Japan's yen slides toward 160 per dollar as traders test US resolve. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent intervenes to preserve the yen carry trade that funds US tech and AI investments.
Meta releases Muse Glimmer, a lightweight 30B-parameter open-weight AI model for local PC use, and plans to open-source Muse Spark 1.2, directly competing with top Chinese models and offering a geopolitically neutral alternative for American users.
Beijing has launched a cybersecurity review into products sold in China by US technology firm Palo Alto Networks, citing national security and risk prevention.
Uber and Wayve secured London's first minicab licences for self-driving taxi rides with human safety drivers, as over 100,000 people join the waiting list.
Clashes between the US and EU are becoming the 'new normal' with competition over tech regulations at the core, a Chinese think tank analysis says, citing recent EU antitrust fines against Google.
The US tech industry's increasingly hawkish attitude towards China is alarming observers who warn it could deepen mistrust. Researchers from Renmin and Tsinghua universities suggest corporate leaders are selectively presenting information to influence Washington's policy decisions against China.
China's recent advancements in AI, chip manufacturing, and robotics are causing significant disruptions in US financial markets and creating divisions among US tech leaders and within the Trump administration regarding how to respond to the competitive threat, leading to actions like the FCC banning Chinese humanoid robots.
Chinese tech investors are receiving stern warnings against using leverage and blindly chasing hot topics after the US-based AI hedge fund Situational Awareness collapsed, offloading billions in tech shares at a steep discount due to AI stock volatility and unmet collateral demands.
Chinese tech giants are facing increasing market scrutiny to prove that their substantial artificial intelligence investments will generate sustainable profits, mirroring the pressure felt by US tech firms like Meta and Alphabet over their AI spending.
Donald Trump threatens EU with tariffs and initiates a trade investigation after the European Commission fines Google €890m, also citing fines against Apple, Meta, and Amazon, claiming unfair treatment of US tech companies.
Over 20 US tech companies, including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta, sent a letter urging policymakers to avoid "premature restrictions" on open-weight AI models, arguing such limits could stifle competition and innovation. The debate intensifies amid concerns over Chinese models and intellectual property theft, with key players like OpenAI and Anthropic not signing the letter.
White House science advisor Michael Kratsios accused Chinese AI company Moonshot of building its Kimi K3 LLM by copying Anthropic's Fable and using export-banned Nvidia chips. Experts are skeptical about the distillation claims, while the chip allegations highlight black market concerns.
Beijing plans to increase its intelligent computing power to over 130,000 petaflops by late 2026 and implement new policies for its "token economy," accelerating AI adoption to compete with the US in the tech race.
Firmus Technologies, an AI data centre company, inadvertently published an internal note on its FAQ page revealing plans to use farm irrigation water for its proposed Wesley Vale facility in Tasmania. The company deleted the note after ABC inquiries, stating rainwater harvesting is the primary plan, but community concerns persist regarding water usage.
Google faces delays with its Gemini 3.5 AI model, impacting its market position, while Chinese startup Moonshot releases a free, open-weight model, intensifying US-China AI competition. Simultaneously, Silicon Valley workers are taking collective action, including lawsuits and petitions, to protect their jobs from AI automation amidst the industry boom.
Analysts believe a sharp pullback in SpaceX and valuation pressure on US tech giants will not significantly impact Hong Kong equities, citing distinct business models and less stretched valuations for local tech firms.
China is rapidly developing a national ecosystem for Chinese-language data to support its AI ambitions, viewing this as a strategic advantage amid US tech restrictions.
A second UK parliamentary committee has called for the NHS to terminate its £330m contract with Palantir, citing public mistrust and inadequate privacy protections for sensitive health data. MPs want an alternative to Palantir's federated data platform, echoing concerns from the science and technology committee and NHS staff.
An editor explores alternative photographic techniques like slit-scanning and digital flat-bed scanning to create experimental images of the World Cup, drawing parallels to historical sports photography methods and emphasizing photography's artistic potential.
Tech giants like Google and Amazon are seeing increased carbon emissions due to AI investments, jeopardizing net-zero goals. Meanwhile, Meta is exploring new revenue streams like cloud computing and prediction markets amid stock decline and legal challenges.
US tech firm Anthropic has embedded code in its AI models to identify and block Chinese users, citing national security concerns. The company accuses Alibaba of a massive "distillation attack" to clone its AI capabilities.
The AI industry is undergoing a financial stress test as global markets slump, with major tech stocks like Alphabet, Samsung, and SK Hynix experiencing significant drops. Concurrently, California's proposed billionaire tax is influencing political discourse, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to propose a nationwide minimum tax on the super-wealthy.
Hackers stole over 630GB of confidential data from Apple supplier Tata Electronics in India, including details on the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro. The ransomware group World Leaks published the files, exposing supplier information and potentially impacting Apple's supply chain secrecy and India manufacturing strategy.
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on any country that implements a digital service tax on US tech companies. The former president stated on Truth Social that these tariffs would override any previous agreements and named Europe as a potential target.
