Oct 9, 2025: China's Ministry of Commerce issued Announcements No. 61 & 62, expanding rare earth export controls to 12 of 17 elements and imposing extraterritorial licensing requirements.

This is direct retaliation for U.S. semiconductor export bans announced days earlier.

China controls 70% of global mining, 90% of processing, and 93% of permanent magnet production. Each F-35 requires 417kg of rare earths. China refines 100% of global samarium.

What does this mean for U.S. defense? How will this affect AI data centers? What happens to semiconductor and EV supply chains? Let's dive in: 1/12: TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The announcement came days after U.S. expanded chip export bans (Oct 7, targeting ASML/TSMC) and weeks before two critical deadlines:

• 90-day U.S.-China trade truce expires
• Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea

Strategic retaliation designed to maximize Beijing's leverage in upcoming negotiations.

2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine: The Immune System's Control Mechanism

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine was announced this morning. Three scientists—Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi won for their groundbreaking discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance, revealing how the immune system prevents self-attacks that lead to autoimmune diseases.

What are T cells? How did scientists uncover immune cells that suppress others? How does this mechanism ward off autoimmune disorders?

Here’s what they found and why it matters: 1/ What Are T Cells?

T cells are a type of white blood cell (lymphocyte) central to the adaptive immune system, which learns and remembers specific threats.

They originate in the bone marrow and mature in the thymus gland (hence "T"), where they learn to distinguish the body's own cells ("self") from foreign invaders ("non-self"), such as viruses, bacteria, or cancer cells. This prevents attacks on healthy tissues.

T cells are essential for targeted, long-term immune protection

Europe has zero companies left in the global top 25. None. Fifteen years ago, eight European titans held spots on that list.

What happened? And what does it actually mean for Europe’s future? Let’s break down one of the most dramatic shifts in global economic power: 1/ Europe in 2000

The European companies that were in the global top 8:

Nokia (mobile phones)
Vodafone (telecom)
Royal Dutch Shell (energy)
BP (energy)
Deutsche Telekom (telecom)

Back then, European companies weren’t just competing—they were defining entire industries.

What if I told you that the internet is about to change forever?

We’re launching Comet Plus—fixing how publishers get paid in the AI era.

How it works will change everything: Comet Plus gives you premium access to trusted publishers—and pays them fairly.

- When you visit their site and read an article? They get paid.

- When we cite their journalism in an AI answer? They get paid.

- When your Comet Assistant uses their content to help you plan your day? They get paid.

We just figured out how to transfer ONE TRILLION parameters between GPUs in 1.3 seconds.

That’s a 20x speedup over traditional methods.

Let me show you how we did it:

https://twitter.com/perplexity_ai/status/1973508460814999726

1/ The Problem

When we’re training massive AI models with reinforcement learning, we need two separate GPU clusters working together: training GPUs that update the model, and inference GPUs that run it.

After every training step, we have to copy all those updated weights from training to inference. For our trillion-parameter Kimi-K2 model, most existing systems take 30 seconds to several MINUTES to do this.

That’s a massive bottleneck.

Our training step might take 5 seconds, but then we’d wait 30 seconds just copying weights. Unacceptable.

The September 2025 White House dinner wasn't what it seemed.

It was America's emergency response to an existential bottleneck: electricity.

AI data centers use 10x more power than traditional servers. Large training runs consume as much electricity as a small city for months—America's grid can't handle it.

Meanwhile, China operates with 80-100% power reserves vs America's 15%. They generate over 10,000 TWh annually (2.3x the US) and added 429 GW of new capacity in 2024 alone—7.7x faster than America.

How bad is this crisis? Full story below: 1/ The Real Agenda: "Getting Your Permits"

During the September 2025 White House dinner, the most revealing moment came in President Trump's opening remarks, when he addressed the elephant in the room—electricity access.

"I know everybody at the table indirectly through reading about you and studying, knowing a lot about your business, actually making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits."

Trump promised to remove the regulatory and infrastructure barriers, and the tech leaders at that dinner table committed $1.5 trillion:

Meta: $600 billion through 2028
Apple: $600 billion
Google: $250 billion over two years
Microsoft: $80 billion annually

But without electricity, those investments are meaningless.

US electricity prices are surging at the fastest pace in decades—jumping from 13.66 to 17.02 cents per kilowatt-hour in just four years. That's a 25% increase. The average American household is now paying $219 more annually than in 2021—and it's not just inflation.

Driven by explosive AI demand and a transforming energy market, this crisis could reshape how we power our lives.

Whether you own a home, rent an apartment, or run a business, you're feeling the impact. What's really driving these shocking increases? Let's break it down: THE CRISIS IN NUMBERS

The surge isn't just about dollars—it's about pace.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity prices are rising nearly twice as fast as overall inflation. While the Consumer Price Index increased roughly 13% from 2021 to 2025, electricity jumped 25%.

