May 25, 2025: Tariff Headlines Send Market Down, Again

Last week, Dow Jones fell 2.5%, S&P 500 lost 2.6%, Nasdaq composite was down 2.5%, as US tariff fears once again surfaced, and treasury yields rose earlier in the week. President Trump proposed a 25% tariff on imported Apple devices, pressuring domestic manufacturing. OpenAI acquired io, an AI-device startup by Jony Ive, for US$6.5 billion, with plans for AI “companions” potentially adding substantial value. Coreweave raised US$2 billion in bonds, showing strong investor appetite for AI infrastructure. Salesforce resumed acquisition talks with Informatica, while Nvidia criticized U.S. AI-chip restrictions, highlighting significant market share losses in China. Snowflake surpassed US$1 billion in quarterly revenue, buoyed by AI ambitions, and BYD overtook Tesla in European EV sales for the first time. Tesla released a compilation video Tuesday of its Optimus humanoid robots that it says autonomously performed a variety of tasks, including throwing a trash bag into a bin and vacuuming the floor. Google partnered with Warby Parker for AI-powered smart glasses, signaling competitive innovation against Meta and Apple. Apple is aiming to release its AI smart glasses next year. Nvidia introduced NVLink Fusion, allowing integration with third-party AI chips, while Google expanded AI-driven search capabilities to all U.S. users. Canada’s largest pension plan, CPPIB, increased its U.S. investment exposure to 47% despite domestic pressure to allocate more to Canadian assets, driven by better returns (9.6% in the U.S. vs. 5.8% domestically over five years). In Canada, Shopify launched new AI tools, including an AI-powered storefront builder and upgraded Sidekick commerce assistant, emphasizing enhanced merchant experiences and efficiency. In news pertaining to Sophic Clients, Kraken Robotics secured over $3 million in orders. Legend Power Systems reported strong Q2 F2025 revenue growth ($523K vs. $124K), driven by its SmartGATE™ power management system and strategic orders, though higher costs led to a wider net loss.

Canada’s biggest pension plan increases US exposure.

Canada’s largest pension plan has almost half of all its assets invested in the US, sharply increasing its exposure despite pressure from government officials to invest more in its home market. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages C$714 billion (US$516 billion) pension assets for 22mn Canadians, said on Wednesday that 47 per cent of its portfolio was invested in the US at the end of March. That marked an increase from 42 per cent in 2024, when Canadian executives launched a campaign to force the country’s big pension schemes to invest more in domestic assets, and just 36 per cent in 2023. The surge in the CPPIB’s US investments comes as tensions between Washington and Ottawa have flared this year over tariffs and President Donald Trump’s suggestions that Canada should become the US’s 51st state. The CPPIB, which underperformed its benchmark to return 9.3 per cent in the year to March, has a higher proportion of its assets invested in the US in part because American investments have performed better than their rivals. The CPPIB said its US returns delivered a net return of 9.6 per cent over the past five years, compared with 5.8 per cent for its Canadian holdings. In March 2024, more than 90 Canadian corporate executives signed an open letter calling on the government to amend the rules governing the country’s pension funds and have them increase their domestic investment — claiming that the amount they allocated to Canadian equities had dwindled from 28 per cent in 2000 to 4 per cent by 2023. The CPPIB said its allocation to private equity — which makes up 23 per cent of the core portfolio — had been the biggest drag on its performance over the past five years. https://tinyurl.com/3kfykmbe

Sophic Client Kraken Robotics (PNG-TSXV, KRKNF-OTC) announces more than $3 million in synthetic aperture sonar sales.

Kraken Robotics received new orders totaling more than $3 million for Kraken Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS). The Kraken SAS systems will be integrated on small and medium-class uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) for clients in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. “We continue to see high demand for our synthetic aperture sonar on uncrewed systems, especially for small-class UUVs,” said Greg Reid, President and CEO of Kraken Robotics. “Kraken SAS enables clients to significantly increase the capabilities of their uncrewed platforms, providing a larger swath with consistent high resolution, enabling missions to be completed faster and more accurately.” https://t.co/2WlWfw9kDC

Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) reports Q2 F2025 financial results.

