South Korea's trade ministry says the electronics sector drew $3B in foreign direct investment in 2023; the country is building a chip cluster south of Seoul (Sam Kim/Bloomberg)

Sam Kim / Bloomberg:
South Korea's trade ministry says the electronics sector drew $3B in foreign direct investment in 2023; the country is building a chip cluster south of Seoul  —  - Funding jumps for electronics that include chips and batteries  — South Korea is building semiconductor cluster south of Seoul

US federal prosecutors charge Tingo Group founder Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye with securities fraud in New York, accusing him of massively inflating Tingo's finances (Ava Benny-Morrison/Bloomberg)

Ava Benny-Morrison / Bloomberg:
US federal prosecutors charge Tingo Group founder Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye with securities fraud in New York, accusing him of massively inflating Tingo's finances  —  - Criminal charges follow SEC lawsuit against Dozy Mmobuosi  — Mmobuosi is still ‘at large,’ federal prosecutors in NY said

A look at Shein and Temu's Chinese supply chain: the platforms offer a lifeline to suppliers, but margins are razor-thin, prices must stay low, and unsold stock (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
A look at Shein and Temu's Chinese supply chain: the platforms offer a lifeline to suppliers, but margins are razor-thin, prices must stay low, and unsold stock  —  Shopping apps throw a lifeline to Chinese exporters, but it is a trade-off  —  SHENZHEN, China—E-commerce sellers Shein …

A look at the battle brewing between satellite operators over the use of orbit spectrum, as SpaceX's Starlink, Project Kuiper, and others push for looser rules (Peggy Hollinger/Financial Times)

Peggy Hollinger / Financial Times:
A look at the battle brewing between satellite operators over the use of orbit spectrum, as SpaceX's Starlink, Project Kuiper, and others push for looser rules  —  A contest between legacy and new operators is brewing over the use of spectrum  —  There is a battle brewing in space.

The chip industry is the new star on the political scene, bringing opportunities and challenges; Nvidia and others have rapidly built US lobbying operations (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
The chip industry is the new star on the political scene, bringing opportunities and challenges; Nvidia and others have rapidly built US lobbying operations  —  Increased attention from politicians poses opportunities and challenges for the semiconductor industry  —  Semiconductors have played the starring role in state visits.

Sources: Merck's bid for Japanese chip materials maker JSR, not disclosed to JSR shareholders, triggered a $6.4B offer by a state-backed fund in June 2023 (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Sources: Merck's bid for Japanese chip materials maker JSR, not disclosed to JSR shareholders, triggered a $6.4B offer by a state-backed fund in June 2023  —  Japan Investment Corporation's $6.4bn offer for JSR comes as governments seek to protect semiconductor technology

Retiring generals and departing top Pentagon officials are increasingly flocking to VC firms that have pumped billions into defense tech startups like Anduril (Eric Lipton/New York Times)

Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Retiring generals and departing top Pentagon officials are increasingly flocking to VC firms that have pumped billions into defense tech startups like Anduril  —  Retired officers and departing defense officials are flocking to investment firms that are pushing the government to provide more money to defense-technology startups.

Sources: ASML canceled shipments of some machines to China at the request of the US, weeks before export bans on the chipmaking equipment came into effect (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: ASML canceled shipments of some machines to China at the request of the US, weeks before export bans on the chipmaking equipment came into effect  —  - ASML canceled shipments of a liminted number of devices  — Biden is cracking down on Beijing's semiconductor industry

A look at the challenges faced by Apple's $85B/year services business, as the company faces key US court cases and prepares to allow app sideloading in the EU (Michael Acton/Financial Times)

Michael Acton / Financial Times:
A look at the challenges faced by Apple's $85B/year services business, as the company faces key US court cases and prepares to allow app sideloading in the EU  —  Landmark EU regulation and crucial US court cases due in 2024 will test the tech company  —  Apple faces a legal reckoning in 2024 …

A profile of Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who joined Nintendo in the 1970s and says he has no plans to retire as game director at the company (Keza MacDonald/The Guardian)

Keza MacDonald / The Guardian:
A profile of Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who joined Nintendo in the 1970s and says he has no plans to retire as game director at the company  —  Few people have influenced global pop culture as much as the creator of Mario and Zelda, widely considered the father of modern gaming.

Filing: Baidu's $3.6B deal to buy Joyy's Chinese livestreaming business YY Live, announced in 2020, expires as China regulators didn't approve it by December 31 (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Filing: Baidu's $3.6B deal to buy Joyy's Chinese livestreaming business YY Live, announced in 2020, expires as China regulators didn't approve it by December 31  —  - Tech industry's focus has turned to generative AI now … The Beijing-based company said its $3.6 billion deal for Joyy's YY Live …

A profile of Alexander Reben, who will become OpenAI's first artist in residence for three months starting January 2024, amid a debate over the use of AI in art (Leslie Katz/New York Times)

Leslie Katz / New York Times:
A profile of Alexander Reben, who will become OpenAI's first artist in residence for three months starting January 2024, amid a debate over the use of AI in art  —  Alexander Reben is taking his tech-savvy perspective to OpenAI, a company that some in the art world believe is a threat to their future.

The lawsuits against AI companies could shape the future of copyright or may simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals (J. Edward Moreno/New York Times)

J. Edward Moreno / New York Times:
The lawsuits against AI companies could shape the future of copyright or may simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals  —  The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw legal lines.

The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Ash Parrish / The Verge:
The scale of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 was far beyond a typical year, with an estimated 9,000+ workers losing their jobs globally  —  Layoffs are an unfortunate reality of any industry, but the scope and scale of video game layoffs in 2023 are far beyond a typical year.

With its emphasis on user privacy, Apple is one of the few tech companies that can develop new AI data usage paradigms, setting much-needed industry standards (Joan Westenberg)

Joan Westenberg:
With its emphasis on user privacy, Apple is one of the few tech companies that can develop new AI data usage paradigms, setting much-needed industry standards  —  Apple has carved out a prestigious position in the consumer tech market through sleek designs, user-friendly interfaces, and a robust ecosystem.