July 27, 2025: Major Indices Rise, Ahead Of Earnings Palooza Next Week

Last week, Dow Jones gained 1.3%, S&P 500 rose 1.5%, and Nasdaq composite was up 1%. Next week, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Apple will all report earnings. Comments on AI monetization and capital spending will likely set the tone for large tech stocks, and the broader market. Several prominent companies moved toward IPOs amid rising investor optimism. Figma set its IPO price range between US$25-$28 per share, targeting a valuation around US$16 billion, slightly below Adobe’s earlier US$20 billion bid. Crypto custody firm BitGo and tax software provider Avalara both confidentially filed for IPOs, signaling renewed confidence in public market conditions. Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman echoed this sentiment, citing strong performance by recent large-cap listings, including Chime and CoreWeave, as driving optimism through 2026. The AI sector attracted significant financings as AI startups raised US$104 billion in the first half of 2025, driven by OpenAI’s historic US$40 billion round and Meta’s US$14.3 billion investment in Scale AI. OpenAI also revealed itself as the client behind Oracle’s massive US$30 billion annual data-center services contract, underpinning its ambitious Stargate project. Alphabet significantly raised its capital expenditure forecast due to growing Cloud demand, and Tesla reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results as vehicle sales declined. Lastly, ServiceNow impressed investors with strong quarterly revenue growth fueled by increased adoption of AI-enhanced solutions, lifting its share price over 7%. Amazon acquired wearable AI startup Bee, highlighting ongoing interest in conversational AI, and Jeff Bezos is reportedly exploring acquiring CNBC. In Canada, Sophic Client, Cybeats Technologies announced a $3 million financing through a Beacon Securities-led LIFE offering, and Boardwalktech closed the second tranche of a private placement raising a total of around $750K. XTAO, successfully raised $31 million from digital-asset venture capitalists and commenced trading on the TSXV.

Sophic Client Cybeats Technologies Corp. (CYBT-CSE,CYBCF-OTCQB) announces LIFE Offering led by Beacon Securities.

Cybeats Technologies entered into an agreement with Beacon Securities Limited (the “Agent”), acting as the sole agent, who has agreed to sell, on a “best efforts” private placement basis (the “Offering”), a minimum of 30,000,000 units of the Company (each, a “Unit”) at a price of $0.10 per Unit (the “Issue Price”), for minimum gross proceeds of $3,000,000 (the “Minimum Offering”) and maximum gross proceeds equal to the maximum amount that may be issued pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption, as defined below. The Units will be issued pursuant to Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemptions (“NI 45-106”) and in reliance on the amendments to Part 5A of NI 45-106 set forth in Coordinated Blanket Order 45-935 – Exemptions from Certain Conditions of the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (collectively, the “Listed Issuer Financing Exemption”). Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a “Unit Share”) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”) of the Company. Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a “Warrant Share”) at a price of $0.15 per Warrant Share for a period of 24 months from the Closing Date (as defined herein). https://tinyurl.com/23bz82tc

Sophic Client Boardwalktech, Inc. (BWLK-TSXV, BWLKF-OTCQB) announces closing of Life Non-Brokered Private Placement.

Boardwalktech has closed, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”), a final tranche of its non-brokered private placement. consisting of 2,793,800 units (each, a “Unit”, and collectively the “Units”) of the Company at the price of C$0.13 per Unit for gross proceeds of approximately C$363,194 (the “LIFE Offering”). Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (each a “Common Share”) and one Common Share purchase warrant (each a “Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share at a price of C$0.25 per Common Share for a period of 12 months from the closing date of the Offering. Collectively, the Company closed two tranches of the LIFE Offering for a total of 5,756,492 Units issued across both tranches of the LIFE Offering, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$748,344. https://tinyurl.com/2vn75pw8

WonderFi co-founder’s XTAO (XTAO-U.TSXV) startup secures $31 million for its decentralized AI network.

xTAO, the decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) network startup launched by WonderFi co-founder Karia Samaroo (formerly known as Ben), has confirmed that it closed US$22.8 million ($31 million) in financing through subscription receipts, a form of equity dependent on closing a transaction. Financing came from multiple digital-asset-focused venture capital companies including Animoca Brands, Arca, Arche Capital, Borderless Capital, Digital Currency Group (DCG), FalconX, Hypersphere Ventures, Off the Chain Capital, Republic, and Stratos. Past funding has come from Arca, DCG, and Off the Chain as well as crypto-oriented VC firms Cadenza Capital, Contango Digital Assets, EV3 Ventures, Nickel5 Investments, and The Venture Department. Along with this round of funding, xTAO listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the stock symbol XTAO.U as of July 22. https://tinyurl.com/yjtswsc9

Figma sets tentative IPO pricing range.

