, adds founding Chairman Lip-Bu Tan, also former Cadence Design Systems CEO, as executive chairman ... Infinera optical networking and semiconductors company announces Regan MacPherson, ex-SunPower, as chief legal officer-corporate secretary, succeeding David Teichmann.
AST SpaceMobile, space-based cellular broadband network company, hires 3D Systems’ Andrew Johnson as chief legal officer ... Lumen Technologies appoints Sabre’s Chad Ho as executive vice president-chief legal officer, effective next month; he succeeds Stacey Goff, remaining “a few weeks” for transition … Vsora AI chip startup announces former Stimio CEO David Dorval as vice president-operations and test …Cyemptive Technologies, cybersecurity solutions provider for business and government, names former IBM and Hitachi executive Wessel Graatsma vice president-cybersecurity solutions, Europe ... Searchlight Cyber, dark web intelligence company, names Tim Warner, ex-Zscaler, vice president-global enterprise sales ... Blue Sky Networks becomes part of NAL Research with NAL President Robert Bills leading the combined company ... MwareTV cloud-based multitenant platform provider taps Daniel Conde Coto, ex-Emergent, as director-sales operations.
The FCC should scrutinize requests from restructuring radio group Audacy for expedited foreign-ownership review as part of the purchase of its stock by George Soros-affiliated entities (see 2404230054), said letters to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel from Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Nicholas Langworthy, R-N.Y., posted in docket 24-19 Friday. In nearly identical replies, Rosenworcel told the legislators that Media Bureau staff “would review the record and decide if the transfer is in the public interest.” She added, “A copy of your letter will be placed into the record of the proceeding.” Transfer of control of Audacy, the nation’s second-biggest radio group, “to a fund that itself is owned by a deeply partisan individual, could have a fundamental impact on the nature of local radio and potentially silence political viewpoints,” Langworthy wrote. “I believe that this sale is the latest in a series of moves by a partisan, progressive billionaire to consolidate control over the media and flood hundreds of local radio stations with far-left ideology and propaganda.” Roy focused on Audacy’s request for an expedited review process. “The FCC’s review of this Soros transaction will naturally draw close public scrutiny,” Roy wrote. “It is imperative that the FCC run a fair and transparent process -- one that abides by the requirements of the law -- that thoroughly reviews the concerns posed by foreign ownership of American radio stations.” Roy said Rosenworcel should “commit to not creating a Soros shortcut” by May 7. Rosenworcel’s reply didn’t mention Roy’s deadline.
Illinois State Senate confirms Stacey Paradis and Conrad Reddick to five-year terms as commissioners of the Illinois Commerce Commission … Universities Space Research Association’s Council of Institutions appoints Joan Ramage, Lehigh University, as chair and Jed Hancock, Utah State University, as vice chair ... Wavelo, software provider to communication service providers, adds Andy Youe, ex-AwareX, as vice president-sales ... NEC Asia Pacific taps former NEC India Chairman-President Takayuki Inaba as president-CEO, succeeding Koichiro Koide, moving back to parent NEC in Japan for his next assignment ... Following Avant Technologies’ purchase of Wired4Health, it announces William Hisey, Wired4Health’s former chief financial officer, as Avant CEO … DQE Communications, regional provider of high-speed data networking for businesses and carriers, names former Internap executive Michael Sicoli CEO, effective immediately, concurrent with the completion of DQE’s acquisition by GI Partners, an investor in data infrastructure businesses.
ASML Chief Business Officer Christophe Fouquet elevated to president-CEO, succeeding CEO Peter Wennink, retiring … Atlassian software company co-founder Scott Farquhar stepping down as co-CEO, effective Aug. 31, remaining a board member and a special adviser … IonQ, quantum computing company, names President-CEO Peter Chapman chairman and former Broadcom Chief Financial Officer Harry You lead independent director, both effective with the close of IonQ’s June 5 annual meeting.
Incompas CEO Chip Pickering urged lawmakers and industry to "mitigate the potential risks" of artificial intelligence (AI) as the technology "becomes more sophisticated." In a blog Friday, Pickering wrote that companies "must develop public trust by building transparent AI systems" and "take accountability for the technology they release to the public." It's also "key for the lawmakers considering regulations surrounding AI to balance responsibility and accountability, while empowering innovation and competition."
The Senate Commerce Committee confirmed Thursday the panel plans to mark up the draft Spectrum and National Security Act and five other tech and telecom-focused bills during a Wednesday executive session, as expected (see 2404240074). The 108-page draft measure from committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, also as expected (see 2403210063). The proposal also provides a new vehicle for allocating stopgap funding for the commission’s ailing affordable connectivity program amid a delay in advancing a separate House-side bid to force a floor vote on providing that money, lobbyists told us.
Facing supply chain woes such as component shortages, satellite manufacturers and launch companies are building direct relationships with suppliers and using acquisitions to mitigate those disruptions, Analysys Mason analyst David Oni wrote Thursday. Oni said satellite-makers and launch companies need to diversify their supplier bases so they don't rely on a single source and aren't as vulnerable to geopolitical risks and chip shortages. He said launchers should collaborate with satellite manufacturers to develop modular satellite architectures with standardized interfaces, making in-orbit repairs and upgrades using readily available components easier.
DOJ should investigate Apple for “illegal monopolization” of global electronic supply chains, consumer groups wrote the department Tuesday. The American Economic Liberties Project, the Demand Progress Education Fund, the Tech Oversight Project and X-Lab signed. Enforcers should probe Apple’s reported deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to “exclusively buy TSMC’s entire output of the most advanced silicon chips,” they wrote. Apple is the largest electronic component buyer in the world and has used its dominant position to “demand exclusive deals with suppliers, squeeze prices below the level of profitability, and lock up the capacity of suppliers in order to prevent competitors from using them,” they wrote. Apple’s conduct as an electronics component buyer is separate but related to its “monopolization” of the final market for smartphones, about which DOJ has already filed an antitrust lawsuit, the groups wrote. The company’s practices have “undermined competition in markets for silicon chips and other electronics components as well as allowed Apple to extend those advantages to the final markets for smartphones,” they wrote. DOJ didn’t comment.
The Commerce Department granted Samsung up to $6.4 billion in federal funding to increase chip manufacturing in central Texas, the department announced Monday. The two sides signed a “non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms” for direct funding under the Chips and Science Act (see 2208090062). Samsung expects to invest more than $40 billion and create more than 20,000 jobs in the region related to semiconductor production. The investment will “cement central Texas’s role as a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. Samsung will manufacture “important components to our most advanced technologies, from artificial intelligence to high-performance computing and 5G communications,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. Samsung plans to build a “comprehensive advanced manufacturing ecosystem, ranging from leading-edge logic to advanced packaging to R&D” in Taylor, Texas, near Austin. The company plans to expand facilities in Austin to “support the production of leading fully depleted silicon-on-insulator process technologies for critical U.S. industries, including aerospace, defense, and automotive.” Strengthening local semiconductor production will position the U.S. as “a global semiconductor manufacturing destination,” said Kye Hyun Kyung, CEO of Samsung’s Device Solutions Division.