Source: Unz Review
Connecting the Dots in the Huawei Kidnapping
by Anatoly Karlin • January 26, 2019 • 400 Words • 29 Comments • 22 New
Mitleser points to an interesting take on the Huawei Kidnapping:
• April 2017: A director of Chinese tech giant Huawei personally escorted famed Shanghai-born physicist Zhang Shoucheng from the latter’s hotel in Shenzhen. Jackson & Wood Professor of Physics at Stanford University, Zhang was in town to attend an IT summit.
• Sept. 2018: Prof. Zhang receives a European physics award, one of his many honors. His work in quantum physics is expected to revolutionize the global semiconductor industry.
Yang Zhenning, the first Chinese scientist to receive the Nobel Physics Prize (1957), had predicted that Zhang would be the next one.
• Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang and Meng Wanzhou are expected to attend a dinner in Argentina, where the G20 summit is being held.
• Dec. 1, 2018: On her way there, Meng is arrested in transit by the Canadian government.
• Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang falls to his death from a building in the US, allegedly a suicide.Said to be suffering from depression, he was 55.
• Dec. 1, 2018: A nighttime fire breaks out at a factory of Holland’s ASML, the world’s leading manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. EUV is crucial to the production of the next generation of semiconductors, which US and Chinese tech firms as well as Korea’s Samsung are competing to be first to bring to market. Leading Chinese semiconductor producer SMIC is known to have ordered EUV technology worth US$120 million from ASML, for scheduled delivery early in 2019.
After the fire, ASML announced that it expected delays in shipments of its products, notably early 2019.
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ASML is a Dutch company and currently the largest supplier in the world of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry. ASML manufactures machines for the production of integrated circuits. Photolithography is a process used in microfabrication to pattern parts of a thin film or the bulk of a substrate. The substrate on the wafer is is one layer on top of another. Photolithopgraphy is also referred to as “optical lithography “or” UV lithography“. As the clip below demonstrates, ASML is the world leader in this type of microprocessor fabrication. ASML has offices in the United States, Europe, the UK, Israel and China. ASML sold its first extreme ultraviolet lithography machine to China in 2018 costing $120 million.
Semiconductor manufacturer ASML had a fire break out on December 1, 2018 at one of its suppliers that will lead to some product delivery delays to early 2019. There was no determination as to what was destroyed in the fire or where the products were destined. The Dutch-based ASML is a key supplier to the world’s largest computer chip makers. Samsung is the world’s largest chip maker, followed by Intel with Intel Israel being a huge participant in microchip manufacturing. Next come Taiwan Semiconductor and Qualcomm. Qualcomm has operations both in the US and in Israel. This single incident like this fire at this ASML supplier put in context of this material formatted here is once an accident, twice a coincidence and three times is a pattern.
Source: Stanford News
Stanford theoretical physicist Shoucheng Zhang dies at 55
Zhang was a rare theorist who concerned himself with the implications of his abstract ideas about new quantum states of matter on experiments and future technologies.
By Ker Than • December 6, 2018
Shoucheng Zhang, the J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor in Physics at Stanford University whose research on the quantum physics of many interacting electrons led to the predictions of new phenomena and exotic states of matter, died on Dec. 1. He was 55.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of Shoucheng Zhang, a distinguished physicist who has made tremendous scientific contributions,” said Stanford Provost Persis Drell, who also is a professor of physics at the university. “His passing is a loss for his family, his colleagues at the university and for his field.”
Zhang’s death was unexpected and followed a “battle with depression,” according to his family. “I have lost a dear friend whose infectious enthusiasm for new experiences and love of exploring ideas and scholarship across all disciplines are irreconcilable with his tragic end,” said Steven Kivelson, a professor of physics at the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics and Zhang’s former advisor and collaborator.
A dual appreciation
Zhang’s colleagues recalled his “extraordinary creativity” and his wide-ranging intellect, which explored everything from novel materials and quantum gravity to artificial intelligence. He also had a deep appreciation of both the mathematical beauty of physics and the nuts and bolts of implementing abstract ideas in the real world, said Kathryn Ann Moler, Stanford vice provost and dean of research.
“Many of us aspire to achieve both,” said Moler, who is also a professor of applied physics and of physics. “Shoucheng not only had that aspiration, but he also put it into practice very effectively, time and time again.”
Please go to Stanford News to read the entire article on Shoucheng Zhang.
Shoucheng Zhang: The Association of Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain
China inside: Chinese semiconductors will power artificial intelligence
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Source: Forbes
A Death In Silicon Valley ‘With Chinese Characteristics’
by Arthur Herman December 13, 2018 • Contributor Policy
I comment on quantum computing and AI, and American national security.
On December 1 the distinguished Chinese quantum physicist, venture capitalist, and Stanford University professor Zhang Shoucheng died in what news reports are calling a suicide. The news of his death has been upstaged in the media by the arrest that same day of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese IT giant Huawei, in Vancouver (discussed in my last column). Zhang’s death is certainly a much greater human tragedy; but it’s equally significant in drawing attention to the lengths China is going in order to win its battle for high-tech supremacy with the U.S., including on our home turf in Silicon Valley.
Zhang Shoucheng’s story is like something out of a John Le Carre novel, or maybe David Ignatius’s recent thriller Quantum Spy. Intellectually gifted, with a career laden with academic honors including a distinguished professorship at ShanghaiTech University as well as at Stanford, Zhang’s research in quantum physics even sparked rumors he was a candidate for a Nobel Prize.
