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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: Samsung is reportedly delaying the launch of its Taylor, Texas, fab, citing difficulties in securing customers for its output. Sources told Nikkei Asia that even if the South Korean chipmaker brings in the necessary equipment to produce chips at the new plant, the company cannot do anything with them due to the lack of demand. Aside from that, the original planned process node for the Taylor plant is no longer aligned with current demand, highlighting the rapid pace of semiconductor technology. The chip maker started construction on the Taylor fab in 2022, with an initial investment of $17 billion. By 2024, the company decided to double this to $44 billion, with the addition of another advanced fab and expanded R&D operations. This move is supported by a $6.6-billion CHIPS Act subsidy, which was finalized in December last year, despite multiple delays and setbacks. Samsung C&T, the primary contractor for the Taylor fab, states that construction of the site is progressing. Documents from the company show that the site is almost 92% complete as of March 2024. Work on the site was originally scheduled to finish the following month, but regulatory filings indicate that this was moved to October. No reason was given for the delay, but multiple sources indicate that it occurred due to a lack of demand. It was initially planned for the Taylor Fab to produce chips for the 4nm process node, but this has since been upgraded to 2nm, to compete with TSMC and Intel. A supply chain executive told the publication that there is little demand for the originally planned 4nm process node at the site. "Local demand for chips isn't particularly strong, and the process nodes Samsung planned several years ago no longer meet with current customer needs," the executive said to Nikkei Asia. "However, overhauling the plant would be a major and costly undertaking, so the company is adopting a wait-and-see approach for now." Although it has already declared its intention to upgrade the site to manufacture the 2nm process node, that is a resource-intensive task in terms of time, effort, and money. Despite the lack of customers, Samsung says it will proceed with opening the Taylor Fab by 2026 -- a necessary move to qualify for CHIPS Act funding and avoid falling behind competitors like TSMC. Delaying further could jeopardize billions already invested in the project.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Metropolitan Police figures showing Westminster's 'repeat streets' for mobile phone thefts were released by Scotland Yard following a Freedom of Information request - with Oxford Street coming out on top.

The Harry Potter star, 35, was seen sitting on the bank of a lake, with onlookers saying it looked like the pair were enjoying a 'cute date'.

Having twice locked horns through legal action, it is safe to say Simons Cowell and Fuller are not the best of friends. 

Dimple Chudasama-Adams, a travel agent from Birmingham, has revealed a checklist of essential tasks every holidaymaker must do before settling into their hotel room. 

One elderly victim died in a fire near Odemis, around 60 miles east of Izmir, in one of three villages evacuated in the area, lawmaker Salih Uzun told Halk TV.

The rampaging dinosaurs are back, which hasn't always been a reason to hurry to the cinema.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Supercruising: Life At Sea follows couple Barry and Pam as they spend their life savings on a holiday around Madeira with the encouragement of their children.

Looking for a new holiday spot to explore in Spain? A pretty village on Spain's northern coast has been described as one of the country's most beautiful places but many tourists have never heard of it.

The singer, 51, donated an incredible £250,000 last year alone and helped set up Soccer Aid back, which has raised over £121 million for Unicef UK since its first match back in 2006.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs had some strong words for Jane Rosenberg, the sketch artist who drew him during his months-long sex trafficking trial.

Job cuts aren’t big, symbolism of quitting the world’s fifth-most-populous nation might be

Exclusive  Microsoft has decided to close its presence in Pakistan.…

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI ON NO 1 COURT: The No 4 seed was beaten in four sets on Thursday evening by Marin Cilic, who reached the final in 2017.

Robert Caruso once again pitted an AI chatbot against Atari 2600 Video Chess -- this time using Microsoft's Copilot instead of ChatGPT. Despite confident claims of chess mastery, Copilot fell just as hard. The Register reports: By now, anybody with experience of today's generative AI systems will know what happened. Copilot's hubris was misplaced. Its moves were... interesting, and it managed to lose two pawns, a knight, and a bishop while the mighty Atari 2600 Video Chess was only down a single pawn. Eventually, Caruso asked Copilot to compare what it thought the board looked like with the last screenshot he'd pasted, and the chatbot admitted they were different. "ChatGPT deja vu." There was no way Microsoft's chatbot could win with this handicap. Still, it was gracious in defeat: "Atari's earned the win this round. I'll tip my digital king with dignity and honor [to the] the vintage silicon mastermind that bested me fair and square." Caruso's experiment is amusing but also highlights the absolute confidence with which an AI can spout nonsense. Copilot (like ChatGPT) had likely been trained on the fundamentals of chess, but could not create strategies. The problem was compounded by the fact that what it understood the positions on the chessboard to be, versus reality, appeared to be markedly different. The story's moral has to be: Beware of the confidence of chatbots. LLMs are apparently good at some things. A 45-year-old chess game is clearly not one of them.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Michael Madsen's cause of death has been revealed by his management after his shock passing aged 67 on Thursday.

Those delivered that way were more than a quarter more likely to get the most common form of childhood leukaemia, a study found.

John Belfield, 31, 'masterminded' the savage killing of Thomas Campbell, whose bloodied and near-naked body was found in the hallway of his Greater Manchester home.

OLIVER HOLT ON CENTRE COURT: Evans, who needed a wildcard to play in the men's singles this year, was a joy to watch in a first set where he fought like a tiger.

The Conservatives said Britons were suffering under the 'worst start to a government in living memory' - but warned there is more to come.

Researchers asked females over 50 what they would like to experience and achieve - with travel emerging as most important.