Reports have emerged that Apple may have managed to avoid 100% tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, partly by agreeing to partner with Intel to manufacture its chips. While Apple could benefit from expanding its chip suppliers, the episode also shows the power of Intel's government backing as the US seeks to reshore its semiconductor industry.
Tencent is in talks to become the largest shareholder in Manus, leading a proposed buyback of the AI agent startup after Chinese regulators ordered Meta Platforms to unwind its US$2 billion acquisition.
AI demand is still outrunning advanced semiconductor capacity, putting foundry output, HBM supply, packaging and server infrastructure at the centre of this week's tech agenda.
China is preparing to allow a limited number of Nvidia H200 AI accelerators into the country, giving Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek access to advanced computing power while preserving Beijing's broader campaign for semiconductor self-reliance.
Foxconn is using AI and coordinated security teams across Asia, Europe and the Americas to defend against cyberattacks as enterprises increasingly adopt AI. Chief Information Security Officer Wei-Bin Lee said that the company's global footprint makes it a prime target.
The world's most powerful AI models are encountering a new constraint beyond chips, data and engineering talent: governments increasingly want a say in when frontier systems are released, who may access them and which capabilities should remain restricted.
