Week 2, 2025
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Overview
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- Oracle makes stunning comeback
- Alibaba gives up physical stores
- TikTok to drop $7B on AI chips
- Nvidia acquires GPU efficiency tech
- Meta picks Trump-friendly policy chief
- Tesla sales drop for first time ever
- Chinese short video sees first user decline
- Accel raises 8th India fund
- Bitcoin ETF sets growth record
- Amazon workers return to office
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Key developments
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- Oracle makes a comeback.
- Oracle's stock jumped 60% this past year, and their slow start in cloud computing turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
- By building their data centers later than competitors, they got to outfit them with the latest AI hardware from the start.
- Better yet, Oracle isn't trying to build their own AI models.
- This makes them the Switzerland of AI infrastructure - a neutral provider that isn't competing with potential customers.
- It's working: they're attracting major AI players like OpenAI and Meta while simultaneously supplying their database tech to all three cloud giants (AWS, Google, and Microsoft).
- Alibaba abandons brick-and-mortar dreams.
- Alibaba just sold off its physical retail chains - the Walmart-like Sun Art supermarkets and InTime department stores - taking a hit to refocus on e-commerce and AI.
- The company once dreamed of ruling both online and offline retail in China, but COVID-19 derailed those plans.
- Now they're facing pressure on all fronts - upstart rivals like Temu and Shein are eating into their e-commerce market share with aggressive pricing.
- In response, Alibaba is betting big on AI, slashing prices for their large language model services by 85% to find new growth opportunities.
- TikTok is back on the aggressive.
- With Trump now voicing support, the app's chances of staying in the U.S. market have improved significantly.
- Riding this wave of optimism, TikTok is planning a massive $7 billion investment in Nvidia AI chips.
- Their strategy? Rent Nvidia GPUs in cloud data centers in Southeast Asia and the Middle East to work around U.S. chip export restrictions to China.
- Nvidia acquires key tech to boost GPU efficiency.
- Nvidia completed its acquisition of Run:AI, an Israeli startup whose tech automatically splits GPU resources across multiple AI workloads to maximize efficiency.
- After spending $700 million on the deal, Nvidia's making the technology open source - meaning even competitors like AMD can use it.
- It's a clever move that helps Nvidia dodge antitrust concerns while still getting the tech it wants.
- Big Tech continues to cozy up to Trump.
- Meta just swapped out its policy chief, replacing progressive Nick Clegg (former UK deputy PM) with Joel Kaplan, a Bush administration veteran who was once floated as Trump's budget chief.
- In the meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and now Tim Cook have each dropped $1 million on Trump's inauguration.
- Tesla sales drop for first time ever.
- Tesla's annual deliveries fell 1.1% to 1.79 million vehicles in 2024 - its first-ever yearly decline.
- China's BYD is hot on its heels, moving 1.77 million cars.
- The culprits? Saturated markets and an aging lineup.
- Even aggressive price cuts couldn't jumpstart sales, sending Tesla's stock tumbling 6.1%.
- China's short video craze is cooling off.
- User numbers dropped by 300 million in just six months, landing at 1.05 billion by June last year.
- While growth had been slowing for years, this marks the first actual drop in users.
- As market saturation and content fatigue set in, platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou are scrambling for solutions, rolling out paid content and AI-powered features.
- VC giant Accel doubles down on India.
- The veteran VC just raised its 8th India fund at $650 million, pushing its total investment in the country to $3 billion.
- Their focus is on startups targeting Gen Z consumers in India's tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where purchasing power is on the rise.
- With about 300 promising early-stage startups emerging each year, Accel plans to back around 40 of the best.
- BlackRock's bitcoin ETF sets growth record.
- Since its January launch, it's pulled in $50 billion in assets in just 11 months - making it the fastest-growing ETF ever.
- The investment giant has quickly become the largest institutional holder of bitcoin, with over 500,000 BTC under management.
- Amazon workers are returning to office.
- Seattle's bracing for chaos as 50,000 corporate workers head back to headquarters.
- Traffic jams are expected to worsen by 35%.
- But there's a silver lining for the city's ghost town downtown, where over 500 storefronts have been sitting empty.
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Other
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AI — Tech
Apple keeps fumbling AI news summaries.
Samsung reveals AI-powered TVs.
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AI — Business
Apple settles Siri privacy suit for $95M.
OpenAI delays Media Manager launch.
OpenAI losing money on ChatGPT Pro.
Hinton backs Musk's suit against OpenAI.
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Chips / Infrastructure
Apple delays 2nm chips over high costs.
TSMC sends more Taiwan staff to Arizona.
Microsoft plans $80B data center push.
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Devices / Hardware
EU mandates USB-C for all devices.
Apple Vision Pro faces exit rumors.
Apple slashes iPhone prices in China.
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Content / Entertainment
Amazon to release Melania Trump documentary.
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Social Media
Meta pulls AI character profiles.
Facebook, Instagram ran silencer ads.
Telegram adds third-party verification.
X announces 'X Money' payment system.
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Ecommerce
Amazon hits 20,000 Rivian delivery vans.
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EV / Autonomous
Tesla completes Shanghai battery plant.
Cybertruck explodes at Trump hotel.
Uber CEO exits Aurora's board.
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Space
SpaceX eyes $1.5B Italian deal.
SpaceX Starship to deploy mock Starlinks.
Starlink to power United Airlines flights.
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Regulatory
Court strikes down net neutrality rules.
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Etc
Jensen to give first CES keynote in 6 years.
Musk urges boycott of Wikipedia donations.
PayPal sued over racial discrimination.
Apple follows through on CFO change.
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