Cambrian stock price drops sharply, multiple companies respond to rumors
On November 8th, the stock prices of AI chip companies such as Cambricon fell sharply, with Cambricon closing down 9.45%. The A-share semiconductor industry chain experienced unusual changes, with Huada Jiutian's stock price rising by 20%, Jinglun Electronics' stock price rising by 11.79%, and Guangli Microelectronics' stock price rising by 4.98%. There were market rumors on that day that TSMC's supply of 7nm chips to mainland China had changed, and the news will be announced as early as next week. The First Financial News reporter sent an email to TSMC for verification, and TSMC stated to the reporter that TSMC would not comment on the rumors. TSMC abides by laws and regulations, strictly adhering to all applicable laws and regulations, including applicable export control regulations. The relevant person in charge of Cambrian Securities Affairs Department stated that all information is subject to official announcement.
Commentary: Industry analysts told reporters that AI chips, especially GPUs, are still mainly based on 7nm and more advanced processes. If there is a change in the supply of 7nm chips, related manufacturers will be affected. Several leading domestic chip design manufacturers are promoting products with 7nm and below processes. Cambricon claims to have mastered a series of key technologies for complex chip design under the advanced 7nm process, while Black Sesame Intelligence has commissioned TSMC to manufacture all SoCs (System on Chip). The processes of Wudang C12000 and Huashan A2000 are both 7nm. Several domestic industrial chain companies have not disclosed whether they are involved in 7nm and more advanced technology products.
Tencent Open Source Big Model Again
In May of this year, Tencent opened up the native Chinese DiT text generation model Hunyuan DiT, and subsequently opened up multiple text generation models. The reporter learned that Tencent recently opened up the MoE (expert) big language model Hunyuan Large and the hybrid 3D generation big model Hunyuan 3D-1.0. Among them, Hunyuan Large has 389 billion parameters, making it the largest MoE model in the open source field. Hunyuan 3D-1.0 is the industry's first open source large model that supports both text and image generation in 3D.
Comment: The debate over open and closed sources has gradually subsided, and it is still unknown which faction will ultimately win the big model competition. Kang Zhanhui, the head of the algorithm for Tencent's hybrid language model, said that last year, the big model was in full swing, and open source was flourishing. However, today it seems that everyone belongs to it. Tencent is not in a hurry to open source the big model, and open source is a natural result. At present, the industry is no longer just comparing the number and parameter scale of open-source models from manufacturers, but is more focused on the capabilities and technological innovation of the models themselves.
The AI industry is discussing the impact of Trump's election as the President of the United States
According to Xinhua News Agency, US Republican presidential candidate Trump announced his victory in the 2024 presidential election early on November 6th. Previously, the Republican Party's "2024 Republican Platform" mentioned content related to artificial intelligence. The manifesto proposes that 'we will repeal Biden's executive order that hindered innovation in artificial intelligence'. The relevant administrative order is the "Administrative Order on the Safe, Reliable, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence". Since this year, Trump has also released some signals that will consolidate the dominant position of American artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, Trump also promised in his speech to ensure the United States' leading position in cutting-edge technology and increase investment in drones, robots, artificial intelligence, and other areas.
Commentary: Some analysts believe that after being elected as the President of the United States, Trump will continue to push for strengthening the country's advantage in the field of artificial intelligence. Wu Shenkuo, doctoral supervisor of the Law School of Beijing Normal University and deputy director of the Research Center of the China Internet Association, said to First Finance and Economics that the repeal of Biden's executive order mentioned by Trump has multiple impacts. From the perspective of promoting the development of American AI and capital, there will be a series of loose policies, and at the same time, we will strengthen support for the American local AI industry. Some analysts also believe that Trump is putting pressure on or strengthening China's AI industry, and domestic AI related companies need to make some preparations in advance.
Nvidia's market value exceeds Apple's
The US stock market closed on Tuesday, with AI chip giant NVIDIA surpassing Apple in market value and topping the list of the world's most valuable listed companies. At the close, Nvidia's stock price was $139.91 per share, up 2.84%, with a market value of $3.43 trillion, while Apple's stock price was $223.45 per share, up 0.65%, with a market value of $3.38 trillion. As of Friday's close, Nvidia's market value was $3.62 trillion, and Apple's market value was $3.43 trillion.
Comment: Apple paid a one-time tax of $10.2 billion in the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year ending September 28 due to previous EU rulings, resulting in a year-on-year decline in net profit. Apple still faces the risk of being fined again. It is reported that according to the EU's Digital Markets Act, Apple will be fined by EU antitrust regulators. In October, chip foundry TSMC released a signal that AI demand remains strong, which is positive news for Nvidia's AI chip demand. At that time, TSMC's management stated that AI demand was real and that demand growth was "just beginning".