Figma set a tentative pricing range for its initial public offering of between US$25 and US$28 a share, which on a fully diluted basis translates to between US$14.6 billion and US$16.4 billion. That’s below the US$20 billion at which Adobe was proposing to buy Figma, back in 2022, a deal that was eventually abandoned in the face of regulatory opposition. After that, Figma bought back stock from its employees and investors in a tender offer valuing the company at US$12.5 billion. In an analysis on Monday, The Information estimated a realistic valuation for Figma was about US$15 billion, based on where comparable companies are trading. Figma is jumping into a hot stockmarket, where some recent IPOs have done well, although those companies tended to either be associated with artificial intelligence or crypto—whereas Figma is a more conventional enterprise software firm. https://tinyurl.com/4ftttvww

Crypto custody firm BitGo confidentially files for US IPO.

Crypto custody firm BitGo said on Monday it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, the latest crypto company rushing to go public as investors embrace digital asset-focused companies. Founded in 2013, BitGo is one of the largest U.S.-based firms that offer custody services to store and protect digital assets on behalf of clients. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company raised US$100 million at a US$1.75 billion valuation in August 2023. BitGo joins a growing number of firms capitalizing on the Trump administration’s support of the crypto industry to go public this year. Crypto exchanges Gemini and Peter Thiel-backed Bullish have also recently filed confidentially for a public listing. https://tinyurl.com/235mjw3c

Avalara confidentially files for US IPO, eyes return to public markets.

Tax software company Avalara, which went private in 2022, disclosed on Monday it had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, indicating plans to go public again amid growing investor optimism for IPOs. The terms of the offering were not disclosed. U.S. IPO activity, sluggish at the start of the year, is gaining momentum following robust investor demand for new offerings. Avalara went public in June 2018 but was taken private in 2022, when it was acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners in a deal that valued the company at US$8.4 billion, including debt.. https://tinyurl.com/e3aw8r26

AI startups raised US$104 billion in first half of year, but exits tell a different story.

OpenAI and Anthropic continue to lead a fundraising bonanza in artificial intelligence, raising historic rounds and stratospheric valuations. But when it comes to finding AI exits for venture firms, the market looks a lot different. AI startups raised US$104.3 billion in the U.S. in the first half of this year, nearly matching the US$104.4 billion total for 2024, according to PitchBook. Almost two-thirds of all U.S. venture funding went to AI, up from 49% last year, PitchBook said. The biggest deals follow a familiar theme. OpenAI raised a record US$40 billion in March in a round led by SoftBank. Meta poured US$14.3 billion into Scale AI in June as part of a way to hire away CEO Alexandr Wang and a few other top staffers. OpenAI rival Anthropic raised US$3.5 billion, while Safe Superintelligence, a nascent startup started by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, raised US$2 billion. https://tinyurl.com/mrxn5a7t

CoreWeave to raise additional US$1.5 billion in debt.

CoreWeave said Monday it would raise US$1.5 billion in debt, two months after it raised US$2 billion to help refinance existing debt. The artificial-intelligence chip rental company has soared more than 200% in trading since its March initial public offering, when it came to the stock market with about US$8 billion in debt. The senior notes will be guaranteed by some of the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, CoreWeave said. CoreWeave this month said it’s buying data center operator Core Scientific for about US$9 billion in stock, a deal the company’s executives said would also help it access lower cost financing. Shares in CoreWeave rose about 4% following news of the new debt offering. https://tinyurl.com/bddcszew

Nasdaq CEO signals improved IPO market momentum, shares jump on results beat.

