Nvidia and AMD Get Green Light for China AI Chip Sales; Google's Hydropower Deal

Nvidia and AMD Chip Sales Resumption

• 🟢 Nvidia and AMD have received US government approval to resume some AI chip sales in China, reversing previous restrictions.
• 💡 Nvidia can now export its H20 AI accelerator chip, originally designed to comply with trade curbs, while AMD awaits approval for its MI308 chips.
• 💰 This reversal is expected to restore billions in revenue for Nvidia, with CEO Jensen Huang reportedly pleased.
• 🧠 The H20 chip is designed for inference and power efficiency, offering lower memory and interconnect bandwidth compared to the H100, but not for training models, which is a key US concern.

Cognition AI Acquires Windsurf

• 🤝 Cognition AI, a startup known for its code generation assistant, has acquired Windsurf.
• 💰 While financial details were not disclosed, Google had previously acquired the R&D team and executives of Windsurf for $2.4 billion and a technology license.
• 👥 This acquisition by Cognition includes the remaining Windsurf employees and technology, with Cognition's leadership expressing admiration for Windsurf's capabilities and staff.

Reddit's UK Age Verification

• 🔞 Reddit has begun implementing age verification for its UK users to comply with the country's Online Safety Act, requiring users to submit a selfie or government ID photo.
• 🔒 Reddit states it will only store verification status and birth dates, while the verification service, Persona, will retain photos for 7 days.
• ⚠️ UK regulator Ofcom expects other platforms to follow suit and warns of potential enforcement actions.

Google's Hydropower Deal

• ⚡ Google has struck a $3 billion deal with Brookfield's renewable arm to secure hydroelectric power for its Pennsylvania facilities over 20 years.
• 📊 This agreement, the largest hydropower purchase of its kind, will provide up to 670 megawatts, with potential expansion to 3 gigawatts.
• 🌍 The deal supports tech companies' efforts to power data centers while meeting environmental commitments amidst rising energy demands from AI.

Other Tech Briefs

• 🚗 Chinese carmaker BYD has launched a smartphone car connectivity feature, similar to Android Auto and CarPlay, compatible with various phone brands.
• 🧲 Apple will source rare earth minerals from MP Materials Corporation in California and build a factory in Texas to produce neodymium magnets for its products, with shipments starting in 2027.
• 👓 ByteDance's Pico is reportedly developing mixed reality goggles, joining a competitive market with companies like Meta, Apple, and Google.
• 🎮 8bitdo has released the Pro 3 wireless controller featuring drift-resistant TMR tech and swappable buttons for $70.
• 💻 Google is merging Chrome OS and Android by building the Chrome OS experience on top of Android's underlying technology to enhance performance and device integration.
• 🎣 Researchers demonstrated a prompt injection attack against Gmail by hiding instructions in white, small text, which could be adapted from educational techniques for detecting AI-generated student work.