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China’s Alibaba has developed a new chip that is more versatile than its older chips and is meant to serve a broader range of AI inference tasks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The chip, now in testing, is manufactured by a Chinese company, in contrast to an earlier Alibaba AI processor that was fabricated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the report said. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Chinese tech and AI companies have been focusing heavily on homegrown technology at a time when leading AI chip giant Nvidia has faced regulatory issues in selling its products in the country. Nvidia’s H20 chip, the most powerful AI processor it is allowed to sell in China, was effectively blocked from sale in the market earlier this year by the Trump administration. While the U.S. last month allowed Nvidia to resume sales of H20 to China, Chinese firms have been working on processors that could substitute H20. Beijing has also put pressure on tech giants, including Alibaba and ByteDance, over purchases of the H20 chip. Nvidia developed the H20 specifically for China following U.S. export restrictions on its other AI processors in 2023. The H20 does not have as much computing power as Nvidia’s H100 or its Blackwell series. Alibaba is China’s biggest cloud-computing company and is among the top customers of Nvidia. Separately, on Friday, the company reported a 26% jump in revenue in its cloud computing segment for the April-June quarter, beating market estimates, on the back of solid demand. Deborah Sophia, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Oregon could become the second U.S. state to require electric vehicle owners to enroll in a pay-per-mile program as lawmakers begin a special session Friday to fill a $300 million transportation budget hole that threatens basic services like snowplowing and road repairs.Legislators failed earlier this year to approve a transportation funding package. Hundreds of state workers’ jobs are in limbo, and the proposal for a road usage charge for EV drivers was left on the table.Hawaii in 2023 was the first state to create a mandatory road usage charge program to make up for projected decreases in fuel tax revenue due to the growing number of electric, hybrid and fuel-efficient cars. Many other states have studied the concept, and Oregon, Utah and Virginia have voluntary programs.The concept has promise as a long-term funding solution, experts say. Others worry about privacy concerns and discouraging people from buying EVs, which can help reduce transportation emissions.“This is a pretty major change,” said Liz Farmer, an analyst for The Pew Charitable Trusts’ state fiscal policy team, noting “the challenge in enacting something that’s dramatically different for most drivers.” Oregon’s transportation woes Oregon’s transportation department says the budget shortfall stems from inflation, projected declines in gas tax revenue and other spending limits. Over the summer, it sent layoff notices to nearly 500 workers and announced plans to close a dozen road maintenance stations.Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek paused those moves and called the special session to find a solution. Republican lawmakers say the department mismanaging its money is a main issue.Kotek’s proposal includes an EV road usage charge that is equivalent to 5% of the state’s gas tax. It also includes raising the gas tax by 6 cents to 46 cents per gallon, among other fee increases.The usage charge would phase in starting in 2027 for certain EVs and expand to include hybrids in 2028. Should the gas tax increase be approved, EV drivers either would pay about 2.3 cents per mile, or choose an annual flat fee of $340. Drivers in the program wouldn’t have to pay supplemental registration fees.Drivers would have several options for reporting mileage to private contractors, including a smartphone app or the vehicle’s telematics technology, said Scott Boardman, policy adviser for the transportation department who works on the state’s decade-old voluntary road usage charge program.As of May, there were over 84,000 EVs registered in Oregon, about 2% of the state’s total vehicles, he said. Hawaii launches program Under Hawaii’s program, which began phasing in last month, EV drivers can pay $8 per 1,000 miles driven, capped at $50, or an annual fee of $50.In 2028, all EV drivers will be required to enroll in the pay-per-mile program, with odometers read at annual inspections. By 2033, the program is expected to expand to all light-duty vehicles. Questions about privacy and fairness In past surveys commissioned by Oregon’s transportation department, respondents cited privacy, GPS devices and data security as concerns about road usage charges.Oregon’s voluntary program has sought to respond to such concerns by deleting mileage data 30 days after a payment is received, Boardman said. While plug-in GPS devices are an option in the program, transportation officials anticipate moving away from them because they’re more expensive and can be removed, he added.Still, not everyone has embraced a road usage charge. Arizona voters will decide next year whether to ban state and local governments from implementing a tax or fee based on miles traveled after the measure was referred to the ballot by the Republican-majority Legislature.Many people don’t realize that “both your vehicle and your cellphone capture immense amounts of data about your personal driving habits already,” said Brett Morgan, Oregon transportation policy director for the nonprofit Climate Solutions.Morgan added that road usage charges exceeding what drivers of internal combustion engines would pay in gas taxes could dissuade people from buying electric and hybrid cars. Already, federal tax incentives for EVs are set to expire under the tax and spending cut bill recently passed by the GOP-controlled Congress.“We are definitely supportive of a road usage charge that has EVs paying their fair share, but they should not be paying extra or a penalty,” Morgan said. Claire Rush Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Mount Fuji hasn’t erupted since 1707. But for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, Japanese officials have released computer- and AI-generated videos showing a simulation of a potential violent eruption of the active volcano.The videos, released this week, are meant to prepare the 37 million residents in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for potential disasters.The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s video warns an eruption could strike “at any moment, without warning,” depicting volcanic ash shrouding central Tokyo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, within hours, paralyzing transportation, disrupting food and power, and causing long-term respiratory problems.The video ends with the message: “We need to arm ourselves with facts and prepare for disaster in our daily lives.” It shows a family’s pantry stocked with canned food and a first-aid kit.The Tokyo government said in a statement that there are currently no signs of Fuji erupting. “The simulation is designed to equip residents with accurate knowledge and preparedness measures they can take in case of an emergency,” it explained.But the videos have caused anxiety and confusion among some residents.“Are there actually any signs of eruption?” said Shinichiro Kariya, a 57-year-old hospital employee. “Why are we now hearing things like ’10 centimeters of ash could fall,’ even in Tokyo? I’m wondering why this is happening all of a sudden.”Hiromi Ooki, who lives in Mishima City, which has prime views of Fuji, said she planned to buy emergency supplies the next day. “Nature’s power is so great that maybe it’s better if it scares us a little,” she said.Representatives of both the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japan’s Cabinet Office Disaster Prevention Division said they had not received complaints from Tokyo residents about the videos.University of Tokyo professor and risk communication expert Naoya Sekiya said the government has for years modeled scenarios for volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, but added that does not mean Fuji is about to erupt.“There’s no particular significance to the timing,” Sekiya said.Japan is highly vulnerable to natural disasters because of its climate and topography and is known for its meticulous disaster planning which spans earthquakes, typhoons, floods, mudslides and volcanic eruptions.The Japan Meteorological Agency last August issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” after a powerful quake struck off the southeastern coast of the southern main island of Kyushu.Of the world’s roughly 1,500 active volcanoes, 111 are in Japan, which lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”Fuji, Japan’s tallest peak, used to erupt about every 30 years, but it has been dormant since the 18th century. Video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report. Reeno Hashimoto, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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