January 17, 2026: Lots Of Action Despite Sideways Index Moves

Last week, Dow Jones fell 0.3%, S&P 500 lost 0.4%, and Nasdaq composite declined 0.7%. Chips and small cap stocks did well, while software seems to be out of favor. Risk-on narratives continue to cluster around defence and sovereign capability buildouts, AI infrastructure and specialized compute, and policy-backed industrial capacity in critical materials and semiconductors. Crypto custodian BitGo is eyeing up to US$1.96 billion valuation in its IPO. Chipmaker Cerebras is in talks to raise US$1 billion at a US$22 billion valuation, while also signing a large multi-year compute supply arrangement with OpenAI. OpenAI will acquire healthcare app, Torch in a US$100 million deal. TSMC guided to record 2026 capex as demand outstrips advanced-node capacity, which was positive for the AI Semi trade. AWS has secured a copper supply arrangement with Rio Tinto. Meta said the company has created a new “top-level” effort called Meta Compute to oversee the construction and long term planning for the company’s data center needs. The Pentagon outlined a US$1 billion investment structure to expand rocket motor capacity at L3Harris. Apple will reportedly partner with Google to overhaul Siri. Google will provide “personalized” Gemini integrations. Anthropic unveiled new healthcare features for Claude. OpenAI will start testing ads, and intro a US$8 per month ChatGPT subscription. In Canada, Sophic client Kraken Robotics reported $35 million of SeaPower™ battery sales to three customers, highlighting rising momentum in unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) power systems and Kraken’s ability to scale production. Boardwalktech expanded and extended a joint engagement (with a global IT services partner) supporting a top-five U.S. bank, adding over US$250k of 2026 value. Juno Industries launched with former defence minister Harjit Sajjan as executive chairman and disclosed a $3 million seed round aimed at dual-use autonomous systems. Canada Rocket Company emerged from stealth with a $6.2 million seed round to pursue sovereign launch capability.

Sophic Client Kraken Robotics (PNG-TSXV, KRKNF-OTC) announces $35 million in SeaPower™ battery sales.

Kraken Robotics Inc. announces $35 million in battery sales to three unnamed customers. “We’re pleased to see increasing momentum on our SeaPower battery sales and look forward to continued strong growth with our current UUV customers and to integrating on several new platforms throughout 2026. With manufacturing capacity coming online in North America in addition to our European operations, we are well positioned to supply power systems to the rapidly growing UUV segment, across platforms from extra-large to small (XLUUV to SUUV),” said Greg Reid, President and CEO of Kraken Robotics. SeaPower batteries enable long-endurance subsea operations on unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). With 200% greater energy density and 46% less weight per kWh compared to traditional oil-compensated or pressure-housed batteries, SeaPower enables extended, deeper, and more complex underwater missions for defence, commercial, and marine research applications. https://tinyurl.com/3x8p8e8n

Sophic Client Boardwalktech, Inc. (BWLK-TSXV, BWLKF-OTCQB) expands and extends contract with global services firm servicing top five U.S. bank.

Boardwalktech announces the expansion and extension of its contract with a leading global IT services firm to support a top five U.S. financial institution. Boardwalktech and the global IT services firm have been jointly servicing this marquee U.S. bank since 2024, transforming manual workflows and processes into automated and compliant solutions running on the Boardwalktech Velocity platform. The expanded engagement includes broader deployment of Boardwalktech’s Velocity™ platform across various business units within the bank. The expansion is valued at over US$250,000 for 2026, with the opportunity to increase as more processes are deployed on the platform. The extension reflects growing demand from large financial institutions to modernize and bring governance, risk, and compliance controls to thousands of mission critical Microsoft Excel–based workflows. Boardwalktech’s Velocity platform is currently used by numerous Fortune 100 enterprises, including major financial services organizations. Velocity rapidly transforms Excel based business processes, often referred to as End User Computing (EUC) environments into secure, collaborative, and auditable enterprise applications. By eliminating manual controls, versioning risks, and operational bottlenecks, Velocity improves operational efficiency, accelerates decision making, and enables scalable compliance across large, distributed teams. Importantly for regulated industries, Velocity provides full traceability, governance, and controls aligned with U.S. regulatory expectations for financial institutions, helping banks reduce operational risk while retaining the flexibility business users require. “Large financial institutions often rely on thousands of Excel based workflows that were never designed to meet today’s increased regulatory and operational demands,” said Andrew T. Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of Boardwalktech. “Velocity allows banks to modernize those workflows quickly and cost effectively, without disrupting the business, while delivering the compliance, transparency, and scalability regulators expect. This contract expansion is a strong marketplace validation of our platform, our growing footprint and additional revenue opportunity across the financial services sector.” https://tinyurl.com/35n7sr9y

