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Why Is China Telling Its Companies Not to Buy Nvidia's Chips?

One of the stranger moments in the US-China tech war happened this week. After months of intense lobbying and a controversial policy reversal, the Trump administration gave Nvidia the green light to resume selling its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China. For a moment, it looked like a win for

Does China Still Want Nvidia Chips?

The Unwanted Chip The Trump administration just engineered a controversial deal to let Nvidia resume selling its less powerful AI chips to China, complete with a novel 15% tax for the US Treasury. For a brief moment, it looked like a transactional win-win: Nvidia would regain access to a massive
Does China Still Want Nvidia Chips?

Why Is the US Government Taking a Cut of Nvidia's China Sales?

The US-China chip war has entered a strange and unprecedented new phase. In a highly unusual arrangement, the Trump administration has brokered a deal where American tech giants Nvidia and AMD will pay the US government 15% of their revenue from all advanced AI chip sales to China. The move,

Silicon Valley's Newest Export

The Global AI Tax For every dollar Japan earns from tourists marveling at its temples, it seems to be sending another one straight to Silicon Valley. In the first half of 2025, the country posted a record-breaking ¥3.61 trillion ($24.4 billion) travel surplus. But this impressive gain was
Silicon Valley's Newest Export

Trump vs. Intel CEO vs. Intel Board

The Impossible Job One way to get fired as the CEO of a major American corporation is to run the company into the ground. Another, more modern way is to have the President of the US demand your resignation on social media. This week, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan found himself
Trump vs. Intel CEO vs. Intel Board

Is AI Actually Bad for Business? A Look at Duolingo's Margins

Shares of Duolingo soared this week after the popular education app raised its annual sales forecast, signaling strong demand for its subscription services. But buried beneath the bullish revenue outlook is a more complicated and cautionary tale about the real-world economics of artificial intelligence. Even as sales grew, the company&
Is AI Actually Bad for Business? A Look at Duolingo's Margins

Softbank's New Playbook

The AI Assembler It is a little strange when the world's most famous venture gambler starts acting like a blue-chip portfolio manager. And yet, here is Masayoshi Son, the man who lost more money than anyone in history during the dot-com bust and then poured billions into WeWork,
Softbank's New Playbook

Can Zuckerberg Buy AI Talent?

More Than LeBron The market for elite AI talent has officially detached from the normal laws of corporate physics. Consider this: LeBron James, arguably the basketball GOAT, will earn roughly half a billion dollars in on-court salary over his entire NBA career. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly offered a single AI researcher,
Can Zuckerberg Buy AI Talent?

China's Nvidia Reversal

The Kill Switch The brief détente in the US-China chip war lasted about two weeks. After months of tension, the US made a significant concession, allowing Nvidia to resume sales of its H20 AI processor to Chinese customers. This was viewed as a major step toward stabilizing a volatile relationship.
China's Nvidia Reversal

Did Tesla Just Save Samsung?

Samsung's Lifeline One way to think about Samsung getting a $16.5 billion chip deal from Tesla is that it's just big companies doing big business. A more interesting way to think about it is as a desperate, perfectly-timed rescue. For months, Samsung's foundry
Did Tesla Just Save Samsung?