Nasdaq CEO said on Thursday the strong performance of recent large-cap IPOs has improved the outlook for new listings, riding high after beating second-quarter profit estimates that sent the exchange operator’s shares up 7%. Initial public offerings on its eponymous exchange rebounded strongly in the first half of 2025, reaching their highest level since 2021, when listings had hit a global record. “Strong performance of recent listings, especially of large-cap companies, has raised optimism for the IPO outlook for the remainder of this year and into 2026,” Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said in a call with analysts. Recent market debuts of companies such as neo-bank Chime and AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave, which chose Nasdaq, signal a tentative return of investor appetite for new offerings after a years-long dry spell. https://tinyurl.com/4yjyjfu3

Amazon buys Bee AI wearable startup.

Amazon is acquiring Bee, a startup that develops a wearable AI device for listening to users’ conversations, Bee co-founder and CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced. Bee makes a US$50 watch that transcribes daily conversations and summarizes them in a smartphone app. All Bee employees have received offers to join Amazon, according to an Amazon spokesperson. Companies developing AI devices have struggled to achieve widespread adoption. For example, Humane, which developed an AI-powered pin, sold to HP earlier this year after early customers criticized its battery life, tendency to overheat and inability to connect with other devices like smartphones. https://tinyurl.com/4h746u48

PagerDuty explores sale after takeover interest.

Incident management software maker PagerDuty is exploring a potential sale, according to a Reuters report on Friday. The company’s shares soared more than 10% on the news. The firm is working with tech-focused investment bank Qatalyst Partners after receiving takeover interest from private equity firms and strategic buyers, according to the report. The San Francisco, Calif-based company makes software that helps customers manage their IT systems, and monitor and respond to cyber incidents and outages. PagerDuty’s stock had fallen more than 15% year-to-date before the price spike on Friday, giving the company a market capitalization of US$1.34 billion as of July 24. https://tinyurl.com/2srjsu2m

Jeff Bezos weighing possible acquisition of CNBC cable network: sources.

Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has been weighing a possible acquisition of CNBC, The Post has learned. The 61-year-old e-commerce magnate has signaled interest to business associates in buying the cable network — home to “Squawk Box” and “Mad Money with Jim Cramer” — after it is spun off by NBCUniversal parent Comcast later this year, according to a person familiar with Bezos’ thinking. CNBC would “align well with his interests,” said another source close to Bezos, who noted that the network could serve as a credible “neutral voice” in his media portfolio — a major plus following Bezos’s headaches as owner of the left-leaning Washington Post. It is unclear how much Bezos — currently ranked as the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of $241 billion, according to Forbes — would be willing to pony up for CNBC. https://tinyurl.com/yxfw943x

Alphabet raises Capex estimate to US$85 billion as cloud profits grow.

Alphabet raised its estimate for 2025 capital expenditures to $85 billion, from its initial estimate of US$75 billion, amid what CEO Sundar Pichai called “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services.” Pichai revealed the higher capex estimate as the Google parent reported second quarter earnings. Revenue grew 14% year-over-year, a slight acceleration from 12% reported in the first quarter, reflecting stronger growth in Search and Cloud revenues. Search revenue grew 11.7% year-over-year, up from 9.8% the previous quarter, and Cloud revenue grew 31.6%, up from 28% the previous quarter. Cloud’s profit margin also rose meaningfully, to 20.7%, compared with 11% a year earlier although it has been rising steadily through the past year. https://tinyurl.com/4aj9wb7h

Tesla reports steep profit and revenue declines.

Tesla reported a steep decline in profit and revenue for the second quarter as sales of the company’s electric vehicles continued to fall. The Elon Musk-led automaker’s profit fell 16% to US$1.2 billion in the period. Revenue fell US12% to $22.5 billion, according to Tesla’s second quarter report. The declines coincided with lower overall auto sales for Tesla, with vehicle deliveries down 14% year-over-year. Tesla shares fell about 1% in after-hours trading. Tesla also said that falling sales of regulatory credits to traditional automakers hurt its profitability in the quarter. Other automakers have historically used those credits to offset emissions fines that the Trump administration is expected to eliminate. Revenue from credits fell about 50% year-over-year to US$439 million. In addition, Tesla said it had started its “first builds” of a long-awaited “more affordable model” in June and plans to ramp up production in the second half of the year. https://tinyurl.com/3ywkacfm

ServiceNow shares jump 7% as AI deals grow larger.

