Technology 1/8: US-China technology trade war heats up, Nvidia is summoned

China summons Nvidia over concerns the H20 chip could be controlled remotely

China's Cyberspace Administration has summoned Nvidia to explain the risk of a "backdoor" in the H20 chip line - a line of artificial intelligence chips that are allowed to be sold again in the Chinese market after the US lifted the ban.

China is concerned that the H20 chip could be remotely tracked, located, and disabled, posing a risk to domestic users. Nvidia has denied the allegations, saying there are no “backdoors” in the chip and that it is committed to cybersecurity.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on the sidelines of an AI summit in July 2025 in the US. (Source: AP)

The summons comes after the US lifted its ban on H20 chip exports in mid-July, allowing Nvidia to re-enter the Chinese market. China cited some US AI experts as saying Nvidia’s technology is enough to spy on chips, especially if it imposes security mechanisms as proposed by US lawmakers.

The incident shows that US-China technology tensions continue, with both sides jostling for an advantage in the artificial intelligence race.

Apple boosts investment in AI, preparing for technological turning point

During the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said Apple is ramping up its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with the pace of development in the field. “We see AI as one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and we’re going to be integrating it across all of our devices, across all of our platforms, across our entire company,” he said.

Apple to accelerate AI investment by 2025. (Source: Apple)

Apple is reallocating its human resources to the AI department, with a team that is considered "excellent". The company's investment costs have increased sharply compared to the beginning of the year, mainly serving AI research, although the company still maintains a model of cooperation with third parties to invest in hardware.

CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple has made seven acquisitions this year to advance its AI roadmap, although the deals are not particularly large in scale. To date, Apple has launched more than 20 Apple Intelligence features, including computer vision tools, content writing, and photo/ video cleaning.

Brilliant Labs Launches Smart Glasses with Integrated AI Assistant

Startup Brilliant Labs has just announced a new smartglasses model called Halo, the successor to the previous Frame line. Halo is designed in the style of Wayfarer, integrated with cameras, microphones and bone conduction speakers – all in a frame that weighs only 40 grams, has a color OLED screen and a battery life of 14 hours.

Halo comes with Noa, an AI assistant designed specifically for the glasses that can understand sounds and images from the surrounding environment and respond contextually. The Narrative system helps Noa remember people's names and conversations from years ago, creating a personalized database from optical sensors and microphones.

This is an AI assistant that can talk like a "real person". (Source: Brilliant Labs)

Brilliant Labs promises Noa will act as a VPN between the user and the AI, ensuring interactions remain private. Users can mute the microphone, camera, or the entire headset with their voice, and have granular control over how much data is shared.

Users just need to tell Noa about the desired application, the system will automatically create the app in seconds. Glasses supports prescription glasses fitting in more than 100 countries through partner SmartBuyGlasses.