Good morning. Our spectacular Fortune Global Forum is finally upon us.
There’s a great deal of tech on the program. Today’s sessions include talks about China, AI, entertainment, and workplace transformation with leaders from the biggest organizations on the planet. (And interviewers that include yours truly.)
Unable to join IRL? That’s OK. Watch a mainstage livestream right here. —Andrew Nusca
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US to TSMC: Halt AI chip shipments to China
The United States has told one of the world’s largest chipmakers to quit sending advanced chips to Chinese customers.
The Department of Commerce reportedly sent Taiwan’s TSMC a letter imposing export restrictions on certain advanced chip designs—7 nanometers and below—that are used in larger AI chips.
Just weeks ago, TSMC notified the U.S. that its chips had somehow made their way into Huawei AI processors—a trade violation because the Shenzhen company is on a restricted trade list.
The Biden administration reportedly drafted new rules on some exports of chipmaking equipment to Chinese companies, but they remain unreleased.
According to Reuters, TSMC has notified its clients that it would suspend chip shipments starting today. —AN
Investors are loving India’s latest IPO
Bangalore’s hottest club? The $1.4 billion initial public offering by Swiggy.
The food and grocery delivery company’s IPO is reportedly way oversubscribed thanks to a final rush of institutional investors. Retail investors were also oversubscribed.
The offering, which is expected in Mumbai on Wednesday, promises to be India’s second-largest this year behind Hyundai Motor India.
Swiggy, which principally competes with rival Zamato, isn’t yet profitable, and that will likely weigh on traders’ minds as the company makes its debut. (A recent investigation by India’s competition commission found both firms to be in violation of antitrust laws given their exclusivity contracts with partners.)
In the meantime, the 10-year-old company is already well on its way in assessing new areas for expansion—e.g. ticketed events or personal services like fitness trainers—as it pursues a “superapp” approach. —AN
ChatGPT is killing Chegg
Edtech pioneer Chegg—which offers textbook rental, online tutoring, study tools, and other student-focused services—is on its knees as students look to ChatGPT for help with their homework.
Chegg’s share price is down 99%, to about $2, from early 2021, when it peaked at about $113.
“Since ChatGPT’s launch,” a Wall Street Journal story reads, “Chegg has lost more than half a million subscribers who pay up to $19.95 a month for prewritten answers to textbook questions and on-demand help from experts.”
Today Chegg has its own AI-powered tools, but they haven’t reversed subscriber decline. Wall Street expects the company to record a drop in revenue when it shares its third-quarter earnings tomorrow.
Chegg has pivoted several times since its 2006 founding as an Iowa State University message board. (Chegg = chicken + egg. Get it?) It made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange in late 2013.
But it’s been a rough ride since the go-go days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Longtime CEO Dan Rosensweig stepped down in June; his successor, Nathan Schultz, promptly laid off more than 400 employees—a quarter of the company’s workforce. —AN
Palm-based authentication systems are coming
Science-fiction fans, this one’s for you. (Privacy fans, maybe stop reading right here.)
Visa and China’s Tencent are partnering to launch a new biometric service in Singapore that would require you to place your palm over a reader to authenticate and make payments at retail stores and restaurants.
The service will be available to holders of Visa cards issued by Singaporean banks DBS, UOB, and OCBC. Tencent and Visa will first deploy the tech in the wild at Alchemist, a local coffee chain with 10 locations throughout the city-state.
Here’s how it works. Completing a one-time enrollment at a merchant’s point of sale allows a Visa payment token to be bound to your palm biometric template. After that, simply wave your mitt to pay anywhere the tech is supported—no card or phone necessary.
Why Singapore, you ask? Because its population is primed for tech. Close to seven in 10 people in the island nation believe using your palm is a secure way to pay, according to Visa. —AN
Apple’s future growth may come from wearables
In the wake of Apple’s admission that it may never invent something as popular and lucrative as the iPhone comes fresh analysis saying that its future lies in the planets that orbit around its star. (So to speak.)
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple will likely realize future growth from new product categories that reinforce the constellation of services—its App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and others—that emerged in the wake of its smash-hit smartphone.
That will hardly come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched Apple over the last decade and a half. Apple’s iPad (born 2010), Watch (2015), HomePod (2018), and Vision (2024) were all meant to reinforce that ecosystem. Nevermind retroactive changes made to the Mac itself, which well predates Apple’s Golden iGoose.
Gurman, a longtime Apple watcher, believes growth can be found in several product categories. A non-“Pro” Apple Vision could pack the company’s ecosystem into something that better resembles daily eyewear. The AirPod family could continue its growth (there are now four models) by integrating more advanced features.
And, of course, there’s the living room. A sharper take on the HomePod family—perhaps something with a screen?—would help Apple better compete with devices from Amazon, Google, and Meta. —AN
More data
—Amazon is reconfiguring its physical stores to better align shopping, fulfillment needs.
—Painting made by AI robot sells for $1.1m. It depicts Alan Turing as a god.
—Daniel Lurie wasn’t tech leaders’ first choice for SF mayor, but they expect a good working relationship.
—17% of peer reviews in CS pubs are AI-written. Commendable, as a chatbot might say.
—A new Apple update forces idle phone reboots that reportedly keeps law enforcement at bay.
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