UK Invokes National Security To Probe Nvidia's ARM Deal (reuters.com) 27
The UK government will look into the national security implications of U.S. group Nvidia's purchase of British chip designer ARM, it said on Monday, putting a question mark over the $40 billion deal. From a report: Digital minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday he had issued a so-called "intervention notice" over the sale of ARM by Japan's SoftBank to Nvidia. "As a next step and to help me gather the relevant information, the UK's independent competition authority will now prepare a report on the implications of the transaction, which will help inform any further decisions," he said. Nvidia said it did not believe the deal posed any material national security issues.
Seriously? (Score:4, Insightful)
There are lots of reasons why the UK shouldn't want the sale of ARM to nVidia to go through, but national security is simply not one of them, because security through obscurity is not a thing. If owning ARM means that nVidia would know secrets of how to get into UK military equipment, then that equipment was poorly designed from the beginning and the parties responsible should be sacked.
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If ARM had their own manufacturing capacity, the security argument true or facade would have a lot more credibility.
Its hard to see this as anything but a thin excuse as it stands
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There are lots of reasons why the UK shouldn't want the sale of ARM to nVidia to go through, but national security is simply not one of them, because security through obscurity is not a thing. If owning ARM means that nVidia would know secrets of how to get into UK military equipment, then that equipment was poorly designed from the beginning and the parties responsible should be sacked.
The national security concern may be more a matter of leverage, as in a US company owning and commanding that market, and the larger reliance created as a result of that merger. Not unlike the issues with leverage the world is currently experiencing with its heavy reliance on Taiwanese chip manufacturing.
It's risk mitigation for a (major?) vendor in the government supply chain. Yeah, I'd say it could easily have some impact on national security.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
ARM is already owned by a Japanese company.
ARM doesn't make chips, no UK companies make ARM processors, the UK only has a few old fabs that don't make that kind of stuff anyway.
This boat sailed long ago. If there is any reason beyond simple corruption it would have to be that the UK doesn't really have much else left and needs ARM as an "anchor" that attracts other companies here post-brexit. That's very unlikely to work.
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Basically in the same way as Transputers got sunk.
Happy that ARM still exists.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, this is what I've been thinking (Score:2)
They didn't object on anti-trust/monopoly grounds in time, so they're using this as an excuse.
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Well you should know by now, that "National Security" is just a blanket term of "We do not want to justify our actions, we are just going to do that, because the big wig involved says so"
Due to the Cold War, many "Free and Democratic" countries, had been increasingly concerned about "National Security" and use it as an excuse to not explain to the public their reasons. So now with a mostly peacetime conditions, we are still using this to cover up everything, and I think too much.
The problem with a lot of th
Re: Seriously? (Score:2)
What the security community doesn't tell you: .. with each choice weighted by how often is is chosen or how much effort it is to choose it, I think.)
*All* security is obsurity.
It's just that good security is *much* MUCH more obsure.
A passphrase/key can still be guessed, depending on how obscure it is.
(Obscurity is basically the amount of choices there are, divided by the choices that work,
But you're misleading.
This is not about "The US might find a secret that'll make us blush".
It is about "The US
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If I put a bar on my door that can only be removed from the inside, that's security, but not obscurity.
If a company puts readily visible security cameras in its' place of business, that's security, but not obscurity.
If a bank hires armed security guards, that's security, but not obscurity.
If it's known that a passcode is needed to get into my laptop, even if the passcode itself is a secret that's not obscurity, it's security (alb
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until i get my 3080 i ordered (and paid for) in november last year
Corruption (Score:3, Interesting)
Given the state of this UK government the most likely reason for doing this is corruption. Dowden is probably looking to get paid, or maybe one of his pals stands to make/lose some cash and wants an intervention.
Make no mistake, selling off the family silver is what the Tories are about. The only caveat is that it must help them or their friends get richer.
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All government is about corruption, doing prosaic ruling while skimming one way or another.
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Written like a terminally bland post-modernist. All government is bad! All this is bad! All that is bad!
The world is more complicated than you can imagine.
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The world may be more complicated than we can imagine, but not government. Government is merely more corrupt than we can imagine.
Don't probe my arm deal. (Score:2)
US ownership more threatening than JP? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Japanese own it, Americans want to buy it. It isn't as if British ownership/control is being compromised now.
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Yeah, I don't understand all the "OMG ITS NOT UK ANYMORE" stuff. They OK'd the sale to a Japanese company; how does this really change anything? Why are they all upset now? nVidia said they were going to leave HQ in the UK and leave it fairly independent as it is now so assuming that's true it shouldn't affect competition. Seems too late to complain that a non-UK company is buying it...
Re: US ownership more threatening than JP? (Score:2)
Modern Japan is a shame culture leaning towards introversion.
America is a blame culture leaning towards extroversion.
If something doesn't sit right with Japan, they will destroy themselves.
If something doesn't sit right with America, they will detroy everyone else.
I just don't know what China is...
So shame-introvert it turned blame-extrovert again?
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The issue is that after UK stop being the world power, they created a new school of international relations theory called the English school, which in large part countered US growing US hegemony post 1940s. Many of the ideas that UK would propose post WW2 regarding sharing of power between various states e.g. in terms of monetary policy, finance, law, etc. was shot down by the US. It's one of the reasons why the US dollar became basically the sole reserve currency leading to dollar hegemony.
There's a reas
America's Huawei. (Score:3, Funny)
That's basically what Intel, Nvidia, etc are.
Just because we had a reality distortion bubble going for the last 70 years doesn't mean the US doesn't have the biggest spying apparatus in the world and openly said it's treating all non-Americans (and every peer, 3 hops away, so almost any American too) as an enemy to spy on without limitations, and that it does it for its industry too.
Imagine if we would treat China the way we treat the US. That highlights our reality distortion well. Only a nutjob believes they are "our allies". That's like when you decieve other nations by offering peace, in Civilization, so the attack will be easier. (The game doesn't offer "covert puppet dictator installation" nor "sponsor, arm and train mercenaries aka future terror group". ;)
I'm not a nationalist, by the way. And hence, by extension of globalism being global nationalism, not a globalist either. *Any* human community bigger than (Dunbar's number)^2 is ruining this planet.
RISC V (Score:2)
Maybe nVidia buying ARM will motivate other companies to contribute to RISC V development. Thatâ(TM)s the main, if not only, good thing to come out of this merger.
Fingers crossed they arent allowed to purchase ARM (Score:3)
They have no reasons to pay that much for ARM, when they already have an architectural license.
The only reason they want to buy ARM for that much money is because they found a loophole that will lock everyone out and royally f*ck the whole industry.
Just ask every other company that dared working with them how do they feel with that giant knife that nvidia deposited in their backs.
Time for DoJ involvement (Score:2)
Genuine question (Score:2)
How is this related at all the the UK?
ARM was already sold to a Japanese company years ago.
How does the UK claim to have any jurisdiction over a Japanese company selling anything to an American company?