Amazon just unveiled Nova Sonic, an AI model that talks and listens like a human. The new system beats both OpenAI and Google on speed and cost, while matching them on quality.
The answer is easy: it's about ads. Chinese companies pour money into Facebook and Instagram ads, making up 10% of Meta's revenue last year. Giants like Shein and Temu led the charge, with Temu spending $3 billion on marketing in 2023 alone.
Trump's new tariffs threaten this cash flow. By scrapping the $800 duty exemption and raising tariffs on Chinese goods, he's made it harder for Chinese companies to sell cheap products to Americans. When these sellers struggle, their ad spending on Meta's platforms will likely drop.
Meta's CFO tried to calm investors by pointing out that most Chinese ad revenue comes from smaller advertisers. But that strategy backfired. As analyst Eric Seufert tells Isaac: "They don't just have to worry about Temu or Shein dropping off. They have to worry about everyone."
Why this matters:
Meta doesn't make hardware, but it depends on hardware sellers' ad money
Spreading risk across many Chinese advertisers made Meta more vulnerable when tariffs hit them all
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.
In a twist that would make economists cringe, America's latest trade policy looks like it came straight from ChatGPT. The Trump administration's new tariff calculations match what AI language models suggest when asked about trade policy.
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.
Trump's new 20% tax on European goods threatens to break apart Silicon Valley's deepest overseas alliance. The move endangers billions in trade and decades of tech partnerships that have shaped the digital world.
