Explainer

Aug 11, 2025

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,

Aug 7, 2025

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&

Jul 27, 2025

Why Is Japan Paying for Taiwan to Build Chip Fabs in America?

In a twist following a high-stakes trade negotiation, Japan revealed that its massive $550 billion U.S. investment package—agreed to in exchange for avoiding steep tariffs—could be used to finance a Taiwanese company building semiconductor plants in the United States. The announcement by Japan's top trade

Jul 10, 2025

Why Is OpenAI Building a Web Browser

OpenAI, the company that ignited the artificial intelligence race with ChatGPT, is now preparing to launch its own AI-powered web browser. According to a recent report from Reuters, the browser is designed to directly challenge Google's market-dominating Chrome and fundamentally change how people interact with the internet. The

Jul 8, 2025

How a Niche Memory Chip Dethroned Samsung in the AI Race

Samsung Electronics Co., a titan of the technology world, just saw its operating profit plummet by 56%, a shocking result that wiped billions from its bottom line. The culprit wasn’t slumping smartphone sales or a weak TV market. The crisis stems from its failure to lead in a highly

Jun 29, 2025

How Private Credit Is Powering the AI Revolution

Meta is reportedly in talks to raise a staggering $29 billion, not from the public markets, but from private credit giants like Apollo Global Management and KKR. The purpose: to finance its all-in push into artificial intelligence. The move is the latest and one of the most dramatic signs that

Jun 25, 2025

With Robotaxis on the Road, What's Behind Tesla's Bet Against Lidar?

Tesla rolled out its long-promised robotaxi service in Austin this week, a landmark moment CEO Elon Musk called the "culmination of a decade of hard work." The deployment of driverless Model Ys carrying paying customers puts Tesla squarely in the autonomous ride-hailing market. But within hours of the

Jun 22, 2025

Why Is Apple Eyeing Perplexity? It's About More Than AI

Apple, a company that has historically shied away from mega-acquisitions, is now internally discussing a potential blockbuster deal for the AI search startup Perplexity. This move isn't just about bolstering its AI capabilities, where it is admittedly behind rivals. It's a direct, strategic response to a

Jun 19, 2025

Why Is Big Tech 'Acquiring' AI Startups Without Actually Buying Them?

Last week, Meta Platforms Inc. announced a stunning $14.3 billion investment for a 49% stake in Scale AI, one of the key startups providing data-labeling services for training AI models. As part of the deal, Scale’s founder and CEO, 28-year-old Alexandr Wang, will join Meta to work on