SpaceX is now gearing up for an upcoming test flight for the Starship, and it will be the sixth launch of the fully stacked rocket over at Starbase in Boca Chica, leading this week's top story for Tech Times Weekly Wrap. It is joined by the explanation shared by Apple's SVP of software engineering, Craig Federighi, as to why the company's proprietary Apple Intelligence faced delays.
The TSMC Huawei chip fiasco continues as it was discovered by a research firm that it found the Taiwanese technology over at China's leading smartphone maker's AI processors amidst Commerce's investigation.
SpaceX Starship Flight 6 is Coming Soon
SpaceX announced that it has rolled out the Super Heavy Booster over at its Starbase launch facility in Texas as it prepares for the upcoming Starship Flight 6 mission to further test the 'world's most powerful rocket.' The booster was the first to roll out over at Starbase for it to start on its pre-launch tests, and this immediately follows the mid-October success of SpaceX with Flight 5.
According to last week's update by SpaceX, the company will first start on the Super Heavy Booster's pre-launch test, but it has not yet revealed when its planned mission date will occur, as it already has an FAA license, but only if it follows a similar mission to the Flight 5.
The historic catch landing for Super Heavy Booster gave SpaceX another feat to mark on its milestone for the Starship program, being among the first to ace this kind of landing in the entire industry.
Federighi: Apple AI, Siri Delays
Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, recently spoke up about why Cupertino's AI developments saw a delay, particularly its part in hindering Siri's advancements until the recent announcement. It was only at WWDC 2024 that Apple announced its AI developments whose first round already arrived this month, bringing forth Apple Intelligence's early features.
However, it is important to note that this will be a gradual rollout, starting with the early Apple Intelligence features and later moving on to release more advanced features, including the much-awaited Siri update.
First off, Apple made it a point to bring an original AI experience to users, focusing on more integration and personal experiences, as well as prioritizing privacy in its model. Federighi also revealed that the rollout depended on its team, releasing the tech if they feel satisfied with their work.
TSMC Huawei Chip Fiasco
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) Ascend 910B processor was recently discovered on Huawei's technology, furthering the many questions already placed on the renowned manufacturer for their help to the Chinese tech firm. To be more particular, it was revealed to be part of Huawei's artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator.
Reports detailed the recent findings by Canadian researcher, TechInsights, who recently published their discovery on Huawei's AI accelerator featuring the TSMC chip, and this was despite Huawei already facing the US sanctions.
TSMC still affirms that they have not supplied any more chips to Huawei since September 2020, and this was also around the time when the United States placed the sanction against Huawei.
The chip company is already working with the US Commerce Department regarding the issue, with TSMC saying that they already informed the authorities about a 'customer' who placed orders on the said processor.
