Trump Officials Weighed Broader China Tech Restrictions Ahead of Trade Talks
Commerce Department officials weighed new export limits on critical technology going to China ahead of recent trade talks in London, adding to the Trump administration's arsenal if tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate again.
The Commerce Department unit overseeing export controls in recent weeks weighed tougher limits on semiconductors, including cutting off sales to China of a wider swath of chip-manufacturing equipment, people familiar with the matter said. Such a move would have covered equipment used to make everyday semiconductors, expanding beyond existing export limits on equipment for producing advanced chips.
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Dueling Billionaires: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Nvidia Is Israel Englander's Largest Stock Holding, but Philippe Laffont Has Sold Shares for 8 Consecutive Quarters
By one prognostication, productivity improvements and consumption-side effects from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution can add $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Millennium Management's Israel Englander holds Nvidia, and its monopoly-like share of the AI-graphics processing unit (GPU) market for data centers, in high regard. Meanwhile, Coatue Management's Philippe Laffont has sent more than 41 million shares of Nvidia to the chopping block over two years -- and it may have to do with more than just profit-taking. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Since late 2022, no trend has been held in higher regard on Wall Street than the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). Software and systems having the ability to make split-second decisions without human oversight represents a technology with broad-reaching potential in virtually every industry around the globe. As with most next-big-thing technologies, addressable market projections for AI are all over the map. But based on one prognostication from the analysts at PwC, the combination of productivity improvements and consumption-side effects can boost worldwide gross domestic product $15.7 trillion come 2030. With an addressable market this vast, there's little question that a long list of companies, both hardware/infrastructure and practical application, can be big-time winners. However, Wall Street's brightest and most-successful billionaire money managers appear to have mixed feelings about the future return potential of Wall Street's AI darling, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Whereas Nvidia is the largest individual stock holding for Millennium Management's arbitrage specialist Israel Englander, it's a stock that's been sold for eight consecutive quarters by billionaire growth investor extraordinaire Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management. To preface this discussion, Englander oversees a truly massive portfolio that's highlighted by option-based hedging with many of its individual stock positions. Though Nvidia isn't its largest pure holding, based on the nominal value of fully executed options contracts, it is the biggest individual stock by market cap for Englander's fund, excluding options contracts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Millennium's Form 13 filing shows the fund held 9,233,791 shares, as of the end of March. Billionaire Israel Englander's apparent optimism for Nvidia can likely be boiled down to one or more of the following four factors. First, Nvidia is enjoying a monopoly like market share of the graphics processing units (GPUs) being deployed by businesses in AI-accelerated data centers. Since introducing the Hopper (H100) and rolling out the successor Blackwell GPU, businesses haven't been able to order Nvidia's hardware fast enough. Secondly, but building on this previous point, demand for AI-GPUs has persistently overwhelmed the available supply. Even with direct competitors ramping up their production (e.g., Advanced Micro Devices with its Instinct series GPUs), leading chip fabrication company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing can't increase its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate capacity fast enough to satisfy demand. As long as AI-GPU scarcity exists, Nvidia has a reason to charge a premium for the GPUs it's selling. The end result for Nvidia has been a big uptick in its gross margin. Optimists like billionaire Israel Englander are also typically impressed by Nvidia's innovative prowess. CEO Jensen Huang has made it a point to invest aggressively in advanced chips and bring a faster/more energy-efficient AI-GPU to market on annual basis. Later this year, Blackwell Ultra is expected to make its debut, which will be followed by Vera Rubin and Vera Rubin Ultra in the second halves of 2026 and 2027, respectively. These latter two chips will run on the brand-new Vera processor and should have no trouble sustaining Nvidia's compute advantages. Lastly, Nvidia's operating performance has somewhat caught up to its skyrocketing valuation. With shares of the company swooning during the first quarter due to tariff-related concerns and China-based DeepSeek's large language model chatbot reveal, Nvidia's forward price-to-earnings ratio briefly dipped below 20. Some investors clearly see value, even in the wake of Nvidia adding more than $3 trillion in market cap since 2023 began. But there's another side to this story that Philippe Laffont's persistent selling of Nvidia stock brings to light. While Coatue Management's billionaire chief isn't exactly bearish on Nvidia -- it still represents a sizable holding for his fund -- he has sold shares of Wall Street's favorite AI stock for eight consecutive quarters. Taking into account Nvidia's historic 10-for-1 forward split in June 2024, here's the progression of Coatue's quarter-end share count in Nvidia since March 31, 2023: Q1 2023: 49,802,020 shares of Nvidia Q2 2023: 46,449,700 shares Q3 2023: 45,410,400 shares Q4 2023: 43,222,010 