A day of significant developments is underway, as a major breakthrough in the US-Japan trade war sends auto stocks soaring, President Donald Trump hosts the titans of Silicon Valley for a high-stakes AI summit at the White House, and a new front opens in the artificial intelligence arms race with a stunning move from the industry’s leading startup.
Here’s your one-stop stand to catch up on all the headlines you may have missed.
Japanese auto stocks rally as Trump signs tariff relief order
A wave of relief has sent Japanese auto shares climbing in Tokyo after President Donald Trump signed an executive order confirming a deal that limits US tariffs on the sector to a more manageable 15 percent.
The Topix Index’s measure of carmakers jumped as much as 2.8 percent, the most in a month.
Automakers with heavy exposure to the North American market saw the biggest gains, with Mazda Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. both rising over 5 percent at one point, while Toyota Motor Corp. climbed as much as 3.5 percent.
The rally marks a dramatic reversal for a sector that had been among the hardest hit by Trump’s previous tariff threats.
Trump basks in tech leaders’ spending vows at White House AI dinner
In a rare and powerful gathering in Washington, the leaders of the world’s most valuable technology companies joined President Donald Trump for a White House dinner to tout their massive spending pledges in the United States.
In his opening remarks, Trump addressed a key industry concern, promising to make it “very easy” for companies to get the electrical capacity and permits needed to power the AI boom.
Tech leaders from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple’s Tim Cook to OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella took turns expressing gratitude for the administration’s policies.
Zuckerberg, pressed by the president, said his company was investing “at least 600 billion dollars” through 2028.
TikTok rival Xiaohongshu expects profit to triple to 3 billion dollars
Xiaohongshu Technology Co., a visual-based social media app widely seen as China’s best analog to Instagram, is on track to triple its profit to an incredible 3 billion dollars this year.
The company recently updated investors on its latest projections, which would place its earnings well ahead of rivals like Snap Inc. and roughly 50 percent higher than Pinterest Inc.
The Shanghai-based startup, which has 300 million monthly active users, has seen its valuation surge to 31 billion dollars in recent transactions and is beefing up its e-commerce offerings as it eyes a potential public listing.
OpenAI to design its own AI chip with Broadcom, Financial Times reports
In a move that could reshape the semiconductor industry, the US artificial intelligence startup OpenAI is preparing to design and produce its own AI chip with help from Broadcom Inc., the Financial Times reported.
The plan would see the first chips shipped next year, a direct challenge to the market dominance of Nvidia Corp. While OpenAI would initially use the chip internally, the move signals a powerful new ambition.
Broadcom’s CEO, Hock Tan, confirmed the company was working with a prospective customer, stating, “Last quarter, one of these prospects released production orders to Broadcom,” and that he now expects the outlook for AI revenue in 2026 to “improve significantly.”
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