Latest news with #AmericanDynamismSummit
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Manufacturing Is a War We Cannot Afford to Lose
In remarks given at the American Dynamism Summit recently, Vice President Vance declared 'I believe ... we're on the cusp of a great American industrial comeback.' Comebacks aren't necessary unless you've fallen behind, and Vance wasn't shy about terming the four-decade decline of American manufacturing as 'deindustrialization.' America's deindustrialization wasn't just coincidence or the confluence of misguided policy and bad luck. It was also a function of China's deliberate, patient and ultimately effective strategy of changing the global balance of power. It shifted manufacturing from the west to China—increasing China's industrial strength while deindustrializing the rest of the world. Since 1978, China has embarked on an ambitious and sustained industrialization program that leveraged excess labor, monetary policy, and centralized state planning. American corporations, keen to exploit lower labor costs and gain access to billions of new customers, seized upon the opportunity to outsource to China. The centralized planners of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) incentivized the growing dependence by providing heavy subsidies to their national champions, undercutting global producers to dominate key markets. The United States, Germany and Japan have been China's primary targets. China's market distorting practices, employed in violation of international rules governed by the WTO (China joined in 2001), helped transform China into an industrial juggernaut. By 2009, it had replaced Germany as the world's largest exporter. Their trade in manufactured goods with the United States leapt more than five-fold between 2001 and 2019. China's approach has been deliberate and strategic. The European automotive sector is a case in point. With its huge consumer market, China enticed German auto makers to set up joint ventures with local Chinese companies in order to access that market. The Chinese market has become so important that it is now the top sales market for Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes Benz, but the majority of that manufacturing capacity to make those vehicles is now in China. As German companies offshore their factories to China, the CCP is driving capital into national champions such as BYD so that they are able to sell Chinese-manufactured cars in European markets at significantly lower costs than if they would be able to if they were not a state-funded entity. With models as low as €22,000, BYD and other producers account for 11% of EV sales in Europe and trending upward rapidly. A 2024 report by CSIS estimated the CCP dumped more than $230 billion into subsidies for its EV makers since 2009 to undercut global competitors and achieve a dominant position. Financial success of German automakers in China has done little to protect Germany's domestic manufacturing capacity. German car manufacturers are becoming uncompetitive in German markets. Volkswagen is closing three major factories, while Mercedes plans to reduce capacity (read that as cut jobs and hours for auto workers). BMW is shifting to producing EVs and high-end models, but that may only delay inevitable collapse, particularly as cheap Chinese EVs expand penetration in the European market. Remarkably, Germany abstained from an EU vote to erect tariffs against Chinese cars, cowed as they are by its automakers' utter dependence on the Chinese market. The CCP has run this play repeatedly to undermine global manufacturing competitors and engender dependence on their manufacturing, particularly in tech. In 2019, Huawei, the Chinese national champion in cellular communication technology, was well on its way to the commanding heights of cell infrastructure globally. Its highly subsidized products beat South Korean and Swedish competitors on price point and put them on a path to 'lock in' Europe after having built out most of Africa for cellular in connection with China's Belt and Road Initiative. Absent sanctions and a diplomatic effort by the United States, Samsung and Ericsson could have been left in the cold for years. Drone makers in the west are facing a similar fate. Having introduced a revolution in military drones, the United States has watched incredulously as China secured nearly 80% market share in smaller, civilian drones. Despite the obvious military uses for low-cost attritable drones as well as the intelligence threat posed by ubiquitous Chinese drones crisscrossing the American landscape, U.S. manufacturers have been unable to keep up with China's highly subsidized national champion DJI. American manufacturers simply cannot win in a head-to-head competition with a company backed by the full economic support of the Chinese government. In addition to lost jobs and failed manufacturing businesses, we are losing the ability to make the essential equipment our country needs in both peacetime and wartime. It is no accident that China has focused on winning markets with obvious military applications such as cars, ships, and drones. American policymakers assumed that opening to China (Most Favored Nation status, WTO membership, etc.) would liberalize the Chinese government. Instead, we are now reliant in many cases on a potential adversary that's grown more confident and belligerent as its capabilities grow and others' diminish. The stakes are extremely high. Industrial strength is national strength, and the current status quo is unacceptable. To achieve a result other than the managed decline of America's relative power – industrial, economic, and military—we must chart another path. Bret Boyd is CEO of Sustainment, a technology company dedicated to helping American manufacturers thrive.