shares Q1 2024: 13,851,410 shares Q2 2024: 13,754,447 shares Q3 2024: 10,138,161 shares Q4 2024: 10,006,488 shares Q1 2025: 8,545,835 shares To reiterate, more than 8.5 million shares held isn't chump change -- but there's a reason (or four) why Laffont has sold 83% of his fund's stake in the company over the last two years. Profit-taking is absolutely a possibility for Coatue Management's boss, as well as other billionaires who've reduced their exposure to Nvidia. We've never witnessed a megacap stock gain $3 trillion in market cap so quickly before, so ringing the register might be viewed as a wise move. However, there's also the logical expectation that competition is going to pick up in a big way for Nvidia in the coming years. Even though it's in no danger of losing its spot atop the compute leaderboard, there are more variables to consider than just how fast an AI-GPU can be. For instance, many of Nvidia's top customers by net sales (i.e., most members of the "Magnificent Seven") are internally developing AI chips to use in their data centers. Though this hardware is no threat to Nvidia on an external basis, these internally developed chips are considerably cheaper than Hopper and Blackwell, as well as more readily accessible. The use of internal hardware means less prospective real estate for Nvidia to win in the future. It's also a drag on the AI-GPU scarcity that's powered its gross margin higher. Laffont might also be rightly concerned about President Donald Trump's tariff and trade policy. For three years, beginning under former President Joe Biden and continuing under Trump, exports of high-powered AI chips and related equipment to China have been restricted. With President Trump emphasizing national security and the need for AI innovation to remain within domestic borders, Nvidia could lose out on billions of dollars in quarterly sales from one of its largest individual markets. Finally, billionaire Philippe Laffont might recognize the gravity of historical precedent when it comes to the AI revolution. For more than three decades, every game-changing technology or innovation has worked its way through a bubble that eventually burst. While businesses are aggressively investing in AI infrastructure, most aren't generating a positive return on their AI investments, nor are they optimizing their AI solutions. It's going to take time for artificial intelligence to mature as a technology, which means there's a strong likelihood of an AI bubble forming, bursting, and dragging Nvidia's share price considerably lower. Though Nvidia has the tools to be a long-term winner once AI matures, it has all the hallmarks of a company priced for perfection in an imperfect early stage trend. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,702!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $870,207!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 988% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Dueling Billionaires: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Nvidia Is Israel Englander's Largest Stock Holding, but Philippe Laffont Has Sold Shares for 8 Consecutive Quarters was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Capita using cost savings to invest in AI push
Outsourcing giant Capita has revealed plans to reinvest some cost-cutting efforts into artificial intelligence (AI) as it looks to 'future proof' the business. The group said it had so far stripped out £185 million of costs as part of its plans to save £250 million a year by the end of 2025 and will put some of the savings into new technology as it rolls out new AI offerings to clients. Capita has launched several new AI products, including Salesforce's Agentforce for large-scale recruitment, while it has found more than 200 use cases for AI across the business, and launched five new products with five more in the detailed testing stage. The group is putting faith in the new technology to help drive savings within the business as well as offering customers new services. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said customer interest in so-called AI agent technology had 'grown exponentially'. 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients,' he said. It comes as the group is looking to improve its profitability, while sales have also come under pressure, down 4.5% in the five months to May 31. Capita said: 'We are making good operational progress to future-proof the business in line with our expectations.' The group added: 'Our first priority is to improve the group's operating margin, while maintaining cost consciousness. 'We are building a leaner organisation, reinvesting in the technology core of the business and deepening our own AI skills, developing products and forging new partnerships.' Its latest trading update showed sales in its contact centre outsourcing business slumped 21% in the first five months, hit by contract losses and lower demand in the telecoms sector. This was partially offset by 2.3% growth in sales across its public service arm and a 6.4% rise for its regulated services division. Capita hiked its cost reduction target in December last year to £250 million by the end of 2025, up from £160 million, revealing it was aiming to drive savings from the use of AI and staff turnover. Capita – a major contractor for the Government and local authorities which also manages the licence fee for the BBC and runs recruitment for the British Army – has been accelerating the use of AI and generative AI to speed up certain tasks, such as recruitment. Last year, it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs as part of the cost-reducing plan, but is also looking to deliver some of the extra savings through staff turnover, which was at a rate of 21.7% at the end of last year. Sign in to access your portfolio
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China-Central Asia cooperation grows deeper, more substantial
