OpenAI just launched o3 and o4-mini, models that combine visual intelligence with deeper reasoning. For the first time, these AIs don't just see images – they think with them, manipulating photos to extract insights just as a human would zoom in or rotate a picture to understand it better.
The US-China chip war just hit Wall Street hard. Tech stocks tumbled after Nvidia lost $5.5 billion from US restrictions on AI chip sales to China. Meanwhile, Taiwan strengthened its grip as the world's essential chip supplier.
A new artificial intelligence system from China's Shandong First Medical University helps scientists understand how genes turn on and off. Called TRAPT, it maps gene control with record-breaking accuracy.
Tech Stocks Plunge as Trump's Tariffs Spark Global Market Chaos
Wall Street's love affair with tech stocks turned sour this week. The market darlings known as the Magnificent Seven tumbled hard, with Tesla leading the descent at a 10% drop.
Nvidia, the AI chip champion, fell 7%, while Apple shed over $533 billion in market value - roughly equivalent to erasing a company the size of Tesla. The carnage spread beyond the tech titans.
Semiconductor stocks crumbled as investors digested Trump's harsh tariffs on chip-making hubs. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest chip maker, plunged 10%. Even crypto felt the pain, with Bitcoin dropping below $78,000 - a stark reversal for the "first Bitcoin president's" signature achievement.
Trump remained unmoved by the market chaos. "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," he told reporters, displaying the bedside manner of a medieval barber. Meanwhile, Wall Street veterans broke their silence. Bill Ackman warned of "economic nuclear winter," while JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon cautioned against America going it alone.
Corporate America scrambled to respond. Car companies halted shipments, trade groups warned of price hikes, and tech firms watched their AI dreams get more expensive by the day. The semiconductor industry, caught between U.S. demands and Asian manufacturing realities, faces particularly thorny decisions.
Global markets showed no signs of recovery Monday. European chip makers joined the slide, with ASML and STMicroelectronics dropping over 3%. In Asia, markets bled red as investors priced in a new era of trade barriers.
Trump's team keeps listening to concerns from financial executives, but the channels aren't as open as during his first term. Some analysts still hope for deals to reduce tariffs, while others argue this market correction was overdue.
Why this matters:
Wall Street finally found something scarier than AI: trade wars. The tech sector's $1.8 trillion loss proves even the mightiest stocks can't defy gravity when global trade seizes up.
Trump's "medicine" might cure what ails him politically, but the side effects - from pricier iPhones to stunted AI development - could leave the U.S. tech industry with a nasty hangover.
The global tech industry faces unprecedented pressure as Trump reverses course on electronics tariffs while China suspends exports of critical rare earth materials. This two-pronged assault threatens to reshape the electronics supply chain and drive up consumer costs.
President Trump threatened TSMC with up to 100% import taxes if it fails to build plants in the United States. He made these remarks at a Republican National Congressional Committee event, taking aim at both the semiconductor giant and Biden's chip policies.
Trump's White House claims Apple can start making iPhones in America right now. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the U.S. has "the labor, workforce, and resources to do it." She points to Apple's $500 billion U.S. investment as proof.
The White House wants federal agencies to go all-in on artificial intelligence. And fast. A sweeping directive issued Monday orders federal agencies to name chief AI officers and craft strategies for expanding AI use across government operations.