Al Etihad
20-03-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
US Vice President Vance says UAE a 'viable AI partner'
20 Mar 2025 21:49 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The UAE's rapid strides in AI with strategic investments and its ambitions to become a hub of advanced technology has caught the eye of the Trump administration. US Vice President JD Vance, while lauding the UAE's role as a "viable AI partner', at the American Dynamism Summit in Washington, said the two countries have much to gain by leading the charge together in smart tech and two countries are already working in tandem, with the UAE investing $25 billion in data centres while US tech giants like Microsoft are partnering with Emirati companies like G42 in new AI ventures worth $1.5 acknowledged the UAE's dynamic role and investments in AI and smart technology systems. He also referred to the visit of a high-level UAE delegation led by His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to forge new partnerships with American technology taking note of the growing relationship, the US Vice President noted that 'if you want to lead in artificial intelligence, you've got to be leading in energy production'. Energy-AI synergy is vital for the growth of future technologies and the UAE, like the US believes it will fuel its next phase of growth through strategic investments and on this synergy, Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the US, in a white paper on UAE-US ties, said: "Advanced technology is the newest pillar of a deep and enduring UAE-US relationship built on a foundation of security cooperation, trade ties and cultural exchange.' UAE institutions and companies like G42, Mubadala, NYU Abu Dhabi and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center are joining with American counterparts like Microsoft, IBM, the Cleveland Clinic and NASA to launch new businesses, initiatives and even missions to space, he said. The white paper highlights the UAE's drive towards a knowledge-based economy. 'The Emirates is rapidly transforming its economy into a global hub for the critical technologies of the future like artificial intelligence (AI), microelectronics, aeronautics, life sciences and space.' With a national data, cloud and AI strategy, the UAE is accelerating its transformation to a diversified knowledge-based economy. Moving from oil and gas to data and 'compute,' the UAE's shift is propelling the country beyond its legacy energy foundations and solidifying its status as a global force in advanced technologies,' it said. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Forbes
20-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
JD Vance Says It's Time For Government And Tech Interests To Align
While the Trump Administration has yet to put its AI policy into writing, Vice President JD Vance gave us an early look in a speech this week. Vance appeared at the American Dynamism Summit, an Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)-sponsored event highlighting tech and government in Washington, D.C. 'Now, in our administration, is the time to align our work interests with those of all of you,' Vance said to a room of Silicon Valley execs and investors. 'It's time to align the interests of our technology firms with the interests of the United States of America writ large.' Vance, who formerly worked in Silicon Valley venture capital, said he sees himself as a sort of connection between the techno-optimists—the industry veterans who want to use technology to move society forward—and populists—ordinary people who fear that technology will result in job loss and alienation from society. Innovation, he said, has traditionally enhanced the value of American labor—ATMs improved bank tellers' jobs, for example. The U.S. should 'seek to dominate' productive new technologies like AI. Vance's speech didn't get into specifics on AI or tech policy that may be coming, but reaffirmed the basic gist the administration has been sharing: Regulatory controls are too tight. 'I think a lot of the tech optimists, they see overregulation. They see stifling innovation,' Vance said. 'I mean, you guys are builders. They are builders. And while they may sympathize with those who lost a job, they're much more frustrated that the government won't allow them to build the jobs of the future. …They see a government that makes their lives harder and they mistrust anyone who looks to that government for aid.' AI and technology were examples Vance gave of American innovation—something he said is pushing toward 'America's great industrial comeback.' There wasn't much more in the way of what the administration specifically hopes to accomplish through AI, or any mention of the privacy, security and copyright issues that are often discussed in tandem with generative AI. But newly enacted Trump Administration policies, like tariffs, are already impacting companies. I talked to John Mitchell, president and CEO of IPC, the global electronics industry group, about some of the challenges they are facing today. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images This week, Google made its biggest deal ever: The $32 billion all-cash acquisition of cloud security platform Wiz. Google says that Wiz will improve Google Cloud security with better automation, lower costs, and constantly updating to protect against new threats. Despite its new ownership, Google said Wiz will continue to work and be available to customers who use other cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud. Wiz, which was founded in Israel in 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak and Roy Reznik, saw lightning speed growth with their easy-to-use cloud security platform. Forbes profiled Wiz in 2023 after its CEO Rappaport and the other founders had reached billionaire status. This acquisition shows that cloud security and digital resilience are two very important components as Google looks to build toward the future, writes Forbes senior contributor Tony Bradley. Analysts in the space told Bradley the deal has a lot to do with Google taking advantage of companies hoping to consolidate their tech vendors. The sheer number of options can seem daunting, but it's easy to go with one that is owned by a vendor they already use and trust. Bugcrowd CISO Trey Ford told Bradley that the deal will help Wiz's product improve, giving their models more visibility and training data. The deal may foreshadow something else: More big acquisitions in this space as Amazon and Microsoft try to catch up. Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Google's Gemini AI platform wants to get to know you better. The platform is giving users the option of handing over their search history to the AI bot so it can learn more about you as a user and what you are interested in, writes Forbes senior contributor Paul Monckton. If you're looking for a restaurant, Gemini with more knowledge of you could consider your previous food-related searches. Monckton writes that this more customized AI search will eventually expand to other Google apps and services, with YouTube and Google Photos first. Google is also adding more health-related information to its AI Overviews that appear in search results, the company announced this week. In a blog post from Google Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo, she writes they've improved AI Overviews on many of these topics, providing more knowledge panels on common health topics that help people connect with sources across the web. There's also a new AI-powered feature on mobile devices called 'What People Suggest,' which puts together different perspectives from online discussions—like what others say about exercising with arthritis. Jack Dorsey in 2021. Jack Dorsey's new AI agent is taking flight. In January, the Twitter founder's newest company Block released its Goose AI assistant. Goose is an open source AI agent that can connect LLMs to a variety of actions, and is seeing widespread adoption, writes Forbes contributor Tor Constantino. 'We've been blown away by the engagement from the open-source community,' Block's head of open source Manik Surtani wrote in an email to Constantino. Goose, which takes advantage of Anthropic's Model Context Protocol to connect AI assistants, has seen widespread use in coding. It is also being used internally at Block for tasks including data analysis and content asset management, Brad Axen, Block's tech lead for AI and data platform, told Constantino. IPC President and CEO John Mitchell. Electronics of all kinds, from wires to chips to cables to computers, have been at the heart of the global economy for about the last century. The IPC is the global association for the electronics industry. It currently has more than 3,000 members and works with companies and governments to develop and enhance technology manufacturing, management and education across the globe. This week, IPC had its 25th annual conference, known as the APEX Expo, in Anaheim, California. I talked to IPC President and CEO John Mitchell about the organization and how it's been working through complex issues of today, including tariffs, supply chains and reshoring manufacturing. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. A longer version is available here. What are some of the bigger issues right now for the electronics industry? Mitchell: Having a resilient and trusted global supply chain is top of everyone's mind everywhere along all those sub-sectors I just mentioned. Coming out of Covid, everyone became very keenly aware of the impacts, the fragility of the electronic supply chain, and how critical it is to everything. Those same types of issues are coming up again today. There's no one country that can build all of any system. We depend on a global supply chain. Each different country might bring different strengths to the electronics ecosystem. Global cooperation is really necessary. Some of the issues today—trade and tariffs and things like that—those are on the top of the industry's mind because they're not just affecting the electronics industry. They're impacting every industry. The U.S. is on the precipice of enacting a lot of new tariffs. What has IPC been doing to work with members in all countries to deal with them? [There are] two challenges with tariffs for the industry. In Trump 1.0—tariffs were part of that as well—a lot of the small and medium sized companies in the U.S. struggled because of the tariffs. If you can only buy the goods from a certain place, because it's only available in Asia based on the changes that have happened over the last couple of decades and you're a small or medium sized company, suddenly you're paying 10%, 20%, 30% more for that part. You have to either pass those costs on, which may be impossible because you've already signed contracts before these tariffs came about. Or you shutter. Or you have to eat that and you become less profitable. It's a real challenge for small companies. Larger companies have other options because they're broader, they have more connections, they're in different locations. [In Trump's first term,] China had a lot of capacity, and the way you strengthen the supply chain is diversifying. With tariffs, we actually did see a lot of companies move to additional countries, and so that diversified the supply chain. There is some positive to it. I think there are other ways to do that without putting the burden and driving electronics manufacturing out of this country. The other challenge with tariffs is as they come out, they're not actually benefiting the industry directly. I would be much more excited about tariffs if we could sit there and say: For all of the electronics tariffs that the U.S. government collects, those funds are going to go to the electronics industry in the U.S. to raise it up and to build those capabilities. I haven't seen that yet. All I see is it going to government, and that doesn't really build an industry. It