Consumer Tech News (June 15-18): Trump Signals Major US Chip Alliance, Snap AR Glasses Face Criticism & More

Geopolitics

• President Donald Trump said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has agreed to work with Intel to design and build chips in the United States. The president also reiterated that Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) had agreed to manufacture chips with Intel and highlighted plans for a massive semiconductor facility involving Elon Musk‘s TerraFab project.
• The Donald Trump administration has reportedly delayed adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other Chinese companies identified as national security risks to a U.S. trade blacklist.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a strengthened transatlantic partnership on artificial intelligence during a G7 session, warning that the fast-moving technology carries both major opportunities and serious risks.
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) backed legislation to crack down on AI-generated deepfakes and nonconsensual explicit images by creating federal penalties and requiring rapid takedowns from online platforms.
• Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) accused the President Donald Trump administration of deliberately causing the slowdown in EV development through its policies.

Broadline Retail, Telecom & Interactive Media

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is reportedly piloting a new system, Full Facility Load Balancing (FFLB), which is designed to optimize human movement within its robot-filled warehouses.
• Snap Inc.’s (NYSE:SNAP) latest augmented reality glasses are facing sharp criticism from investor Ross Gerber, who questioned both the product’s design and CEO Evan Spiegel’s long-term hardware strategy following the device’s debut.
• Rumble Inc (NASDAQ:RUM), the video-sharing platform that hosts President Donald Trump’s Truth Social, said it was rebranding to RUM Group Inc, as the company combines its video, cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure businesses under a single legal brand.
• Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ:CMTL) disclosed plans to sell most of its Satellite and Space Communications segment to Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ:GILT) for $157.5 million.
• Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticized India’s temporary ban on the messaging platform, alleging misuse of internet routing systems by Reliance Industries and suggesting possible competitive pressure involving Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META).
• Roblox Corp. (NYSE:RBLX) launched Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts worldwide for users under 16, expanding the feature beyond its initial rollout in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Software, Electronics & Technology

• HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:HIVE) announced plans to acquire a 32-megawatt data center in Boden, Sweden.
• Braiin Limited (NASDAQ:BRAI) announced plans to accelerate its expansion into the growing Agentic AI Customer Experience as a Service (CXaaS) market and secured a landmark contract in Australia.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) said Vultr has selected it and NVIDIA to power its next-generation AI cloud infrastructure, supporting growing enterprise demand for private cloud and AI workloads.
• Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) announced that it completed its acquisition of Eigen AI, an inference and model optimization firm.
• Ouster, Inc. (NASDAQ:OUST) signed a strategic agreement with AIM Intelligent Machines to supply digital lidar sensors for AI-powered autonomous heavy earthmoving equipment used in mining, construction and defense.
• Meta has decided to back the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that the White House is promoting to supersede state regulations on artificial intelligence.
• Meta unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI) tool within Facebook Search on Monday, which could potentially rake in billions in yearly revenue.
• Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) announced an expansion of a manufacturing facility in Texas for lasers and optical networking products, strengthening a key part of Nvidia supply chain for the artificial intelligence stack.
• Negotiations between Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) regarding the leasing of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure reportedly came to a halt due to security and compliance issues.
• Solidion Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:STI) unveiled its patented AI-assisted bipolar electrode-to-pack battery technology.
• Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced its intent to acquire Fin for $3.6 billion.

Semiconductors & Smartphones

• Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) plans to use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.’s (NYSE:TSM) upcoming A14 (1.4-nanometer) manufacturing process for its next generation of AI chips.
• Nvidia supplier SK Hynix began shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips to major customers.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is preparing to raise prices across its product lineup after CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the company can no longer absorb skyrocketing costs for memory and storage components.
• Aehr Test Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:AEHR) announced a follow-on production order tied to growing demand for silicon photonics used in hyperscale AI data centers.
• Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) announced a long-term partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to expand advanced semiconductor packaging capacity in the United States.
• Rackspace Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RXT) penned a definitive deal with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) for a phased deployment of the initial 30 megawatts of AMD-based AI compute infrastructure.
• Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon said the company is developing more than 40 new AI-powered devices, betting that consumers will increasingly adopt smaller, personalized AI hardware.

Automobiles & Aerospace

• Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) expanded its Robotaxi partnership with WeRide Inc (NASDAQ:WRD) into Zurich.
• General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) introduced the fifth-generation 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, giving its top-selling pickup a ground-up redesign on a modified T1-2 platform and a sharper bet on V8 power.
• AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) successfully launched three more BlueBird satellites, marking another milestone in the buildout of its space-based cellular broadband network.
• A Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) executive has backed Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) robotaxi efforts, in what could be a boost for Elon Musk‘s self-driving goals.
• Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) and CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed his goals of establishing outer space manufacturing capabilities in pursuit of developing deep space AI compute.
• Space Exploration agreed to acquire AI coding startup Anysphere Inc., in an all-stock deal valued at an implied equity value of $60 billion.
• Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) CEO RJ Scaringe has a plan to put robots on factory floors. He also has $1 billion to back it up.
• Intel-backed Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ:MBLY) stock rose Tuesday after the autonomous driving company unveiled plans to move beyond supplying self-driving technology and into operating its own robotaxi business.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Bitcoin

• Noam Shazeer, Vice President of Engineering and Gemini co-lead at Google DeepMind, announced Wednesday he is leaving to join OpenAI.
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called upon G7 leaders to collaborate on the implementation of advanced AI tools in the wake of a U.S. export block on his company’s latest model.
• Anthropic said that it had opened a Seoul office and announced a series of partnerships across South Korea’s artificial intelligence ecosystem as the Claude developer expands its presence in Asia.
• Anthropic faces a new lawsuit from a paying customer who alleges the company’s Claude Max subscriptions provide far less access than users were promised.
• Perplexity AI co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas has predicted that semiconductor giant Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) could soon surpass Meta in market capitalization.
• Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warned that artificial intelligence could significantly reshape the global economy by boosting productivity while reducing jobs.
• Investor Kevin O’Leary said artificial intelligence will reshape the global job market rather than eliminate it, arguing that the technology will drive new industries, faster innovation and higher-skilled employment opportunities.
• ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZENA), an AI drone company, announced that its ZenaDrone subsidiary is preparing to submit the IQ Quad land survey drone for the Blue UAS certification.
• OpenAI reportedly spent $3.7 billion during the first quarter of 2026 while it generated $5.7 billion in revenue.
• Hyperscale Data Inc. (NYSE:GPUS) said it holds approximately 713.5884 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC/USD), valued at about $46.9 million. The company also reported about $40.2 million in cash and 10,000 ounces of silver.