TL;DR

Nvidia, AMD resume China AI chip sales with U.S. revenue share; OpenAI restores GPT-4o; xAI Grok goes free.

Highlights

• Nvidia and AMD will remit 15% of China AI-chip sales revenue to the U.S. government under new export license terms, enabling resumed shipments of H20 and MI308 chips 1.
• Former President Trump stated he would block any deal for Nvidia ’s next-gen Blackwell GPUs to China 2.
• AMD received initial U.S. licenses to export some AI chips to China; further authorizations are pending 3.
• Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs raised Nvidia price targets ($220 and $200) on China license optimism; Nvidia’s Q2 results due Aug. 27 15.
• CoreWeave price targets raised by JPMorgan ($135) and Citi ($160) ahead of its first post-IPO earnings and lock-up expiration 11.
• SK Hynix projects 30% annual growth in high-bandwidth AI memory through 2030; KYEC, Nvidia ’s chip tester, raises 2025 capex and reports 94% YoY revenue growth 12.
• Rumble is in advanced talks to acquire Northern Data for $1.17B in stock, seeking to expand AI cloud infrastructure 8.
• OpenAI restored GPT-4o as a selectable option after user backlash to GPT-5 rollout; Plus subscribers’ quotas increased 4.
• Zhipu AI, backed by ByteDance, open-sourced its 355B-parameter GLM-4.5 Mixture-of-Experts LLM, reporting strong benchmark results 6.
• xAI made Grok chatbot and Grok Imagine free, pushing the app to top global download charts 7.
• TCS to cut 12,000 mid/senior roles as it shifts focus to AI, data science, and cybersecurity 13.
• AI coding tools and tech layoffs push U.S. CS graduate unemployment to 6.1%; advanced AI skills in demand 14.
• Ex-OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner raised $1.5B for AI hedge fund Situational Awareness; AI talent competition intensifies 10.
• Apple is testing a major Siri overhaul for complex in-app voice control, targeting a 2026 U.S. launch 5.

Commentary

U.S.–China AI chip trade remains tightly controlled and highly politicized. Nvidia and AMD ’s agreement to remit 15% of China AI-chip sales to the U.S. Treasury is an unusual compromise, granting partial market access while maintaining government oversight 1. The arrangement is significant for both vendors’ China revenue, but ongoing political risk is highlighted by Trump’s public opposition to future Blackwell GPU exports 2. Meanwhile, AMD ’s limited export licenses and rising analyst targets for Nvidia reflect cautious optimism but underscore the sector’s sensitivity to regulatory shifts 315.

AI infrastructure demand continues to accelerate. CoreWeave’s upgraded price targets and the Rumble –Northern Data deal illustrate investor focus on specialized cloud and GPU capacity 811. SK Hynix’s bullish HBM growth forecast and KYEC’s capex increase further confirm robust demand for AI memory and testing, with Nvidia as a key beneficiary 12. This arms race in hardware is global and is driving both capital investment and M&A activity.

On the application and model front, user feedback is shaping product direction. OpenAI’s quick restoration of GPT-4o after GPT-5 backlash shows the importance of workflow compatibility and transparency for enterprise and developer users 4. Zhipu AI’s open-sourcing of a large Mixture-of-Experts LLM and xAI’s move to make Grok free demonstrate a trend toward openness and aggressive user acquisition 67. Apple ’s planned Siri overhaul signals continued investment in voice-driven AI interfaces 5.

Workforce impacts are becoming more pronounced. TCS’s large-scale layoffs and the rise in U.S. CS graduate unemployment reflect the automation of entry-level roles and the premium on advanced AI skills 1314. The influx of capital into AI-focused hedge funds and escalating compensation for top researchers highlight ongoing competition for talent 10.