Latest news with #techsector
Washington Post
23-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Live updates: White House to brief reporters as uproar over Epstein files upends Washington
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has scheduled a news briefing Wednesday amid the continued controversy over the Trump administration's decision not to release files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The House is expected to adjourn Wednesday, a day earlier than expected, for its five-week recess after Republicans irate over the administration's decision blocked most legislation from reaching the chamber floor for a vote this week. President Donald Trump, who has sought to change the subject, plans Wednesday to deliver a speech on artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the U.S. tech sector. Silicon Valley's risky bet on President Donald Trump is starting to pay dividends. The White House on Wednesday plans to reveal how it will position the United States to lead a global race to develop artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the American tech sector, according to two people familiar with the rollout who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public. Former president Barack Obama's office issued a rare admonishment Tuesday of the Trump administration's claims that Obama administration officials planned a 'treasonous conspiracy' aimed at the current commander in chief, calling the allegations 'a weak attempt at distraction.' President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has clinched a trade deal with Japan, reducing the tariffs he had planned to impose on goods from a major trading partner as his deadline for negotiations nears. Trump posted on his Truth Social social media site Tuesday evening that he would impose a 15 percent duty on Japanese imports, down from the 25 percent he threatened earlier this month. Federal judges in New Jersey declined Tuesday to appoint Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. attorney in the state, to continue serving in that role, delivering a resounding rebuke to one of his administration's most polarizing Justice Department appointees and teeing up a showdown over who would lead the office. A panel of the state's U.S. district court judges made the announcement in a brief order that did not offer any explanation for its decision.
Washington Post
23-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Silicon Valley's bet on Trump starts to pay off
Silicon Valley's risky bet on President Donald Trump is starting to pay dividends. The White House on Wednesday plans to reveal how it will position the United States to lead a global race to develop artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the American tech sector, according to two people familiar with the rollout who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public.
Globe and Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Is today's AI boom bigger than the dotcom bubble?
Wall Street's concentration in the red-hot tech sector is, by some measures, greater than it has ever been, eclipsing levels hit during the 1990s dotcom bubble. But does this mean history is bound to repeat itself? The growing concentration in U.S. equities instantly brings to mind the internet and communications frenzy of the late 1990s. The tech-heavy Nasdaq peaked in March 2000 before cratering 65 per cent over the following 12 months. And it didn't revisit its previous high for 14 years. It seems unlikely that we'll see a repeat of this today, right? Maybe. Analysis: At Pittsburgh summit, Trump turns AI evangelist in push for U.S. tech and energy dominance The market's reaction function appears to be different from what it was during the dotcom boom and bust. Just look at the current rebound from its post-'Liberation Day' tariff slump in early April – one of the fastest on record – or its rally during the pandemic. But despite all of these differences, there are also some worrying parallels. Investors would do well to keep both in mind. The most obvious similarity between these two periods is the concentration of tech and related industries in U.S. equity markets. The broad tech sector now accounts for 34 per cent of the S&P 500's market cap, according to some data, exceeding the previous record of 33 per cent set in March 2000. Of the top 10 companies by market capitalization today, eight are tech or communications behemoths. They include the so-called 'Magnificent 7′ – Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla – as well as Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan. By contrast, only five of the 10 biggest companies in 1999 were tech firms. The other five were General Electric, Citi, Exxon, Walmart, and Home Depot. On top of that, the top 10 companies' footprint in the S&P 500 today is much larger than it was back then. The combined market cap of the top 10 today is almost US$22-trillion, or 40 per cent of the index's total, significantly higher than the comparable 25 per cent in 1999. Canadian cleantech veteran aims to make AI a force for good on sustainability front This all reflects the fact that technology plays a much bigger role in the U.S. economy today than it did around the turn of the millennium. By some measures, the current tech boom, driven in part by enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, is more extreme than the IT bubble of the late 1990s. As Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, points out, the 12-month forward earnings valuation of today's top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 is higher than it was 25 years ago. However, it's worth remembering that the dotcom bubble was characterized by a frenzy of public offerings and a raft of companies with shares valued at triple-digit multiples