Your power bill is outpacing your paycheck, and the EIA projects this trend will continue through 2026.

And this is just the beginning.

America's AI Electricity Crisis

The September 2025 White House dinner wasn't what it seemed. It was America's emergency response to an existential bottleneck: electricity.

AI data centers consume 10x more power than traditional servers. A single AI training run requires 1 gigawatt—equivalent to 8 nuclear reactors. America's grid can't handle it.

Meanwhile, China operates with 80-100% power reserves vs America's 15%. They generate over 10,000 TWh annually (twice the US) with electricity costs 2.25x cheaper.

How bad is this crisis? Full story below: 1/ The Real Agenda: : "Getting Your Permits"

During the September 2025 White House dinner, the most revealing moment came in President Trump's opening remarks, when he addressed the elephant in the room - electricity access.

"I know everybody at the table indirectly through reading about you and studying, knowing a lot about your business, actually making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits."

Trump promised to remove the regulatory and infrastructure barriers and the tech leaders at that dinner table committed $1.5 trillion.

• Meta: $600 billion through 2028
• Apple: $600 billion
• Google: $250 billion over two years
• Microsoft: $80 billion annually

But without electricity, those investments are meaningless.

🚨Modi Urges Indians to Ditch Foreign Products

Prime Minister Modi just made a significant shift in India's economic strategy: urging citizens to boycott foreign products and embrace "Swadeshi" (Made in India) goods in response to escalating US trade pressures.

Why is Modi asking 1.4 billion Indians to boycott American brands? Is this Modi's negotiating strategy or permanent policy? Here's the full story: What Triggered This Response

The US recently imposed 50% tariffs on Indian imports (one of the highest rates ever), prompting Modi to call for a nationwide embrace of domestic products.

The tensions escalated further when the US hiked H-1B visa fees to $100,000, directly hitting Indian tech workers.

Popular American brands like McDonald's, Pepsi, and Apple are now facing organized boycott campaigns across the country, with WhatsApp campaigns spreading the message to boycott US brands.

🚨 BREAKING: xAI vs OpenAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a major lawsuit against Sam Altman’s OpenAI in federal court, alleging a strategic campaign to steal trade secrets and poach employees with insider knowledge of the Grok AI model and Colossus supercomputing clusters.

We’ve broken down the entire 30-page lawsuit.

Here’s everything you need to know: OpenAI’s Alleged Scheme

According to xAI, OpenAI became threatened when Grok overtook ChatGPT in certain performance metrics just 18 months after xAI’s 2023 launch.

The lawsuit details how OpenAI allegedly responded with a coordinated effort to recruit xAI employees who had access to critical trade secrets.

🚨 India’s $18 Billion Semiconductor Master Plan

India just approved 10 projects targeting the 70% of global chip demand that runs on mature nodes (28nm-110nm). It is positioning itself as the third global semiconductor hub alongside Taiwan and South Korea.

What does this mean for India’s semiconductor future? Let’s dive in: 1/ The Strategic Focus

• Tata's $11B fab targets 28nm-110nm nodes (70% of global demand)

• Micron's $2.75B facility already operational since April 2025

• SiCSem's compound semiconductor plant for EV/power applications

• Multiple assembly facilities targeting 70 million chips daily by 2030

🚨 BREAKING: United States will impose an additional $250 “Visa Integrity Fee” on applicants from 140+ countries starting October 1st.

Why did Trump add this fee, raising costs to $435 per visitor? How will this impact 10+ million annual travelers visiting the U.S. each year—and which countries get hit hardest?

Here's the full story: 1/ What is the Visa Integrity Fee?

Starting October 1st — in just 10 days — nearly all applicants for nonimmigrant U.S. visas will face a new $250 "Visa Integrity Fee" in addition to the standard application fee.

This non-waivable fee is part of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (H.R.1), signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025.

🚨 BREAKING: Trump has officially signed an executive order imposing a $100K annual fee for H-1B visas.

Why did the US do this? How does this affect the 400,000 immigrants who come to the US each year on H-1B visas? And what’s next?

Here’s the full story: 1/ What’s Actually at Stake

Every year, roughly 442,000 skilled immigrants compete for just 85,000 H-1B visas (65,000 regular + 20,000 master’s cap).

Only about 135,000 total applications are selected, including renewals — meaning most hopefuls are already rejected.

This new $100,000 fee makes it exponentially harder.

🚨 BREAKING: UK’s AI Infrastructure Project

In a historic announcement during President Trump’s UK state visit, NVIDIA, CoreWeave, Microsoft, Nscale, Salesforce and OpenAI unveiled the largest AI infrastructure rollout in UK history - transforming Britain into a global AI superpower.

