Robot dolls, chip shortages and Apple's soft sales

In a recent development, Huang Qifan, a former Chongqing mayor under two Chinese Communist Party leaders, Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai, is now under investigation for alleged corruption. His political invincibility has seemingly vanished. On the ground, an electronics show in Hong Kong featured robots made in mainland China, including a humanoid robot resembling a Chinese social media influencer.

The robot, or rather doll, with a chatbot, was in high demand, with customers spending up to $20,000 for emotional support. UBTech, the company behind the robot, believes Japan could become their biggest market. Meanwhile, U.S. AI labs are also setting their eyes on Japan, with Anthropic planning to establish its first dedicated data center in the country.

China has made AI development a national priority and has doubled its AI chip production. However, the demand still exceeds the domestic supply, leaving a significant shortfall. To meet this gap, Chinese tech groups have turned to Nvidia's chips, which can be repurposed for some AI workloads. Japan's SoftBank is expanding its infrastructure to support AI, with a proposed $33 billion natural gas-fired power complex and data center campus in Ohio to serve OpenAI's needs.

However, the project faces challenges, including securing power and potential volatility in AI-linked stocks.