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Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp., speaks during a news conference in Taipei on May 21, 2025.

I-hwa Cheng | Afp | Getty Images

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Friday showered praise on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on a visit to Taiwan, saying that anybody looking to take a stake in the company would be “very smart.”

This comes at a time when the U.S. administration has signaled interest in acquiring stakes in tech companies, especially those in receipt of funding under the U.S. CHIPS Act.

Huang, who said the main purpose of his trip to Taiwan was to thank TSMC for their work on Nvidia’s Rubin, its next-generation AI chip platform, made the remarks in response to a query on Washington looking to take a stake in TSMC. 

“Well, first of all, I think TSMC is one of the greatest companies in the history of humanity, and anybody who wants to buy TSMC stock is a very smart person,” he said. 

Huang said TSMC was making six new products for Nvidia, including a new central processing unit, a hardware component used for computation, and a new general processing unit, used for advanced computation, especially AI.

Earlier this week, Reuters had reported that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was looking at equity stakes in exchange for CHIPS Act funding for companies such as Micron, TSMC and Samsung

The 2022 CHIPS Act, passed with bipartisan support under the Joe Biden administration, has seen grants and loans awarded to chipmakers expanding production in the U.S. as part of efforts by Washington to revitalize U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing. TSMC had been promised $6.6 billion under the act to help build its three cutting-edge chip fabrication plants in Arizona.

TSMC is executing flawlessly and becoming the only foundry needed for new AI and smartphone chips

Lutnick confirmed in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday that the government was in talks to take a 10% equity stake in troubled semiconductor company Intel, and said the administration might consider stakes in other firms as well.

A report from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, however, said the government had no plans to seek shares in semiconductor firms that were increasing their U.S. investments, citing a government official. TSMC, in March, announced an expansion of its Investment in the United States to $165 billion.

Separately, Huang said that Nvidia was eager to begin work on “NVIDIA Constellation” — a recently announced new Taiwan office for the company to house its growing Taiwan workforce.

Huang said the company was still working with the local government to resolve some issues to start its construction. 

“We have many, many employees here in Taiwan, and we’re growing here in Taiwan because our supply chain is so busy here.” 

“We’re working with chip companies, system vendors and system makers all over Taiwan, and everybody is working so hard for us and so we need a lot of engineers to work alongside them,” he added.

Shares in TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, have gained 6.5% so far this year.

Separately, news reports on Friday said Nvidia had asked some of its component suppliers to stop production related to its made-for-China H20 general processing units, after China raised security concerns over the chips. 

Last month, Nvidia said it expected to receive an export license for its H20 chips, which had been effectively banned in April. However, Beijing has reportedly placed a freeze on local company’s ability to buy them.

According to Reuters, one of the companies told to pause their work in relation to the H20 chips was Taiwan’s Foxconn — also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry. Foxconn did not respond to an inquiry from CNBC on the matter.

Huang on Friday said that the company had responded to Beijing’s concerns regarding its H20s and was hoping that the issue would be resolved.

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CNBC Daily Open: Flying blind in markets and the economy

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CNBC Daily Open: Flying blind in markets and the economy

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Nov. 13, 2025 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

U.S. markets had their worst day since Oct. 10. That marks a sharp reversal for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which shed 1.65% to settle at 47,457.22, a day after it closed above 48,000 for the first time. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 lost 1.66% and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.29%.

The slump in stocks can partly be traced to a turnaround in sentiment regarding artificial intelligence. Tech behemoths such as Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle slumped, with the last losing more than one-third in value since it rocketed 36% in September.

Investors, it seems, are growing worried over the high valuations of tech names, as well as the gigantic amount of capital expenditure they are committing to — with some, like Oracle, having to take on debt to fulfil those obligations.

Uncertainty over an interest rate cut in December is also putting a downer on Wall Street. It’s a coin toss as to whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy then, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That’s a huge difference from a month ago, when traders were pricing in a 95.5% chance of a December cut.

Not having October’s employment and inflation numbers, and possibly never getting them, means the Fed lacks visibility into the state of the economy — and whether it should try to support the labor market or continue reining in inflation.

After all, flying blind makes it hard to see where you’ll land. As of now, that applies both to the Fed and investors trying to navigate the still-hazy ambitions of tech companies.

What you need to know today

And finally…

Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk speaks at a Q&A following a tour of the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Shelby Tauber | Reuters

Wall Street cools on Oracle’s buildout plans as debt concerns mount: ‘AI sentiment is waning’

Two months ago, Oracle’s stock soared 36% to a record after the company blew away investors with its forecast for cloud infrastructure revenue. Since then, the company has lost one-third of its value, more than wiping out those gains.