actually harms this industry because now their costs went up with no benefit. We did a sentiment survey. More than 46% of the existing electronics industry views tariffs very negatively. And almost 20% are looking to move the existing industry in the U.S. offshore. It's actually having the opposite effect. We were surprised. That's why we're saying: Because of the raising of manufacturing costs, especially for small manufacturers, it could be pushing production offshore and thereby actually weakening America's electronics industrial base. If you do that, that's weakening every industrial base. What are things that executives don't know about your industry, but should? One of the things that they don't think about often enough is that while they're very much worried and focused on their end product, they need to have an electronic strategy themselves. I have yet to come up with an industry that isn't impacted by electronics significantly. People are like, 'Oh, I have an AI strategy.' Well, guess what? That's an electronic strategy. 'I have an internet strategy.' That's an electronic strategy. It all comes back to that. They should get engaged with IPC to better understand what's impacting their innovation in the future, because without an electronic strategy, they're going to struggle having to continue the accelerated pace of innovation. In order to get Elon Musk's xAI's Colossus data center running, Forbes' Cyrus Farivar reports the company brought in mobile natural gas turbines—a dirty solution that was previously seen as a last resort during emergencies—without any permits. 300: Megawatts of power that xAI is hoping to have for its data center: 150 MW from the local grid and 150 MW from 15 turbines, enough to power nearly 100,000 homes 50%: Decreased efficiency for mobile natural gas turbines, compared to natural gas stationary power plants 'A quick and dirty approach that's very wasteful, financially and environmentally': Rice University professor of civil and environmental engineering Daniel Cohan told Forbes Not only does AI change the way we work, it also changes how people think about their work. Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University looked at the way employees' thought processes are shifting. In order to make sophisticated systems work, data is a necessity. But what is high quality data, and how can you make sure that yours meets that standard? A new company is teaming up with Sam Altman's World ID, which does retinal scans to prove users' identity. What business is this company in? A. Enterprise computer security B. Health insurance C. Video games D. Gambling See if you got the answer right here.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JD Vance has a message for Silicon Valley: The Trump administration is ‘working with you'
Vice President JD Vance was the opening speaker at Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Summit on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. You can watch it for yourself: Vance walking across the stage in a suit and red tie as a16z founders and attendees stood up and cheered. He smiled, waved, and referred to investors Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Katherine Boyle by their first names, before pledging to support the entrepreneurs in the room. 'As of a couple of months ago, you have an administration that's working with you and facilitating your hard work instead of making it harder to innovate, which is, I think, what the last Administration did,' Vance said to the room of a16z-backed companies building companies in aerospace, defense, public safety, supply chain, and manufacturing. He later added: 'We recognize now in our administration is the time to align our work interests with those of all of you. It's time to align the interests of our technology firms with the interests of the United States of America writ large.' You'd be hard-pressed to miss the significance of this moment. Last summer, Andreessen and Horowitz made waves on their popular podcast by revealing they would vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election—a pretty divisive move that took much of blue-leaning Silicon Valley by surprise. They followed up by donating $2.5 million each to a pro-Trump PAC. Less than a year later, several partners at the firm have taken official or advisory positions in the White House, the firm has recruited a series of Republican officials (or icons) into the fold, and the sitting vice president is headlining their conference, pledging support to a room of entrepreneurs a16z has backed. Vance's presence as the keynote speaker is a statement in and of itself. But so is what he had to say. Vance used strong language to proclaim that the Trump administration wants America to 'dominate' artificial intelligence—not be afraid of it. He tried to address some of the rising tensions that exist between two groups of people—the populists, or 'laborers' that make up Trump's long standing supporter base, and the newer Trump-supporting 'techno-optimists' (in a nod to Andreessen's 5,200-word essay published two years ago about how technology is the only perpetual form of growth). Vance, who, you'll recall, had a short stint as a venture capitalist, is positioning himself as someone who sits in both worlds and can bridge the gap. In other words, as the person who can unite the people building AI and the people who are deeply afraid of being replaced by it. 'I think the populists, when they look at the future, and when they compare it to what's happened in the past—I think a lot of them see alienation of workers from their jobs, from their communities, from their sense of solidarity. You see the alienation of people from their sense of purpose,' he said. 