ServiceNow shares rose more than 7% after its second-quarter earnings, in which the company surpassed its revenue forecast by around US$80 million and said deals that include its AI tools are getting larger and closing more frequently. ServiceNow had just over US$3.2 billion in revenue for its June quarter, up more than 22% from last year and more than 2% from last quarter. ServiceNow also raised its sales forecast for the year by US$125 million to around US$12.8 billion. The results suggest that companies aren’t cutting back on software purchases despite the uncertain economic environment and international trade tensions. In an interview before ServiceNow’s earnings call, CEO Bill McDermott said internal adoption of AI agents for tasks like customer support, server management and sales preparation has allowed the company to cut its operational expense forecast by US$100 million for its fiscal year. https://tinyurl.com/387z3xpe

OpenAI agreed to pay Oracle US$30 billion a year for data center services.

OpenAI was the company that signed a US$30 billion per year deal with Oracle for data center services, disclosed last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has confirmed the details of the contract (but not the dollar amount) in an X post on Tuesday and in a company blog post. To recap, on June 30, Oracle disclosed in an SEC filing that it had signed a cloud deal that would generate US$30 billion a year in revenue. However, the company didn’t say who it was with or for what services. The news caused Oracle’s stock to hit an all-time high, making its founder and CTO, Larry Ellison, the second richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg. Speculation on the identity of the customer ensued as people wondered what company could possibly need a fresh US$30 billion a year in data center services. For comparison, Oracle collectively sold US$24.5 billion worth of cloud services in its fiscal 2025 to all customers combined, it reported in June. OpenAI has now explained that this Oracle deal is for 4.5 gigawatts of capacity as part of Stargate, the US$500 billion data-center-building project OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced in January. (Apparently, the US$30 billion deal does not involve SoftBank.) The WSJ reports 4.5 gigawatts is the equivalent of two Hoover Dams, enough power for about four million homes. This isn’t a straightforward win for Oracle. OpenAI and Oracle still have to build this monster data center, which will be a costly endeavor, both in cash and in energy. They are doing so at what OpenAI called the Stargate I site in Abilene, Texas. https://tinyurl.com/95tmk6hx

OpenAI’s GPT-5 is coming next month.

OpenAI is expected to release its next big model — GPT-5 — in August, Axios has learned. The race to create the biggest and best AI models is accelerating as the Trump administration has said the U.S. must do “whatever it takes” to beat China. GPT-5 was expected earlier, but OpenAI’s release plan has shifted several times. In addition to being better at coding and more powerful overall, GPT-5 is expected to combine the attributes of both traditional models and so-called reasoning models such as o3. https://tinyurl.com/mwbexrxr

OpenAI, SoftBank at odds over data center project.

A joint venture between OpenAI and SoftBank to develop US$500 billion worth of data centers for artificial intelligence is off to a slow start. The companies have scaled back their initial plans due to disagreements and may only develop a small data center by the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal. But OpenAI has moved ahead without SoftBank to secure more computing power for its technology and products. OpenAI had already worked with Oracle and other firms to develop a data center in Texas before the SoftBank venture, dubbed Stargate, began. OpenAI has also signed deals to rent servers from Google and CoreWeave. Those deals suggest OpenAI may be able to find enough computing resources without Stargate, at least in the near term. In a joint statement, SoftBank and OpenAI said they are “moving with urgency on site assessments and reimagining how data centers are designed.” The firms said they have projects advancing in multiple states. https://tinyurl.com/39dzup5d

OpenAI’s data center developer seeks US$1 billion, projects rapid growth.

