Amid the artificial intelligence boom, demand for AI chips has exploded. But this push for chips also creates new challenges for countries and companies. How will countries cope with the huge amounts of energy these chips consume? Will anyone compete with Nvidia to supply the AI chips of the future? And can China develop its own chips to fuel its own AI development? 

James Kynge visits a data centre to find out how advanced AI chips are causing new problems for the sector. In Phoenix, Arizona, James meets Mark Bauer, co-leader with JLL's Data Center Solutions group, and Frank Eichenhorst, vice president of data centre operations at PhoenixNAP. 

How will the clash of titans play out between NVIDIA and Big Tech? And we hear from Amir Salek, senior managing director at Cerberus Capital and the brains behind Google’s TPU chip; Tamay Besiroglu, associate director of Epoch AI; Dylan Patel, lead analyst at consulting firm SemiAnalysis; and the FT’s global tech correspondent Tim Bradshaw to find out more about the battle for AI chips. 

SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.

Free links to read more on this topic:

Nvidia and the AI boom face a scaling problem

Chip challengers try to break Nvidia’s grip on AI market 

Amazon steps up effort to build AI chips that can rival Nvidia

TSMC says it alerted US to potential violation of China AI chip controls

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Joseph Enrick Salcedo, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The global tech industry depends on Taiwan’s semiconductor chips and many believe the sector plays a key role in the island’s national security, helping stave off an invasion from mainland China. But as relations between China and Taiwan worsen, some countries are taking steps to become less reliant on Taiwanese chips. Already, the US, Germany and Japan have lured Taiwanese semiconductor makers to their own shores. Could that make Taiwan a more vulnerable target for attack?

Presenter James Kynge visits the island and speaks to FT greater China correspondent Kathrin Hille, Taiwan's science and technology minister Cheng-Wen Wu, the president of Taiwan's semiconductor industry association Chih-I Wu, UMC associate vice-president Michael Wang, and Hsin-mei Cheng, writer and producer of 'Zero Day', a TV show about a hypothetical invasion from the mainland.

Free links to read more on this topic:

US and Taiwan seek to strengthen drone supply chain to keep out China 

Taiwan’s new leader faces China threat and voters left behind by chip boom 

Taiwan on the faultline 

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Sam Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Kathrin Hille.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Semiconductors are one of the most complex and technically difficult pieces of hardware to make in the world – which is why they’ve become a flashpoint for tensions between the US and China. For years, semiconductor technology has advanced at a breakneck pace - but there are signs that this might be slowing down. What will that mean for the global fight for chips? The FT’s longtime China correspondent James Kynge travels to the Netherlands to see ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography system, one of the most complex machines on the planet. Plus, we hear from the man at Intel charged with keeping Moore’s Law going, and from Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. 

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Joseph Salcedo and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The next superpower will be a tech superpower, and to be that superpower you need to have some control over the semiconductor industry which is driving the AI revolution. But almost all advanced semiconductors are made in Taiwan — and it is under constant threat of a Chinese invasion. President Joe Biden’s Chips Act promises lavish subsidies to companies working to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to US soil. Will those subsidies survive once Donald Trump, the president-elect, is in the White House? The FT’s James Kynge, is in Phoenix, Arizona, the former heartland of American chip manufacturing. He speaks to those trying to revive the US chipmaking industry.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Clips: The Joe Rogan Experience, CNBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a battle going on for control of the global semiconductor industry – the chips that are in virtually every piece of electronics we use from our phones to our cars to the latest AI software. For the past half century, chips have quietly powered the technological revolution. In this series, James Kynge goes deep into the miracle of modern chip manufacturing and the struggle over who commands its future.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the limits of privacy when it comes to our online lives? If authorities are investigating a crime, should they be able to access private messages sent between two individuals? In this episode of Tech Tonic, John Thornhill interviews Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns for the right to digital privacy. After the detention of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for failing to cooperate with French authorities, they discuss encryption technology and what sort of messaging data companies do share with governments.