Juno Industries launches with former defence minister Harjit Sajjan to scale Canada’s sovereign defence technology.

Juno Industries Inc., a defence-technology company developing autonomous systems to strengthen Canadian and allied national security, sovereignty, and defence capabilities, along with former Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan and technology entrepreneur Hunter Scharfe, are pleased to announce the company’s launch. Sajjan will serve as executive chairman and Scharfe will serve as chief executive officer. The Company closed a $3 million seed financing in the fall of 2025 and is backed by prominent Canadian entrepreneurs and investors, including Geordie Rose, founder of D-Wave and Sanctuary AI, who serves as Senior Advisor to the Company. “Since my time as national minister of defence, I’ve stressed the need for predictability, certainty, and a clear path forward to strengthen our military and defence sector,” said Harjit Sajjan, cofounder and executive chairman of Juno Industries. “We are now seeing the early foundations of that vision take shape, and I believe the team at Juno Industries has the talent, know-how and capital to help advance innovation in Canada and among allied partners.” Juno Industries is being established amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and accelerating technological change. The company is focused on advancing dual-use autonomous systems for high-consequence environments under a defined development program. Canada has committed approximately $80 billion over the next five years to modernize its defence capabilities, with increased emphasis on domestic innovation, industrial capacity, and sovereign technology. “We are in the opening innings of a generational growth cycle in defence technology,” commented Hunter Scharfe, co-founder of Juno Industries. “Juno Industries is focused on strengthening sovereignty and improving security outcomes for Canadians and our allies. I am deeply grateful to partner with Harjit as his experience and patriotism set the tone for everything we’re building. I am confident that our shared commitment to solving mission-critical problems will deliver meaningful impact in the years ahead.” https://tinyurl.com/3d58jjew

Mangrove Lithium announces US$85-million financing to power critical mineral refinement for EVs.

Mangrove Lithium announced a “structured financing” yesterday of up to US$85 million to accelerate its plans to commercialize and deploy the company’s lithium refinement technology for electric vehicles (EVs) in Canada and abroad. The federal government-backed Canada Growth Fund is investing up to US$65 million of that amount. Existing Mangrove investors, including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW iVentures, are also participating. Alongside this transaction, National Bank of Canada is underwriting a “first-of-its-kind,” $9-million Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit-backed loan. Mangrove plans to use this funding to support its first commercial lithium refinement facility in Delta, BC, which is located south of Vancouver, near the US border. The company recently completed the first phase of construction on this plant, which it says will produce enough battery-grade materials to power 25,000 EVs per year. The Delta-based cleantech company also intends to use some of this capital to move towards a second, much larger plant that the feds expect to eventually power 500,000 EVs annually. https://tinyurl.com/4ap4y88y

Canada Rocket Company wants Canada to stop hitching rides to space.

