Consumer Tech News (Jan 26-30): Meta Faces Lawsuits Over Youth Addiction Claims, IMF Warns AI Could Eliminate Millions Of Jobs & More

Government Regulations & Announcements

President Donald Trump has slammed Canada’s trade agreement with China, terming it a deal that would be detrimental to the country.

President Trump escalated trade pressure on South Korea by raising tariffs to 25%, a move that risks tightening one of the most fragile corners of global supply chains: memory chips.

A U.S. lawmaker has alleged that Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) provided technical assistance to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.

France’s lower house approved legislation to block children under 15 from social media, signaling a tougher stance on Big Tech as President Emmanuel Macron presses for swift action ahead of the next school year.

The Indian government has reportedly reached an agreement with the EU to lower tariffs on cars imported into India from the bloc from 110% to 40%.

Georgia introduced a bill proposing a statewide moratorium on new data centers as concerns grow over the environmental and economic impacts of these power-intensive facilities, particularly as they support the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry.

The European Commission has reportedly announced a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X, a subsidiary of X Corp, over its AI chatbot's image-editing feature, which has been used to create nonconsensual explicit content.

China has reportedly given the green light for the first batch of Nvidia Corporation‘s (NASDAQ:NVDA) H200 artificial intelligence chips to be imported into the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, warned that artificial intelligence could wipe out millions of jobs worldwide, but said higher wages for AI-enhanced workers could generate demand that benefits low-wage service employees.

Earnings Snapshot

Agilysys Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS) reported quarterly earnings of 42 cents per share, which missed the consensus estimate of 46 cents, and revenue came in at $80.39 million, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $79.03 million.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.42 billion, missing analyst estimates of $4.44 billion and earnings of $1.27 per share, missing analyst estimates of $1.30 per share.

Seagate Technology Holdings Plc. (NASDAQ:STX) reported quarterly earnings of $3.11 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.81, and revenue hit $2.83 billion, which beat the Street estimate of $2.73 billion.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported second-quarter revenue of $81.3 billion, beating a Street consensus estimate of $80.25 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $4.14, beating a Street consensus estimate of $3.86.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported quarterly earnings of 50 cents per share, which beat the consensus estimate of 45 cents, and revenue came in at $24.9 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $24.78 billion.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) reported fourth-quarter revenue of $59.89 billion, beating analyst estimates of $58.30 billion and adjusted earnings of $8.88 per share, beating estimates of $8.16 per share.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) reported quarterly net revenues of $3.329 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 11 cents decisively trailed the analyst consensus estimate of 25 cents.

Semiconductors & Software

Samsung Electronics Co. (OTC:SSNLF) is reportedly preparing to begin production of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips as it seeks to supply Nvidia and narrow the gap with SK Hynix.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY) is accelerating its global cloud push by targeting the Middle East for new data centers, signaling a bid to capture surging regional demand for AI and cloud services as Big Tech rivals pour billions into infrastructure across the Gulf.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) reported quarterly earnings of $6.20 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.12 and sales of $3.025 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.599 billion.

IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) is making its biggest move yet to expand control over its quantum technology stack, agreeing to acquire U.S. chip manufacturer SkyWater Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYT) for roughly $1.8 billion.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is opening up artificial intelligence-powered weather forecasting tools to help more organizations build faster, cheaper prediction systems without relying solely on supercomputers.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has begun building a state-of-the-art wafer fabrication plant in Singapore, with plans to invest about $24 billion (SG$31 billion) over the next ten years amid strong AI-driven demand for its memory chips.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) unveiled an upgraded version of its homegrown AI chip on Monday, pairing it with new developer tools to directly compete with Nvidia Corp.'s (NASDAQ:NVDA) strongest moat.

Smartphones, Broadline Retail & Interactive Media

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly set to re-engage with Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) for the supply of iPhone chips, marking a significant shift in its supply chain strategy.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) CEO George Kurtz said his firm identified hundreds of North Korean operatives who infiltrated American companies as remote employees using AI-generated resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE:PINS) announced a global restructuring plan that will lead to a reduction in its workforce by less than 15%.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) officially announced approximately 16,000 job reductions across the company on Wednesday, according to Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon.

Meta and other major social media companies urged a U.S. federal judge to block school districts’ lawsuits alleging their platforms were intentionally designed to addict students and worsen a youth mental health crisis.

Meta is reportedly testing new paid subscriptions across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that would unlock premium features and expanded AI tools while keeping the core apps free.

Meta is doubling down on AI with its most ambitious capital spending plan to date, outlining record infrastructure investments for fiscal 2026.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov alleged that Meta’s messaging platform WhatsApp is not secure.

Commvault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVLT) announced an expanded collaboration with Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Cloud aimed at strengthening data protection, speeding recovery for cloud applications, and improving compliance workflows for enterprise customers.

Google said it has disrupted a massive residential proxy operation used to hide cybercrime activity, cutting off millions of compromised consumer devices worldwide.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) moved its artificial intelligence ambitions into space after its Qwen-3 model became the world’s first general-purpose AI to run inference in orbit.

Alibaba is looking to streamline its logistics and autonomous-driving footprint while its cloud and AI momentum continues to support investor optimism.

Automobiles

Tesla will invest approximately $2 billion into CEO Elon Musk‘s artificial intelligence startup, xAI.

Tesla has shared updated terms for availing free Full Self-Driving (FSD) transfers on new purchases, which are slated to end on March 31 this year.

An Alphabet autonomous cab service, Waymo‘s “Ojai” Robotaxi, built in collaboration with Chinese automaker Zeekr, crashed into multiple vehicles in Los Angeles’ Echo Park area.

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is putting builder trust to the test as he invites questions in a new town hall format amid rapid model changes and skyrocketing costs.

SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY) is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI, as the ChatGPT maker seeks up to $100 billion in new capital.

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) announced a global go-to-market alliance with OpenAI on Tuesday to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.

OpenAI is reportedly in discussions to secure funding of nearly $40 billion from its major suppliers, NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft.

OpenAI is reportedly working on a new social network that will require biometric verification to tackle the bot problem plaguing existing platforms.

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has closed its latest funding round at a $350 billion valuation, exceeding its $10 billion target.

Anthropic has raised its 2026 revenue forecast by 20 percent, predicting sales will grow to $18 billion this year and hit $55 billion in 2027.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei compared exporting AI chips to China to "selling nuclear weapons to North Korea," urging Congress to enforce a total blockade on the semiconductor supply chain to authoritarian regimes.