Nvidia to continue developing H100 chip in China / Chairman of Russian oil firm dies / $75B Microsoft acquisition threatened

Plus, Rio Tinto moves to increase exposure to copper mine

Inside.com Part of   Network September 01, 2022

Presented by

Nvidia will not need to halt the development of its H100 artificial intelligence chip in China. The company confirmed on Thursday that it will be permitted to continue its development of the chip following an SEC filing indicating that the sales of certain chips to China and Russia may be restricted. More: The SEC submitted a filing on Wednesday saying that the U.S. government would restrict the sale of the A100 and H100 chips to China and Russia. The fastest growing segment of Nvidia is its data center business, which includes the A100 and H100 chips. The Department of Commerce said the restrictions are in the interests of national security.  The Biden administration is trying to prevent certain technology from being used by Russia and China's militaries. Despite being able to develop the H100 chip in China, the new export restrictions are expected to cost Nvidia $400M in lost revenue.

Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Lukoil, died today after falling out of a hospital window in Moscow, according to reports from Russian media. Lukoil is the second largest oil producer in Russia and one of few Russian companies to express criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. More: Maganov became chair of Lukoil in 2020 after working for the company for almost 30 years. Lukoil is one of the few large Russian energy companies not under state control. Maganov's death came six months after the board at Lukoil called for the conflict in Ukraine to end swiftly. Maganov died at the same hospital where Mikhail Gorbachev passed away on Tuesday.   Russian state media have reported that Maganov's death is being treated as suicide. Zoom out: Newsweek notes that fatal falls from windows seem to happen a lot in Russia.

A message from ATSCALE You're invited to a free one-day virtual event. Explore the importance and impact of using a semantic layer for analytics and hear from top data leaders, technologists, and industry experts on how to deliver actionable insights for everyone in your organization. You can expect to hear from:  Megan Brown, Director of Data Literacy at Starbucks Ram Kumar, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Cigna Ramdas Narayanan, VP PM of Data Analytics and Insights Tech at Bank of America Attend this virtual event and expert leaders will provide the answers. AtScale is hosting the “Semantic Layer Summit", which takes place on September 28, 2022. Register Here

A U.K. probe is threatening Microsoft's $75B plan to acquire Activision Blizzard. If Microsoft is unable to adequately address the concerns of the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the deal could fall through as early as next week. More: The CMA said that the deal may hurt makers of other game consoles by allowing Microsoft to prevent games from being sold on other platforms. Microsoft has promised that online game stores would be open to other companies and that leading games would remain playable on other platforms.  The CMA will begin a "phase 2 probe" if its initial concerns are not addressed in five working days. The CMA's objection to Nvidia's plan to purchase Arm for $40B resulted in the ideal falling through last year. If it goes through, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard would be the largest deal in the company's history.

The President of McDonald's U.S. has claimed a landmark bill would target large restaurant chains unfairly. Joe Erlinger's statements follow the California State Senate's decision to pass the FAST Act, a new piece of legislation that would create a council empowered with the ability to raise minimum wages. More: Chains with over 100 national locations could be forced by the new council to pay minimum wages of up to $22 per hour. The bill's supporters claim it would improve structural problems in the industry including wage theft and unsafe work environments. "The FAST Act isn't going to achieve its objective of providing a better environment for the workforce," said Michelle Korsmo, president of The National Restaurant Association.  Gov. Gavin Newsom has not confirmed whether he will sign the bill. Almost 10% of all McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. are located in California.