“The second quarter of 2025 marks a new phase of execution for Legend Power Systems as we shift our focus from internal readiness to closing deals and capturing additional sales,” said Randy Buchamer, CEO of Legend Power Systems. “SmartGATE™ continues to prove its value in delivering reliable, efficient power for building owners who require optimal facility performance at all times. With the first order from the City of New York Public School System and a repeat order of eight additional SmartGATE systems from an existing customer post quarter end, we are seeing our efforts in establishing key partnerships come to fruition. These wins validate our strategy, and we are now focused on accelerating deployments, advancing late-stage opportunities, and converting strong pipeline activity into repeatable, scalable revenue across commercial real estate, education, government, and military sectors.” Q2 F2025 Financial Highlights: Revenue for Q2 F2025 was $522,579, compared with $123,678 in the same quarter of fiscal 2024. The higher revenue during Q2 of fiscal 2025 is primarily due to the fulfillment of additional SmartGATE units. Gross margin in Q2 F2025 was $114,345, compared with $56,771 in the same quarter of fiscal 2024. The increase in gross margin dollars is mainly due to an increase in the number SmartGATE units sold. Gross margin percentage has decreased due to increased cost of certain inventory components, as well as suppliers paid in US dollars. Margin percentage is also lower this quarter, due to the mix of SmartGATE units sold, and anticipate margins to return to the targeted margin levels. The Company’s operating expenses for Q2 F2025 were $1,049,412, compared with $968,239 in the same quarter of fiscal 2024. The primary cause for the increase was higher consulting and warranty expense, as well as temporary cost cutting measures taken in the prior year. Net loss for Q2 F2025 was $939,863, compared with a net loss of $907,158 in the same quarter of fiscal 2024. https://t.co/7c9fKkXTHD

Keep raises $12 million in increasingly competitive Canadian corporate spend market.

In the U.S., a number of startups aim to be the corporate spend manager of choice for small and large businesses. Brex, Ramp, and Mercury are among those companies, just to name a few. Moving north of the border to Canada, the options are fewer, but growing. Keep is a startup that has built a financial platform specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). On Tuesday, it announced a total of $23 million in equity funding, a $50 million credit facility, and a $3 million venture debt line, it shared with TechCrunch exclusively. This year, Keep raised $12 million in what it describes as a Series A1 round that was led by Tribe Capital. It previously raised $8 million in a Series A led by Tribe Capital in May of 2023, and $8 million in a seed round in November of 2021. Treville Capital Group provided the credit line, and Silicon Valley Bank the venture debt. In 2023, Keep launched its corporate credit card as part of its quest to serve as “the mission control center for a company’s finances.” Besides the corporate card, Keep offers businesses multi-currency accounts, automated expense management, and integrations with accounting software. In 2024, Keep crossed $14 million in annualized revenue and onboarded over 3,000 SMB customers that operate across a mix of industries, many of which do business internationally. The company makes money in part by earning interchange revenue when businesses use its corporate cards. It also charges fees for capital advances and short-duration installment loans, and earns revenue from premium payment options when customers send funds instantly or exchange currencies. https://tinyurl.com/bddu9txz

Shopify (SHOP-NASDAQ, SHOP-TSX) launches an AI-powered store builder as part of its latest update.

Shopify is giving its merchants a slew of new AI-powered tools designed to help them enhance the online shopping experience for their customers. This includes an AI store builder for users to set up storefronts using a single prompt, as well as an AI generator for creating elements (such as banners) without knowing how to code. The platform also upgraded Sidekick, its AI commerce assistant, with new voice chat and screen sharing capabilities. These updates were announced on Wednesday during Shopify’s Edition launch day, the company’s biannual announcement that showcases recent changes to the platform. The goal of the AI store builder is to create the foundation of a website quickly, so there’s more time for personalization. To use the tool, users first have to enter a prompt that describes their brand. For example, “tennis gear and stylish athleisure.” Shopify’s AI then generates a ready-to-launch storefront, and merchants can then manually customize their store within the editor. Shopify also introduced a new public theme called “Horizon” in its Theme Store, a marketplace for downloading pre-designed templates. Horizon includes a built-in AI to assist merchants in adjusting their designs as they wish. It’s also the first theme to include “Theme Blocks,” which are essentially building blocks that merchants can use to customize how their online store looks without touching any code. These theme blocks can also be further customized with the help of AI. For example, if the merchant wants a banner with text and an animation, they can describe it, and it generates the code. Additionally, users can now engage in voice chat with Sidekick, which responds audibly to questions. For example, if merchants are confused about tariffs — a hot topic for retailers right now — Sidekick will direct them to helpful resources. Users can also screen share with Sidekick to navigate features, such as finding the settings. Alongside these new capabilities, Sidekick is now available in the Shopify mobile app. Sidekick was rolled out widely to all merchants in December 2024. According to the company, monthly users have more than doubled since the beginning of 2025, a spokesperson told TechCrunch. Shopify’s continued investment in AI shouldn’t be unexpected. In CEO Tobi Lütke’s recent memo to staff, he suggested that AI may help the company maintain a smaller workforce. https://tinyurl.com/2ppfwucj

Trump threatens 25% on Apple devices imported into U.S.