Let’s break it down—who’s building what, where, and when: 1/ MICROSOFT

• Scale is $30B over four years (2025–2028), incl. $15B capex for cloud/AI infra; build the UK’s largest AI supercomputer with >23,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Microsoft-owned capacity.

• Nscale is the named build partner.

🚨 Adobe vs. The AI Revolution: Adobe's share price is down 26% since ChatGPT launched (Nov 2022: ~$400 → Sep 2025: $349).

Instead of strengthening their 34% Photoshop market dominance, they've lost $75B in market value.

How did this happen for a company that had 3 years to prepare for the AI wave? Where is the $3.5B in R&D spend each year going? Here's the full breakdown: 1/ THE MARKET DOMINANCE

In November 2022, Adobe seemed invincible. For 40 years, they had built the ultimate creative monopoly where Design agencies built entire business models around Adobe expertise:

• 34% of the global creative software market
• 90% of professionals dependent on Photoshop
• 26 million subscribers paying $660 annually
• Revenue: $22.6 billion with 89% gross margins

Their stock traded at $400, market cap near $200 billion and CEO Shantanu Narayen called Adobe "the infrastructure for creativity itself."

🚨 Indian scientists replicate snowflake patterns in quantum systems

At Nagaland University, Dr. Biplab Pal and his team have successfully replicated the intricate fractal patterns seen in snowflakes, tree branches, and neural networks within quantum systems.

What does this for India’s tech future? Let’s dive in: The Science Behind the Breakthrough

The study, led by Dr. Biplab Pal, demonstrates how non-crystalline materials can be used to design quantum devices through the Aharonov-Bohm caging effect, which can completely trap electrons in fractal geometries under specific magnetic conditions.

🚨 Did You Know: 10 years ago, Infosys was one of the earliest backers of OpenAI. They invested alongside Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, AWS, and others ($1B → ~$45B today).

Instead of doubling down, they fired their CEO Vishal Sikka, and now their stake is worth nothing.

How could this possibly happen? Who is Vishal? More below: 1/ December 2015: When Infosys Bet on OpenAI

While most tech executives were still googling "machine learning," one CEO saw the AI revolution coming.

Vishal Sikka, CEO of Infosys, committed the company to back OpenAI alongside tech's biggest names.

But he wasn't your typical IT services CEO.
He understood something most executives missed: AI was about to eat software.

🚨 What’s Actually Happening in Nepal Right Now

Nepal just went from social media ban to government collapse in 72 hours

On Sept 4th, they banned Facebook, WhatsApp, X, and YouTube. By Tuesday, the Prime Minister had resigned and parliament was literally on fire

🧵Here's how it all unraveled The protests started with Gen Z angry about losing social media access. But it quickly became something bigger - rage about corruption and zero opportunities

Students in school uniforms marching against the government Organic, youth-led were impossible to dismiss

🚨 BREAKING: The United States just created its first-ever Chief Design Officer and selected Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of @Airbnb to lead it.

Why did the US do this, what is the CDO supposed to do, and what’s next? Here’s the inside story: The driving force behind the Chief Design Officer (CDO) role was an urgent need to modernize thousands of outdated federal websites and deliver better user experiences for Americans.

With over 26,000 federal web portals, the landscape had become fragmented, costly, and notoriously ugly. The government was spending billions maintaining legacy systems, yet citizens, businesses, and even other agencies struggled to access essential services quickly.

🚨 BREAKING: Figma, the collaborative design powerhouse, has just filed its S-1 to go public on the NYSE under the ticker “FIG.”

After years of explosive growth, a failed $20B Adobe acquisition, and a wave of AI innovation, Figma is finally opening its books. Here’s what the S-1 says: Let’s start with the financials. Figma reported $228.2M in revenue for the first quarter of 2025, with net income of $44.9M for the same period.

That puts the company on pace for $821M ARR, a staggering leap from $400M in 2024 and $190M in 2022. Gross margins remain sky-high, reportedly around 91%, and NRR has hovered near 132%.

🚨 BREAKING: Two of the UK’s oil giants - Shell and BP - are reportedly in early talks for what could become the largest energy merger in decades.

What's the point? Why is Shell denying these talks? How does this affect energy prices? More below: Let’s start with the backstory. BP, once Shell’s equal in size and ambition, has struggled over the past year. Its market value plunged nearly 33%, dropping to about £58 billion, while Shell surged ahead to over £150 billion.

BP’s pivot to renewables under former CEO Bernard Looney was met with mixed results. Meanwhile, Shell’s disciplined focus on profits and shareholder returns has made it the stronger player—setting the stage for this potential takeover.