Huawei Takes on Nvidia in China Chip Race

Huawei Takes on Nvidia in China Chip Race 

Huawei is targeting a larger share of China’s artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, currently dominated by Nvidia [NVDA], by promoting its Ascend processors for “inference” tasks, the Financial Times outlined. While Nvidia GPUs power AI model training, Huawei aims to dominate the growing inference market, driven by AI applications like chatbots, in a bet on shifting demand as adoption rises.

Get Used to Whiplash

President Donald Trump’s second term began with financial market turmoil as he shifted positions on tariff policies. Early reports suggested a delay in imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, lifting stock futures and weakening the dollar. By day’s end, however, he announced 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods. According to Bloomberg, this is a preview of how Trump will force business leaders to adjust to quickfire policy shifts in real time. 

OpenAI Calls Out Musk “Lawfare”

Speaking at Bloomberg House at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar dismissed Elon Musk’s legal challenge against the company’s for-profit shift as competitive posturing, and criticized him for using “lawfare”. Musk claims the shift breaches OpenAI’s founding mission. Friar also said that the company was developing new revenue streams and was weighing the benefits of an IPO.

Barclays’ Chip Picks for 2025

The UK bank’s 2025 outlook highlights Marvell Technology [MRVL] and Nvidia as AI semiconductor leaders. While Nvidia dominates, surging AI demand will create opportunities for others including Broadcom [AVGO], Credo Technology [CRDO] and Lumentum Holdings [LITE], Seeking Alpha detailed. Earlier this month, looking beyond Nvidia, OPTO laid out the investment case for three chip stocks.

Cyber Security Collaboration

Cognizant [CTSH] and CrowdStrike [CRWD] have partnered to enhance enterprise cyber security, Seeking Alpha reported. The collaboration aims to streamline security operations, consolidate outdated legacy systems and simplify cyber security management. By integrating platforms and reducing complexity, the partnership seeks to bolster threat mitigation and strengthen global enterprises across industries.

Trump Blocks Offshore Wind Farms 

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order halting new US wind farm leases. It is not expected to impact projects being advanced by, among others, Ørsted [DNNGY] and Dominion [D]. Nonetheless, Ørsted on Monday reported $1.7bn in impairments on its US business due to interest rates, supply chain issues and market uncertainties affecting seabed lease values, the Financial Times reported.

Can This Power Stock’s Streak Continue?

GE Vernova [GEV] has gone from strength to strength since it became its own tradeable company back in April 2024. Its technology base helps to generate approximately 25% of the world’s electricity, and the company is actively pursuing decarbonization. However, the energy space is fiercely competitive, especially the rapidly growing sustainable power space. OPTO asks, can GEV keep delivering in 2025?