Taiwan’s Silicon Shield

Nanomaterials, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing

Oct 05, 2024

Good morning,

We survived another weekend. The longshoremen have agreed to end their (relatively short) strike, pending a deal that gives them a more than 60% raise. China forces and Vietnamese fishers clashed in the highly contested South China Sea, hinting at further challenges in the region. Speaking of China, they’ve put Chinese companies on notice to stop importing Nvidia chips, setting Huawei up as it pushes its chips out broadly. On the topic of chips, Taiwan is hoping that its ’Silicon Shield’ will prove effective in deterring a Chinese invasion. It won’t. As a back up, Taiwan and the U.S.A. are preparing a massive drone swarm as a back up.

Let’s go!

News Headlines:

Helene took out NC town the entire tech world relies on (AX)
Russian hacking group targeted US military contractors (AP)
China assaults Vietnamese fishermen in South China Sea (AP)
East Coast port workers reached a tenative deal to end port strike immediately (AP)
OpenAI has raised a $4B credit line from nine banks (NYT)

Nanotech and Advanced Materials

Chip firms monitoring quartz supplies after hurricane hits mines (BBG)
U.S. sets new rule that could spur AI chip shipments to the Middle East (RT)
China tells companies not to buy Nvidia chips, stock slips (IBD)
Huawei is sending out samples of its AI chips as Chinese firm look for Nvidia alternatives (SCMP)
Taiwan relies on Silicon Shield to deter China but drone hordes are its back-up plan (IEEE)
New materials and techniques show promise for microelectronics and quantum technologies (PO)
Biden exempts some semiconductor factories from environmental reviews to speed up chip manufacturing (RT)
CHIPS Act is insufficient to enhance supply chain resilience, competitiveness, workforce training, or security (CEA)
Despite sanctions, Russian weapons continue to use American chips in Ukraine (BBG)
HII Mission Technologies unveils advanced materials and coatings lab in Illinois to propel future space exploration (GNW)
Intel rebuffed Arm's takeover offer for its product division (BBG)
U.S. Space Force partners with India to open a microchip factory for next-gen tech (SP)
China has developed a photovoltaic nuclear battery that could run for centuries (SCMP)
Cerebras reveals revenue surge in U.S. IPO filing, aims to challenge Nvidia in AI chip market (RT)
LOHUM, ReElement, & American Metals come together to set up an integrated Li-ion battery materials processing facility with an investment north of $30M (BW)
5E Advanced Materials receives Letter of Interest for up to $285M in debt financing from U.S. EXIM (TMT)
JuggerBot 3D partners with Oak Ridge and Mississippi State for the Air Force Research Lab's Additive Manufacturing project (3DA)

Advanced Manufacturing:

China is set to surpass the U.S. in advanced military manufacturing by 2035: Report (BZ)
Ukraine is producing up to 4M drones a year, now (TDP)
New York launches $200M workforce initiative to support advanced manufacturing (3DPI)
Augmented Reality is playing an increasing role in advanced manufacturing quality control (MN)
America Makes and ANSI released their Gaps Progress Report for Additive Manufacturing (PRN)
Researchers at Iowa State are 3D printing tungsten parts for nuclear reactors (SB)
New method to 3D print metal-plastic composite structures could unlock production of quantum sensors (TB)

Deal Flow:

Mstack Chemicals, a Houston-based chemical manufacturing platform, raised $25M in Series A funding led by Lightspeed and Alpha Wave (RT)
Sun Metalon, a startup developing metal heating technology to reduce CO2 emissions, raised a $21M Series A from investors including JIC Venture Growth Investments (CB)
Anaphite, a startup specializing in production technology for battery electrodes, raised a $13.7M Series A co-led by World Fund and Maniv (TFN)
KKR is considering a $5B takeover bid for Hong Kong-listed chipmaker ASMPT (RT)

Opportunities

The Nat'l Science Foundation and DoC are offering $30M to a company to establish a Network Coordination Hub to manage the Nat'l Network for Microelectronics Education (SAM)
The Nat'l Institute of Standards and Tech's CHIPS R&D Office plans to initiate a $100M competition focused on the sustainable manufacturing of semiconductor chips and AI (FdR)
Oak Ride Nat’l Laboratory is looking to expand their capabilities in electron beam powder bed additive manufacturing and two- and three-dimensional correlative microscopy (SAM)

Hiring in Additive Manufacturing (brought to you by Defense Tech Jobs)

Desktop Metal - Direct Sales Rep (London, UK)

Desktop Metal is hiring a Direct Sales Rep for to focus on sales in London.
This week Desktop Metal shareholders approved a merger with Nano Dimension.
If you’re in London, we recommend swinging by the Borough Market for some great tasting fresh treats.

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