President Donald Trump threatened to impose a tariff of at least 25% on Apple devices imported into the U.S. until it makes iPhones in the U.S., rather than overseas. “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday morning. His threat comes a week after Trump said he confronted Cook about ramping up its manufacturing base in India instead of the U.S. In recent months, Apple has been moving fast to shift its manufacturing to India for devices bound for the U.S. market. https://tinyurl.com/3h5a85vm

OpenAI acquires Ex-Apple designer Jony Ive’s AI device startup for US$6.5 billion.

OpenAI is acquiring io, an AI device startup started by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for close to US$6.5 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The startup’s 55 employees will join OpenAI, the person said, while Ive will take charge of creative and design at OpenAI. But Ive won’t become an OpenAI employee. Instead, Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, will remain independent from OpenAI. The collaboration signals OpenAI’s desire to develop AI-powered consumer devices. OpenAI already owned a 23% stake in io, due to an agreement signed in the fourth quarter of last year, the person with knowledge said. To buy out the rest, OpenAI is paying US$5 billion in equity. OpenAI’s startup fund is also an investor in io, they said. The company expects the deal to close this summer. io’s other investors include Emerson Collective, Sutter Hill Ventures, Thrive Capital, Maverick Capital and SV Angel, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investments. It’s still not clear what exactly the consumer devices io and OpenAI are building will look like. The Information previously reported that potential designs included a “phone” without a screen and AI-enabled household devices. The Information first reported that Altman and Ive were collaborating on a device and that io was in talks to raise funding from Emerson Collective and Thrive Capital. https://tinyurl.com/4yn7bp99

Altman shares plans to ship 100 million AI ‘companions.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staff Wednesday that he was aiming to ship 100 million AI “companions,” as a result of the company’s US$6.5 billion acquisition of io, the AI device startup started by Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. It’s not clear what the companion device will be. Altman told staff that the product will be fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life while still being unobtrusive and small enough to rest in one’s pocket or on one’s desk, the Wall Street Journal report said. Altman also said that Ive has been skeptical about building a wearable device, a popular design for AI personal devices thus far, according to the report. The Information has previously reported that potential designs for the device include a “phone” without a screen and AI-enabled household devices. Altman also said that the deal had the potential to add US$1 trillion in value to OpenAI, according to the report. That would be a significant bump to OpenAI’s last valuation, US$300 billion including the investment. OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. https://tinyurl.com/yc7yd3nm

Coreweave raises US$2 billion in upsized high-yield bond offering.

Coreweave, the debt-laden data center builder, sold US$2 billion in high-yield bonds, $500 million more than expected, a sign investors will continue to fund the costly buildout of artificial intelligence computing power. The funds will be used partly to repay Coreweave’s outstanding debt, the company said Wednesday. Coreweave carried about $8 billion in debt when it went public earlier this year. Its junk bonds carry an interest rate of 9.25% and mature in 2030. S&P Global gave Coreweave a B+ credit rating, which is the higher end of junk bonds, ahead of the offering. S&P said the rating reflected positives such as the company’s “solid market position” and negatives including the cash-intensive nature of the AI buildout and Coreweave’s “significant customer and supplier concentration.” Shares in Coreweave surged 19% Wednesday. The stock is up more than 150% since its IPO in late March. https://tinyurl.com/37ymjnjb

Salesforce back in talks to acquire data management firm Informatica.

