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The Trump administration is planning to buy a direct stake in yet another chip technology company. Earlier this week, the Commerce Department announced that it had signed a letter of intent to buy up to $150 million of xLight, a startup that focuses on lithography, a critical part of the semiconductor-manufacturing process. The move shows that the governments nearly $9 billion dollar investment in Intel — for 10 percent stake in the company structured as a silent partnership — wasnt a one-off, and that officials are moving forward with plans to buy equity in technology companies it deems critical. As part of the latest deal, the startup will receive tens of millions in exchange for developing a prototype that would use free-laser electron technology to manufacture chips. The approach, if successful, would be a big deal, since it could provide an alternative to lithography equipment made by the Dutch company ASML, which is practically the only choice for chipmakers. For the US government, the hope is that the xLights technology could help produce extremely tiny — and highly sought after — transistors. “The right shareholder?” Under the Trump administration, the government has rapidly increased its ownership shares in private companies — a controversial strategy. A good number of conservative economists believe the government shouldnt be getting so involved in the private sector. Theres also concern that current investments dont reflect a consistent strategy, and could veer into favoritism for political friends. The Trump administration may also be risking taxpayer money as well, since theres no guarantee industrial policy investments will actually pan out. Is the government really going to be the right shareholder to help these companies succeed? Is the government going to start showing favoritism to these companies over companies that it doesnt own? Peter Harrell, from the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, recently told PBS. What are the kind of political requirements that are going to be put on companies that the government is taking an ownership in? In addition to xLight and Intel, new federal government investments now include millions in equity in mineral and steel firms, according to the New York Times. There were reports earlier this year that the Trump administration might even take a direct stake in quantum computing companies, though, when Fast Company asked, a senior official denied them. Further CHIPS entanglements Its true that Intel was unlikely to return to its former status as a leader in chips manufacturing based on the billions it would have received under the Biden administration alone, said one former employee at the Commerce Department-based CHIPS office, which was created under the CHIPS Act and helped oversee massive new subsidies for semiconductor companies. Still, the Trump administration buying direct equity in the company doesnt really achieve that goal, the person said. There might be a world in which the governments equity in xLight and Intel work in tandem, the person added. But do we really want the government telling Intel to use the startup the government invested in? (Notably, Pet Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel, leads xLights board.) Regardless, xLight may not be the last of the Trump administrations investments in chip companies. This past September, the Chips Research and Development office, housed within the Commerce Department, released a broad agency announcement sharing that entities could apply for awards meant to boost the countrys microtechnology industry. That announcement stipulated that awardees might need to give the government equity, warrants, licenses to intellectual property, royalties or revenue sharing, or other such instruments to ensure a return on investment to the Government.
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E-Commerce
Apple just lost a top design talent. Meta has hired Alan Dye, who was the head of Apple’s human interface design team. The company is filling his position with Stephen Lemay, who CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg “has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999.” Before being poached by Meta to become its chief design officer, Dye worked at Apple since 2006, where he oversaw projects including Liquid Glass and Vision Pro. By the end of his tenure, Dye reported directly to Cook. His departure is the latest in a game of musical chairs for top design roles at Apple. Apple’s former longtime chief design officer Jony Ive left the company in 2019, and his replacement, Evans Hankey, left in 2022 and wasn’t replaced. On the org chart, the remaining members of Apple’s industrial design team reported to COO Jeff Williams. Bloomberg reports that Dye will be creating a new design studio at Meta, where he’ll oversee the design for hardware, software, and AI integration for its interfaces. For Meta, Dye’s hiring is proof the company is serious about designing hardware that can compete in the ongoing race to build the first great AI gadget. It will put him in direct competition with his former colleague Ive, whose company io was bought by OpenAI in May for $6.4 billion with the goal of building the next great user interface.
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E-Commerce
New research now suggests that our brains are still in the teenage phase until we “peak” in our early thirties. Researchers from the University of Cambridge looked at scans from around 4,000 people up to the age of 90 to reveal the connections between their brain cells. Rather than progressing steadily over our lifetimes, research published in the journal Nature Communications suggests our brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points happening at ages nine, 32, 66, and 83. The first stage, from birth to nine, sees the brain rapidly increasing in size. Around age nine, the adolescent phase begins as the brain works on increasing its efficiency. This is the stage when there is the greatest risk of mental health disorders beginning. Many neurodevelopmental, mental health, and neurological conditions are linked to the way the brain is wired, said senior author Dr. Duncan Astle, professor of neuroinformatics at Cambridge. Indeed, differences in brain wiring predict difficulties with attention, language, memory, and a whole host of different behaviours. The most surprising takeaway from the study is that the adolescent phase lasts far longer than expected. Based on how the brain forms connections, this phase lasts until roughly age 32. That means that while youre trying to get your act together in your 20s, your brain is pretty much still a teenager. (Important to note is this distinction is based on the brains efficiency at making connections, not a sign of arrested development or an excuse to act like a manchild). At 32, the biggest shift kicks in. The brain hits a period of peak efficiency, meaning regions of the brain are using the most direct pathways to communicate. This marks the transition into adulthood, which is the longest and most stable stretch of brain development. Studies have shown that personality and intelligence also stabilize during this time. Despite headlines about college drop-out entrepreneurs, the average age for successful entrepreneurs sits squarely in this developmental stageat 45 years old. Approaching the age of retirement, at age 66 a third turning point marks the start of an early aging phase. Here, the pace of neural network changes in the brain starts to slow as white matter begins to decline. Finally, at around 83 years old the late aging brain takes shape. Brain connectivity between different regions declines further, and people tend to fall back on certain well-trodden neural pathways and regions. Looking back, many of us feel our lives have been characterised by different phases. It turns out that brains also go through these eras, said Astle, who was a senior author of the research. Understanding that the brains structural journey is not a question of steady progression, but rather one of a few major turning points, will help us identify when and how its wiring is vulnerable to disruption.
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E-Commerce
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