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.
House Commerce Committee members on Thursday vowed to find a bipartisan solution for updating Communications Decency Act Section 230.
House Republicans on Wednesday tanked a procedural vote that would have allowed debate on legislation reauthorizing intelligence agencies’ surveillance authority (see 2404090055). Nineteen Republicans joined Democrats in voting down a rule that would have allowed the lower chamber to consider reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the statute. The House voted 193-228 against the measure. That followed a Wednesday post from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who urged members to “KILL FISA,” claiming it was used to interfere with his campaign. Republicans voting against the rule included Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas). House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that Trump is “not wrong, of course. They abused FISA.” He noted, however, that reforms in the proposal would create criminal and civil penalties for documented abuse. The Trump administration relied on Section 702 to “kill terrorists,” Johnson said. Section 702 is set to expire April 19.
The value of the global space economy could more than triple by 2035, from $630 billion in 2023 to $1.8 trillion 11 years from now, according to a World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Co. report Monday. It said five industries -- supply chain and transportation; food and beverage; state-sponsored defense; retail, consumer goods and lifestyle; and digital communications -- will generate more than 60% of that increase. In addition, it said space's prevalence in daily life will grow due to decreasing launch costs, increased technological capabilities of satellites and broad investment in the space realm. Like growth expected in the semiconductor and global payments industries, the world being more connected, mobile and informed is powering space's growth, it said.