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Emmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief’s arrest is political

The Durov case is not about free speech

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The FT’s Innovation editor John Thornhill and San Francisco tech correspondent Hannah Murphy have in the past both met and interviewed Pavel Durov, the secretive founder of Telegram who was arrested in France for alleged failure to address criminality on the messaging app. In the first episode of a two-part series, they discuss how Durov went from free speech hero to a wanted man, and what the charges against him mean for the future of Telegram – and Big Tech – and the limits of free speech. Does his arrest flag a turning point in the regulation of social media platforms? 

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Pavel Durov, Telegram’s self-mythologising founder

How Telegram chief Pavel Durov miscalculated on moderation

Emmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief’s arrest is political

The Durov case is not about free speech

Russian lawmakers hit back at arrest of Telegram chief Pavel Durov in France

This episode of Tech Tonic is presented by John Thornhill and Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. Edwin Lane is senior producer. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound engineering by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Anita was scrolling on Twitter when she found someone had made deepfake porn of her, without her permission. But that was just the start of her problems; she found it was difficult and expensive to get the deepfakes taken down and nigh-on impossible to prevent their proliferation online. So, what guardrails can regulators and tech companies put in place to prevent the spread of deepfakes and protect those whose likeness has been stolen without their consent? Technological fixes, such as deepfake detection software and deepfake watermarking exist, but can the technology keep up with the ever-improving capacities of generative AI?

Host Hannah Murphy speaks to Hany Farid, digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley; Nina Schick, CEO and founder of Tamang Ventures, author and Qlik AI Council member; and Sweet Anita, Twitch streamer.

Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic and you could be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones. Complete the survey here.

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Google upgrades search in drive to tackle deepfake porn

India tells tech giants to police deepfakes under ‘explicit’ rules

Political deepfakes top list of malicious AI use, DeepMind finds

Clips: sweet_anita Twitch

Since publication, Mastercard, one of the companies mentioned in this episode, sent the following response: 'Purchases of nonconsensual deepfake content are not allowed on our network. When we see or are made aware of specific instances of such activity, we investigate the allegations and take action to ensure compliance with both local laws and our rules and standards.'

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Our executive producer Manuela Saragosa. Additional production help from Josh Gabert-Doyon. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new breed of AI generated fake pictures, videos and audio clips is spreading across the internet - content anyone with an internet connection can generate. And some of these deepfakes are now so convincing that even experts struggle to tell the difference between what’s real and what has been created using artificial intelligence. In a new series, Hannah Murphy, the FT’s tech reporter in San Francisco, examines the potential of deepfakes to cause chaos and asks how worried we should be and what’s being done to combat their proliferation. 

In the first of this two-part series she hears from Kimberly Ton Mai, AI researcher at University College, London; Hany Farid, digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley; and Paul Carpenter, magician and hypnotist. 

Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic and you could be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones. Complete the survey here.

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Audio deepfakes emerge as weapon of choice in election disinformation

The rising threat to democracy of AI-powered disinformation

The FT View: Deepfakes and disinformation

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Clips: Fox News, AP, @mentallyhyp TikTok, The Telegraph, The Guardian, France 24 English, Sky News

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Executive producer Manuela Saragosa. Additional production help from Josh Gabert-Doyon. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China is pushing the frontiers of scientific research, launching missions to the Moon and exploring the remotest places on Earth. It’s part of China’s grand plan to be the world leader in science and technology. But why are science and tech so important to Beijing, and is China’s rise as the next tech superpower inevitable? James Kynge concludes this season of Tech Tonic with Eleanor Olcott, the FT’s China tech correspondent, Matthew Funaiole from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Matt Sheehan from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Yasheng Huang, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Clips: BBC News, Sky News Australia, DW News

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the emergence of chatbots like ChatGPT, China has made building its own advanced AI a priority. But to build AI it needs the most advanced computer chips, and the US has banned companies from selling them to China. The FT’s James Kynge visits China to find out how the country is turning to smuggling to get its hands on high-end chips for AI research. And he visits Chinese tech giant Huawei — one of the companies at the vanguard of China’s efforts to start making its own advanced AI chips. 

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.