Latest news with #TobySterling
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Europe's defence challenge energises young techies at hackathon
By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A weekend hackathon in Amsterdam aimed at finding fast-and-cheap battlefield solutions for Ukraine drew more than 100 young programmers and engineers, with many saying Europe's rearmament plans were prompting them to consider careers in defence. European countries are boosting military spending after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled the United States may no longer guarantee their security as it has since World War Two. That has led some young people who would previously have focused on financial software or artificial intelligence to consider jobs in military technology. "I've been interested in defence a long time, even before the Russian invasion (of Ukraine)," said 24-year-old Swede Emil Knutsson. "And I can for sure feel that in my generation there has been a change in how young people think about it." The Amsterdam hackathon - the name for a conference where attendees break into small groups and try to build something new in a single weekend - was organised by privately-owned European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH) in partnership with Ukraine's state-backed defence technology accelerator Brave1. While Knutsson's project was affordable "squad radar" systems to help Ukrainian soldiers fight Russia's invasion, many teams focused on building drones, or technology to detect or disable them. Some attendees were seeking help or funding for a startup idea, others simply to network and support Ukraine. Benjamin Wolba at German-based EDTH, which held its first event last June and plans half a dozen more across Europe this year, said interest had snowballed following the Munich Security Conference in February. Trump's upending of U.S. policy on Ukraine, adopting a more conciliatory stance towards Russia, was another factor, he added. "The West not being super-sure about U.S. support anymore, and seeing that we need to rearm Europe – that is certainly creating urgency for people to come," Wolba said. Andreas Michaelides, whose multinational team tested a system using seismic waves to detect movements in enemy territory, said defence innovation was no longer confined to big-budget companies. "Every single one of us can get into this," he said, citing software advances and the advent of drone warfare. Among the hackathon's judges was Bram Oostvogel of NUNC Capital, which said last week it will invest 20 million euros ($22 million) in early-stage ventures using Ukraine as a proving ground for ideas that could in time fill Europe's security gaps. He said European venture capital and private equity investors and banks were all now taking defence seriously. "It's important that you first take care of your primary needs - security, safety - and not 'likes' or kudos on Facebook," Oostvogel said. ($1 = 0.9244 euros)
Zawya
26-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
China seen leading in chipmaking investment again in 2025, SEMI group says
China will continue to invest more in new computer chipmaking equipment than any other geographical region in 2025, despite a significant year-over-year decline, industry group SEMI said in a report on Wednesday, followed by Taiwan and Korea. In its fabrication plant spending forecast, SEMI said global investments in gear will rise 2% this year to $110 billion, the sixth consecutive year in a row of growth, due to investment in tools needed to make chips for artificial intelligence. The impact of AI will likely be even stronger in 2026, SEMI added, when investment is expected to grow by another 18%. China is the largest consumer of chips and firms there have been expanding chipmaking capacity for years, but they began a huge sprint in mid-2023 and 2024 with government support, as part of a drive to lessen dependence on imported chips and in response to restrictions imposed by the U.S. government. ASML, the largest chip equipment manufacturer, forecasts 2025 sales of $32-38 billion euros, implying market share of more than 25% for its sub-sector, lithography, where it enjoys a dominant position. Other top equipment firms include Applied Materials , KLA, LAM Research and Tokyo Electron, though Chinese equipment makers such as Naura, AMEC and Huawei affiliate SiCarrier are growing fast. Chinese spending is expected to fall to $38 billion in 2025, down 24% from $50 billion in 2024, but still ahead of $21.5 billion in Korea, where SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are expanding capacity for memory chips. Spending in Taiwan, where leading foundry TSMC manufactures AI chips for Nvidia and others, is projected at $21 billion. Among other regions, the Americas and Japan are each expected to spend $14 billion in 2025, while Europe will spend $9 billion, SEMI said. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European lawmakers urge Commission to move quickly on Chips Act 2.0