BEIJING, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily: On April 29, 2025, construction officially commenced on three critical tunnels, Fergana Mountain, Naryn No.1, and Koshtet, along the Kyrgyz section of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) Railway, marking a major milestone as the project advances into its mainline construction phase. Starting from Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the CKU Railway passes through the mountainous terrain of Kyrgyzstan to reach Uzbekistan. Once completed, the railway will serve as an important transportation corridor connecting the Asia-Pacific with Europe, significantly enhancing regional connectivity and fostering economic and social development along the route. The CKU Railway stands as a compelling exmaple of pragmatic cooperation between China and Central Asia, and represents a new milestone in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. From infrastructure and industrial capacity to clean energy and logistics, cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is delivering tangible outcomes across a wide range of areas. In Kazakhstan, major projects like the China-Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline and the Shymkent Oil Refinery are running smoothly. In Uzbekistan, the Syr Darya 1,500 MW gas-vapor cycle power generation project has been put into production, while the Olympic City project proceeds steadily. In Kyrgyzstan, projects such as the renovation of Bishkek's municipal road network and a renovated irrigation system are improving local livelihoods. In Tajikistan, the parliament and government buildings aided by China have become new landmarks. These concrete, substantial outcomes are contributing to the sustainable development of Central Asian economies. China's trade and investment cooperation with Central Asia has also continued to gain momentum. In 2024, trade between China and the five Central Asian countries reached $94.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of six percent. The figure is expected to exceed $100 billion this year. According to Yang Jin, deputy head of the Central Asia and Caucasus studies office at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China-Central Asia relations have made substantial strides in recent years. Guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the two sides have been deepening political trust. China has established comprehensive strategic partnerships and implemented the vision of building a community with a shared future on a bilateral level with all the five Central Asian countries. Practical cooperation has been elevated, evidenced by the rapid growth in trade and investment. China and the Central Asian countries are also strengthening coordination in multilateral settings, particularly in efforts to maintain regional peace and stability. Besides, institutional innovation is gaining prominence. Mechanisms such as the China-Central Asia Summit mechanism, the establishment of the secretariat of the China-Central Asian cooperation mechanism, and a China-Central Asia emergency management cooperation mechanism are enhancing dialogue and coordination. "Central Asia is rich in natural resources, but its landlocked geography poses challenges to global market access. Meanwhile, China's rapidly expanding domestic market is highly complementary with the region," said Xu Tao, deputy head of the Eurasian Social Development Research Institute under the Development Research Center of China's State Council. "Our mutually beneficial cooperation is delivering tangible benefits to the peoples of both sides," Xu added. On March 19, a freight train bound for Tashkent, Uzbekistan, departed from Beijing's Fangshan district, loaded with 90 standard containers of auto parts, medicines and other goods from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. This marked the official launch of the first Beijing-Central Asia freight train service, creating a new, efficient land corridor for exporting high-value-added, high-tech products. China and Central Asian countries share common aspirations for economic growth and improving people's livelihoods. Their cooperation continues to expand in traditional sectors such as trade, finance, infrastructure, and connectivity, while increasingly expanding into emerging areas like the digital economy and e-commerce. For landlocked Central Asian countries, working with China on water resource management, desertification prevention and control, green transition, and digital development contributes significantly to regional sustainability. In November 2022, the Luban Workshop, co-founded by China's Tianjin Urban Construction Management & Vocation Technology College and Tajik Technical University, was officially put into operation, the first of its kind in Central Asia. Since then, additional Luban workshops have been established in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, with another under development in Turkmenistan. These platforms facilitate technical exchanges and mutual learning, promoting talent development and strengthening people-to-people ties between China and Central Asian countries. From Luban workshops and cultural centers to joint film productions, book translations, and archaeological collaborations, China-Central Asia cultural cooperation is flourishing. Exchanges in education, culture, tourism, and local governance continue to thrive, further reinforcing the foundation of good-neighborly friendship. "Over the years, China and Central Asian countries have upheld the principles of mutual respect, good neighborliness, solidarity, and win-win cooperation," said Yang Jin. "By practicing true multilateralism and a common approach to security, they have set a model for a new type of international relations," Yang added. With deepening cooperation across political, economic, security, diplomatic, and cultural sectors, Yang believes the foundation for building a China-Central Asia community with a shared future is becoming ever more solid. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE People's Daily Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
