Nvidia’s CEO makes surprise visit to Beijing after US restricts chip sales to China

Jensen Huang causes stir on social media and is reported to have met founder of AI company DeepSeek

The chief executive of the American chip maker Nvidia visited Beijing on Thursday, days after the US issued fresh restrictions on sales of the only AI chip it was still allowed to sell to China.

Jensen Huang’s surprise visit was on the invitation of a trade organisation, according to a social media account affiliated with state media.

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Nvidia beats Wall Street expectations in first earnings after DeepSeek’s AI debut

Investors were eyeing the firm for signs of slowing demand after revelation high-end chips not necessary, but found few

Nvidia surpassed investor expectations for the fourth quarter of 2024 with a 78% jump in revenue year over year.

The company reported $39.3bn in revenue, beating analyst projections of $38.25bn. It also reported $0.89 in earnings a share on Wednesday, beating expectations of $0.84.

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DeepSeek banned from Australian government devices over national security concerns

Home affairs minister Tony Burke says decision follows advice from intelligence agencies and is not impacted by AI chatbot’s country of origin, China

DeepSeek will be banned from all federal government devices as the Albanese government cracks down on the Chinese AI chatbot, citing unspecified national security risks.

The launch of DeepSeek’s AI generative chatbot rocked US tech stocks last week amid concerns over censorship and data security.

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As DeepSeek upends the AI industry, one group is urging Australia to embrace the opportunity

Recruiting top graduates could stop other countries pulling ahead in artificial intelligence race, tech council says

One Australian company has discouraged staff from using the technology, others are scrambling for advice on its cybersecurity implications – while federal government ministers are urging caution.

But others have welcomed DeepSeek’s arrival, calling for Australia to follow China’s lead in developing powerful yet less energy-intensive AI technology.

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Meta to report fourth-quarter earnings amid DeepSeek mania and ballooning AI investments

Zuckerberg likely to be asked about plans to spend $60-65bn on AI in 2025 as tech giant faces increased competition

Meta will report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 after US stock markets close on Wednesday.

Analysts will probably ask about Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to spend between $60bn and $65bn on AI infrastructure in 2025. That is up from the $50bn the CEO said he expected to spend at the end of last quarter. But as Meta faces increased competition, especially from new player DeepSeek AI, the company is ramping up its AI efforts.

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US tech stocks partly recover after Trump says DeepSeek AI chatbot is ‘wake-up call’

Tentative rise comes after emergence of cheaper Chinese rival wiped $1tn off the value of leading US tech companies

US tech stocks tentatively recovered on Tuesday after Donald Trump described the launch of a chatbot by China’s DeepSeek as a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence.

The emergence of DeepSeek, which has built its R1 model chatbot at a fraction of the cost of competitors such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, wiped $1tn (£800bn) in value from the leading US tech index on Monday.

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We tried out DeepSeek. It worked well, until we asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan

The AI app soared up the Apple charts and rocked US stocks, but the Chinese chatbot was reluctant to discuss sensitive questions about China and its government

The launch of a new chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek triggered a plunge in US tech stocks as it appeared to perform as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI models, but using fewer resources.

By Monday, DeepSeek’s AI assistant had rapidly overtaken ChatGPT as the most popular free app in Apple’s US and UK app stores. Despite its popularity with international users, the app appears to censor answers to sensitive questions about China and its government.

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