Tech News (July 14–July 18): China Cuts US Debt, Fed Signals Rate Shift, Netflix And TSMC Lead Earnings Beat; Meta-AWS Push AI
A whirlwind week in consumer tech saw blockbuster earnings, bold AI moves, legal battles, and fresh economic signals reshaping the industry's outlook.
The second-quarter earnings season opened with strong results from major U.S. banks, but investors remained cautious, focusing on forward guidance and narrowing margins, which dragged bank stocks lower. Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales surged 0.6% in June after two months of decline, signaling resilient consumer spending despite high borrowing costs and tariff uncertainties.
Amid this economic backdrop, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller made a strong case for a July rate cut and hinted at his willingness to succeed Jerome Powell if asked by President Donald Trump.
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In a notable geopolitical shift, China continued reducing its U.S. Treasury holdings for a third consecutive month, bringing its stockpile to a 16-year low of $756.3 billion in May.
These economic and geopolitical shifts—ranging from tighter bank margins to China's retreat from U.S. debt—could ripple through the consumer tech world, potentially tightening capital flows, pressuring valuations, and reshaping global supply chain dynamics.
Earnings
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) eported second-quarter revenue of $11.08 billion, up 16% year-over-year. The revenue total beat a Street consensus estimate of $11.04 billion.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) reported second-quarter net sales of $30.07 billion, up 38.6% year-over-year, topping the analyst consensus estimate of $30.04 billion.
3M Company (NYSE:MMM) posted second-quarter adjusted sales of $6.2 billion, reflecting 1.5% organic growth and beating the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion.
Technology
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, on his third visit to China this year, praised the country's open-source AI innovation during a fireside chat with Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Cloud founder Wang Jian at the China International Supply Chain Expo on Thursday.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has reportedly laid off several employees within its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud division, as the company continues to restructure amid the growing impact of generative artificial intelligence.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Amazon Web Services are launching a $6 million initiative to attract 30 U.S. startups to build AI applications using Meta’s open-source Llama model, positioning the partnership as a strategic counter to OpenAI’s closed-source dominance.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has signed a $500 million deal with MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP), a Pentagon-backed company, to secure a supply of rare earth magnets.
Apple has filed a lawsuit against YouTuber Jon Prosser and collaborator Michael Ramacciotti, alleging they misappropriated trade secrets tied to the unreleased iOS 26 by secretly accessing a confidential development iPhone.
Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) announced two key leadership promotions effective July 15, 2025.
Chris Koopmans has been elevated to president, while Sandeep Bharathi has been named president of the company’s Data Center Group. Both executives will report directly to Matt Murphy, Marvell’s chair and CEO.
Rumble Inc. (NASDAQ:RUM) announced it is actively assembling a specialized machine learning and artificial intelligence team that will oversee development in areas such as search functions, content recommendations, creator tools and the platform’s short-form video segment, Rumble Shorts.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The Donald Trump administration is reportedly preparing a sweeping executive order aimed at curbing perceived liberal bias in artificial intelligence models used by government contractors.
Hadrian, a defense manufacturing startup, has successfully concluded a $260 million Series C funding round, led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Lux Capital.
OpenAI has finally completed its $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup io Products, officially bringing the former Apple design chief and his team into the fold to build a new generation of AI-native devices.
Elon Musk-led artificial intelligence company, xAI, unveiled new technology that will help the company “sustainably” cool its Memphis data center.
Automobiles
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is reportedly preparing to introduce a longer, six-seat version of its Model Y sport utility vehicle in China.
WeRide Inc. (NASDAQ:WRD) announced on Thursday the launch of fully driverless Robobus operations at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore (RWS), the first autonomous vehicle in Southeast Asia to operate without a safety officer on board.
Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) replaced Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) and DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG)
ousted Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) in the latest Russell 1000 index reshuffle.
Lucid Group is making two major moves this week-one to restructure its stock and another to deepen its footprint in autonomous mobility.
Meanwhile, TD Cowen maintained a Hold rating on Lucid Group, with a price target of $2.30.
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