Daily News Report – September 3:

Technology and the automotive industry dominate global headlines, with new U.S. measures targeting chip plants in China, OpenAI’s expansion moves, and a notable drop in Tesla sales amid fierce Chinese competition. These developments highlight an intense race involving politics, innovation, and the global market.

Washington Revokes TSMC’s License to Ship Chipmaking Equipment to Its China Plant

15.68 مليار دولار عائدات «تي إس إم سي» التايوانية في الربع الثاني

The United States has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) license, which allowed it to ship U.S.-made chipmaking equipment to its main factory in Nanjing, China. This move could affect the site’s manufacturing capabilities.
The company said Tuesday that it had received notification from the U.S. government that its “validated end-user” status for U.S.-made equipment would be withdrawn effective December 31, 2025. TSMC added that it assesses the situation and communicates with Washington to ensure uninterrupted operations.
This step is part of similar U.S. actions targeting China’s Samsung and SK Hynix facilities. Washington aims to close “export control loopholes” that give foreign companies a competitive edge.
Under the new rule, suppliers must apply separately for licenses to ship controlled equipment and materials, adding more uncertainty to the approval process.
TSMC’s presence in China is relatively limited compared to South Korean rivals. The Nanjing plant, operational since 2018, contributes only a small share of TSMC’s revenue and uses older technologies that date back over a decade

OpenAI Acquires Statsig, Announces Management Restructure

OpenAI, Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence and The Mission of Scaling ...

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, announced a deal to acquire Statsig, a startup specializing in product experimentation tools, in one of the most significant acquisitions in its history.
The company stated Tuesday that the deal includes Vijaye Raji, Statsig’s founder and CEO, joining OpenAI as Chief Applied Technology Officer.
Founded in 2021, Statsig provides tools that help developers test and evaluate new product features. Its services have been used by employees at companies like OpenAI, Eventbrite, and SoundCloud. The acquisition is currently under regulatory review.
Alongside this move, OpenAI has reorganized its leadership:

Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer, has become Vice President of a new team called AI for Science.
Srinivas Narayanan, VP of Engineering, has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer for Applied Business Applications.

Tesla’s Sales in China Fall in August Amid Fierce Competition with BYD

Tesla Logo and symbol, meaning, history, WebP, brand

Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that Tesla’s electric vehicle sales in China fell 4% year over year in August, following an 8.4% drop in July.
Despite the annual decline, deliveries of Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y, including exports to Europe and other markets, surged 22.6% month-over-month to 83,192 units in August.
BYD, Tesla’s top Chinese competitor, also reported a decline in domestic sales for the fourth consecutive month, even though China accounts for about 80% of its total global shipments.
Tesla faces additional challenges in Europe, where sales dropped 40.2% in July year-over-year, trailing behind BYD despite overall growth in electric car sales across the continent.
To boost Chinese sales, Tesla cut the price of the rear-wheel-drive Model 3—which has a range of 830 km—by 3.7% on Monday, less than a month after launching the model.

These developments reflect the interconnected dynamics of politics, economics, and technology:

The U.S. is tightening controls over the semiconductor sector.
OpenAI is taking expansion steps to solidify its position in AI.
Tesla is grappling with intensifying competition both in China and globally.

U.S. Restrictions on TSMC

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