Canada’s space race has a new contender that’s looking to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign rocket launches. Toronto-based Canada Rocket Company (CRC) emerged from stealth on Friday with $6.2 million in seed funding from entirely Canadian investors, supporting its mission to deliver sovereign, medium-lift space launch capability. “Canada relies on other nations to decide when, and whether, [satellites] reach orbit. That’s why Canada needs sovereign launch capability.” Without medium-lift launch capacity, Canada cannot independently launch, place, or maintain complex spacecraft, like satellites, at scale, CRC said in a statement. An example of a medium-lift launch vehicle would be SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which recently carried Toronto-based Kepler Communications’ satellites to space, and will soon do the same with satellites from Markham, Ont.-based Nordspace. In developing its launch system, CRC said it is targeting a payload capacity of 6,500 kilograms to reach low Earth orbit, where most satellites reside. However, CRC said that it’s taking a first step by designing a light-lift vehicle to meet “tactical launch requirements” and establish an “industrialized foundation” for the medium-lift vehicle. The funding round was co-led by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Garage Capital, with participation from Ripple Ventures, Panache Ventures, Northside Ventures, and Cold Capital. Angel investors associated with Shopify, Wealthsimple, Ada, Humi, Inkbox, Holos, and Kepler Communications also participated in the round. The launch of CRC follows a recent push for sovereign Canadian space and defence capabilities. The 2025 federal budget provided the Department of National Defence with more than $182 million over three years to establish a sovereign space launch capability. It’s still unclear if this funding will support a new publicly owned spaceport or lean on the commercial spaceports being built in Atlantic Canada by Nordspace or Halifax’s Maritime Launch Services. https://tinyurl.com/yvywp7bk

Slate raises $1.3 million to deliver embedded lending infrastructure to Canadian platforms.

Slate has closed $1.3 million in pre-seed funding from Toronto’s N49P and North Exit Ventures to build embedded lending infrastructure, the company announced last week. The round, which was raised via a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE), closed earlier this month, supported by undisclosed strategic angels. https://tinyurl.com/4xy25jd2

Cohere partners with German submarine maker in bid to get its AI into Canada’s fleet.

Toronto-based AI scaleup Cohere is going underwater… on purpose. The large language model (LLM) developer has struck a partnership with German submarine maker ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) to explore integrating its technology into the Canadian Patrol Submarine Program (CPSP), a federal effort to procure 12 new submarines. TKMS made the shortlist to land the contract, alongside the Korean company Hanwha Ocean, in August 2025. The government is now conducting in-depth engagements with both companies to “continue to advance the procurement process,” according to a government news release. TKMS said the partnership aligns with Canada’s future submarine requirements and modernization priorities. It will focus on research, prototyping, and evaluating how the AI models can support decision-making workflows and manage onboard information, as well as training environments and secure naval interfaces, while operating 500 metres below sea level. https://tinyurl.com/bdfuenrf

Crypto custodian BitGo eyes up to US$1.96 billion valuation in IPO.

BitGo, a crypto custody firm, said Monday it’s launching its initial public offering, seeking to raise as much as US$201 million at a valuation of up to US$1.96 billion. The company began pitching the shares to investors today, meaning they will likely start trading within the next two weeks. BitGo is set to be the first crypto IPO in 2026, after a government shutdown and crypto market crash late last year delayed the planned debuts of several crypto firms. Crypto exchange Kraken and crypto asset manager Grayscale have also filed to go public. BitGo is offering 11 million shares and existing shareholders are offering 821,595 shares, at an IPO price of between US$15 to US$17 per share, according to an amended filing. In 2023, BitGO raised funding at a US$1.75 billion valuation. It reported net income of US$35.3 million for the first nine months last year on US$10 billion revenue during the period. https://tinyurl.com/4xdup8p7

Chipmaker Cerebras in talks to raise US$1 billion at a US$22 billion valuation.

AI chip startup Cerebras Systems is in talks to raise about US$1 billion, valuing the company at US$22 billion before the new investment, as the chipmaker prepares to go public this year, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. That’s a big jump from its last private valuation of US$8.1 billion in September 2025, when it raised US$1.1 billion from investors such as Fidelity Management and Atreides Management. The startup is expected to list in the coming months, according to one person familiar with the matter. Cerebras had aimed to go public earlier but said last September that it was withdrawing those plans and instead raised money privately. The fundraising and the new valuation come after Nvidia agreed to strike a US$20 billion non-exclusive technology licensing deal with Cerebras competitor Groq in late December, a sign that demand is strong for specialized chips that run AI applications fast and cheaply. https://tinyurl.com/tkr9fz7x

OpenAI on Wednesday announced a computing partnership with AI chip startup Cerebras Systems.

