The Biden administration has taken new actions!
On the evening of February 8th, according to Bloomberg's latest news, the Biden administration announced the establishment of an artificial intelligence security organization, which includes well-known companies such as OpenAI, Google, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, IBM, Cisco, HP, etc. On Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Raymond said in a statement, "President Biden instructed us to do our utmost to achieve two key goals: setting security standards and protecting our innovation ecosystem."
At the same time, the news of the sharp rise in the stock price of ARM, a chip design giant under SoftBank Group, also swept across the screen. After the US stock market closed on Wednesday, Arm's stock price surged by 40% due to the release of a financial report that far exceeded market expectations. On Thursday, the US stock market closed with Arm surging 48%. In addition, Citigroup has raised its Arm target price from $86 to $115.
The sharp rise in Arm's stock price has also driven the stock price of SoftBank Group. On Thursday, SoftBank Group surged 11% at the close of the Japanese stock market, with a market value of 10.8 trillion yen, equivalent to approximately 523 billion yuan. Driven by heavyweight stocks such as SoftBank Group, the Nikkei 225 index rose 2.06% on Thursday, closing at its highest level in 34 years.
The Biden administration announces the establishment of an artificial intelligence security organization
The US Department of Commerce announced on Thursday that top artificial intelligence companies in the United States will participate in a government led effort to develop federal standards for the technology to ensure its safe and responsible deployment.
US Commerce Secretary Raymond stated that OpenAI, Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, and Meta are among the over 200 members of the department's newly formed alliance of artificial intelligence security research institutes. In addition, the alliance also includes Apple, Amazon, IBM, Nvidia, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, BP, Cisco, HP, and others.
Raymond said in a statement, "President Biden instructed us to make every effort to achieve two key goals: setting security standards and protecting our innovation ecosystem." According to reports, these top industry participants will collaborate with the National Standards and Technology Institute under the US Department of Commerce, as well as other technology companies, civil society groups, scholars, state and local government officials, to develop security standards for artificial intelligence.
Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, stated in a statement that progress and responsibility must go hand in hand. If we are to establish common standards around safe and reliable artificial intelligence, cooperation between industry, government, and civil society is crucial. We are passionate about becoming a part of this alliance and working closely with the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Security.
Bloomberg reported that Thursday's move is part of a comprehensive executive order signed by Biden last autumn, which requires the Department of Commerce to facilitate the development of safety, security, and testing standards for artificial intelligence models, as well as watermark rules for AI generated content. Renowned industry startups, including Scale AI, which provides training data for generating artificial intelligence models, and Altana AI, which uses artificial intelligence to draw global supply chain maps, will also participate in the development of security standards.
Chip design giants skyrocket
After the US stock market closed on Wednesday, Arm, a British chip design company under SoftBank Group, surged 40% as the company released a financial report that far exceeded market expectations. Arm released its financial results for the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year as of December 31, 2023, after the US stock market closed on Wednesday. The company achieved a revenue of $824 million, a year-on-year increase of 14%, higher than Wall Street's expectation of $762 million; Adjusted earnings per share were $0.29, higher than Wall Street's expected $0.25.
Arm also provided strong outlook data for the next fiscal quarter, with an expected revenue of $850 million to $900 million for the fourth quarter as of the end of March this year, significantly exceeding the average analyst estimate of $778 million. Excluding some items, the estimated earnings per share is about 30 cents, far higher than the market expectation of 21 cents.
As of Thursday's close, Arm surged 48% to close at $113.89 per share.
Jason Child stated that due to strong performance in markets such as automobiles and artificial intelligence in the fourth quarter, the company has raised its financial revenue forecast by approximately $100 million. The company expects that licensing revenue from chips that power artificial intelligence in data centers, mobile phones, and personal computers will become an important factor.
Arm's optimistic revenue outlook is related to CEO Rene Haas's move into new areas such as server chips. The company's executives stated that the smartphone industry currently accounts for about one-third of the company's revenue, indicating achievements in business diversification. Nowadays, each mobile phone uses a higher level of Arm technology, which increases patent usage fees. "We have entered almost every terminal market and almost every market is adding computing power to their devices," Haas said in an analyst conference call
Haas and CFO Jason Child explained that the company's clients are shifting towards the V9 next-generation technology, which has a patent usage rate twice that of the previous version. The customer has increased the use of Arm computing cores for each device, thereby increasing patent usage fees. They stated that Arm has also increased its market share in the data center and automotive markets. Child stated that Arm's joint venture in China also performed well, contributing 25% of total revenue.
As one of the most concerned chip design companies in the semiconductor field, Arm itself does not directly design, manufacture or sell chip products, but mainly licenses its designed chip architecture (IP) and related technologies to chip manufacturers, making money through licensing transactions and patent fees.
Arm predicts that for the entire 2024 fiscal year ending in March, the company's revenue will reach $3.16 billion to $3.21 billion, higher than analysts' estimate of $3.05 billion; The estimated adjusted earnings per share for the whole year are $1.22, higher than the analyst's estimate of $1.07.