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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a press conference on Jan. 17, 2025.

Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty Images

STOCKHOLM — Europe is at risk of becoming a “museum” if it doesn’t soften strict curbs on artificial intelligence technologies and deregulate, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday.

“I think we really need to step up in Europe … the American economy, Chinese economy have been growing far faster compared to the European economies over the last 20 years,” the premier told attendees of the Techarena event in Stockholm.

“If we don’t change that, Europe will actually become some kind of a museum compared to other parts of the world,” he added.

Kristersson’s voice joins a chorus of European leaders who spoke at the Paris AI Action Summit last week, stressing the need for the region become a more competitive player in the global AI race.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a 109-billion-euro ($113.7 billion) investment in AI, which includes commitments from both foreign investors like the United Arab Emirates and U.S. American and Canadian investment funds, as well as domestic firms like Iliad, Orange and Thales.

Macron at the time compared the scale of the investment commitment to the $500 billion Stargate private AI investment venture announced by President Donald Trump last month.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said that the EU would mobilize a total of 200 billion euros ($208.6 billion) for AI investments in Europe.

Against this backdrop, U.S. Vice President JD Vance took aim at Europe, arguing officials in the continent have become too heavily focused on regulating AI instead of embracing its growth potential.

Touting America as “the leader” in the technology, Vance said that the U.S. wants its European allies to foster a more favorable attitude to the technology than it has done to date.

“To create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that fosters the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it, and we need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation,” Vance told attendees at the Paris summit.

‘Not good enough’

Tech executives have previously criticized the EU for taking too strict a regulatory approach to AI. The bloc’s landmark AI Act, which became enforceable this year, is the first comprehensive set of rules aimed at safeguarding against risks posed AI.

“To be able to compete in the new geopolitical context, Europe needs to become a place where business and innovation can thrive,” Kristersson said Thursday. “That means less regulation. That means more access to capital and talent.”

He added, “As it stands now, we’ve got companies having troubles using the latest technology due to uncertainties with the European legislation, companies founded in Europe relocating to the U.S. due to the lack of access to capital. That is simply not good enough.”

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Bitcoin price rises as Israel-Iran ceasefire begins, and Senate unveils major crypto bill

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Bitcoin price rises as Israel-Iran ceasefire begins, and Senate unveils major crypto bill

Crypto prices, including bitcoin, rose on Tuesday after President Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

By midday Tuesday, bitcoin had passed the $105,000 level, ether jumped back above the $2,400 mark, and XRP climbed to $2.19. 

The risk-on action in the markets, which also saw stocks rally on the Mideast de-escalation, wasn’t the only source of momentum, as Republican senators unveiled a major bill to set the rules of the road for crypto. Specifically, the legislation would define when crypto is a commodity or a security, allow crypto exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and reduce the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulation of digital assets — a big reversal from the plans of President Biden’s SEC Chair Gary Gensler to closely regulate the crypto industry.

The new framework was introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina and Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who heads the panel’s Digital Assets Committee. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the regulatory development was important for the U.S. to regain the lead in the crypto industry, where he said it has fallen behind other markets, including Europe.

Last week, the senate passed a stablecoin bill, marking the first major legislative win for the crypto industry, which now heads to the House for consideration of its version of the bill. Both bills prohibit yield-bearing consumer stablecoins — but differ on agency regulatory oversight. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney weighed in on the advancement of the Senate version, the Genius Act, telling CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the credit card giant has been embracing stablecoins. 

Meanwhile, investors increased their bets on crypto company Digital Asset, which raised $135 million in funding from several big names in banking and finance, including Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities. The firm, which touts itself as a regulated crypto player, said it will use the funding to advance adoption of its Canton network, which is a blockchain for financial institutions, another sign of how major financial institutions are embedding themselves into the once obscure crypto world. 

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Ambarella shares soar 19% on report chip designer is exploring sale

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Ambarella shares soar 19% on report chip designer is exploring sale

Thomas Fuller | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Ambarella shares popped 19% after a report that the chip designer is currently working with bankers on a potential sale.

Bloomberg reported the news, citing sources familiar with the matter.

While no deal is imminent, the sources told Bloomberg that the firm may draw interest from semiconductor companies looking to improve their automotive business. Private equity firms have already expressed interest, according to the report.

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The Santa Clara, California-based company is known for its system-on-chip semiconductors and software used for edge artificial intelligence. Ambarella chips are used in the automotive sector for electronic mirrors and self-driving assistance systems.

Shares have slumped about 18% year to date. The company’s market capitalization last stood at nearly $2.6 billion.

Read the Bloomberg story here.

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Nvidia CEO Huang sells $15 million worth of stock, first sale of $873 million plan

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Nvidia CEO Huang sells  million worth of stock, first sale of 3 million plan

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a roundtable discussion at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 11, 2025.

Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold 100,000 shares of the chipmaker’s stock on Friday and Monday, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The sales are worth nearly $15 million at Tuesday’s opening price.

The transactions are the first sale in Huang’s plan to sell as many as 600,000 shares of Nvidia through the end of 2025. It’s a plan that was announced in March, and it’d be worth $873 million at Tuesday’s opening price.

The Nvidia founder still owns more than 800 million Nvidia shares, according to Monday’s SEC filing. Huang has a net worth of about $126 billion, ranking him 12th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The 62-year-old chief executive sold about $700 million in Nvidia shares last year under a prearranged plan, too.

Nvidia stock is up more than 800% since December 2022 after OpenAI’s ChatGPT was first released to the public. That launch drew attention to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, which were needed to develop and power the artificial intelligence service.

The company’s chips remain in high demand with the majority of the AI chip market, and Nvidia has introduced two subsequent generations of its AI GPU technology.

Nvidia continues to grow. Its stock is up 9% this year, even as the company faces export control issues that could limit foreign markets for its AI chips.

In May, the company reported first-quarter earnings that showed the chipmaker’s revenue growing 69% on an annual basis to $44 billion during the quarter.

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Market Navigator: Nvidia warning signs

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