Breaking News: Technology

• Taiwan will invest $250 billion in U.S. chipmaking under new trade deal - The U.S. and Taiwan have reached a trade agreement to build chips and chip factories on American soil, the Department of Commerce announced on Thursday.
• Spotify hikes U.S. Premium subscription price months after last rate increase - Co-founder Daniel Ek recently stepped down as CEO, with co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström now at the helm of the music streamer.
• Australia banned social media for under 16s a month ago — here's how it's going - The effects of a new social media ban for under 16s in Australia has been mixed so far. Some teens are embracing new habits while others are bypassing the law.
• TSMC fourth-quarter profit beats estimates, soaring 35%, as AI chip demand stays strong - TSMCy delivered another estimate-beating quarter, with profit up 35% from a year ago as advanced chip orders tied to AI continued to dominate its business.
• Musk's xAI disables Grok's ability to create sexualized images of real people after backlash - X's safety account said in a social media post that no users will be able to create sexualized images of real people using Grok.
• Trump administration clears way for Nvidia H200 chip sales to China with a 25% surcharge - The H200's performance has been exceeded by two generations of Nvidia chips currently in production, the Blackwell and Rubin.
• Google launches Personal Intelligence feature in Gemini app, challenging Apple Intelligence - Google has been bolstering its AI offerings as it takes on OpenAI, and is now going directly at Apple.
• Musk says Tesla is moving Full Self-Driving to a monthly subscription - Tesla is lagging Waymo in autonomous mobility as the Alphabet-owned driverless car service topped 450,000 paid weekly rides in December.
• Tariffs and AI's downside pose top global risks for business, World Economic Forum says - The report captures a shifting landscape where geoeconomic confrontation leaps to the top spot on the list of business worries over the next two years
• Big Tech is poaching energy talent to fuel its AI ambitions - Hires of energy-related talent by Big Tech was 30% higher in 2025 than pre-AI levels.