The mood of late has turned, with investors questioning whether the AI market ran too far, too fast and whether OpenAI can live up to its $300 billion commitment to Oracle over five years. Of the big cloud companies in the GPU business, Oracle is expected to generate the least amount of free cash flow, said Jackson Ader, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

— Seema Mody

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StubHub stock tanks 20% as CEO says it is not giving guidance for current quarter

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StubHub stock tanks 20% as CEO says it is not giving guidance for current quarter

Ticket reseller StubHub signage on display at the New York Stock Exchange for the company’s IPO on Sept. 17, 2025.

NYSE

StubHub shares plunged 20% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported quarterly results for the first time since its initial public offering in September.

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

  • Loss per share: $4.27
  • Revenue: $468.1 million vs. $452 million expected

During a conference call with investors, StubHub CEO and founder Eric Baker said the company wouldn’t provide guidance for the current quarter.

Baker said that the company takes “a long term approach,” adding that the timing of when tickets go on sale can vary, making it hard to predict consumer demand. StubHub plans to offer outlook for 2026 when it reports fourth-quarter results, he said.

“The demand for live events is phenomenal,” Baker said. “We don’t see anything with consumer demand that’s any different.”

Revenue increased 8% in its second quarter from $433.8 million a year earlier, the company said.

StubHub reported a net loss of $1.33 billion, or a loss of $4.27 per share, compared to a net loss of $45.9 million, or a loss of 15 cents per share, during the same period last year. StubHub said this reflects a one-time stock-based compensation charge of $1.4 billion stemming from its IPO.

Gross merchandise sales, which represent the total dollar value paid by ticket buyers, rose 11% year over year to $2.43 billion.

The company faced tough comparisons from a year earlier, when results were boosted by Taylor Swift’s massively popular Eras Tour. Excluding that impact, StubHub said GMS grew 24% year over year.

Founded in 2000, StubHub primarily generates revenue from connecting buyers with ticket resellers. It competes with Vivid Seats, which was taken public via a special purpose acquisition company in 2021; SeatGeek; and Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment.

“We are building a truly differentiated consumer product that improves the experience for fans while unlocking better economics for venues, teams, and artists through open distribution,” Baker said in a statement. “We’re early in that journey, but our progress so far gives us great confidence in our strategy and the long-term value we’re creating.”

StubHub raised $800 million in its long-awaited IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which came after it delayed its debut twice. The most recent stall came in April after President Donald Trump‘s announcement of sweeping tariffs roiled markets. The company restarted the process to go public in August when it filed an updated prospectus.

On Thursday, the company’s stock closed at $18.82. Shares are now down roughly 20% from the IPO price of $23.50.

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Google says group behind E-ZPass, USPS text scam has been ‘shut down’ after suit

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Google says group behind E-ZPass, USPS text scam has been 'shut down' after suit

The Google corporate logo hangs outside the Google Germany offices on August 31, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Google said on Thursday said it has disrupted the foreign cybercriminal group behind a massive SMS text phishing operation within 24 hours of filing its lawsuit.

“This shut down of Lighthouse’s operations is a win for everyone,” said Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado. “We will continue to hold malicious scammers accountable and protect consumers.”

Google filed the suit early Wednesday, seeking to dismantle the organization that some cyber experts have dubbed the “Smishing Triad,” which used a phishing kit named “Lighthouse” to generate and deploy attacks using fake texts.

The company provided translated Telegram messages allegedly posted by the group’s ringleader.

“Our cloud server has been blocked due to malicious complaints. Please be patient and we will restore it as soon as possible!” one message read.

Another message stated that “The reopening date will be announced separately.”

Google did not provide specifics on how the operation was shut down.

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The crime group had harmed at least 1 million victims across over 120 countries, Google said in a release.

Victims would receive texts containing malicious links to fraudulent websites designed to steal sensitive financial information, including Social Security numbers and banking credentials.

The messages often appeared as fake delivery updates, unpaid fees notifications, fraud alerts, and other texts designed to appear urgent.

“They were preying on users’ trust in reputable brands such as E-ZPass, the U.S. Postal Service, and even us as Google,” DeLaine Prado previously told CNBC.

The company said that it found over 100 templates generated by Lighthouse using the company’s branding to trick victims into thinking the sites were legitimate.

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