Despite being a naturalized U.S. citizen, Zhang maintained close contact with the Communist regime in China (the head of ShanghaiTech, for example, is the son of former party leader Jiang Zemin). His company Digital Horizon Capital, known by the acronym DHVC, has been identified as part of a major Chinese infiltration effort into Silicon Valley, according to the U.S. Trade Representative Richard Lighthizer’s latest report on China—a report released just days before Zhang’s death.
Please go to Forbes to read the entire article.
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Graphcore is a new company in the industry established in 2016. Graphcore is a semiconductor company that develops accelerators for AI and machine learning. It aims to make a “massively parallel Intelligence Processing Unit” (IPU) that holds the complete machine learning model inside the processor. Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (A.I.) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. The programming is done through algorithms. Quantum computing and machine learning will work hand-in-hand. Now imagine for a moment quantum computing and machine learning loaded into a robot? At some point there will no longer be any need for the human species so the race is on to dominate quantum computing, A.I. and robotics.
18 Corporations Working On Quantum Computing
The AI chip unicorn that’s about to revolutionize everything has computational Graph at its Core
Quantum computing is the future of computing and will be part of the development of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning. Most in the industry would agree there is no consumer market for quantum computers linked with A.I. so this leaves a narrow band of current users in the world. Zhang Shoucheng was involved in quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchaintechnologies. These technologies are some of the emerging technologies that will be the foundation in this coming worldwide scientific revolution. It will be a last man standing hard core competitive all out war and Zhang Shouheng will be one of the first removed from the unicorn’s tech chess board spanning the US, Russia, Europe, China, Israel and the UK.
“Quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain are the three most fundamental technologies in the field of information technology today. The emphasis on basic science will enable IT to develop across disciplines. Physics and Mathematics are intertwined, and they have clearly contributed significantly towards the current IT revolution,” – Zhang Shoucheng
Join the club (this is where the tech money flows) as all these unicorn companies will require quantum computing, A.I. technology and machine learning:
Unicorn companies (over $1 billion):
Top 10 Companies Behind The 2018 Midas List: Exits And Unicorns That Helped Their Investors The Most
Decacorn companies (over $10 billion):
Meet the 8 Most Valuable U.S. Startups
Hectocorn companies (over $100 billion):
Unicorns, Narwhals, Dedacorns & Hectocorns
Unicorns have been the stuff of legends for centuries. Many tales have been inspired by these mythical creatures, usually depicted as a white horse with a long horn extending from the forehead. But in the tech world, “unicorns” are real and there are over 200 companies around the world who have made the list as of 2017, according to research form CB insights. A unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion. All the major corporations are investing heavily in quantum computing, A.I. technology and machine learning.
Israeli Unicorns: These 18 Companies Are Valued At Over $1B
7 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now
In this talk with George Soros featured at Bloomberg, he refers to a “mortal threat from A.I.” coming from China, but what Soros deliberately fails to mention is Israel’s participation in the development of A.I. technology. Although George Soros and Israel may pelt bricks at each other in public, in reality they are tighter than peas in the same [tech] pod.
Soros Warns of ‘Mortal Danger’ in China Using AI
The Thriving AI Landscape In Israel And What It Means For Global AI Competition
“We’ll make Israel one of world’s AI leaders”
Israel is becoming an artificial intelligence powerhouse
Israel planning a trip to the moon.
The Rothschild clan packing up and moving assets to China setting up shop for China’s Belt & Road Initiative.
End of an Era: Rothschilds Reportedly Move to Cut Last Ties With Austrian Empire
China Counters Rothschilds in Asia
Why China is creating a new “World Bank” for Asia
The loss of 20 key Freescale Semiconductor employees in the disappearance of a Malaysian Air MH370. With big corporations like Freescale Semiconductors it is hard to avoid having so many people on the same aircraft from the same company. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American multinational corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. Freescale had design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations in more than 75 locations in 19 countries. On December 7, 2015 NXP Semiconductors N.V. completed its merger with Freescale. NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch global semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Flight MH370: Who were the passengers aboard the lost aircraft?
On October 27, 2016 it was announced that Qualcomm had attempted to buy NXP, but because the Chinese merger authority did not approve the acquisition before the deadline set by Qualcomm, it was effectively canceled on 26 July 2018. Qualcomm Incorporated is an American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company that designs and markets wireless telecommunications products and services. Qualcomm Israel has two R&D centers located at Haifa and Hod Hasharon, both sites are affiliated to Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Qualcomm’s largest division, selling millions of chips per year.
The Qualcomm R&D center in Israel was established in 1993 and since then has worked to provide technological improvement for Qualcomm’s products, technologies and innovations. Between 2010-2016, Qualcomm acquired five Israeli companies, and continues to expand in leading technologies including 5G technology.
QualComm founder a fan long before ‘Start-Up Nation’
Samsung and Qualcomm Work to Deliver Industry Leading 5G NR Small Cell Infrastructure
Qualcomm says uber-fast 5G networks, phones coming to the U.S. by April 2019
What types of technology is Israel sharing with China? If Israel continues their close engagement with China in sharing technology, the U.S. must reduce its military, intelligence, and technology engagement with Israel’s government.
What’s next for Israel’s growing tech partnership with China?
Israel’s ties with China are raising security concerns
In Israel-China Ties, Security Takes a Backseat to High-tech and Economics
Chinese take growing slice of Israeli tech investment
Israel is being a bad ally to the US over China
https://www.abeldanger.org/there-is-a-covert-war-going-on-over-technology/