'And importantly, they see a leadership class that believes welfare can replace a job and an application on a phone can replace a sense of purpose.' Importantly, Vance highlighted some of the more bipartisan talking points in the startup world, too—emphasizing that the administration wants to 'slash regulations' and 'reduce the cost of energy so that you can build, build, build.' He spent a lot of time discussing the importance of bringing labor back to America—rather than relying on 'cheap labor' abroad. Those comments echoed the speech he gave just last Friday in Bay City, Mich., where he discussed America's 'industrial resurgence.' Vance didn't mention the administration's crypto-friendly approach, which has been a huge win for a16z and its expansive portfolio of crypto startups. Technically, the conference was for its American Dynamism portfolio—which is squarely focused on companies that either work with the government or are working on solving national problems—not the firm's crypto arm a16z crypto. Still, Vance's speech clearly resonated and excited many of the people present, according to Joe Cohen, an a16z-backed founder who attended the summit and runs the electric vehicle company Infinite Machine from New York. In a phone call with me after the event, he said it was 'inspiring to hear from the VP who is a technologist and is able to talk intelligently to technologists and entrepreneurs.' Two months in, Silicon Valley is hardly pledging its allegiance to Trump, even though the president has already made many tech allies and has several outspoken fans among them. In the Valley, there are plenty of people who are upset by Trump attacking DEI policies, his aggressive tactics against illegal immigration, and dislike of climate tech. Some tech-focused policy people in D.C. have told me they are confused about how to engage with the new administration. Policywise, it's still early and unclear exactly how the administration will approach its stated priorities. Cohen said that, while it was helpful to hear Vance lay out the administration's intentions, he would like to see incentives, rather than just tariffs, to encourage startups to manufacture in America—things like tax credits, low-interest financing, or domestic product subsidies. 'There needs to be not just a stick, but also a carrot,' he said. Vance was talking about the next four years in the room on Tuesday, but he may be trying to get the tech community on board with something more long-term, too. Not long after the summit, Vance was selected by the Republican National Committee to oversee its fundraising effort for next year's midterm elections—the first time this position has been given to a sitting U.S. vice president. This move has furthered speculation that he may decide to run for president himself a few years from now. Worth pointing afternoon, SoftBank Group said it would spend $6.5 billion to acquire the chip startup Ampere Computing from Carlyle and Oracle. As part of the deal, Ampere—which makes chips based on Arm technology (the semiconductor and software company SoftBank bought a decade ago)—will become a subsidiary of SoftBank and drop its name. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. A note from me, Jessica Mathews, who used to write this newsletter every day, filing today's newsletter from the U.S. capital. I have been spending a lot more time writing about the intersection of tech and policy—about the cultural shift in Silicon Valley, emerging flavors of lobbying tactics for startups under the Trump administration, efforts to dismantle the CFPB, and Sequoia cutting its policy team. I'm monitoring things like the AI Action Plan and how defense spending cuts could influence the venture-backed shops. If you work in this space, or simply have a lot to say about it, feel free to reach out below! I'd love to chat. See you tomorrow, Jessica MathewsX: @jessicakmathewsEmail: a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today's newsletter. Subscribe here. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JD Vance recalls his wife texting him under table at Silicon Valley dinner: 'These people are f---ing crazy'
Vice President JD Vance recalled the eyebrow-raising view expressed to him by a tech CEO during a Silicon Valley dinner years ago and noted that his wife Usha texted him under the table during the event. Vance noted that he was discussing his concern that the nation was "heading in a direction where America could no longer support middle-class families working on middle-class wages," and that even if there were sufficient "economic dynamism to provide the wealth to ensure" individuals were able to afford to purchase a home and food, and the monetary aspect of work were replaced, the purpose and dignity of work would be destroyed. The vice president, who noted that this event had probably been in 2016 or 2017, recounted that a tech CEO at the event noted that he was not concerned about a lack of purpose when individuals lose their jobs. Vance Knocks Globalization's 'Cheap Labor' And Lauds 'America's Great Industrial Comeback' At Ai Summit Vance said that when he asked the CEO what he thought would replace people's sense of purpose, the CEO's answer was "digital, fully-immersive gaming." The vice president added that his wife texted him under the table saying they had to "get the hell outta here. These people are f---ing crazy." Read On The Fox News App Vice President Jd Vance To Play Key Role With Rnc To 'Fully Enact Maga Mandate,' Grow Gop Majority In 2026 Vance told the story while speaking at the American Dynamism Summit on Tuesday. During the remarks, Vance described "cheap labor" as a "crutch that inhibits innovation" and a "drug that too many American firms got addicted to." Jd Vance Scolds Cbs For 'Harassing' His Mother-in-law Over Dei Differences 'In Order To Attack' Trump He said the U.S. will not "win the future by ditching child labor laws or paying our workers less than Chinese or Vietnamese laborers. We don't want that, and it's not on the table," he said. Instead, Vance said the nation can win by both protecting workers and supporting article source: JD Vance recalls his wife texting him under table at Silicon Valley dinner: 'These people are f---ing crazy'
