Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

From the BBC World Service: Amazon has announced plans to double its investment in India by 2030 — to the tune of around $35 billion — with a focus on artificial intelligence and e-commerce. It comes after Microsoft and Google also laid out multibillion-dollar spending plans for AI in India. Also, the U.K.'s Royal Navy is developing ways to counter an increasingly serious threat from Russia to cut its critical undersea infrastructure.

The extended Black Friday sale season means a lot of people have been buying new TVs. The top sets today can display in up to 8K Ultra High Definition, they have deeper blacks, brighter highlights and are thinner and lighter-weight than ever. And yet, modern TVs have their haters — a dedicated group of purists who find them lacking, and would rather hunt down a good old fashioned used plasma.

In a move with major implications for national security and the race to dominate artificial intelligence, President Trump announced Monday that he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip — an advanced chip used for developing A.I. — to China. Tufts University professor Chris Miller, author of “Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology," joins Geoff Bennett with more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

When revenue grows, hiring grows — usually. But in November, retail sector job cuts were up nearly 140% year over year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in spite of strong consumer spending. What gives? Mostly, more automation. Also in this episode: Medium-term bonds send hints about Fed interest rate decisions, an AI bubble burst will come with new jargon, and small business owner optimism is up.

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Rare-earth elements help power our everyday electrical devices, and that’s because most batteries are made with minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. As of now, China has the largest reserve of these minerals. But some mining companies are eyeing the deep sea’s floor, says Marketplace contributor Dan Ackerman, because such rare earths form organically way down there. Plus, the ethical concerns that come with this deep-sea mining.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Companies are betting on deep sea mining for critical minerals” from Marketplace Tech
• “New policies may part the waters for ocean mining” from Marketplace Morning Report
• “In the depths of the ocean, a new contest between the US and China emerges” from The Guardian
• “Trump’s New Executive Order Promotes Deep Sea Mining in US and International Waters While Bypassing International Law” from Inside Climate News

Some Chicago alders balked at Mayor Brandon Johnson’s inclusion of a corporate head tax in his 2026 budget proposal. In response, a group of moderate and conservative city councilors put forth a list of alternative proposals that does not include the tax on businesses; instead they rely on raising taxes on garbage collection and liquor sales, as well as budget cuts, which the mayor rejected in turn. Yesterday, we heard from alders about why they’re championing their alternative proposal. Today, In the Loop hears from Julie Dworkin with the Institute for the Public Good and Asha Ransby Sporn with the Black Voter Project for their takes on the alders’ plans. For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.

Today, we're walking you through the Hollywood drama currently unfolding over Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio's board has already approved an acquisition deal with Netflix, but now Paramount is launching a hostile takeover bid. We'll outline the stakeholders and talk about what comes next. Plus, as New York City leads the nation in office-to-housing conversions, other cities are looking to encourage their own affordable developments.

Walmart is moving from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq market. It's the biggest company ever to make the switch. Thing is, Nasdaq has a cool-kids, growth-through-tech kinda vibe and is home to Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia stocks. This morning, we'll help you understand what’s behind Walmart’s decision. Plus, consumers expect inflation to remain steady, and President Donald Trump looks to block state laws regulating AI.

From the BBC World Service: A new law comes into force in Australia today, banning children under 16 from some of their favorite social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. And as you'd expect, most teens aren’t happy about it, though many parents see it as the government standing up to American Big Tech. Also, Nvidia is now authorized to sell advanced AI chips to China, and President Donald Trump says the U.S. government will be taking a 25% cut of sales.

Prosthetic limbs can be expensive, costing thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. So the industry seemed ripe for disruption when 3D printing came along. The technology requires little labor and uses economical materials. But the reality of 3D printing prosthetic limbs isn’t that straightforward, according to writer and University of California, Berkeley, lecturer Britt Young, who uses a prosthetic arm.

Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Young about why 3D printing has yet to bring down prosthesis costs.