Crusoe, the startup behind the first data center for OpenAI’s US$500 billion Stargate project, is seeking around US$1 billion in new equity. The firm is both a real estate developer that builds data centers for other companies and a cloud provider that rents out AI chips from its facilities. Crusoe projected its cloud revenue would rise to US$18 billion in 2030 from US$1 billion in 2026. It generated US$100 million from that business in 2024. The company was valued at US$2.8 billion in a round led by Founders Fund last year. The firm is developing the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas and is also developing facilities in Amarillo, Texas, and Cheyenne, Wyo. https://tinyurl.com/2pj3nj3p

Trump administration seeks SpaceX alternatives for ‘Golden Dome’ project.

The Trump administration is trying to look for alternatives to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for its “Golden Dome” missile defense project, Reuters reported Wednesday. U.S. officials have spoken with other companies including Amazon, which is launching satellites for its Project Kuiper satellite internet service, newer rocket firms like Stoke Space and Rocket Lab, as well as traditional defense firms like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, according to the report. SpaceX is still likely to play some role in the project due to its unmatched launch capacity, but the U.S. is wary of relying too heavily on the company, Reuters reported. The Golden Dome project, which the White House has said will cost $175 billion, is intended to be a much larger version of Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense system that would protect the U.S. from missiles by using a network of sensors and space-launched interceptors. Before Musk’s falling-out with President Donald Trump, Musk said in April that SpaceX is willing to help with the project but would prefer to stay focused on “taking humanity to Mars.” https://tinyurl.com/4ps6bnmc

The NFL in talks to take 10% stake in ESPN.

The NFL and ESPN are nearing a deal for the league to take a 10% stake in the Disney-owned sports media company, according to a report from CNBC. The terms could include ESPN taking ownership of NFL Network and NFL RedZone, two cable channels owned by the league. ESPN and the NFL have been talking to each other for about two years about a new deal where the NFL could take an equity stake in the company, while also supplying content to ESPN, which is about to launch a much-anticipated new streaming service later this year. The NFL Network airs some live games, replays and studio programming throughout the year. Meanwhile, NFL RedZone is a popular channel on Sundays during the regular season as it airs a studio show that jumps from game to game to show highlights. A deal would also strengthen ESPN’s ties to the most popular sports league in the U.S., particularly as the NFL considers opting out of its current media rights deals in 2029 and opening a new bidding war between TV media heavyweights like Disney and tech giants such as Amazon, YouTube and Netflix. https://tinyurl.com/bray456d

NBCU is exploring launching a sports cable network.

NBCUniversal is discussing launching a sports cable network that could debut as early as the fall, people familiar with the matter said. The channel would primarily carry sports that are also streamed on NBCU’s Peacock platform. The network would be offered to cable and satellite distributors as part of specialty packages of similar channels, the people said. Discussions are still in early stages, and a final decision on the network has yet to be made, according to the people. The talks are surprising because NBCU, like some other traditional media companies, has been grappling with viewers cutting the cord to cable and turning to streaming services. NBCU is in the process of spinning off most of its cable networks into a new company named Versant. NBCU executives are exploring a sports-cable channel with the idea that it would complement, rather than cannibalize, its Peacock service and provide a hedge should it grow slower than officials expect. The potential channel is “not going to hurt Peacock, it’s a pay-TV product for people who are stubborn about leaving the bundle,” said Patrick Crakes, a sports media consultant. Crakes added it is hard to make money on sports solely via streaming. https://tinyurl.com/zze97d5y

Companies look beyond bitcoin to drive up their share prices.

