Welcome to the TechMeme right home for Monday, January 13th, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough today. The Biden administration unveils its long-planned new chip export rules, and Invidia isn't happy. That whole botched Sonos app debacle has cost the CEO his job. Why we might not see Blockbuster Tech IPOs this year, why some

Nvidia customers are returning Blackwell chips, and say hello to China's answer to Instagram.

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech.

The Biden administration has unveiled new chip export rules, and NVIDIA, among others, aren't happy.

First, the details on the new rules. They give 18 key allies full AI chips access

while requiring licenses from most other countries, including China.

Chip orders with collective computation power up to 1,700 advanced GPUs need no license and don't count against

country-specific chip caps. These export rules enter a 120-day consultation period requiring

the Trump administration to consider input, potentially modify the rules all before enforcing them,

quoting the Financial Times. This policy aims to make it harder for China to use

other countries to circumvent existing U.S. restrictions and get technology that can be used for

everything from nuclear weapons to modeling hypersonic missiles. The rule both provides greater

clarity to our international partners and to industry and counters the serious circumvention

and related national security risks posed

by countries of concern and malicious actors who may seek to use the advanced American technologies

against us, said U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan. The regime creates a three-tier

licensing system for chips used to power data centers that process AI computations, the top tier,

which includes G7 members

in addition to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands,

and Ireland will face no restrictions. The third tier includes nations such as China, Iran,

Russia, and North Korea, to which U.S. groups can, in effect, not export. The middle tier of more than 100 countries will

face caps and licenses for export volumes over those limits, end quote. And quoting the journal,

...