Free Republic

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is supercharging an already massive US investment spree – pledging an additional $100 billion to meet surging AI demand. The move brings TSMC’s investment in the US to $265 billion and comes as the company posted second-quarter earnings that blew past market expectations Thursday. TSMC, which supplies powerful chips that are critical for tech giants like Apple and Nvidia, boosted its global capital spending plan for 2025 to between $60 billion and $64 billion. That record level marks an increase of about 7% to 14% from its previous forecast. Still, TSMC’s US-listed shares slipped...

The investment, in partnership with Broadcom, is set to produce 15 billion chips, creating hundreds of U.S. jobs. Broadcom's facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, is expanding its capabilities to produce the chips. "This is another major win for America and another sign that the Trump administration’s economic agenda is delivering results," a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. "Apple has made investing in the United States a clear priority, and we hope other companies will follow its lead. We commend Apple for recognizing this opportunity and taking meaningful steps to strengthen America’s chip supply chain." Apple CEO Tim Cook...

On June 30, 2026, a ransomware group has reportedly compromised Tata Electronics, Apple's manufacturing partner in India, leaking sensitive data including supplier lists and unreleased iPhone 18 Pro images on the dark web. This incident poses a significant threat to Apple's carefully constructed global supply chain, which relies on numerous suppliers for its components. The leaked information could potentially damage Apple's relationship with Tata and provide competitors and counterfeiters with critical insights into Apple's manufacturing processes...The leaked documents, which include over 200,000 files detailing exclusive suppliers for key components, underscore both the strengths and vulnerabilities of Apple's supply chain. This...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decried Apple’s recent $200 price hikes on computers and tablets, which the tech giant blamed on a memory chip crunch — and called for breaking up Big Tech. “We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big, and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people,” the New York Democrat told Fox News. Most analysts believe the so-called “RAM-ageddon” crisis is a result of the rapid build-out of data centers to power artificial intelligence, which has turbocharged demand for memory chips. Citing memory chip shortages, Apple jacked...

Apple shares fell sharply Thursday after the tech giant raised prices on a number of its signature products to make up for what it said were skyrocketing memory prices resulting from the AI boom. As of 2:00 p.m. ET, Apple stock was down by nearly 6%, putting the company on track for its worst one-day performance in more than a year, and wiping out about $250 billion worth of market value. The company had announced that prices for its MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, iMac, and iPad product lines would all rise, in some cases by as much as $200. The...

A "Progressive Tech Coalition" (including Apple, Google, & Roblox) has abruptly changed stance on "Age Verification" laws. Up until now, the "Chamber of Progress" has consistently opposed all laws seeking to implement age verification... but they have decided to support the Colorado "Age Verification for all Operating Systems" law.

Intel late on Tuesday [Mar 2026] announced that its board of directors had elected Dr. Craig H. Barratt as independent chairman, who will assume his role in mid-May after the company's Annual Stockholders’ Meeting. Craig H. Barratt, who has an engineering background, will replace Frank D. Yeary, who will retire from Intel's BoD after spending around 17 years there. Barrat replaces Frank D. Yeary, who has a financial background and who once tried to split Intel into products and manufacturing companies and then get rid of the company's manufacturing assets. Instead of splitting Intel, Craig H. Barratt seems to envision...

These monkeys don’t steal randomly. They target what humans value most. The scam works because the monkeys learned the difference between junk an an iPhone. At Uluwatu Temple, even the monkeys understand supply, demand, and ransom. BRIEFING Jett here. Tourists show up at a sacred temple in Bali expecting ocean views, ancient stone, and maybe a spiritual moment, and instead they get shaken down by a team of monkeys with the cold tactical mind of a legit street hustler. These aren’t random little gremlins grabbing whatever shiny thing they see. At Uluwatu Temple, the long-tailed macaques have figured out that...

In a significant development for the tech and semiconductor industries, Apple and Intel have struck a preliminary agreement under which Intel will manufacture some of the chips that power Apple devices. The news, reported by Robbie Whelan and Rolfe Winkler for The Wall Street Journal on May 8, 2026, marks a notable comeback effort for Intel and highlights ongoing efforts to strengthen domestic U.S. chip production. The Role of the Trump Administration: The U.S. government played a pivotal role in facilitating the deal. Last summer, the Trump administration converted nearly $9 billion in federal grants into a roughly 10% stake...

When Apple named its next chief executive last month it did so without ceremony. Tim Cook will become executive chairman on September 1; John Ternus, his senior vice-president of hardware engineering, will succeed him as CEO. The announcement came with a photograph, not a keynote: the two men walking through Apple Park, the circular glass campus in Cupertino that Steve Jobs designed with the British architect Norman Foster and did not live to see completed. It was the first Apple succession of the post-masterpiece age, and the prose matched. Apple said the transition had been approved unanimously by its board...