By Toby Sterling and Nathan Vifflin AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Members of the European Parliament on Monday urged the European Commission to launch a new support programme for the region's semiconductor industry targeting investment in AI chips and other technological gaps. "Recent geopolitical developments have shown that Europe cannot take continued access to advanced technologies for granted," a letter authored by representatives of three major factions in parliament and signed by 54 lawmakers said. "We must take active steps to make the EU attractive as an R&D, production and investment location," it said, criticising progress made under the original 2023 Chips Act as "too slow". The plea from the lawmakers follows a similar call from top European chip industry firms last week. The Commission has yet to detail plans for the semiconductor industry, though it has said it intends to launch five packages this year spurring European investment, notably in AI. The letter addressed to Commission digital chief Henna Virkkunen said it was unfortunate those packages do not address semiconductors, as chips are "at the heart of the EU's industrial ambitions". A spokesperson for Virkkunen's office could not immediately respond. The first EU Chips Act prompted a wave of investment, but failed to attract advanced chipmakers after Intel shelved plans for a large new factory in Germany. Addressing that, and other shortcomings, has become more urgent in light of "current geopolitical realities," the letter said. Europe needs to "protect its champions from the consequences of extraterritoriality and the ever-escalating competition between the United States and China," the letter said. Extraterritoriality refers to the practice of a country enforcing national laws outside its own jurisdiction. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Group of EU states seeks faster progress in chips industry
By Toby Sterling THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Nine European Union countries are working to speed up plans to boost the bloc's computer chip industry and aim to present their proposals by the summer, one of the coalition's leaders said on Friday. The coalition, which includes Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, is doing "homework for the new Chips Act", Dutch Economy Minister Dirk Beljaarts said in an interview, referring to a possible second EU funding programme for the semiconductor industry following the 2023 Chips Act. That act, currently under review, failed to meet key goals but is regarded as having prevented a deterioration of Europe's industry in the face of larger state support programmes in the United States and China. A frequent criticism is that the process, which featured states providing funding and the European Commission approving projects, was too slow. Beljaarts said the point was to become more targeted the second time around. "We need to allocate funds," Beljaarts said. "Both private and public funds to push the sector, also to make sure that the trickle-down effect takes place and that (small and medium-size) companies also benefit." He said that while Europe had top R&D and equipment players, including powerhouse ASML, gaps included chip packaging and advanced production, following Intel's shelving of plans to build a cutting-edge factory in Germany. The coalition is examining "what the internal demand would be from European countries ... so that companies know it's worth it to start investing" he said. Beljaarts said the new group, formally established on March 12, was aimed at helping rather than undermining the Commission. The Commission said it "strongly supported" the initiative. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dutch parliament calls for end to dependence on US software companies
By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands' parliament on Tuesday approved a series of motions calling on the government to reduce dependence on U.S. software companies, including by creating a cloud services platform under Dutch control. While such initiatives have foundered in the past due to a lack of viable European alternatives, lawmakers said changing relations with the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump have given the issue fresh urgency. "The question we as Europeans must ask ourselves is: do we feel comfortable with people like Trump, (Meta CEO Mark) Zuckerberg and (X owner Elon) Musk ruling over our data?" said Marieke Koekkoek of the pro-European Volt party, who authored one of the eight motions, in an email to Reuters. In addition to launching a sovereign cloud services platform, the motions called on the government to re-examine a decision to use Amazon's web services for the Netherlands' internet domain hosting, and to develop alternatives to U.S. software and preferential treatment for European firms in public tenders. The vote comes a day after dozens of European tech firms called on the European Commission to create a sovereign fund to invest in European technology, including cloud infrastructure, and a "Buy European" mandate. A spokesperson for the Economic Affairs ministry declined comment. Bert Hubert, a Dutch technology expert who has advocated for reducing dependency on the U.S., said: "This is only the first step in potentially doing something." But he said one important outcome would be forcing agencies to publicly report on risks related to their reliance on U.S. cloud firms. "With the advent of Trump 2.0, it has become clear that this is not something you can harmlessly sign off on," he said. One issue cited in the debate ahead of Tuesday's vote was the possibility that Microsoft could stop working with the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the war crimes court last month after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Amazon and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
