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Semiconductors are a key focus in the technology trade war taking place between the U.S. and China.

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Shares of Advanced Micro Devices and Intel dipped on Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported that China is ordering the country’s largest telecommunications carriers to cease use of foreign chips.

Chinese officials issued the directive earlier this year for the telecom systems to replace non-Chinese core processors by 2027, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said the mandate would impact AMD and Intel.

Both stocks traded down as much as 4% on Friday afternoon.

Intel declined to comment on the report. AMD didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China accounted for 27% of Intel’s revenue in 2023, making it the company’s biggest market. AMD generated 15% of sales from China, including Hong Kong, last year. Their reliance on China underscores the continued importance of the world’s second-biggest economy despite U.S. regulations aimed at curbing chip exports to the country and China’s efforts to be less dependent on foreign technology.

China set new guidelines in December to remove U.S. chips from government computers and servers, blocking processors from AMD and Intel, the Financial Times reported last month.

And in October 2022, the U.S. instituted rules designed to limit China’s access to advanced American chips, especially those critical to artificial intelligence technology. Late last year, the U.S. announced new restrictions to prevent the sale of more AI chips to China, seeking to close perceived loopholes in the previous order.

AMD failed to get U.S. approval for an AI chip it designed for China and will need to apply for an export license, Bloomberg reported last month.

Intel has reportedly survived a push by AMD to end its sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of laptop chips to the U.S.-sanctioned Chinese telecom company Huawei.

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Oracle and Silver Lake part of TikTok investor group as Trump extends deal deadline

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Oracle and Silver Lake part of TikTok investor group as Trump extends deal deadline

In this photo illustration, the logo of TikTok is displayed on a smartphone screen on April 5, 2025 in Shanghai, China. 

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business, which will be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle and Silver Lake, CNBC’s David Faber reported.

It’s the fourth time Trump has extended the deadline. The extension, as described in an executive order, precludes the Department of Justice from enforcing a national security law that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. until Dec. 16.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday that a “framework deal” had been reached involving TikTok. Under the national security law, which would have come into effect on Wednesday, app store operators like Apple and Google and internet service providers would be penalized for providing services to TikTok’s U.S. operations if a deal was not reached.

Under the framework deal, about 80% of TikTok’s U.S. business would be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported. As part of the arrangement, existing U.S. users would need to shift to a new app, according to report.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected on Friday to discuss the terms of the TikTok-related deal that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday.

The deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 45 days, includes new investors, existing ByteDance investors and will result in Oracle maintaining its cloud computing agreement with TikTok, CNBC’s David Faber reported earlier on Tuesday.

Bessent said Tuesday during CNBC’s Squawk Box that Trump was willing to let TikTok “go dark,” which spurred China to agree to a deal. The Treasury Secretary said that the deal’s commercial terms had already been finalized “in essence” since March or April, but China put the deal on hold following Trump’s tough tariffs and trade policies.

“We were able to reach a series of agreements, mostly for things we will not be doing in the future that have no effect on our national security,” Bessent said Tuesday.

A senior White House official said in a statement that, “Any details of the TikTok framework are pure speculation unless they are announced by this administration.”

TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.

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Microsoft announces $30 billion investment in AI infrastructure, operations in UK

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Microsoft announces  billion investment in AI infrastructure, operations in UK

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Build AI Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.

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LONDON — Microsoft said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $30 billion in the U.K. by 2028, as the company builds out its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The investment includes an additional $15.5 billion in capital expansion and $15.1 billion in its U.K. operations, Microsoft said. The company said the investment would enable it to build the U.K.’s “largest supercomputer,” with more than 23,000 advanced graphics processing units, in partnership with Nscale, a British cloud computing firm.

The spending commitment comes as President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to Britain. Trump arrived in the U.K. Tuesday evening and is set to be greeted at Windsor Castle on Wednesday by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

During his visit, all eyes are on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is under pressure to bring stability to the country after the exit of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a house tax scandal and a major cabinet reshuffle.

On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said his stance on the U.K. has warmed over the years. He previously criticized the country over its attempt in 2023 to block the tech giant’s $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision-Blizzard. The deal was cleared by the U.K.s competition regulator later that year.

“I haven’t always been optimistic every single day about the business climate in the U.K.,” Smith said. However, he added, “I am very encouraged by the steps that the government has taken over the last few years.”

“Just a few years ago, this kind of investment would have been inconceivable because of the regulatory climate then and because there just wasn’t the need or demand for this kind of large AI investment,” Smith said.

Starmer and Trump are expected to sign a new deal Wednesday “to unlock investment and collaboration in AI, Quantum, and Nuclear technologies,” the government said in a statement late Tuesday.

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Waymo obtains permit to test robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport

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Waymo obtains permit to test robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport

Waymo partners with Uber to bring robotaxi service to Atlanta and Austin.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Alphabet-owned Waymo obtained a permit to start testing its robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and the company announced Tuesday.

Waymo will partner with the airport to roll out its commercial robotaxi service in phases, “beginning with employee testing soon ahead of welcoming Bay Area riders,” company spokesperson Chris Bonelli told CNBC.

That means the robotaxis will start with human drivers on board, ready to take control of the vehicles if needed, and eventually operate as a driverless ride-hail service.

Waymo is already operating its service in San Mateo County, where the airport is based, and in nearby San Francisco, but it does not yet have permission to ferry passengers to or from the airport.

In 2022, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport gave Waymo permission to test and operate its service there, and earlier this month, Waymo secured a permit to begin testing at San Jose Mineta International Airport.

Last month, Lurie said Waymo could operate a limited passenger service on one of San Francisco’s main thoroughfares, Market Street, where such services had previously been restricted.

For its general robotaxi service, Waymo now operates in Phoenix, parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta.

Tesla began testing a robotaxi service in Austin in June, with human safety supervisors on board. The Elon Musk-led company is also in discussions with San Francisco Bay Area airports. Tesla has permission to operate a paid car service in San Francisco, but not to run a driverless ride-hailing business there.

Tesla does not currently sell vehicles that are safe to use without a person in the car, ready to take over steering or braking at any time.

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