Tootfinder

PitchBook: US AI and robotics VC deals are up over 4x since 2023 to $160B so far in 2025, while comparable China deals are just $10B , up from $9.24B in 2023 (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/26/cnbc-china

CNBC's The China Connection newsletter: Foreign investors warm to China’s cheaper AI valuations despite fears of a U.S. bubble
For all the worries about a bubble in U.S. AI spending, capital flows into China's tech sector is far less, pushing startups to do more with less.

🚬 Illegal cannabis cultivation leaves lasting chemical footprint on California's public lands
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-illegal-cannabis-cultivation-chemical-footprint.html

Illegal cannabis cultivation leaves lasting chemical footprint on California's public lands
A study published in Science of the Total Environment sheds light on the persistent chemical contaminants left behind at illegal cannabis cultivation sites, also known as "trespass grows," on California's federally managed lands.

As Microsoft accelerates its AI buildout in rural Wisconsin, one community's vocal opposition led the company to withdraw plans for a proposed data center site (Jordan Novet/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/25/microsoft-ai-data-center-rejection-vs-sup…

Why rural Wisconsin is blocking the AI data center boom: 'Horses are skittish'
Tech giants are increasingly facing community backlash as they select places to build mammoth AI data centers.

🪢 Composite metal foam endures over 1 million load cycles at 400°C and 600°C
#metallurgy

Composite metal foam endures over 1 million load cycles at 400°C and 600°C
New research shows that composite metal foam (CMF) is incredibly resilient at high temperatures, able to withstand repeated heavy loads even at temperatures of 400°C and 600°C. Coupled with the material's high strength-to-weight ratio, the finding suggests that CMF could be used in applications ranging from automobile engines to aerospace components to nuclear power technologies.

As startups flood the market with AI shopping agents, Amazon is playing defense by blocking agents' access to its site and investing heavily in its own tools (Annie Palmer/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/24/amazon-faces-a-dilemma-fight…

Amazon faces 'leader's dilemma' — fight AI shopping bots or join them
Agents like OpenAI's Instant Checkout and Perplexity's Instant Buy threaten to reshape the e-commerce landscape.

Despite Palantir's high trailing P/E ratio of ~450x, retail traders have poured billions of dollars into the stock, which is up ~3,000% in the past three years (Alex Harring/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/25/palantir-retail-investors-valuation-karp.html<…

Wall Street wrote off Palantir as too expensive. Retail investors can't get enough
The stock, which made its market debut in 2020, is an indisputable star of the retail investing world.

Qualcomm unveils two AI chips, the AI200, set for 2026, and the AI250, planned for 2027, based on its Hexagon NPUs, and says Humain is the first customer (Kif Leswing/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/qualcomm-ai200-ai250-ai-chips-nvidia-amd.html

Qualcomm announces AI chips to compete with AMD and Nvidia — stock soars 15%
The AI200, expected in 2026, and the AI250, planned for 2027, both can come in a system that fills up a full, liquid-cooled server rack, Qualcomm said.

Oracle stock fell 30% this quarter, its steepest drop since Q3 2001, when it slid ~34%, amid skepticism about its ability to open more data centers for OpenAI (Jordan Novet/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/26/oracle-stock-on-pace-for-worst…

Oracle shares on pace for worst quarter since 2001 as new CEOs face concerns about AI build-out
Investors want to know if Oracle, under new CEOs Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia, can pay for and deliver data centers packed with Nvidia chips for OpenAI.

An MIT study finds that AI can replace 11.7% of the US labor market, or ~$1.2T in wages, based on the "Iceberg Index", which measures job automation potential (MacKenzie Sigalos/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/26/mit-study-

MIT study finds AI can already replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce
Artificial intelligence can already replace 11.7% of the U.S. labor market, across finance, health care and professional services, according to MIT's study.

Dell reports Q3 revenue up 11% YoY to $27.01B, vs. $27.13B est., Infrastructure Solutions revenue up 24% to $14.1B, and Client Solutions revenue up 3% to $12.5B (Kif Leswing/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/25/dell-earnings-report-q3-2026.html

Dell misses on revenue, offers strong forecast driven by AI sales
Dell is an important bellwether for the health of the AI infrastructure industry as one of the top vendors for systems based around Nvidia graphics processors.