Daily: DeepSeek's latest model runs on Huawei chips
5 min read.
Highlights
DeepSeek on Huawei chips. DeepSeek’s latest model, called V4, which is set to be released in the coming weeks, will run on Huawei chips. The model is optimised for domestic chips, amid tight US sanctions on American AI chips. Other Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent are purchasing hundreds of thousands of Huawei chips ahead of DeepSeek’s launch.
State data centre moratoriums. Axios has a compilation of state-level data centre moratorium bills across the country. At least 11 states have some proposal to restrict data centre development, with Maine set to be the first state to pause construction until November 2027. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. AOC have proposed a nation-wide data centre moratorium in recent weeks. The state-level bills are across both red and blue states, a sign of broad-based backlash against data centre development.
Rapidus’ leader. The WSJ did a short profile of Atsuyoshi Koike, who leads Rapidus, Japan’s government-backed effort to build a cutting-edge foundry. The catchy headline from the article is that he seriously wants to build a fab on the moon, which he believes will make manufacturing more efficient. Rapidus is yet to go into mass production of chips on Earth until next year.
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1. Policy and Geopolitics
1.1
Axios (04/05): These states don’t want data centers in their backyards
Data centers have become a boxy, hulking flashpoint heading into the midterms — and the backlash is spreading fast across red and blue states.
Why it matters: With no federal action, states are fielding constituent anger over power grids, water supplies and strained local infrastructure. But investment keeps accelerating; Wall Street isn’t slowing down, and neither is Washington’s appetite for AI dominance.
At least 11 states have proposed some legislation to restrict or ban data center development since late 2025.
Zoom in: Maine is on track to be the first to ban construction outright. A bill pausing development until Nov. 2027 is expected to clear the state Senate and be signed by Gov. Janet Mills (D), who is also running for U.S. Senate.
1.2
SCMP (04/06): Semiconductor, AI talent race heats up as Taiwan tightens crackdown on alleged poaching
China’s hunt for semiconductor talent has intensified as Beijing aims to achieve artificial intelligence breakthroughs amid deepening tech rivalry with the US, but the plans have triggered fresh probes by Taiwanese authorities into talent poaching by mainland Chinese firms in what analysts describe as a “quiet tech war” over the human capital.
A total of 11 new mainland Chinese firms were put under investigation for allegedly poaching semiconductor and other hi-tech talent, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) last Monday. The firms were accused of illegally recruiting Taiwanese by hiding their mainland background, setting up shell companies and establishing business operations in Taiwan without government approval, MJIB said in a statement.
2. Economy, Finance, and Business
2.1
WSJ (04/05): An Inside Look at OpenAI and Anthropic’s Finances Ahead of Their IPOs
OpenAI and Anthropic are racing toward potentially record-breaking IPOs by the end of the year.
An inside look at the financials of both companies prior to funding rounds completed earlier this year shows their Achilles’ heel: the soaring costs needed to train new AI models.
OpenAI expects to spend $121 billion on computing power for AI research in 2028. That means the company anticipates burning $85 billion that year even after almost doubling sales from the prior year. Such losses would dwarf that of virtually any other public company in history. Anthropic doesn’t expect to spend nearly as much, but its rosiest forecasts tell a similar story of mounting computing costs.
2.2
Korea Economic Daily (04/06): SK Hynix in talks with Microsoft, Google for long-term DRAM supply
SK Hynix Inc., the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker, is set to provide Microsoft Corp. and Google with DRAM for long-term deals worth tens of billions of dollars, industry sources in Seoul said on Sunday. The global tech giants are seeking to secure the critical memory components amid a supply shortage due to the artificial intelligence boom.
3. Technology
3.1
WSJ (04/04): This Engineer Wants to Make Computer Chips on the Moon
Atsuyoshi Koike dreams of making computer chips on the moon. First, though, he has to prove he can do it on earth.
Koike is the public face of Japan’s multibillion-dollar effort to muscle back into an industry it used to dominate. He leads Rapidus, a Japanese government-backed company that is aiming to vault into the top rank of global chip makers when, if all goes to plan, it starts mass production next year.
As if that wasn’t moonshot enough, Koike’s longer-term ambition is to build a semiconductor factory, known as a fab, on the moon, where he believes low gravity and the vacuum of space would make chip manufacturing easier and more productive.
3.2
Reuters (04/03): DeepSeek’s V4 model will run on Huawei chips, The Information reports
China’s DeepSeek’s new model called V4 will run on the latest chips designed by Huawei Technologies, U.S. digital news outlet The Information reported on Friday.
In preparation for V4’s launch, Chinese tech giants, including Alibaba Group, ByteDance and Tencent Holdings, have placed bulk orders for Huawei’s upcoming chip totaling hundreds of thousands of units, the report said, citing five people with direct knowledge of the purchase.
The next-generation model will likely be launched in the next few weeks, the report said. Huawei Technologies and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment sent outside normal office hours.
3.3
Chosun Daily (04/06): SK Hynix Introduces Hybrid Bonding Early for 2029 HBM5 Launch
An analysis has emerged that SK Hynix has introduced hybrid bonding early to launch HBM5, the 8th-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM), in 2029.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 6th, SK Hynix has introduced the integrated hybrid bonding solution from Applied Materials and BE Semiconductor Industries, BESI early on. Through this, it is believed that they have secured a strategic advantage in meeting various performance requirements such as bandwidth, latency, power, and speed.
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