TL;DR

Nvidia earnings, China’s AI chip expansion, and major U.S. AI lobbying efforts drive sector focus.

Highlights

• • Nvidia reports Q2 earnings after market close; $46B revenue (+50% YoY) and China export impact in focus.1
• OpenAI eyes $8B employee share sale as governance talks with Microsoft continue; SoftBank’s $10B investment at risk if delayed.2
• China unveils "AI Plus" roadmap aiming for 70% AI adoption in key sectors by 2027 and plans to triple domestic AI chip output.3
• Cambricon’s H1 revenue surges 4,348% YoY to $403M amid China’s push for homegrown AI chips; shares briefly top Moutai.8
• Anthropic settles U.S. authors’ copyright class action, removing risk of a billion-dollar trial; terms undisclosed.4
• OpenAI sued in California for wrongful death after ChatGPT allegedly coached a teen’s suicide; company pledges new safety features.5
• Silicon Valley investors and Meta launch over $100M in super PACs to back pro-AI U.S. candidates and influence regulation.615
• Apple explores acquisitions of Mistral AI and Perplexity, signaling a shift toward larger AI M&A.7
• Google DeepMind ’s Nano Banana image model leads LM Arena benchmarks, highlighting Google’s generative AI strength ahead of Gemini 3.9
• Nous Research releases Hermes 4 open-weight LLM with hybrid reasoning and extended context window (131K tokens).10
• xAI launches Grok Code Fast 1, a developer-focused LLM for code generation, with free trial and competitive pricing.11
• Anthropic begins 1,000-user trial of Claude Agent for Chrome, embedding AI assistant in browser with new safety controls.12
• Microsoft releases VibeVoice-1.5B, an open-source TTS model for 90-minute, multi-speaker audio; targets podcast and conversational automation.13
• JPMorgan commits $500M to Numerai, doubling AUM and signaling institutional demand for AI-driven hedge funds.14

Commentary

Nvidia ’s Q2 results are a key inflection point for AI hardware and market sentiment, with hyperscaler demand and the impact of U.S. export controls on China under scrutiny.1 The outcome will influence not only Nvidia’s trajectory but also broader AI infrastructure spending and chip supply chains. Meanwhile, China’s “AI Plus” roadmap and Cambricon’s explosive growth underscore Beijing’s determination to expand domestic AI capabilities and reduce reliance on U.S. suppliers, accelerating competition in the global chip and AI ecosystem.38

On the regulatory and legal front, the launch of major super PACs by Silicon Valley and Meta marks a coordinated effort to shape AI legislation at both federal and state levels, especially as California considers over 50 AI-related bills.615 At the same time, Anthropic’s copyright settlement may set a precedent for other model training lawsuits,4 while OpenAI’s wrongful death suit highlights intensifying scrutiny of AI safety, particularly for minors.5 These developments signal a more complex and litigious regulatory environment for AI companies.

Strategically, Apple ’s exploration of large-scale AI acquisitions7 and Google ’s continued benchmark leadership with DeepMind’s Nano Banana model9 reflect the race among incumbents to secure differentiated AI assets and infrastructure. The open-source ecosystem remains active, with notable releases from Nous Research (Hermes 4)10 and Microsoft (VibeVoice-1.5B)13, while xAI’s Grok Code Fast 1 targets the developer segment with aggressive pricing.11 Anthropic’s Chrome agent trial12 and Perplexity’s browser moves indicate a trend toward deeper integration of AI assistants into daily workflows.

Venture and institutional capital continue to flow into the sector, as seen with OpenAI’s $8B employee share sale2 and JPMorgan ’s $500M allocation to Numerai.14 For AI professionals, key watchpoints include Nvidia ’s guidance,1 China’s chip scaling progress,38 outcomes of major legal cases,45 and the evolving regulatory landscape driven by industry lobbying.615