What's really happening inside Apple's AI strategy behind the Tim Cook succession? The common story is a smooth handoff to an Apple lifer -- but the reality is more interesting: Apple just restructured the entire company around a race the rest of the industry isn't running. Apple Just Positioned Itself for the Next Trillion Dollars | 20:55 AI News & Strategy Daily | Nate B Jones | 273K subscribers | 177,195 views | April 26, 2026

Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook’s resignation came at a funny time. The Department of Justice announced April 21 that the leftist extremist Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted on multiple fraud charges for financing the very white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups it was claiming for years to be crusading against, to the tune of $3 million. Following this, MRC Business recounted that Cook made a big, news-capturing stink to employees following the Charlottesville "Fine People Hoax" affair in 2017 that Apple was retaliating by donating $1 million into SPLC’s coffers. How does that look now? If our math is correct,...

In a dramatic shake-up at the very top of one of the world's most powerful tech giants, Apple has unveiled a sweeping leadership overhaul that signals the dawn of a new era for the iPhone maker. The Silicon Valley titan confirmed on Monday that its long-serving Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, will step aside from his current role and transition into the position of executive chairman - a move that keeps him firmly at the heart of the company's strategic direction while handing over day-to-day control. Stepping into the spotlight is John Ternus, Apple's widely respected hardware chief, who has...

Huawei, China’s answer to Nvidia, is rapidly expanding its AI technology into other countries and signaling a rapid acceleration in the global AI race. It’s a move AI experts predicted would not occur. Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, and Turkey will now be able to build on Huawei’s Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform, which includes AI models like DeepSeek. Much like individual consumers who become dependent on Apple’s ecosystem, companies that build on Huawei’s models and cloud infrastructure risk becoming deeply tied to that platform. At scale, this creates a ripple effect — as companies that...

In a move that feels less like a corporate transaction and more like the final punchline to a 40-year industry rivalry, AMD announced Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Intel, the company it has spent decades chasing, imitating, undercutting, suing, licensing from, and lately outperforming. The all-stock transaction, which AMD described as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to unify x86 innovation," would combine the two companies under a single umbrella just a few years after such an outcome would have sounded ridiculous. For most of modern computing history, Intel was the empire and AMD the scrappy survivor, the perpetual second source...

Apple is launching new tools to comply with the growing number of age-verification laws both in the U.S. and abroad. As part of the changes, Apple will block the downloads of apps rated 18+ in Brazil, Australia, and Singapore, while also rolling out other features to comply with laws in Utah and Louisiana in the U.S. The company informed developers on Tuesday that it’s expanding its set of “age assurance” tools, including an updated Declared Age Range API now available for beta testing. These tools allow developers to obtain a user’s age range without gaining access to the user’s personal...

On Thursday, Apple announced iPhone and iPad are the first and only consumer devices in compliance with the information assurance requirements of NATO nations. This enables iPhone and iPad to be used with classified information up to the NATO restricted level without requiring special software or settings — a level of government certification no other consumer mobile device has met. Apple designs security into all of its products from the start, ensuring the most sophisticated protections are built in across hardware, software, and Apple silicon. This unique approach allows Apple users to benefit from industry-leading security protections such as best-in-class...

Apple's popular news app is facing increased scrutiny over alleged political bias, but the overwhelming left-wing tilt at the top of the company may be a factor. Of the 25 people listed on Apple's leadership page, 15 of them made substantial contributions to Democrats in various election cycles, according to a review of FEC filings. Just six Apple executives have any record of contributing to Republicans — though four of them gave far more amounts to Democrats. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, donated $236,100 to the Hillary Victory Fund in 2016 and $2,300 for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, according to...

Apple is beginning to bring its semiconductor manufacturing supply chain back to the United States. Nearly all of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan, which China has threatened to annex. Concentrating chip supplies on an island that could be invaded, or face steep U.S. tariffs from Trump, is a big risk to Apple's business. To find out how far the company still has to go, WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler visited several of the company's suppliers including TSMC, ASML and Foxconn in the Southwest. Inside Apple's Multibillion-Dollar Push to Make Chips in the U.S. | WSJ | 10:37 The...

Samsung unleashed a new batch of Galaxy Z TriFold units after selling out initial stock of the behemoth foldable that turns into a 10-inch tablet. It took less than ten minutes to sell through today’s supply, which either speaks to the phone’s surprising popularity or, rather, just how few of them the company is making. The device launched on January 30th, and unlike most other Samsung phones, availability of this one was limited to the company’s own site. The TriFold costs $2,899.99 and comes with 512GB of storage (you’d think paying this much would get you at least 1TB, but...