⚔️ AMD's taking on Nvidia

What’s going on here?

AMD unveiled a chiseled-up gang of chips that could have the potential to rival Nvidia’s street cred.

What does this mean?

Artificial intelligence (AI) might be about to rob millions of their jobs, but chipmakers can count on their mortgages being paid for a while still. See, the super-smart tech uses tons of computing power, so even if robots do shoot for world domination, they’ll need plenty of top-grade chips to pull it off. Nvidia stepped up to the plate already, delivering superchips capable of running complex AI applications. But AMD’s latest launch could heat up the competition, bringing a new range of souped-up chips – most crucially, the AI-focused MI300X – into the fold. Tech-crazed investors are clearly excited: they’ve sent AMD’s stock up nearly 100% this year.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Nvidia’s like Tesla, but for chips.

AMD’s big move may be too little, too late though. Nvidia’s cemented itself as the go-to AI chipmaker, and any rival offerings will be compared to the firm’s ultra-smart standard. What’s more, AMD’s new chips won’t be available to sample until the third quarter of this year, with production ramping up around then too. So before AMD gets round to printing shipping labels, Nvidia could be pumping out even sharper editions of its already famous chips. Basically, AMD’s competing in a marathon led by an Ironman champion.

The bigger picture: Less is more.

Here’s a brain teaser for your commute: while investors were piling into AMD shares, the firm’s revenue was shrinking and its books were covered in red ink. So – spoiler alert – here’s what gives: the semiconductor industry moves practically hand-in-hand with economic cycles, so companies’ profit is on a permanent rollercoaster. That means even during the big dips, investors know a turnaround’s coming – and they’re only too happy to buy in when the chips are down.

What’s going on here?

Vodafone and Three UK turned their flirting into a full-blown relationship on Wednesday, agreeing to merge their UK mobile businesses.

What does this mean?

Vodafone and Three aren’t small fry by any means, but they’re still dwarfed by their competition. BT and Virgin each hold around a third of the UK cell provider market, while Vodafone and Three own just one-third between them. But this deal could help the duo catch up. If it goes through, Vodafone will keep control with a 51% stake in the pairing, with CK Hutchison – Three UK’s owner – holding the remaining 49%. And because Vodafone’s investors haven’t had much else to watch besides a decade-long stock-price slide, they decided something was better than nothing and sent the stock up after the news.

Why should I care?

Zooming out: Phone bills are pricey.

Mind you, it wasn’t always this way. Vodafone swaggered around with more than a £200 billion ($250 billion) market valuation at the start of the millennium. But the firm’s heyday has faded into the distance, leaving it nursing a paltry £20 billion ($25 billion). All that, at a time when humans became increasingly hooked to small rectangles of dopamine-heavy light. But that’s exactly the issue: phone operators need to funnel cash into network upgrades now that impossibly fast connection and unlimited data allowances are taken for granted – and poor old Vodafone’s struggling to keep up.

The bigger picture: Life’s unfair.

In theory, Vodafone’s partnership with Three could lighten that burden of network upgrades while cutting costs at the same time. But that’ll only work out if the government’s on board: wary of three mammoth players ripping off everyday text addicts, regulators could block the bid as they did with Microsoft’s Activision deal. And while Vodafone could argue that T-Mobile buying Sprint already turned the US market into a three-player game three years ago, the UK may well maintain a stiff upper lip.