Public companies are loading up on cryptocurrencies such as US President Donald Trump’s memecoin, HYPE token and litecoin, as they branch out into hoarding digital currencies beyond bitcoin in an attempt to drive up their own share prices. Issuing shares or bonds in order to buy bitcoin has become a hot trend globally this year as companies seek to emulate billionaire Michael Saylor’s $116bn company Strategy in stockpiling the digital currency. But listed companies and new special purpose acquisition vehicles are now targeting other tokens, as they seek to differentiate themselves from the hundreds of bitcoin-owning businesses. Former Cambridge Analytica executive Brittany Kaiser is working on a deal to raise $200mn of equity using a public shell company to buy Toncoin at a discount to its current trading value with Canadian investment group RSV Capital, according to two people briefed on the matter. Toncoin is the token of the blockchain used by messaging app Telegram and built by its founders, including Pavel Durov. The moves beyond bitcoin come as the price of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency recently hit a record high of more than US$123,000, boosted by the US’s friendly approach to digital assets under Trump. Last week, Washington passed landmark crypto legislation, marking a significant step forward in the mainstream adoption of crypto. Bitcoin has outperformed other tokens, climbing 77 per cent over the past year compared with a 6 per cent rise for ether and 52 per cent rise for litecoin over the same period, leading some firms to look at other cryptocurrencies. The crypto-buying vehicles have also become a means for investors owning large amounts of tokens to store them, with the aim of achieving more value. Typified by Saylor’s Strategy, whose shares trade at nearly double the value of the bitcoin it holds, companies holding crypto are often valued higher than the tokens they have, due to the use of debt to fund purchases that benefit equity holders, and speculative momentum. Bitcoin’s appeal lies in large part in its finite nature, say proponents, with 21mn tokens that will ever be mined, according to rules written into its code. However, few other tokens have such concrete limits and their supply can increase, leading to doubts among some commentators about how sustainable these strategies are. https://tinyurl.com/4mx9a9v5

Big companies could soon launch their own stablecoins.

The landmark crypto bill that just passed in Congress paves the way for more businesses to issue their own stablecoins. This corner of the crypto market has received a lot of attention as the GENIUS Act moved toward becoming law, with crypto proponents cheering the huge show of legislative support. These digital assets are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to fiat money like the US dollar. Right now, they’re mostly used by crypto traders to easily buy other tokens. However, stablecoins used for payments would be a monumental shift in the foundations of commerce. In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart and Amazon were considering launching their own stablecoins. Now that the GENIUS Act has cleared the final legislative hurdle, crypto experts expect big changes to the payments ecosystem. Why would companies issue their own stablecoins? It isn’t hard to see the incentive for big companies like Walmart or Amazon. “Retailers currently lose an estimated 2% to 3% of every transaction to credit card processing fees,” CoinRoutes co-founder Dave Weisberger, said. For companies with billions in sales, eliminating even a portion of that margin drag could unlock 10s of millions in savings. Stablecoins offer a potential alternative that reduces frictional costs, accelerates settlement times, and gives merchants more control over payment rails.” Eliminating that type of cost would be a boon for Walmart and Amazon, but would be a blow to credit card issuers like Visa and Mastercard. Visa recently issued a statement on the passing of the GENIUS Act, noting that it anticipated the market shift brought on by stablecoin adoption. It stated that it is “laying the groundwork by building and supporting blockchain-based solutions that help our partners and clients integrate stablecoins into the future of mainstream payments.” For people shopping with a retailer like Amazon or Walmart, a stablecoin payment system might not feel all that different from what they’re doing now. “On the surface, not much changes – you tap your phone, check out, maybe earn extra rewards or save on fees. But underneath, everything shifts. Walmart and Amazon aren’t just retailers anymore—they’re now your bank and your payment network.” https://tinyurl.com/y283sasr

Nvidia AI chips worth US$1 billion smuggled to China after Trump export controls.

A Financial Times analysis of dozens of sales contracts, company filings and multiple people with direct knowledge of the deals reveals that Nvidia’s B200 has become the most sought-after — and widely available — chip in a rampant Chinese black market for American semiconductors. The processor is widely used by US powerhouses such as OpenAI, Google and Meta to train their latest AI systems, but banned for sale to China. In May, multiple Chinese distributors started selling B200s to suppliers of data centres that serve Chinese AI groups, according to documents reviewed by the FT. This was shortly after the Trump administration moved to prevent sales of the H20 — a less-powerful Nvidia chip tailored to comply with Joe Biden-era curbs. It is legal to receive and sell restricted Nvidia chips in China, as long as relevant border tariffs are paid, according to lawyers familiar with the rules. Entities selling and sending them to China would be violating US regulations, however. Nvidia has long insisted there is “no evidence of any AI chip diversion”. There is no evidence that the company is involved in, or has knowledge of, its restricted products being sold to China. “Trying to cobble together data centres from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically,” Nvidia told the FT. “Data centres require service and support, which we provide only to authorised Nvidia products.” https://tinyurl.com/2endab4f