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Motorola’s “adaptive display concept” was on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The smartphone can bend in various ways. 

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

See-through screens, phones that wrap around your wrist and expandable displays — these are all concept tech that gadget makers showed off this week, in a bid to stand out from competitors in a cut-throat hardware market.

At the world’s largest mobile trade show, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, some of the biggest companies in the world showed off some unusual screen technology. While electronics firms have continually improved certain aspects of devices, such as battery life and cameras, the focus in recent years has shifted more toward innovations in displays, especially with the advent of foldable phones.

Screens have also become a focal point, given the increase in the amount of things on our devices.

Many of the MWC displays have also come from companies looking to create a buzz around their products and challenge the likes of Apple and Samsung.

“The sheer dominance of Apple and Samsung in connected devices means that other companies are having to go to great lengths to differentiate their products in an effort to turn consumers’ heads,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC.

“As a result we are seeing a proliferation of weird and wonderful new designs such as wrist worn phones, rollable screens, virtual 3D displays and more.”

Here’s some of the screen tech on display at MWC:

Tecno expandable phone

Tecno, a brand under the umbrella of Chinese firm Transsion that is now one of the biggest smartphone players in the world, showed off a handset with an expandable screen.

After pressing a button on the top of the device, the screen enlarges sideways.

Called the Tecno Phantom Ultimate, this is so far a concept device, and there has been no word on whether it will go on sale.

The Tecno Phantom Ultimate has a display with an expandable screen.

Motorola phone you can wear on your wrist

Motorola showed off a phone at MWC that can be bent in various ways.

One use the company illustrated was how the phone could be contorted to fit around your wrist and match outfits.

The interface on the smartphone adapts depending on which way the phone is bent.

Motorola’s “adapative display concept” smartphone can wrap around a user’s wrist. The phone can generative a background to match what a user is wearing. 

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

Lenovo see-through laptop

China’s Lenovo showed a prototype of a laptop with a see-through display.

The firm, which is the world’s largest PC maker, showed how an object can be placed behind the screen and detected by the device’s cameras. Information about the object would be displayed on the screen.

Lenovo’s concept laptop has a see-through screen.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

ZTE’s 3D tablet without glasses

ZTE showed off a second-generation tablet that displays three-dimensional images. Typically, 3D images have required some sort of glasses to view, as is the case with 3D movies in theatres.

But this screen produces a 3D image without glasses.

When CNBC saw the device, the quality of the 3D image depended on the angle from which you viewed the screen.

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Alibaba shares rise over 6% after CEO unveils plans to boost AI spending

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Alibaba shares rise over 6% after CEO unveils plans to boost AI spending

Alibaba‘s Hong Kong-listed shares surged on Wednesday to reach their highest point since 2021 after the company said it will invest more in artificial intelligence and rolled out new AI products and updates. 

Shares of the company jumped over 6%, while its total gains year to date rose above 107%. 

The tech giant plans to increase spending on AI models and infrastructure development, on top of the 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over three years it announced in February, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said Wednesday at Alibaba Cloud’s annual flagship technology conference.

“We are vigorously advancing a three-year, 380 billion [yuan] AI infrastructure initiative with plans to sustain and further increase our investment according to our strategic vision in anticipation of the [artificial superintelligence] era,” Wu said. 

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Alibaba shares surge after CEO unveils plans to boost AI spending

So-called ‘artificial superintelligence’ refers to AI that would hypothetically surpass the power and intelligence of the human brain, with the hypothetical benchmark becoming a growing focus of major AI companies. 

Alibaba also officially unveiled the latest version of its Qwen large language models — the Qwen3-Max — on Wednesday, along with a series of other updates to its suite of AI product offerings. 

Wu highlighted that Alibaba Cloud is strategically positioned as a “full-stack AI service provider,” delivering the computing power required for training and deploying large AI models on the cloud through its own data centers.

“The cumulative investment in global AI in the next five years will exceed $4 trillion, and this is the largest investment in computing power and research and development in history,” he added.

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Tether reportedly seeks lofty $500 billion valuation in capital raise

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Tether reportedly seeks lofty 0 billion valuation in capital raise

Venezuelan Bolivar and U.S. Dollar banknotes and representations of cryptocurrency Tether are seen in this illustration taken Sept. 8, 2025.

Dado Ruvic | Array

Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin, is planning to raise as much as $20 billion in a deal that could put the crypto company’s value on par with OpenAI, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

The crypto company is looking to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion in exchange for a roughly 3% stake through a private placement, the report said, citing two individuals familiar with the matter. The transaction would involve new equity rather than existing investors selling their stakes, the people told the news service.

The report said that one person close to the matter warned that the talks are in an early stage, which means that the eventual details, including the size of the offering, could change.

However, the deal could ultimately value Tether at around $500 billion, according to the report. That would mean the crypto giant’s valuation would rival some of the world’s biggest private companies, including SpaceX and OpenAI. OpenAI’s fundraising round earlier this year valued the tech company at $300 billion.

Tether, which was once accused of being a criminal’s “go-to cryptocurrency,” has been furthering its plans to return to the U.S. in recent months, given President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance. The company earlier this month named a CEO for its U.S. business and launched a new token for businesses and institutions in the U.S. called USAT, which will be regulated in the U.S. under the GENIUS Act.

Stablecoin USD Tether (USDT) is pegged to the U.S. dollar with a market cap that recently surpassed $172 billion. In second place is Tether rival Circle’s USDC stablecoin, which is worth about $74 billion.

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Micron beats on earnings as company sales rise 46% on AI boom

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Micron beats on earnings as company sales rise 46% on AI boom

A person walks by a sign for Micron Technology headquarters in San Jose, California, on June 25, 2025.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Micron reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue on Tuesday as well as a robust forecast for the current quarter.

The stock rose in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with the LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: $3.03, adjusted, vs. $2.86 expected
  • Revenue: $11.32 billion vs. $11.22 billion expected

Micron said revenue in the current period, its fiscal first quarter, will be about $12.5 billion, versus the $11.94 billion average analyst estimate per LSEG.

The company said it had $3.2 billion, or $2.83 per share in net income, versus $887 million, or 79 cents in the year-ago period.

Micron shares have nearly doubled so far in 2025. The company makes memory and storage, which are important components for computers. Micron has been one of the winners of the artificial intelligence boom. That’s because high-end AI chips like those made by Nvidia require increasing amounts of high-tech memory called high-bandwidth memory, which Micron makes.

“As the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer, Micron is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the AI opportunity ahead,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement.

Overall company revenue rose 46% on a year-over-year basis during the quarter.

Micron’s largest unit, which sells memory for cloud providers, reported $4.54 billion in sales during the quarter, more than tripling on a year-over-year basis.

However, the company’s core data center business unit saw sales decline 22% on an annual basis to $1.57 billion in revenue.

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