Salesforce, after unsuccessfully trying to acquire Informatica last year, is back in talks with the data management software provider, according to Bloomberg. Informatica, which has a market capitalization of US$6.8 billion, would be Salesforce’s largest acquisition since its US$27.7 billion purchase of collaboration software provider Slack in 2020. An acquisition could help Salesforce address one of the biggest obstacles to customers adopting its AI agent-building software, which is managing and organizing corporate data stored across different databases and applications. Buying Informatica could also give a boost to Salesforce’s revenue growth, albeit a modest one: Informatica’s revenue grew 3% to US$1.64 billion in the twelve months to Dec. 31 compared to the previous year. Salesforce’s revenue grew 9% to US$37.9 billion in the twelve months to Jan. 31, and it is forecasting growth of 7% to 8% for its current fiscal year. https://tinyurl.com/e7r7vdtw

Perplexity buys browser startup Sidekick.

Perplexity, the three-year-old startup that has raised nearly US$900 million in just over a year, has been using some of its venture capital windfall to make acquisitions or hire staff from struggling startups, The Information reported Monday. The startup bought Sidekick, a six-year-old startup developing a distraction-free browser. The startup also hired employees from Rhymes AI, a startup founded by Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Google’s Chinese operations. The acquisition and hires, which had not been previously reported, show how some AI startups are able to leverage their cash stockpiles in a funding market that remains tough for many small startups. Read.cv, a networking website for working professionals, said in January it was joining Perplexity after winding down its operations. Perplexity generated $34 million in revenue last year. But spending on AI models, other web services and other expenses handily outpaced that revenue, and it burned US$65 million in cash last year. https://tinyurl.com/2s3953p6

OnlyFans owner in talks to sell to investor group at about US$8 billion value.

OnlyFans owner Fenix International Ltd is in talks to sell the company to an investor group at a valuation of around US$8 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The group is led by the Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, the sources said. Reuters could not identify the investors in the group. The investor group and current deal value have not previously been reported. OnlyFans takes 20% of creators’ earnings. In the year ended November 2023, the company generated US$6.6 billion in revenue, according to a filing with British regulators. That is up from US$375 million in 2020, and this rapid growth has attracted investor interest. Some executives at Forest Road were part of a special purpose acquisition company that was in talks to take OnlyFans public in 2022, according to sources and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://tinyurl.com/ynatkdja

Regeneron to buy 23andMe for US$256 million.

Biotechnology company Regeneron agreed to buy the assets of 23andMe, the DNA testing company that filed for bankruptcy in March, for US$256 million. That’s just 4% of the San Francisco-based startup’s peak valuation as a public company in 2021. Publicly held Regeneron discovers new drugs using artificial intelligence. It said it would continue operating 23andMe’s genetic testing business. 23andMe had become popular with consumers in the late 2000s’ for its saliva kits, which promised to tell users the countries of their ancestors and susceptibility to certain diseases. But it struggled to retain early momentum and was further hobbled by a hack last year that exposed information on almost 7 million customers. In March, the startup’s board rejected a proposal by co-founder and then CEO Anne Wojcicki to buy out the company. https://tinyurl.com/mwfka5we

Snowflake hits US$1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time.

Snowflake shares rose more than 7% after its first-quarter earnings, as the company hit US$1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time and exceeded its product revenue forecast by some US$40 million. Investors seem to be on board with CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy’s plan for competing in a crowded market for business-focused AI products. Snowflake reported US$1 billion in revenue for its April quarter, up 26% from last year. The company also raised its annual revenue target by US$50 million to US$4.33 billion. Snowflake added more than 450 new customers during the quarter, showing that it isn’t suffering any ill effects from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, outgoing CFO Mike Scarpelli said on an earnings call. The big question is when investors will start asking for metrics for Snowflake’s AI product sales, which currently account for a tiny portion of its overall revenue. Snowflake executives have set a target of US$100 million in annual recurring revenue from sales of generative AI software by the close of the company’s fiscal year ending in January, as we reported earlier this month. https://tinyurl.com/yhh8sbyt

Google taps Warby Parker for smart glasses development.

Google is working with Warby Parker to develop AI-powered smart glasses, the companies said Tuesday, sending shares in the eyewear company up more than 14%. The move puts Google in direct competition with Meta, which launched its smart Ray-Ban glasses in late 2023. The glasses, which allow users to stream music, make phone calls, take photos and use Meta’s AI assistant, have become a surprise hit for the company—EssilorLuxottica, Ray-Ban’s owner, has sold more than 2 million pairs of the Meta glasses since their launch, and Essilor said it plans to ramp up its annual production capacity to 10 million units by the end of next year. Earlier this year, Meta executives revived discussions about adding facial recognition technology to the glasses. Google will spend up to US$75 million on product development and will invest an additional US$75 million in Warby Parker stock. Google also announced other smart glasses partnerships Tuesday, including a deal with the high-end eyewear brand Gentle Monster and the Chinese manufacturer Xreal. https://tinyurl.com/kcv3nhcn

BYD beats Tesla in Europe for first time with 169% sales surge.