As part of the deal, OpenAI plans to purchase 750 megawatts of computing power from the company through 2028, according to an OpenAI blog post. The deal is worth at least US$10 billion, reported The Wall Street Journal. “OpenAI’s compute strategy is to build a resilient portfolio that matches the right systems to the right workloads,” said OpenAI’s Sachin Katti in the company’s blog post. Cerebras chips will help with faster responses and “more natural interactions” for its AI. Cerebras, backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is in talks to raise about US$1 billion at a US$22 billion pre-money valuation, The Information previously reported. The company is also expected to list in the coming months. https://tinyurl.com/yf8a56y6

OpenAI to buy healthcare app Torch in US$100 million deal.

OpenAI has agreed to buy Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app, for about US$100 million in equity. Torch enables customers to view and analyze their health data from health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, medical scanning firms like Prenuvo, and apps that track physical activities such as Apple Health. The deal value includes US$60 million now and the rest in equity to retain employees, the report said. Four of the startup’s employees, including its CEO, plan to join OpenAI. OpenAI is planning to offer a personalized healthcare assistant in ChatGPT that analyzes medical records and advises customers on health issues. https://tinyurl.com/4jb5vh3s

TSMC announces record capital spending of up to US$56 billion to ease capacity shortage.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday announced a record capital expenditure between US$52 billion and US$56 billion for 2026, as it tries to ease the capacity constraint on its production facilities. About 70% to 80% of the spending will go to manufacturing equipment for cutting-edge chips, with the remainder split between chips for automotive and industrial uses, and advanced packaging technologies, TSMC CFO Wendell Huang said on an earnings call. By comparison, the company’s capital expenditure was US$40.9 billion in 2025 and US$29.8 billion in 2024. TSMC, which manufactures more than 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, projects its revenue will grow nearly 30% this year. The company reported revenue in the December quarter grew 25.5% to US$33.7 billion from a year earlier, and full-year 2025 revenue climbed 35.9% to US$122 billion. The revenue growth is driven by tech companies racing to build AI infrastructure. CEO C.C. Wei said on the call that demand for cutting-edge AI chips continues to outstrip what TSMC can produce. Since new factories take two to three years to build, the company plans to squeeze more output from existing plants and upgrade older equipment to help bridge the gap over the next two years. Wei addressed concerns about whether demand for AI chips can last. “You’re trying to ask us whether AI demand is real or not. I’m also very nervous about it,” he told analysts. “If we don’t do it carefully, that’d be a big disaster for TSMC.” https://tinyurl.com/5n6ksyuf

AWS signs copper supply deal with Rio Tinto.

Amazon Web Services has inked a deal with Rio Tinto to become the first buyer of copper that the mining giant is producing using a new mining technology. As part of the two-year supply deal, Rio Tinto will use AWS’ cloud and analytics services. The copper will come from an Arizona mine where Rio Tinto is using bioleaching technology to extract copper from deposits that previously were too expensive to process. The announcement comes as Amazon and other big tech companies rush to secure raw materials, power and other supplies needed to build and run data centers. The price of copper, which is used in wiring and other applications inside data centers, hit a record high earlier this month. https://tinyurl.com/4ptrpdfx

Pentagon to invest US$1 billion in L3Harris rocket motor business.

The U.S. government will invest US$1 billion in L3Harris Technologies’, opens new tab growing rocket motor business, guaranteeing a steady supply of much-needed motors for a wide range of missiles such as Tomahawks and Patriot interceptors. The deal announced on Tuesday represents the latest U.S. government investment in Corporate America, which has included a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel, opens new tab and investments in critical mineral producers. “We are fundamentally shifting our approach to securing our munitions supply chain,” said Michael Duffey, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. “By investing directly in suppliers we are building the resilient industrial base needed for the Arsenal of Freedom.” L3Harris, whose shares rose 1%, said it plans to sell new equity in its growing rocket motor business, creating a new company backed by a US$1 billion government convertible security investment. The government securities will automatically convert to common equity when the company goes public later in 2026. Chris Kubasik, L3Harris’ CEO, told reporters he expected annual growth rates at the new missile business to be in the mid-to-high teens. Last week, U.S. President https://tinyurl.com/4eb9523w

Apple partners with Google for upcoming Siri overhaul.

