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Business Standard
09-06-2025
- Business Standard
How China's new hybrid AI chip could rewrite the rules of global computing
In a global first, China has begun the large-scale application of non-binary AI chips, deploying them across sectors as critical as aviation, intelligent displays, and industrial control systems. The breakthrough comes from Professor Li Hongge's team at Beihang University in Beijing and is based on a novel computing approach called Hybrid Stochastic Number (HSN) computing, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. The new chip merges conventional binary logic with stochastic, or probabilistic, logic to offer an alternative method for data processing. Importantly, the chip avoids reliance on US-restricted components. What problem is China trying to solve with hybrid computing? The report outlines two major limitations of conventional chips: the power wall and the architecture wall. - The power wall stems from binary logic's high energy demands. While binary systems—built on 1s and 0s—offer high accuracy, they consume large amounts of power, making it hard to scale. - The architecture wall refers to how alternative or non-silicon chips often cannot integrate well with the existing CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) infrastructure, which underpins most global computing today. Hybrid computing, says Li's team, provides a way around both. What is hybrid stochastic computing, and how does it work? Binary systems rely on precise calculations, demanding heavy hardware resources. Probabilistic or stochastic computing, on the other hand, represents values through voltage signal frequencies, thus consuming less power but often introducing delays and imprecision. By merging these two, Li's team created the Hybrid Stochastic Number system, combining: > Binary numbers (accurate but power-hungry) > Stochastic numbers (power-efficient but slower) > A hybrid form that achieves low energy use with high computational reliability The result, according to the team, is a chip that is more fault-tolerant, energy-efficient and resistant to signal noise. Where is this technology being used? According to the report, the chip has already been implemented in various real-world systems. In touch display systems, it improves user interaction by filtering out noise and detecting weak signals more accurately. In medical or industrial displays, it enables fast, low-power data processing for accurate readings. It is also being used in flight control systems, where it delivers steady navigation and strong fault tolerance—crucial for aerospace and defence operations. These systems benefit from the chip's in-memory computing capability, which cuts down energy-hungry data transfer between memory and processors, a major bottleneck in traditional systems. How was the chip built despite US tech restrictions? Despite the global race for cutting-edge chips being dominated by advanced nodes like 5nm or 3nm, Li's team used 110nm and 28nm manufacturing processes provided by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's leading chipmaker. This is significant. By relying on mature, domestically available technologies, the team effectively sidesteps US export restrictions on high-end semiconductors while still pushing the envelope on performance through architectural innovation, not brute force hardware. What's next for this chip technology? The team is now developing a custom instruction set architecture (ISA) and microarchitecture tailored for hybrid probabilistic computing, the report said. This will enable the chip to support more advanced applications, including AI model acceleration, speech and image recognition, and neural networks. In essence, this could give China a home-grown pathway to support the future of large-scale AI and machine learning, independent of foreign technologies. As the US-China tech rivalry deepens, Beijing is pursuing self-reliance in semiconductors and this chip could be a template for how to innovate around restrictions. Instead of trying to match the US in advanced lithography, China is redefining computing logic itself. If successful, this approach could reshape global thinking about how chips are built, moving from raw transistor counts to new ways of doing math on silicon.
CNBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: London markets didn't seem to view the U.K.-U.S. trade deal positively
The U.K. is the first country to seal a trade deal with the U.S. Cue the jubilations. And investors certainly did, giving the three major U.S. indexes back-to-back winning sessions. Curiously, the mood across the Atlantic wasn't as upbeat: the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower following the announcement of the agreement. To be sure, the U.K. extracted some concessions, such as a lower tariff rate on its first 100,000 vehicles exported to the U.S. and securing new discussions for U.S. President Donald Trump's universal 25% levies on steel and aluminum imports. That said, the deal does seem more advantageous to the U.S., at least based on the fact that a 10% tariff will remain on all U.K. imports, alongside other compromises allowed by Britain. The U.S. already runs a trade surplus with the U.K., meaning that it exports more to the country than it imports. And a 10% tariff was what Trump slapped on the U.K. on April 2, so there was no reduction in those levies despite both countries reaching an agreement. "What we heard today is just noise for most U.K. imports. It doesn't affect the majority of products," Andy Abbott, CEO of niche ocean liner company Atlantic Container Line, told CNBC's Lori Ann LaRocco. Based on the available details, Washington seems to have got the better end of the deal. UK makes preliminary trade deal with U.S.U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday laid out the outline of a trade agreement with the United Kingdom. Many specifics about the deal were not immediately clear, and nothing was signed during the Oval Office event. A White House fact sheet stated that the U.S. will keep a blanket 10% tariff on U.K. imports, which Trump said will be floor for tariffs. The impact of the deal could be limited, a freight CEO said. Most markets rally on trade deal newsU.S. stocks climbed Thursday on news of the freshly minted U.S.-U.K. agreement. The S&P 500 added 0.58%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.07%, boosted by a broad rise in tech shares. Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.2% even as shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's largest contract chipmaker, fell nearly 7% after its first-quarter earnings missed estimates. China's April exports surge despite U.S. tariffsChina's exports in April jumped 8.1% in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, according to data released by the country's customs authority on Friday, sharply beating Reuters' poll estimates of a 1.9% rise. The surge in exports defies a 21% year-on-year plunge in China's outbound shipments to the U.S., based on CNBC's calculation of official customs data. China's exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations climbed 20.8% in April from a year earlier, helping to offset the drop in exports to the U.S. Coinbase misses estimates as bitcoin jumpsCoinbase shares fell nearly 3% in extended trading after it reported first-quarter revenue that failed to meet expectations. The company said consumer trading volume fell 17% from the fourth quarter. The same day, bitcoin prices rose almost 7% during U.S. trading hours to above $100,000 for the first time since February, and a Standard Chartered analyst wrote a tongue-in-cheek apology that his target of $120,000 for bitcoin "may be too low." First American pope electedCardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as pope on Thursday, the first time an American has been selected as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, chose the papal name Leo XIV. Following the news, Trump congratulated the new pope, writing on Truth Social that Leo being the "first American Pope" is "a Great Honor for our Country." [PRO] Trade deal only a temporary stimulus?Even though investors cheered the U.S.-U.K. trade deal and sent stocks higher Thursday, CNBC Pro contributor Josh Brown, CEO of Ritzholtz Wealth Management, is keeping his expectations of a prolonged market rebound in check — and points out two defensive tech stocks because they behave more like consumer staples. U.S. tariff pressure has retailers evaluating their prices Household brands including Pandora, Puma and Hugo Boss said this week that they are evaluating their pricing strategies in the U.S. and beyond, in the event that President Donald Trump's most punitive levies come into effect. Others said that they are altering their supply chains and potentially revising their sales forecasts amid U.S. trade policy uncertainty. Last month, Trump announced sweeping, so-called reciprocal import duties on all U.S. trading partners. The charges were later paused for 90 days and reduced to 10% for most countries except China, pending trade negotiations. Here's what some major European retailers have been saying about their product prices and earnings outlooks.
Business Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's top chipmaker SMIC plunges after projecting lower sales
[SINGAPORE] Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) plunged on Friday (May 9) after China's leading chipmaker warned sales could fall as much as 6 per cent this quarter because of production disruptions. Co-CEO Zhao Haijun said sales would fall between 4 per cent and 6 per cent in the second quarter, versus projections for a sharp rise. The warning came after the company discovered unspecified issues with production lines. The company though is sticking with plans to spend US$7.5 billion this year to boost and upgrade output, in line with previous outlays. SMIC's stock plunged 11 per cent on Friday in Hong Kong, the biggest fall in more than a month. 'The incident had affected the process accuracy and yield of our products,' Zhao said. 'Certain upgrade efforts during equipment verification had also affected yield.' Zhao also warned of risks in the consumer market, saying a shipment correction in the smartphone market was likely to happen in July or August due to an overly ambitious target. SMIC reported US$188 million in net income for the first quarter, missing an average analyst estimate of US$218.1 million, despite posting 28 per cent growth in sales. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The company's weak second-quarter sales guidance demonstrates the toll of pricing pressure and softer-than-expected consumer chip demand in China, both aggravated by US tariffs, analysts Charles Shum and Steven Tseng wrote in a note. 