FirstFT: US revokes licences for chip exports to Huawei

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Good morning. We have an exclusive story today on Washington’s latest effort to target China’s tech sector.

The Biden administration has revoked export licences that allow Intel and Qualcomm to supply Huawei with semiconductors. The move comes amid US alarm about the Chinese tech group’s ability to develop advanced chips despite previously imposed export controls

The latest action by the US Department of Commerce affects the supply of chips for Huawei’s laptop computers and mobile phones, according to people familiar with the situation.

“This is a significant action that indicates how seriously the US government is approaching — and not backing down from — what it views as national security threats from Chinese technology,” said Meghan Harris, an export control expert at Beacon Global Strategies, a consultancy. Demetri Sevastopulo has more on the latest restrictions.

• TikTok sues: The app and its Chinese parent ByteDance said yesterday that they had filed a lawsuit against the US government challenging a law that would force a sale or ban of the platform.

• Suspected China hack: The UK government said yesterday that it was investigating “potential failings” at a private contractor that was breached in a suspected cyber attack by China targeting the records of UK military personnel.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Xi Jinping in Serbia: China’s leader visits the Balkan country a day after he lashed out at Nato over its “flagrant” bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999.

• US-China climate talks: Beijing’s special enjoy for climate change begins a two-day visit to Washington. (Reuters)

• Results: Toyota, BMW, Itochu, Uber and Airbnb are among the companies reporting earnings.

Five more top stories

1. Israel threatened to expand its military operation in Rafah after tanks and troops seized the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, adding further urgency to another round of talks in Cairo aimed at ending the conflict. The incursion into Rafah sent panic through the more than 1mn Gazans who have sought sanctuary in the southern city. Here’s the latest on the war.

2. Porn actor Stormy Daniels gave a graphic account of Donald Trump’s alleged sexual advances towards her in a hotel room in 2006 during highly anticipated testimony at the former US president’s criminal “hush money” trial. The details were so salacious that Trump’s lawyer called on the judge to order a mistrial, saying her account was “unduly and inappropriately prejudicial” — a request the judge denied.

• Classified documents case: The federal judge presiding over the criminal case related to Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents has postponed the Florida trial indefinitely, citing the need for “adequate preparation”.

3. Ukraine has said it uncovered a network of Russian agents in the country who planned to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including two colonels who worked for the agency in charge of his security. The Ukrainian domestic intelligence service said the two were tasked by Moscow with finding people in Zelenskyy’s security detail who would take the president hostage and later kill him.

4. The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised its short-term inflation forecast and all but ruled out an interest rate cut this year, as global central banks pivot to higher-for-longer rates. Some economists had expected the RBA to begin cutting rates by the end of the year after the central bank in February noted “encouraging” signs that inflation had started to ease. Here’s more on the RBA’s hawkish shift.

5. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is leading an investment of more than $1bn into UK self-driving car start-up Wayve, marking Europe’s largest artificial intelligence deal to date. The deal confirms SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son’s renewed hunt for AI investments with leading start-ups, and comes as analysts speculate that he might be working on larger tie-ups.

News in-depth

Narendra Modi has dominated Indian politics for a decade, in part by wooing voters across castes, presenting his Bharatiya Janata party as a unifier of Hindus while stoking mistrust of India’s large Muslim minority. But his rivals argue that this has obscured deepening hardship and joblessness among lower-caste Indians. The issue has become an election faultline as the country’s opposition alliance has vowed to hold a socio-economic caste census and increase affirmative action and benefits for disadvantaged groups if elected in India’s ongoing polls.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Apple has unveiled new iPads featuring what it called “an outrageously powerful chip for AI”. The launch signals the Silicon Valley giant’s growing focus on artificial intelligence services as it comes under pressure from investors to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google.

Take a break from the news

Boasting 13 floors of floating luxury and 14 restaurants, Cunard’s Queen Anne is shiningly, achingly new, writes Henry Mance. But is the $600mn pleasure palace already a relic of the days of high-carbon travel?

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith