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Ian King
For Ian King's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang displays products onstage during the annual Nvidia GTC Artificial Intelligence Conference at SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2024
Nvidia unveils 'superchip' successor to all-conquering AI processor
The new chip, multiple times faster at handling AI models, will be the basis of new computers being deployed by the world’s largest data center operators.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during the SoftBank World event in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 17, 2024
Masayoshi Son aims to launch a $100 billion AI chip venture
The SoftBank Group founder is looking to create a chip venture to compete with Nvidia and supply semiconductors essential for AI.
The U.S. push to undermine Beijing’s semiconductor ambitions has increasingly singled out ASML, drawing the ire of the Dutch company's outgoing head Peter Wennink and some local lawmakers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2024
ASML’s China sales surged despite secret Dutch deal with U.S.
The deal, which hasn’t been reported before, stumbled as ASML turned to Beijing to compensate for weak demand elsewhere.
Nvidia has unveiled three new desktop graphics chips with extra components that will let gamers, designers and other computer users make better use of AI on their personal machines without having to rely on remote services accessed over the internet.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 9, 2024
Nvidia rolls out new chips as part of 'AI PC' push
The firm has unveiled three new desktop graphics chips with extra components that will let users make better use of AI on their personal machines.
Up until very recently, the business of packaging semiconductors — encasing chips in materials that both protect them and connect them to the electronic device they’re part of — was, at best, an afterthought for the industry.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2023
A new front is opening up in the U.S.-China conflict over chips
The process of packaging semiconductors is increasingly seen as the "secret sauce" — a path toward achieving higher performance.
Washington is taking steps to prevent U.S. chipmakers from circumventing government rules in order to sell to China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2023
U.S. to tighten rules aimed at keeping advanced chips out of China
The Biden administration is aiming to close loopholes that might help its geopolitical rival gain cutting-edge technologies.
Arm CEO Rene Haas rings the opening bell, as Softbank's Arm, a chip design firm, holds an initial public offering at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023
Chip designer Arm soars 25% in IPO win for owner SoftBank
Shares in the chip designer, still 90% owned by SoftBank, closed at $63.59 in New York trading Thursday, giving it a market value of over $65 billion.
Arm U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023
Arm’s CEO is pitching a made-for-you chip strategy ahead of IPO
The company is shifting its strategy, now focusing on doing complex design work on specific products, tailored for what it sees as key areas of growth.
The initial public offering for Arm Holdings is set to be the biggest in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 22, 2023
SoftBank’s planned IPO for Arm set to be biggest of 2023
Arm didn’t disclose proposed terms for the share sale in the document, but it’s expected to seek a valuation of $60 billion to $70 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2023
Micron delivers strong forecast in sign that glut is easing
Sales will be as much as $4.1 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement. That compares with an average analyst estimate of $3.87 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 31, 2023
Nvidia's market value touches $1 trillion amid AI gold rush
The chipmaker’s artificial intelligence prospects briefly vaulted it into an elite club of just five American companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2023
ASML, Europe’s most valuable tech firm, is at the heart of the U.S.-China chip war
The tech firm practically owns the market for a critical piece of equipment needed to produce the brains of everything that makes modern life possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2023
China hits Micron with review of chips, citing security risks
Beijing said it will conduct the review into America’s largest chipmaker to ensure the integrity of China's information infrastructure supply chain and national security.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 11, 2023
Biden administration set to further tighten chipmaking exports to China
The rules may as much as double the number of machines that require special licenses for export, creating fresh hurdles for makers of the equipment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 31, 2023
Biden team weighs fully cutting off Huawei from U.S. suppliers
Sales from U.S. firms to Huawei have been limited for four years, since former U.S. President Donald Trump added the firm to the so-called U.S. 'entity list.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2023
Western Digital and Kioxia revive merger talks as flash memory demand slides
The companies, which have a joint venture that produces flash chips, have been circling each other for years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2022
U.S. blacklists more Chinese tech companies, escalating trade fight
The latest restrictions are part of the recent push to limit China's access to advanced chipmaking and artificial intelligence technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 5, 2022
U.S. chip-gear makers told to wait for relief from China curbs
The U.S. is working on a deal that would make firms in the Netherlands and Japan subject to limits on sales of the equipment to China, something that could take six to nine months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 9, 2022
China says Biden’s new chip technology curbs will harm recovery
The measures, which include restrictions on chips used in artificial intelligence and supercomputing, seek to stop China's drive toward its own chip industry and military advancements.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 4, 2022
Samsung launches five-year plan to tempt U.S. buyers with smaller chips
The company, based in the city of Suwon, South Korea, is the world's largest chipmaker by revenue, but its foundry business is playing catch-up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on