'SMIC's 1Q sales undershot consensus by 4.7 per cent, with an earnings miss of 16 per cent, despite the front-loading of orders prior to US tariffs being implemented,' they said. Zhao dismissed the potential for damage from US tariffs. 'We expect positive results from trade talks. If that happens, we believe the impact to semiconductor contract making business can be absorbed,' he said. Hua Hong Semiconductor, another major Chinese chipmaker, also said any tariffs would not have a meaningful impact on its business. The impact would be limited because the company mostly sells its products in China, president Peng Bai said in an earnings call on Thursday. 'As long as the tariff situation does not disrupt too much of the market dynamics or the market logic too much, we still expect that 2025 will play out as we originally expected,' he said. Shares of the firm fell as much as 13 per cent after first-quarter net income missed estimates by a wide margin. BLOOMBERG
CNBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Chinese chipmaker SMIC shares fall nearly 7% after first-quarter revenue misses estimates
Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's largest contract chip maker, fell nearly 7% Friday after its first-quarter earnings missed estimates. After trading on Thursday, the company reported a first-quarter revenue of $2.24 billion, up about 28% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, profit attributable to shareholders surged 162% year on year to $188 million. However, both figures missed LSEG mean estimates of $2.34 billion in revenue and $225.1 million in net income, as well as the company's own forecasts. During an earnings call Friday, an SMIC representative said the earnings missed original guidance due to "production fluctuations" which sent blended average selling prices falling. This impact is expected to extend into the second quarter, they added. For the current quarter, the chipmaker forecasted revenue to fall 4% to 6% sequentially. Gross margin is also expected to fall within the range of 18% to 20%, compared to 22.5% in the first quarter. Still, the first quarter saw SMIC's wafer shipments increase by 15% from the previous quarter and by about 28% year-on-year. In the earnings call, SMIC attributed that growth to customer shipment pull in, brought by changes in geopolitics and increased demand driven by government policies such as domestic trade-in programs and consumption subsidies. In another positive sign for the company, its first-quarter capacity utilization— the percentage of total available manufacturing capacity that is being used at any given time— reached 89.6%, up 4.1% quarter on quarter. "SMIC's nearly 90% utilization rate reflects strong domestic demand for semiconductors, likely driven by smartphone and consumer electronics production," said Ray Wang, a Washington-based semiconductor and technology analyst, adding that the demand was also reflected in the company's strong quarterly revenue growth. Meanwhile, the company said in the earnings call that it is "currently in an important period of capacity construction, roll out, and continuously increasing market share." However, SMIC's first-quarter research and development spending decreased to $148.9 million, down from $217 million in the previous quarter. Amid increased demand, it will be crucial for SMIC to continue ramping up their capacity, Simon Chen, principal analyst of semiconductor manufacturing at Informa Tech told CNBC. SMIC generates most of its revenue from older-generation semiconductors, often referred to as "mature-node" or "legacy" chips, which are commonly found in consumer electronics and industrial equipment. The state-backed chipmaker is critical to Beijing's ambitions to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain, with the government pumping billions into such efforts. Over 84% of its first-quarter revenue was derived from customers in China. "The localization transformation of the supply chain has been strengthened, and more manufacturing demand has shifted back domestically," a representative said Friday. However, chip analysts say the chipmaker's ability to increase capacity in advance chips — used in applications that demand higher levels of computing performance and efficiency at higher yields — is limited. This is due to U.S.-led export controls, which prevent it from accessing some of the world's most advanced chip-making equipment from the Netherlands-based ASML. Nevertheless, the chipmaker appears to be making some breakthroughs. Advanced chips manufactured by SMIC have reportedly appeared in various Huawei products, notably in the Mate 60 Pro smartphone and some AI processors. SMIC's Hong Kong-listed shares have gained over 32.23% year-to-date.
Zawya
21-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
China, HK stocks post weekly loss on tech selloff
Hong Kong and China stocks declined on Friday and registered weekly losses, as tech shares tumbled on mounting profit-taking pressure. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 3.4% on Friday, and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 2.1%. Both indexes registered back-to-back weekly losses for the first time since January. In Hong Kong, chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation slid 7.5% to a one-month low, while market heavyweight Alibaba lost 3.5%. China's blue-chip CSI300 index dipped 1.5%, ending the week with a 2.3% loss in its largest retreat since January. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3%. The tech sector also paced declines onshore. Mainland's tech-focused Star 50 Index dropped 2.1% and AI-related shares slipped 3%. "It's normal to see some pullbacks at these levels after such a strong rally this year - this doesn't even qualify as a correction," said Dickie Wong, Kingston Securities executive director. The optimism around China's "two sessions", DeepSeek and President Xi Jinping's meeting with tech leaders has already been priced in with major indexes at current levels, prompting investors to take profit, he added. The Hang Seng Tech index has lost 4.1% this week in a second week of decline - the longest losing streak since the opening weeks of the year. However, the gauge is still up 26% year-to-date. China's parliamentarians and political advisers gather in Beijing every March for two parallel sets of meetings called 'Two Sessions'. (Reporting by Jiaxing Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
