Economy
What’s a Supercomputer? How US will decide who to punish with China tech curbs
Choosing who gets hurt by sweeping new U.S. curbs on selling technology to China will drop in part to what is considered a “supercomputer,” experts told.
Across the Globe, the semiconductor firm on Friday, 7 October started to wrestle with wide-ranging U.S. restrictions on selling chips and chip-making equipment to China.
Shares of chip equipment makers drooped, but industry experts said a new U.S. definition of a supercomputer could be crucial to the new rules’ impact on China.
Supercomputers can be used in developing nuclear weapons and other military techniques, and experts say how to define them has long bedeviled regulators trying to pin down an ever-advancing technological target.
The new American rules define supercomputers broadly in terms of computing power in a defined space: a machine with 100 petaflops – the ability to carry out 100 trillion operations per second – in 41,600 cubic feet, with some other caveats.
Senior government officials said in a media briefing that their intention was to target only China’s most advanced systems that could represent a national security threat to the U.S. rather than commercial activity.
But experts wondered whether Chinese tech giants’ densely packed data centers owned by the likes of Alibaba Group Holding (9988.HK) or TikTok-owner ByteDance might soon reach supercomputer status based on the new definition, even if that is not what U.S. regulators intended.
“Data center build-outs like Alibaba or ByteDance would have the potential to reach petaflop build-outs,” said CCS Insight chip analyst Wayne Lam.
The new meaning is unlikely to change as industry technology improves. Current-day Chinese supercomputers may one day become the corporate standard, but they will still face the limits imposed Friday to stop any chip made with U.S. equipment or technology from going into China. Companies “may very well run into supercomputing limitations within the next couple of years,” Lam said.
Jack Dongarra, an expert in computer science who helps lead a group called TOP500 that ranks the world’s fastest supercomputers, said he disagreed with the static definition.
“The issue is that the definition of a supercomputer will change over time,” he said by email.
Major Chinese companies with big data centers such as Baidu, Alibaba and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tencent declined to comment.
The meaning of computing power per cubic foot also may offer room for creative workarounds. For instance, said one expert, use fiber optic cables to tie together immense computing power over a larger space.
“They could spread their supercomputers out over a larger space,” said one chip and data center expert who requested anonymity due to the politically charged nature of the new rules.
“The average supercomputer architect would say, ‘That’s not how things are done!’ But not being able to do it another way breeds a lot of creativity, and willingness to do things differently.”
At least 20 Umrah pilgrims were killed and 29 injured in a horrific bus crash southwest of Saudi Arabia, according to Gulf News reports.
The passenger bus crashed into a bridge on Monday, overturned, and caught fire, killing 20 and injuring 29.
According to Saudi media, the accident occurred around 4pm on the 14 km-long Aqabat Shaar road in the Asir province, as the bus was traveling from Khamis Mushayt to Abha.
The road, according to Saudi Press Agency, cuts through mountains, and has 11 tunnels and 32 bridges. When the bus was making its way down a bridge it underwent a brake failure, which caused it to crash into a barrier at the end of the bridge, overturn and catch fire. About 29 other people were also injured in the accident, according to reports.
The Saudi civil defense and Red Crescent Authority teams rushed to the site of the accident and cordoned off the area.
The deceased and the injured have reportedly been transferred to nearby hospitals.
Greeting Bangladesh, the United Nations on Sunday (26th March) said Bangladesh has many accomplishments — extraordinary economic development, a significant cultural legacy, leadership on a global stage for climate-vulnerable countries, and immense generosity in welcoming and hosting nearly a million Rohingya refugees.
“The hospitality of Bangladesh’s diverse people is just one of the many facets of a country that my colleagues and I have been fortunate to experience every day,” UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said in a press statement on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day.
“On behalf of the United Nations, I warmly congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the 52nd anniversary of independence,” she said.
Over the last 52 years, Bangladesh has made impressive and remarkable achievements: evolving from a war-torn country to one of the leading economic powers in South Asia, standing at the threshold of upcoming graduation from least developed countries (LDCs) in 2026, and planned achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030, she said.
The UN fully supports Bangladesh’s commitments to economic and sustainable development and appreciates the strong and long-lasting relationship with Bangladesh and our shared values.
The constitution of the country, which was adopted even before Bangladesh had formally become a member of the United Nations in 1974, guarantees fundamental human rights. The right to freedom of speech, religion, movement and assembly, the right to speak one’s own language and other rights that are in line with the UN charter, said the UNRC.
“Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day!” — she concluded.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina & President M Abdul Hamid paid rich tributes to the Liberation War martyrs by placing wreaths at the National Memorial at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka early on Sunday (26th March), marking the 53rd Independence and National Day.
The president first placed the wreath at the altar of the memorial followed by the prime minister.
After laying the wreaths, the president and the premier stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect for the memories of the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation in 1971.
A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute at that time while the bugles played the last post.
The head of the state and the head of the government also signed the visitors’ book kept on the memorial premises.
Flanked by her party leaders, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the Awami League, paid glowing tributes to the Liberation War martyrs by placing another wreath at the National Memorial on behalf of her party.
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, senior AL leaders, leaders of AL-led 14-party alliance and high civil and military officials, among others, were present there.
Later, the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) speaker and the chief justice also paid homage to the martyrs by placing wreaths at the National Mausoleum.
Every year, March 26 brings the most tragic reminiscence of history’s blackest episode that heralded a nine-month bloody ordeal from the night of March 25, 1971, achieving the long-cherished independence on December 16 the same year at the cost of a sea of blood.
In the wake of the military crackdown by the then Pakistan occupation force, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh through the then EPR (East Pakistan Rifles) wireless at 00-30 hours on March 26 (the night following March 25) in 1971 at his historic Road-32 residence at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
The day is very auspicious and precious to the Bengali nation.
