Month: March 2022

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Microsoft brought DirectStorage to Windows PCs this week. The API promises faster load times and more detailed graphics by letting game developers make apps that load graphical data from the SSD directly to the GPU. Now, Nvidia and IBM have created a similar SSD/GPU technology, but they are aiming it at the massive data sets in data centers.

Instead of targeting console or PC gaming like DirectStorage, Big accelerator Memory (BaM) is meant to provide data centers quick access to vast amounts of data in GPU-intensive applications, like machine-learning training, analytics, and high-performance computing, according to a research paper spotted by The Register this week. Entitled "BaM: A Case for Enabling Fine-grain High Throughput GPU-Orchestrated Access to Storage" (PDF), the paper by researchers at Nvidia, IBM, and a few US universities proposes a more efficient way to run next-generation applications in data centers with massive computing power and memory bandwidth.

BaM also differs from DirectStorage in that the creators of the system architecture plan to make it open source.

(credit: Dave Rutt)

Two Democratic lawmakers introduced a new bill on Wednesday that would institute a host of new regulations to scrutinize mergers, including a prohibition of those valued at more than $5 billion.

The Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), would also prevent mergers and acquisitions that would increase market share among sellers and buyers beyond certain thresholds and would give regulators additional tools to unwind mergers.

While the $5 billion threshold, indexed to inflation, may capture headlines, this bill is perhaps most notable because it attempts to limit companies’ dominance in the labor market, too.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Steve Jurvetson)

Amazon announced on Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of MGM, saying the iconic maker of movies and TV shows is joining Prime Video and Amazon Studios. "The storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios' work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers," Amazon said.

The $8.45 billion deal was announced in May 2021. Amazon was able to complete it without a protracted fight because the Federal Trade Commission hasn't challenged it in court, despite other conflicts between Amazon and the FTC.

"The move comes after Amazon certified to the Federal Trade Commission that it had provided all the information requested by antitrust investigators reviewing the deal," The Wall Street Journal wrote today. "That step put the deal on a regulatory clock with the agency that has now expired, leaving the company free to move forward, a person familiar with the matter said."