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Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

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121–130 of 199 posts

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same kind of thinking was used on encryption algorithms in the 90s.

Only a few of us are big enough to fit an LLM on a tshirt

You could fit all of Mythos on a t-shirt in microfilm size. But washing a microfilm shirt would be tricky.

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#123
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Volvo's ultimate owner is the same state-aligned Chinese conglomerate. The question isn't "why ban Polestar", it is "why ban Polestar without banning Volvo ". They are both headquartered in Sweden, they are both owned by the same conglomerate, and they are often even both manufactured in the same factories. So what makes them different enough to warrant banning only one of them?

From other comments where telemetry goes to, and possibly the level of remote control in the cars. It appears to be a general ban on "connected vehicles" controlled from certain countries even if built in the US[1], so I would guess that Volvo does not meet the criteria for that. 1. https://www.topgear.com/car-news/usa/polestar-has-been-banne...

My Polestar has the word "Volvo" on several parts. They share a software stack and get the same updates.

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The solution is to tax the capital account instead (tobin tax) Isn't that just going to further advantage multinational corporations that don't have to move currency in order to move resources because they're all within the same corporation?

I think you could only avoid it indefinitely if your operations are balanced, i.e. you make some stuff in China and sell it in the US, but also make something in the US and sell it in China. Otherwise if you make everything in China and sell it in the US you'll eventually have to transfer USD from your US operation to your Chinese operation to pay suppliers, labour, taxes etc.

You wouldn't have to make it in the US, or even make it at all, you would only have to pay for it there. You also wouldn't have to deliver it to the place you want the money to end up, only to the location of someone willing to pay you there. You could be paying US dollars at a bank in New York to a company based in Australia to have them deliver iron ore to a company in India willing to pay you for it in China.

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be better if the AI censorship was lawless, rather than authorized by the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, since that would allow the Article III branch of the federal government to be a defense against it. The lawfulness makes it worse.

Some people have been pointing out for decades that granting unchecked discretionary powers to the executive branch is a hazard. Now there is an executive using them to do things a lot of people don't like. Are the people who don't like it going to withdraw those powers the next time they have the opportunity? The main alternative is more of this.

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Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#127
post #73

Some history for context: In 1999 Swedish Volvo spins out and sells Volvo Cars to Ford (Volvo Sweden continues making trucks and heavy equipment) for 6.45 B USD. In 2010 Ford sells Volvo Cars to Geely for 1.8 B USD. iN 2017 Geely spins out Polestar from Volvo Cars. In 2021 Geely IPOes Polestar at NYSE for 20 B USD. Leonardo DiCaprio-Backed Electric Automaker Polestar Valued At $20 Billion In SPAC Deal https://deadlin…

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Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everytime the issue of Chinese state subsidies comes up, two things occur to me. First, a "subsidy" is just govt tax money. In other words it comes from somewhere. It is, in effect, the Chinese people, contributing to the creation, or development of an industry. Clearly the Chinese govt thinks this is a sound commercial strategy, and certainly from here (considering their global dominance in manufacturing) it appears…

Correct. Almost every country subsidizes domestic industry. Just off the top of my head: Boeing, Farm subsidies, CHIPS act (approx 52B), Oil drilling, GM & Chrysler bailouts, Airline bailouts, State tax breaks for Amazon, etc

The scale is not even remotely comparable though to what China does

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#129

The entire article doesn't once stipulate that the grounds for banning a Chinese owned car is having telemetry that phones home to China. Maybe Volvo still does and it's a mystery why they can still sell here. Maybe Volvo doesn't and there is no story here. But if the car talks to China and gets updates from China, the US doesn't care if it's built here.

This is a remarkable opinion. If we have problems with consumer-hostile behaviour like tracking users, remotely disabling vehicles, or other things like that we should outlaw those behaviours in products used in the US. We will never do that because Western auto manufacturers want to be able to behave badly in the same way Chinese manufacturers might and they have a firm grasp on the American governments leash. 'Its…

It has nothing to do with consumer hostile behaviors. Its bad when a hostile foreign government has control over and information about (think blackmail, not ads) your citizens.

A junior engineer on the x-500 future fighter jet drives a polestar and seems to be visiting the house of a single woman (which they know from tiktok days) while his family would probably think he would be at work. Will this guy throw away his family or start handing over USB keys?

Any even mildly intelligent politician is going to try and block this ability.

Re: Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's impossible to prove the nonexistance and mentioning hearsay wouldn't be good. The onus is on the commentator to substantiate his claims of there being a rationale.

Well, that is not true. The 'nonexistance' part. All new car phone home, and that is somewhere on the world.

Ironic coming from the country with three domestic OEMs, and routinely threatens economic annexation of my country
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