Montana lawmakers passed a bill on Friday banning TikTok from operating in the state amid growing concerns about the app’s suspected ties to the Chinese government.
The bill was passed by the state House in a 5443 vote and now heads to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. If Gianforte signs it into law, Montana will become the first state to ban the app outright. (Both the federal government and many states, including Montana, have already forbidden the app on government devices.)
The legislation, which would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, prohibits mobile app stores from offering TikTok to users and enacts penalties of $10,000 for each violation and an additional $10,000 fee for each day the violation continues.
Coming as some members of Congress call for a complete nationwide ban on the app, the move by lawmakers in Montana will likely lead to legal challenges and expose the technological difficulties of barring access to the platform, which has 150 million active users in the US.
The Seattle Mariners got off to a strong start in Game 2 of the American Champions League Series on Monday courtesy of Julio Rodriguez.
The center fielder smashed an 84 mph splitter off Trey Yesavage for a three-run homer in the top of the first inning. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander had never allowed an extra-base hit on the splitter before, according to ESPN Research.
It marked Rodriguez’s second home run of the postseason as Seattle looks to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The blast was Yesavage’s first career home run allowed in his fifth career start (regular season and playoffs). Entering Monday, he had allowed only two extra-base hits in 19⅓ innings pitched.
Seattle trailed 1-0 in the first inning in Game 1 before bouncing back to win 3-1 on Sunday. The series shifts to Seattle on Wednesday.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday that artificial intelligence could become a larger part of global GDP as the technology spreads across industries.
Tan said the current global GDP sits around $110 trillion, with 30% of that figure “valued from industries related to knowledge-based, technology-intensive.”
“And you put in generative AI, you create intelligence in a lot of other aspects of society,” Tan continued. “That 30% say will grow to 40% of all GDP. That’s $10 trillion a year.”
If AI grows and becomes responsible for a larger piece of global GDP as Tan predicts, it would be a boon to the nascent tech sector and all the industries it relies on. Broadcom makes chips and networking equipment and has been a huge beneficiary of the AI boom as hyperscalers buy up its products. The stock is currently up 53.86%.
Broadcom and OpenAI announced their official partnership on Monday, saying they would jointly build and deploy 10 gigawatts of custom artificial intelligence accelerators. The move is part of a broader effort to scale AI across the industry. Broadcom shares surged in response to the news, up 9.88% by market close.
Broadcom and OpenAI’s deal is the latest in a slew of pricey partnerships among key Big Tech players related to AI.
Tan said OpenAI is “one of those few players in the forefront of creating foundation models,” and noted that even as a private company, the ChatGPT maker is worth about $500 billion. According to Tan, Broadcom’s “hard-nosed” approach to business doesn’t keep the company from looking several years in the future “at this phenomenon, this wave called generative AI.”
Broadcom is tight-lipped about its customers, but said earlier this year it was developing new AI chips with three large cloud customers. Management announced last month it had secured $10 billion in chip orders from a fourth unnamed client.
Tan told Cramer that Broadcom is working closely with “about seven players,” four of which he defined as “real customers,” or ones “who have given us production purchase orders at scale.”
“We feel very good about it,” Tan said of Broadcom’s partnerships. “Because each of these guys need a lot of compute capacity for them to basically play in this game and eventually win this game of creating the best foundation model in the world.”
Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing
Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.
Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust owns shares of Broadcom.