Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Santa Clara, California, announced last week that its data-center revenue more than doubled year over year, exceeding Wall Street analyst’s estimates. The company also raised its forecast for this year’s sale of AI chips to more than $4.5 billion, an increase of 13% from its forecast three months ago. While this is good news for AMD, it still is small compared to the $105 billion in data center sales that Nvidia, Santa Clara, California, with its AI-based chips and systems is forecasting for this year. The AI component business continues to be hot with numerous competitors attempting to catch up to Nvidia’s technology lead.

R&D World Index: inching downward

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending August 2, 2024, closed at 3674.51 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -0.99% (or 36.84 basis points).

Eight RDWI members gained value last week from 0.87% (Apple) to 4.82% (Facebook/Meta Platforms). Seventeen RDWI members lost value last week from -0.02% (Eli Lilly & Co.) to -31.48% (Intel).

DroneShield, Sydney, Australia, announced last week that it had raised $120 million to fund R&D for new counter-drone devices and continue its push into new markets. The company is expected to use the bulk of this new investment ($90 million) to fund AI R&D into new counter-drone products and new generations of existing products. Additional funding will be used to develop potential bolt-on acquisitions which will assist the development of new AI products and software capabilities. Rapid R&D programs were slated to take place over the next 12 to 24 months in response to end-user requirements. The company signed a counter-drone procurement agreement with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Brussels, Belgium, in April 2024, opening the door to additional contracts from nations in the military alliance. The company opened a new headquarters in Sydney in June allowing it to triple its manufacturing and R&D capacity.

NSC recommends feds increase AI R&D spending

The director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Arati Prabhakar, said last week that federal R&D spending has continued to grow over time, but it has not kept up with the pace of the economy in the broader innovation system. The director said that the amount spent on AI research is modest, about $3 to $4 billion of the overall $200 billion total annual federal R&D investment. The National Security Commission on AI recommended in its final report that the federal government should exponentially increase its AI R&D spending by $32 billion by 2026. The OSTP director says that this sizable increase is needed to seize the moment.

Intel plans lay offs

RDW Index member Intel, Santa Clara, California, announced last week that it plans to lay off about 15,000 workers over the next year, most of them by the end of 2024. The company reported that it had about 116,500 employees in its core business at the end of June 2024. The company wants to cut its operating costs by more than $10 billion in 2025. Reaching that cost reduction goal will require job cuts, dividend cuts, and lowering capital expenditures — the company plans to reduce gross capital expenditures in 2024 by more than 20%. However, CEO Pat Gelsinger said in an interview last week that the company is still on track to introduce the company’s most advanced chip-making technology and put it into production in 2025. The company issued an internal memo stating where it needs to improve, which included reducing operational costs, simplifying its portfolio, eliminating complexity, reducing capital costs, suspending its stock dividend, and maintaining growth investments.

Chevron follows other California corps to Texas

Chevron, San Ramon, California, made it official last week by announcing that it will move its headquarters to Houston, Texas, by 2025. Reasons for the move were cited as California’s policies that raise costs and discourage investment and its so-called margin penalty, which seeks to limit profits from the state’s refiners to prevent price gouging. Most of Chevron’s $250 million in annual R&D Investments have been at its Richmond Technology Center located adjacent to the company’s refinery in Richmond, California. The company was reported to have purchased a 77-acre plot in the Bridgeland area outside of Houston in 2023, which could be developed into a new R&D campus. Chevron said the headquarters transfer from California to Texas will take about five years to implement.

Company	Ticker	Exchange	2020 R&D billion$	7/26/24	8/2/24	7/26/24 to 8/2/24	1/1/22 to 8/2/24
Alphabet/Google	GOOGL	NASDAQ	27.303	168.68	168.40	-0.17%	16.26%
Microsoft	MSFT	NASDAQ	17.198	467.56	453.70	-2.96%	34.90%
Volkswagen	VWAGY	OTC	17.259	11.94	10.52	-11.98%	-63.97%
Apple	AAPL	NASDAQ	18.667	217.96	219.86	0.87%	23.82%
Meta Platforms	META	NASDAQ	13.874	465.70	488.14	4.82%	45.13%
Intel	INTC	NASDAQ	14.503	31.35	21.48	-31.48%	-58.29%
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	NYSE	13.750	160.64	164.14	2.18%	-4.05%
Roche	RHHBY	OTC	14.143	40.76	40.71	-0.12%	-21.24%
Merck	MRK	NYSE	11.381	125.26	115.20	-8.03%	50.31%
Novartis	NVS	NYSE	9.387	110.32	112.87	2.31%	29.06%
Toyota	TM	NYSE	10.724	192.52	173.02	-10.13%	6.63%
Pfizer	PFE	NYSE	8.336	30.77	30.43	1.10%	-48.47%
Alibaba	BABA	NYSE	6.006	76.53	77.45	1.20%	-34.80%
General Motors	GM	NYSE	6.727	44.12	41.17	-6.69%	-29.78%
Honda	HMC	NYSE	8.806	31.28	30.03	4.00%	5.55%
Ford	F	NYSE	9.340	11.19	10.03	-10.37%	-51.71%
AbbVie	ABBV	NYSE	13.949	185.16	189.29	1.23%	39.80%
Sanofi	SNY	NYSE	7.750	52.40	53.05	1.24%	5.89%
Cisco	CSCO	NASDAQ	6.331	47.88	46.66	-2.55%	-26.37%
Bristol Myers Squibb	BMY	NYSE	7.130	50.45	48.77	-3.33%	-21.78%
Astra Zeneca PLC	AZN	NYSE	6.056	78.13	81.81	4.71%	40.45%
IBM	IBM	NYSE	5.368	191.75	189.12	-1.37%	41.49%
Oracle	ORCL	NYSE	6.928	139.01	133.28	-4.12	52.83%
Eli Lilly & Co.	LLY	NYSE	8.606	804.62	804.46	-0.02	191.24%
Stellantis NV	STLA	NYSE	5.309	17.66	16.13	-8.66	-17.45%

Tesla issues recall

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla, Austin, Texas, announced last week that it was issuing a recall notice for 1.8 million of its EVs due to a software issue that could result in the hood fully opening and obstructing the driver’s view. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that the issue risks failing to warn a driver when the hood is unlatched, increasing the risk of a collision.

Eurozone GDP increased

According to the European Central Bank (ECB), gross domestic product (GDP) in the Eurozone increased by 0.3% between April and June. Most of the 30-member European Union’s larger economies, including France and Spain, saw better growth than expected. In contrast, however, the Eurozone’s largest economy, Germany, shrank slightly from the previous quarter, confounding economists’ forecasts for moderate expansion. The ECB lowered its key interest rate in July for the first time since 2019, citing overall modest growth with low inflation.