of future earnings. That's not the case today. While the S&P tech sector is trading at 29.5 times forward earnings today, which is high by historical standards, this is nowhere near the peak of almost 50 times recorded in 2000. Similarly, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are currently trading around 22 and 28.5 times forward earnings, compared with the dotcom peaks of 24.5 and over 70 times, respectively. With all that being said, a meaningful, prolonged market correction cannot be ruled out, especially if AI-driven growth isn't delivered as quickly as investors expect. To avoid AI rotting your brain, use these tips for exercise AI, the new driver of technological development, will require vast capital outlays, especially on data centres, which may mean that earnings and share price growth in tech could slow in the short run. According to Morgan Stanley, the transformative potential of generative AI will require roughly US$2.9-trillion of global data centre spending through 2028, comprising US$1.6-trillion on hardware like chips and servers and US$1.3-trillion on infrastructure. That means investment needs of over US$900-billion in 2028, they reckon. For context, combined capital expenditure by all S&P 500 companies last year was around US$950-billion. Wall Street analysts are well aware of these figures, which suggests that at least some percentage of these huge sums should be factored into current share prices and expected earnings, but what if the benefits of AI take longer to deliver? Or what if an upstart (remember China's DeepSeek) dramatically shifts growth expectations for a major component of the index, like US$4-trillion chipmaker Nvidia? Of course, technology is so fundamental to today's society and economy that it's difficult to imagine its market footprint shrinking too much, for too long, as this raises the inevitable question of where investor capital would go. It's therefore reasonable to question whether a tech crash today would take well over a decade to recover from. But, on the other hand, it's that type of thinking that has gotten investors into trouble before.
Phone Arena
20-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Trump appears to have shown us why the iPhone Fold will struggle
AI-generated iPhone Fold concept. | Image credit — PhoneArena Like him or hate him, President Donald Trump moves fast, unlike Apple. And sometimes, that's all it takes to make you stand out and succeed. While Apple has been taking things painfully slow and has warmed up to the idea of launching a foldable iPhone seven years too late, Trump is moving at warp speed in the tech sector, even though that's not his domain. Tell me that's not impressive. Trump recently announced a phone and even a wireless network. So not only is the guy giving you a phone, but also a network for that phone, though, of course, the device won't be locked to that network. There's even an iPad version of Truth Social, the social media company owned by Trump. Meanwhile, WhatsApp came to the iPad only last month, and Apple still has't convinced Meta to build an Instagram app for the device. Trump is deeply invested in providing the best experience to his followers. | Image Credit - Mark Gurma So, while it remains to be seen if the world emerges better off on the other side of the Trump presidency, one thing is for sure: he is already spicing up the tech sector. I am not sure we have been able to say that for Apple in a long the time when Apple truly tried? Somewhere along the way, it lost its spark, and while many of us can be accused of the same, we aren't at the helm of a trillion-dollar plays it safer than I do when parking a car in a tight spot. And that's no way to do business (or live). The iPhone Fold , or whatever it ends up being called, isn't expected to have any innovative features. Yes, it might be creaseless, but that's not really an issue with most foldables now. The only exciting thing about the foldable iPhone would be that it folds. And while that may be enough for iOS users, some of whom are so deep in the Apple ecosystem that the idea of venturing outside is unfathomable, it won't be enough for platform-neutral your only strength is that your users are so loyal (or dependent) that they can't consider alternatives, it's not something to be proud of. It's more like your users have Stockholm syndrome because of can flip in seconds, as has appeared to have happened with a certain car company in the US. A render of the T1. | Image Credit - Trump Mobile Before I proceed, please know that this isn't a political post. I am just highlighting what one influential man can learn from another powerful person. Please don't cancel me. Trump isn't afraid to go all in, even if the likely outcome is failure. The T1 Phone stands no chance against the best phones of today, but it still exists (somewhere in China for now). Cook, on the other hand, has adopted a laid-back approach of late. And it's not helping. Unlike the Apple Vision Pro, which had the odds stacked against it due to the category still finding its footing, the foldable iPhone has a better chance of succeeding and even converting Android die-hards. The iPhone Fold needs to be recklessly good and make the case for foldables. Because, frankly speaking, I am struggling to see why they matter at the moment. There's nothing that my conventional phone can't do that a foldable phone does. A phone that unfolds into a tablet would be nice to have for when I am reading or watching a recipe video, but that's about it. Yes, you can set it up like a laptop, but that's nothing more than a party trick. Given what we know already, the iPhone Fold is barely another foldable phone waiting to be released. What Apple needs is a phone that will shake the industry to its core and will always be on our minds. Like Trump.