BYD Co. sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla Inc. for the first time, overtaking the American brand that’s long led the continent’s EV segment. China’s leading automaker registered 7,231 new battery-electric vehicles in April, according to market researcher Jato Dynamics. That was up 169% from a year earlier, vaulting BYD into the top 10 brands by EV sales. Tesla placed one spot back as its registrations plunged 49%. “Although the difference between the two car brands’ monthly sales totals may be small, the implications are enormous,” Jato Dynamics analyst Felipe Munoz said in an emailed statement. “This is a watershed moment for Europe’s car market.” Tesla continued to slump despite accelerating growth in Europe’s EV segment. BYD outsold Tesla by an even wider margin when including the carmaker’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The Chinese company’s total sales soared 359%, Jato said. https://tinyurl.com/mr24zy7y

Nvidia to give customers more flexibility in AI server setups.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Monday that the company will allow customers to combine its own hardware with that of other vendors for its AI servers. The new offering, known as NVLink Fusion, allows customers to pair Nvidia’s chips with chips designed by other vendors. Previously, Nvidia only allowed customers buying its AI servers to mostly use Nvidia hardware. However, major customers like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are now designing their own AI chips as alternatives to Nvidia’s offerings. With NVLink Fusion, those customers can use Nvidia’s technology with their own AI chips. Huang also said that the company’s next flagship AI chips, known as the GB300, will launch in the third quarter of this year. The GB300 will be an upgrade from an existing product, the GB200, which is currently used by major cloud providers. https://tinyurl.com/2s4ma5tf

Google rolls out ‘AI Mode’ in search to all U.S. users.

Google will start rolling out AI Mode, its chatbot-style search tab, to all users in the United States starting Tuesday, search chief Liz Reid announced. The announcement was part of a bevy of AI product announcements at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer conference. Soon, Google Search will also include agentic tools that automate most of the process of booking tickets or buying products online, executives said. Google also announced new versions of its AI models, including a new version of its Veo video generation model with the ability to generate audio. https://tinyurl.com/2uvxacbu

Report: Apple aiming to release AI smart glasses next year.

Apple is expediting its plans to compete with Meta’s popular Ray-Ban smart glasses. Bloomberg reports that Apple is now aiming to release smart glasses “at the end of next year.” Simultaneously, the company has dropped its plans to release an Apple Watch with a built-in camera. The report says that Apple will “start producing large quantities of prototypes at the end of this year.” The glasses will reportedly have built-in cameras, microphones, and speakers so they can “analyze the external world and take requests via the Siri voice assistant.” Other features on the docket include support for taking phone calls, playing music, turn-by-turn directions, and live translation. “One person with knowledge of the glasses said they will be similar to the Meta product but better made,” the report says. The work is being spearheaded by Apple’s Vision Products Group, which spearheaded the work on Vision Pro as well. There are reportedly concerns inside Apple, however, that the company’s ongoing struggles in AI could hinder these smart glasses: People working on Apple’s smart glasses remain concerned that its AI failings may undermine the new product. The Meta Ray-Bans and upcoming glasses running the Android operating system benefit from the strength of Meta’s Llama and Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence platforms. https://tinyurl.com/5ah7am9z

Tesla shows off Optimus robots doing chores.

Tesla released a compilation video Tuesday of its Optimus humanoid robots that it says autonomously performed a variety of tasks, including throwing a trash bag into a bin and vacuuming the floor. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk posted the video with the caption “the biggest product ever.” Musk has said that Tesla will produce over a million Optimus robots in 2030, but until recently, Tesla has shared little evidence to back up that projection. In April, Tesla posted a video of Optimus walking, and earlier this month showed a video of Optimus dancing. Tuesday’s video gives a more comprehensive look at Optimus’ capabilities. The video says that all the behaviors are powered by the same robotic AI model, which Tesla trained using videos of people doing these tasks. While using a single model for multiple skills is an increasingly popular approach in robotics, teaching a model those skills from video recordings is relatively uncommon, in part due to challenges with translating a person’s motions into a robot’s body. Startup Skild AI, which trains AI models to power robots, also uses video demonstrations as one source of data. https://tinyurl.com/56hbzz3x

Microsoft says Apple hampered its efforts to launch an Xbox store for iPhones. 