OpenAI Security System Team Leader Resigns
On November 9th, Lilian Weng, the head of OpenAI's security system team, announced on social media that she would be resigning. After working at OpenAI for nearly 7 years, I have decided to leave. I have learned a lot and am now ready to start a new life. "She said that OpenAI was where she grew up as a scientist and team leader, and she will cherish the time spent working together and making friends along the way.
Comment: OpenAI has had multiple management resignations this year, including CTO Mira Murati and co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. However, at present, there are no obvious signs of OpenAI's development being affected. In September of this year, OpenAI released the o1 series of models, proposing a path that focuses more on model reasoning and adopts long thought chain reasoning.
AI search startup Perplexity valuation surges to $9 billion
According to media reports, AI search startup Perplexity is in talks for a new round of funding exceeding $500 million. The company's valuation is expected to reach approximately $9 billion, a threefold increase from June's valuation of $3 billion, while Perplexity's valuation at the beginning of the year was only $500 million. Against the backdrop of the booming development of artificial intelligence, the company continues to attract investors' interest and has raised four rounds of funding this year. It is reported that this round of financing negotiations for Perplexity was not initiated by the company, but was facilitated by investors actively contacting the company. Perplexity currently relies on a subscription system to generate revenue, with an annualized income of approximately $50 million, a significant increase from $5 million at the beginning of the year.
Comment: While accumulating a large number of users, Perplexity is also increasingly embroiled in copyright disputes. On October 21st, Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post filed a lawsuit against Perplexity, accusing it of extensively and illegally copying copyrighted works. This is not the first time Perplexity has faced accusations from news organizations. In addition, Perplexity also faces competition from Google and OpenAI. Not long ago, OpenAI launched a search function in ChatGPT that can provide the latest sports scores, stock quotes, news, weather and other information, mainly relying on real-time network search and cooperation with news and data providers.
Saudi Arabia plans to build $100 billion AI center
On November 6th, it was reported that Saudi Arabia plans to invest up to $100 billion to launch an AI project called "Project Transcendence", with the goal of establishing a technology center that can rival neighboring United Arab Emirates. Project Transcendence "is supported by the Saudi government and will focus money on investing in data centers, startups, and other infrastructure that can help AI develop better. The project also hopes to attract global talent to work in Saudi Arabia, develop the local ecosystem, and encourage more technology companies to invest in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's goal is to collaborate with large and mature technology companies, and Saudi Arabia will help provide infrastructure and financial support. According to informed sources, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is currently collaborating with Google to establish an artificial intelligence center, with plans to invest $5 billion to $10 billion and develop AI models in Arabic.
Commentary: It is understood that Saudi Arabia wants to narrow the gap with the United States and China in AI and become a major player in the AI field. They will operate this project like Alat Fund, a fund dedicated to investing in sustainable manufacturing, funded by PIF, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and invested with large companies from around the world.
Disney establishes a new department to explore the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and mixed reality
On November 2nd, Reuters reported that The Walt Disney Company has established a technical support office to coordinate the use of AI and mixed reality. Disney is exploring the application of new technologies in its film, television, and theme park divisions. The new department will be led by Jamie Voris, Chief Technology Officer of Disney Studios, who previously led the development of Disney applications for the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality device. According to informed sources, the technical support office established by Disney's core leadership team is expected to increase its staff to approximately 100 people.
Comment: Disney is already researching how to apply new technologies throughout the entire entertainment group. It is reported that as Meta and other companies launch a new generation of lightweight smart glasses, Disney has been quietly forming a team hoping to use this technology to bring new experiences to Disney theme parks and consumer homes. Alan Bergman, co chairman of Disney Entertainment, said in an internal email, "The rapid development of artificial intelligence and augmented reality (XR) technology will have a profound impact on future consumer experiences, creative projects, and our business. Therefore, Disney must seize this opportunity while carefully managing the potential risks involved
The world's first restaurant to use generative AI services opens
On November 5th, the big model platform Brown Bacon AI collaborated with the famous Italian restaurant Cibo Vino to launch the world's first restaurant to use generative AI to assist servers. It is reported that the functions and usage methods of this product are basically the same as ChatGPT, but the knowledge provided mainly focuses on catering. Cibo Vino combines its own dish, beverage, activity and other data with AI models to provide up to 2.7 million dish and beverage combination suggestions based on customers' mood, purpose, season and other scenarios. It is reported that this service supports multiple rounds of deep conversations, can interpret recommended dishes, assist restaurant servers, and help them quickly understand various specialty dishes and usage scenarios of the restaurant, such as which dishes are dedicated to banquets, family gatherings, etc. It can also be used to write professional dish marketing copy.
Comment: Generative AI is changing various industries, but this is the world's first attempt to implement it in restaurants. Wendy Becker, owner of Cibo Vino, expressed her hope to be at the forefront of restaurant technology and provide service teams with tools that exceed customer expectations.