SK Hynix US Facility; New Nvidia China Chip; Paytm Spirals

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Nvidia Provider Announces New US Facility

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix [000660:KS] is to build a new facility in the US state of Indiana, which will specialise in HBM chips used by Nvidia [NVDA]. This is a major boost to US efforts to onshore chip production: “together with TSMC’s Arizona fabs this means Nvidia could eventually be able to have its GPUs produced in the US,” Kim Yang-paeng, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, told the Financial Times.

Orders Open for New Nvidia China Chip

Nvidia has begun taking pre-orders for a new artificial intelligence (AI) chip tailored to the Chinese market. It will be priced at the same level as a comparable Huawei product, Reuters reported. Called the H20, it is the most powerful of three new chips Nvidia has designed for China in response to a US export ban. It will be less powerful than the firm’s flagship H100 AI, but may also be less powerful than Huawei’s Ascend 910B.

This Week’s EV Movers and Shakers

CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla [TSLA] shareholders will vote on whether to change the firm’s state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas. Volvo [VOLV-B:ST] rocketed nearly 22% after announcing it will pull funding for its lossmaking electric vehicle (EV) arm Polestar; parent Geely [175:HKG] may take on some of its 48% share, the FT reported. Chinese automakers including Changan Auto [000625:SZ] have had to delay deliveries due to issues with Huawei-produced computing units.

Paytm Spirals After Shock Suspension

The market value of Indian digital payments giant Paytm [PAYTM:NS] fell by a fifth on Thursday, after the central bank told its payment bank subsidiary to stop business. It may have come as a shock to the finance and tech spheres, but this move on the part of the Reserve Bank of India follows years of non-compliance with rules, including on customer due diligence, Reuters reported. India’s five million programmers are being eyed for AI talent by the likes of Microsoft [MSFT] and Alphabet [GOOGL], according to Bloomberg.

Microsoft Game Subscription Produces Smash Hit

The online game Palworld, a viral sensation that has been described as “Pokémon with guns”, has become the biggest third-party hit in the history of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. The open-world game has passed seven million players across Xbox and PC, reported Bloomberg. Developed by Tokyo-based Pocketpair, its success is a testament to Microsoft’s new strategy of building a subscription service that offers games from both its own studio and outside developers.