A message from RAYGUN Grow revenue with better digital experiences How do you know if your site is competing on customer experience? Google’s answer: Core Web Vitals. These three scores measure site speed, stability, and responsiveness as experienced by your users. Your scores determine where you land in search results and strongly influence customer behavior. With this in-depth guide, you’ll learn how to:  ⚡️ Measure and optimize customer experience 📈 Increase your Google search ranking  💰 Improve conversion rates and other critical business metrics 80% of major brands don’t have passing scores, so now’s your chance to get ahead of your competitors!  Ready to get started? See exactly how your website performs in the eyes of your users, along with actionable steps on improving scores and growing revenue. Download the free guide today, created for business leaders.   Download the guide

Rio Tinto has agreed to buy Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. for approximately $3.3B. The deal will give the anglo-Australian mining giant more control of a Mongolian copper mine that is set to become the fourth largest in the world.  More: The deal comes after Turquoise Hill rejected Rio Tinto's earlier offer to buy the company for a lower price. Rio will purchase Turquoise Hill for $32.66 (C$43) a share, a 67% premium on its initial offer.  If the deal goes through, Rio will own 66% of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine with the Mongolian government owning 34%.  The mine is expected to become the fourth-largest copper mine in the world when an ongoing expansion is completed. The final deal is still subject to shareholder approval.

April 2020 fire at an Amazon warehouse in Fresno, California. Photo by Fresno Fire Department Amazon shut off the solar panels installed at some of its U.S. warehouses after a rash of fires, according to internal company documents recently viewed by CNBC. Out of 47 U.S. warehouses with solar arrays, six experienced fires between April 2020 and June 2021. More: Amazon temporarily took all its solar installations in the U.S. offline in June 2021 to investigate their safety. The fires and shutdowns were costly. The internal documents estimated that each incident cost the company $2.7M. Shutting off the systems cost Amazon $940,000 per month. The company has been one of the most aggressive in reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, with rooftop solar a key part of the initiative. As of April, Amazon had solar installations at 176 facilities worldwide, an increase from 115 at the end of 2021.

Quick Hits Fix your email overload for as little as $7.00 a month.* Sam's Club, a retail warehouse club owned by Walmart, has announced that it will increase its annual fees from $45 to $50.  Jim Bridenstine, a former NASA administrator, will join the board of directors of Phase Four, a spacecraft propulsion startup.  Insured losses globally from floods between 2011 and 2020 stood at $80B, up from $40B between 2001 and 2010. Losses are expected to grow in the coming decades, according to insurance firm Swiss Re. In 2021 alone, losses totaled $20B. Campbell Soup announced a profit of $96M on Thursday. The figure marked a major slump from the $288M profit recorded during the same period last year.  Amid the shifting landscape of embedded systems, developers turn to real-time operating systems when "good enough" isn't good enough.* *This is a sponsored post.

Upcoming Events September 07 - AMA with Andrew Gazdecki (Founder of MicroAcquire) (Register Here) September 09 - AMA with Jay Ryan (U.S. Federal Government Program Manager at Security Compass) (Register Here) September 14 - What Do Developers Think of Threat Modeling? (feat. security experts from Security Compass, Dell, and Tricentis) (Register Here) * September 14 - AMA with Brian Dean (Founder of Backlinko) (Register Here) September 21 - AMA with Kristen Ruby (Founder of Ruby Media Group) (Register Here) September 28 - AMA with Leigh-Ann Buchanan (Founder of aīre ventures) (Register Here) October 05 - AMA with Ram Bartov (Chief Accounting Officer at TripActions)* (Register Here) October 12 - AMA with Bill Glenn (Executive Chairman at Crenshaw Associates) (Register Here) October 19 - AMA with Zecca Lehn (Responsibly VC) (Register Here) October 25 - Meet Our Fund 4, an Inside.com Summit (Register Here) *This is a sponsored listing.

Gregory Bridgman is a writer and researcher with an academic background in politics and the philosophy of science and technology. He holds a BA from the University of Cape Town, an MS from University College London, and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in climate issues, technological changes, and the implications of the fourth industrial revolution. Please feel free to contact me at gregory@inside.com! Editor Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords.

Get free Access to the Semantic Layer Summit with 30+ Data Leaders on September 28th.

The fastest way to improve your customer’s digital experience, Raygun.

767 Bryant St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94107 Copyright © 2022 Inside.com

Did someone forward this email to you? Head over to inside.com to get your very own free subscription! You received this email because you subscribed to Inside Business. Click here to unsubscribe from Inside Business list or manage your subscriptions.