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Face age and ID checks? Using the internet in Australia is about to fundamentally change
As the old adage goes, 'On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog'. But in Australia it might soon be the case that everything from search engines and social media sites, to app stores and AI chatbots will have to know your age. The Albanese government trumpeted the passage of its legislation banning under 16s from social media – which will come into effect in December – but new industry codes developed by the tech sector and eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant under the Online Safety Act will probably have much larger ramifications for how Australians access the internet. Measures to be deployed by online services could include looking at your account history, or using facial age assurance and bank card checks. Identity checks using IDs such as drivers licences to keep children under 16 off social media will also apply to logged-in accounts for search engines from December, under an industry code that came into force at the end of June. The code will require search engines to have age assurance measures for all accounts, and where an account holder is determined to be aged under 18, the search engine would be required to switch on safe search features to filter out content such as pornography from search results. Six more draft codes being considered by the eSafety commissioner would bring similar age assurance measures to a wide range of services Australians use every day, including app stores, AI chatbots and messaging apps. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Any service that hosts or facilitates access to content such as pornography, self-harm material, simulated gaming, or very violent material unsuitable for children will need to ensure children are not able to access that content. In her National Press Club speech last month, Inman Grant flagged that the codes were needed to keep children safe at every level of the online world. 'It's critical to ensure the layered safety approach which also places responsibility and accountability at critical chokepoints in the tech stack, including the app stores and at the device level, the physical gateways to the internet where kids sign-up and first declare their ages,' she said. The eSafety commissioner announced the intention of the codes during the development process and when they were submitted, but recent media reporting has drawn renewed attention to these aspects of the codes. Some people will welcome the changes. News this week that Elon Musk's AI Grok now includes a pornographic chat while still being labelled suitable for ages 12+ on the Apple app store prompted child safety groups to call for Apple to review the app's rating and implement child protection measures in the app store. Apple and Google are already developing age checks at the device level that can also be used by apps to check the age of their users. Founder of tech analysis company PivotNine, Justin Warren, says the codes would 'implement sweeping changes to the regulation of communication between people in Australia'. 'It looks like a massive over-reaction after years of policy inaction to curtail the power of a handful of large foreign technology companies,' he says. 'That it hands even more power and control over Australians' online lives to those same foreign tech companies is darkly hilarious.' One of the industry bodies that worked with the eSafety commissioner to develop the codes, Digi, rejected the notion they would reduce anonymity online, and said the codes targeted specific platforms hosting or providing access to specific kinds of content. 'The codes introduce targeted and proportionate safeguards concerning access to pornography and material rated as unsuitable for minors under 18, such as very violent materials or those advocating or [giving instructions for] suicide, eating disorders or self-harm,' Digi's director of digital policy Dr Jenny Duxbury says. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'These codes introduce safeguards for specific use cases, not a blanket requirement for identity verification across the internet.' Duxbury says companies may use inference measures – such as account history or device usage patterns – to estimate a user's age, which would mean most users may not have to go through an assurance process. 'Some services may choose to adopt inference methods because they can be effective and less intrusive.' However, those that do may be caught by surprise when it comes into effect, says Electronic Frontiers Australia chair John Pane. 'While most Australians seem to be aware about the discussion about social media, the average punter is blissfully unaware about what's happening with search engines, and particularly if they go to seek access to adult content or other content that is captured by one of the safety codes, and then having to authenticate that they're over the age of 18 in order to access that content, the people will not be happy, rightly so.' Companies that don't comply with the codes will face a fine similar to that of the social media ban – up to $49.5m for a breach. Other measures such as eSafety requesting sites be delisted from search results are also an option for non-compliance. Pane says it would be better if the federal government made changes to the privacy act and introduced AI regulation that would require businesses to do risk assessment and ban certain AI activities deemed an unacceptable risk. He says a duty of care for the platforms for all users accessing digital services should be legislated. 'We believe this approach, through the legislature, is far more preferable than using regulatory fiat through a regulatory agency,' he said. Warren is sceptical the age assurance technology will work, highlighting that the search engine code was brought in before the outcome of the age assurance technology trial, due to government this month. 'Eventually, the theory will come into contact with practise.' After recent media reporting about the codes, the eSafety commissioner's office this week defended including age assurance requirements for searches. 'Search engines are one of the main gateways available to children for much of the harmful material they may encounter, so the code for this sector is an opportunity to provide very important safeguards,' the office said.