Apple has struck a multi-year partnership with Alphabet-owned Google to help the iPhone maker get its artificial intelligence products back on track. Google’s Gemini will power the company’s Apple Intelligence features, including the delayed overhaul of Apple’s lagging Siri voice assistant. “After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users,” an Apple spokesperson sent in a statement. Apple said that the Google partnership won’t violate the company’s existing privacy commitments. The AI will run either on device or through Apple-owned servers it calls Private Cloud Compute. Apple was evaluating its internal models and external versions from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic as part of its plan to bolster its AI strategy. Google has improved Gemini a considerable amount since the AI model’s initial release in late 2023, but the longstanding relationship between Apple and Google also likely helped. Google has been Apple’s default search engine provider since the early 2000s. https://tinyurl.com/4w7ca373

Gemini can now use information from users’ other Google apps.

Google announced on Wednesday that its Gemini chatbot can now access information from users’ other Google apps, if users opt in. The new feature, dubbed Personal Intelligence, leans into Google’s biggest advantage over rivals like OpenAI: the wide range of data Google has from other areas of users’ lives, which could make for a more effective AI personal assistant. Users can opt in to connect their Gmail, YouTube, Photos and Search information to Gemini. In a blog post, Google’s VP for Gemini, Josh Woodward, said that he had used the new feature to get new tires for his minivan, with Gemini referencing photos from a family vacation to suggest that he might need tires for all-weather conditions. The Gemini update follows a slew of other recent announcements highlighting the power of Google’s ecosystem and distribution relationships. Earlier this week, Google and Apple announced that Apple would use Google’s Gemini models to power its Siri assistant. Google has also integrated Gemini across its apps like Gmail and Docs, as well as its Chrome browser. https://tinyurl.com/3zs3ccap

Anthropic unveils new healthcare features for Claude.

Anthropic isn’t leaving the healthcare sector to OpenAI. The AI startup behind the Claude AI models on Monday announced Claude for Healthcare, a new set of tools and resources that healthcare providers, payers and consumers can use for medical purposes. For example, Anthropic is adding tools that allow Claude to pull information from industry-standard systems and databases, making it easier for healthcare providers and payers to find and understand relevant information. The company also said it would add new capabilities for life sciences so Claude can provide more support in areas such as clinical trial management. Anthropic’s latest push into healthcare comes just days after OpenAI announced it was adding personal health features to ChatGPT. OpenAI has highlighted how consumers use ChatGPT for guidance on healthcare. https://tinyurl.com/mvpbs8xt

Anthropic announces virtual coworker tool.

Anthropic on Monday announced Cowork, a version of its popular Claude Code coding agent designed to handle non-coding tasks on a user’s device. The tool will initially be available for Claude Max subscribers, who pay $100 or $200 per month for the premium tier depending on usage. Through Cowork, users can give Anthropic’s Claude model a task to do—like creating a spreadsheet of expenses based on screenshots—and access to the relevant folders on their computers, which will allow the AI to read, edit or create files. Claude can also use other integrations, like “Claude in Chrome,” to complete browser-related tasks or to access information in external applications. Cowork is yet another example of Anthropic’s push into enterprises, the main customer for its Claude models. The release also comes after its developer-focused Claude Code tool has exploded in popularity in recent months. https://tinyurl.com/25nusxet

Meta forms new initiative to plan for compute needs.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has created a new “top-level” effort called Meta Compute to oversee the construction and long term planning for the company’s data center needs. In a post on his Facebook account, Zuckerberg said Meta Compute will be co-led by Santosh Janardhan, Meta’s head of global infrastructure, and Daniel Gross, a vice president of product. Janardhan will continue to oversee the design, building and operation of Meta’s fleet of global datacenters, while Gross will lead a new group responsible for capacity strategy, Zuckerberg wrote. The two executives will work closely with Dina Powell McCormick, who joined Meta on Monday as its president and vice chairman, he wrote. Meta is pouring billions of dollars into its AI efforts. Zuckerberg said the company plans to build tens of gigawatts of computing capacity this decade and hundreds of gigawatts or more over time. https://tinyurl.com/3ywydm9n

Meta considers doubling Ray-Ban glasses production.

Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica have discussed the possibility of doubling production of their AI-powered smart glasses this year, as demand grows and more competitors enter the market. According to Bloomberg, Meta has floated the idea of increasing production capacity to 20 million units, or perhaps more, in 2026. The discussions show how Meta is putting more resources into its smart glasses, as the company gears its business toward artificial intelligence and scales back its broader hardware efforts. Meta is beginning this week to lay off around 10% of its Reality Labs division, which has around 15,000 employees. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent billions of dollars in recent years on building out his vision for the “metaverse.” However the company’s virtual reality headsets have struggled to gain mainstream traction. More recently, Zuckerberg has pivoted the company’s focus to AI, zeroing in on the smart glasses as a product that can incorporate the technology and potentially reach a bigger audience. Meta’s partnership with European eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica has been central to that effort: in 2024, Meta purchased a small stake in the company. https://tinyurl.com/6k8pewhh

OpenAI to start testing ads, to intro US$8 per month ChatGPT subscription.

OpenAI said Friday it will begin testing ads in ChatGPT in the coming weeks. The ads will show up for nonpaying users as well as for users of ChatGPT Go, a low-cost subscription tier first launched in India and now available in 171 countries. U.S. users will now have access to ChatGPT Go for US$8 a month. In 2025, OpenAI also introduced a lower-cost subscription plan, ChatGPT Go, in countries like India, where it costs roughly US$5 per month. The company says the ads will show up when there’s a relevant query to a sponsored product or service. OpenAI says the ad will also be clearly labeled and shown separately to ChatGPT’s organic responses. Users will be able to understand why an ad is being shown and dismiss ads. These ads will only be shown to adult ChatGPT users and won’t be included as part of sensitive or regulated issues, such as mental health. OpenAI has previously told investors it expects to grow the average revenue per nonpaying user from US$2 in 2026 to US$15 by the end of 2030. The US$8 monthly Go tier could help the company generate revenue from the more than the 5% of roughly 900 million weekly active users that pay for its subscriptions. https://tinyurl.com/bdhvbwk8

Google unveils ai shopping tools for Gemini.

Google is adding the ability for users to shop directly within its Gemini chatbot and AI Mode search tool, the company said Sunday, making it the latest firm to add AI-powered commerce features. Shoppers will be able to make purchases on Gemini using Google Pay, as well as link loyalty accounts they have with merchants to their Google account. (PayPal said shoppers will soon also be able to use PayPal to check out on Gemini.) Retailers will be able to offer shoppers special discounts and recommend add-on products before they complete their purchases. Those features are some of the first advertisements that have been added to AI shopping tools—OpenAI has been discussing ways to show ChatGPT users sponsored information, but has yet to launch any ad features. The feature is powered by what Google calls the Universal Commerce Protocol, an underlying standard the company developed with retailers including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart. The protocol is similar to other standards like OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, which aims to standardize how AI apps, merchants and payments processors communicate with each other for purchases made by AI agents. Google’s efforts come as OpenAI has been ramping up its shopping efforts in partnership with Stripe and Shopify. Also on Sunday, Google announced new agentic software, to be used by retailers on their own websites, to allow shoppers to describe to an AI agent what they’re looking for, such as “a velvet sofa in emerald green that can withstand pet hair, but it needs to be under 90 inches.” The agent would filter for those factors and the shopper’s budget. Google’s announcement cited executives from Kroger, Lowe’s and Woolworths about their plans to use Google’s new agentic software. The new software also has a food ordering agent for restaurants, which Google said would be used by Papa John’s. Similarly, Google also launched branded chatbots that appear in Google search results to help users research and answer questions. Google said in the coming months, the branded chatbots will be able to promote related products to shoppers and allow them to purchase directly from the chatbot. https://tinyurl.com/3r9swtve

TSMC to significantly expand chipmaking investments in the U.S.

The Trump administration is close to reaching a trade deal with Taiwan that involves significantly more investments from the island’s largest company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, according to The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential deal will cut U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese imports to 15% and require TSMC to build at least five more chip fabrication facilities in Arizona, doubling the number of plants the company has previously committed to in the state. TSMC, which produces 90% of the world’s advanced chips, announced in March that it would invest US$100 billion to build three new chip-making plants, in addition to three facilities planned previously. President Donald Trump hailed the deal as the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history. https://tinyurl.com/2vr3s9tu