Microsoft planned to release a mobile app that would have let iPhone users purchase Xbox games last year, but has been unable to do so because Apple wouldn’t let it collect payments through the store without taking a cut, Microsoft said in a court filing on Tuesday. Microsoft submitted the filing to the California judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games against Apple. Epic earlier this year won an injunction requiring Apple to let developers collect payments through iPhone apps without paying Apple a cut of the transaction. Epic claimed in a filing earlier this week that Apple has evaded that ruling by refusing to allow Fortnite back on its app store. Apple on Tuesday approved Fortnite and restored the game on the app store. Microsoft said in its filing Tuesday that Apple previously wasn’t allowing it to set up an Xbox store without imposing a commission, but noted that the court’s ruling last week in favor of Epic now “allows Microsoft to explore this possibility.” Apple is now seeking to overturn the court’s ruling in favor of Epic, which Microsoft argued should be denied by the judge. Microsoft has been planning a mobile Xbox store since as early as 2022. https://tinyurl.com/y8uwed88

EU plans fee on cheap packages, threatening Temu and Shein. 

The European Union is planning to put a tax of 2 euros, or US$2.25, on individual packages shipped directly to consumers from outside the bloc, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. That would represent a blow to low-cost online shops like Temu, Shein and Amazon’s Haul storefront, which are looking to Europe for growth amid trade and regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. About 4.6 billion packages valued at less than 150 euros each were sent directly to EU shoppers’ homes from outside the bloc in 2024, according to the EU. Earlier in May, the U.S. ended a trade rule that had allowed packages worth less than $800 to enter the country tariff-free from China, though imports from other countries using the rule are still permitted. Temu and Shein have raised U.S. prices in response to the change, while Temu slashed U.S. ad spending. Under the EU’s new proposal, items that are sent to warehouses rather than directly to European shoppers would be subject to a tax of 0.50 euros, according to the Financial Times report, which cited a proposal from EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič. https://tinyurl.com/y2cw582m

Nvidia CEO criticizes U.S. chip export restrictions for China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called U.S. export controls on artificial intelligence to China a failure, saying the restrictions empowered Chinese chip developers and caused Nvidia’s market share in the country to decline. “Local companies are very talented and the export controls gave them the spirit and energy to accelerate their development,” Huang said Wednesday during a press conference in Taipei, according to Nikkei Asia and other media outlets. Huang said that China’s market for AI chips could be worth US$50 billion by 2026, and Nvidia’s market share in the country has dropped to 50% now from 95% four years ago, due to the U.S. restrictions. Huang urged the White House to lift the ban on AI chip sales to China. If the current restrictions continue, Nvidia and other American companies risk falling behind Chinese competitors like Huawei Technologies, he said, according to the reports. The U.S. government first launched the chip export controls for China in 2022, and has since updated the rules multiple times to prevent Nvidia from selling its advanced AI chips in the country. Last month, after the Trump administration banned Nvidia from selling its H20 chip in China, the company disclosed a US$5.5 billion writedown due to the H20 ban. https://tinyurl.com/3sudhby4

Sophic Client Plurilock (PLUR-TSXV, PLCKF-OTCQB) Code and Country Podcast – Episode 12 Best of geopolitics (so far) – top moments from our first 11 guests.

In this special episode of Code and Country, we bring together insights from some of the world’s foremost experts in cybersecurity, intelligence, law, and defense. Built around the theme of geopolitics and digital conflict, this compilation traces how nation-state tensions, ransomware groups, and AI threats are converging to reshape the cyber battlefield. Civilian infrastructure is now a target. Compliance is no longer enough. The frontline has shifted from borders to networks. Some of the world’s foremost cyber experts from the RCMP, NSA, NATO, and the private sector reveal what it takes to stay ahead of persistent, coordinated attacks. The episode covers real-time disruption campaigns, threat attribution, legal blind spots, and the rising pressure on CISOs and IT leaders to build true resilience. Whether you’re defending critical infrastructure or leading cyber strategy in a global enterprise, this is a sharp, tactical briefing for those operating at the intersection of cybersecurity and geopolitics. Listen now to understand the new frontline. https://tinyurl.com/4v6cfndw