TL;DR

Nvidia hit by $15B China chip ban; US, Gulf, and EU ink major AI infrastructure deals; Microsoft, OpenAI, Google expand AI offerings.

Highlights

• Nvidia faces $15B in lost sales after US bans H20 AI chips to China; CEO Huang warns of fueling a rival Chinese AI sector and confirms no further Hopper-based chips for China 1.
• US House advances 10-year federal ban on state/local AI regulation; strong bipartisan opposition and uncertain Senate prospects 3.
• Trump signs 'Take It Down Act,' first US federal law criminalizing non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes and revenge porn, mandating swift removal by platforms 2.
• Microsoft partners with xAI to host Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini on Azure AI Foundry; launches more autonomous GitHub Copilot agent powered by Anthropic Claude 3.7 Sonnet 4.
• Microsoft open-sources GitHub Copilot Chat extension for VS Code under MIT license; AI models remain proprietary 7.
• OpenAI rebounds from 2023 leadership crisis, raises $40B at $300B valuation, and expands global partnerships via 'OpenAI for Countries' 5.
• Google faces antitrust scrutiny after internal documents reveal use of publisher data to train AI search features without consent; DOJ and publishers push for opt-out 6.
• UAE announces $50B 'Silicon Dunes' AI campus with Nvidia chips; France and Saudi Arabia unveil major AI data center and chip deals with US tech firms 8.
• Sanmina acquires AMD ’s ZT Systems manufacturing business for $3B; AMD retains AI engineering, focusing on onshore AI-first infrastructure 9.
• MediaTek to tape out 2nm AI chips at TSMC by September 2025, targeting early AI silicon leadership 10.
• Nvidia in talks to invest in PsiQuantum’s $750M round; D-Wave launches 4,400-qubit Advantage2 quantum system for optimization and AI 11.
• Dell launches PowerEdge servers with up to 256 Nvidia GPUs and AI-focused Pro Max Plus laptop with Qualcomm NPU for on-device inferencing 12.
• Google launches free Gemini-powered NotebookLM mobile app for AI note-taking; Imagen 4 and Imagen 4 Fast image-to-video models set for Google I/O 1315.
• SAG-AFTRA files labor charges against Epic Games over AI-generated Darth Vader voice in Fortnite, citing lack of bargaining with performers 14.

Commentary

US-China AI decoupling is intensifying, with the Trump administration’s H20 chip ban costing Nvidia $15B and ending further Hopper-based chip modifications for China 1. Nvidia and other US firms are rapidly redirecting hardware and infrastructure deals to the Gulf and Europe, highlighted by the UAE’s $50B Silicon Dunes campus and France’s €8.5B Nvidia /MGX campus 8. These moves are reshaping global AI compute supply, but also raise concerns about technology diversion and the emergence of parallel AI ecosystems 81.

Regulatory dynamics remain fluid. The House’s proposed 10-year federal preemption on state/local AI regulation would provide short-term uniformity but faces bipartisan resistance and a tough Senate path 3. In contrast, the swift passage of the ‘Take It Down Act’—criminalizing AI-generated deepfakes—shows that targeted federal action on AI harms is possible when public concern is high 2. Meanwhile, Google ’s silent use of publisher data for AI search training, now exposed in antitrust proceedings, signals rising scrutiny of data practices and publisher relations 6.

On the product and infrastructure front, hyperscalers and chipmakers are broadening their AI portfolios. Microsoft ’s integration of xAI’s Grok models, open-sourcing of Copilot Chat for VS Code, and focus on local/edge AI reflect a multi-model, developer-centric approach 47. Dell ’s new GPU-dense servers and AI laptops 12, MediaTek’s 2nm chip timeline 10, and AMD ’s manufacturing realignment with Sanmina 9 all point to rapid innovation in AI hardware and supply chains. Quantum computing is also seeing renewed investment interest from Nvidia and new hardware launches from D-Wave , with potential long-term implications for optimization and AI workloads 11.

Labor and copyright concerns are escalating. SAG-AFTRA’s charge against Epic Games over AI voice acting 14, and Google ’s publisher data practices 6, highlight unresolved questions around consent, compensation, and creative labor in the AI era. OpenAI’s post-crisis expansion and global partnerships 5, alongside continuing criticism of its commercial model and labor practices, illustrate the ongoing tension between rapid AI scale-up and broader societal impacts.