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20 Jan 2026, 23:11

Huawei fights back as EU targets 'high-risk' suppliers

Huawei has responded to the European Union’s plan to phase out its technology, calling the decision a violation of the union’s principles. The European Union had earlier proposed a new plan to remove supplier s that th e bloc’s decision makers determine to be “high risk” from critical sectors. Huawei accuses the EU of violating its own principles The European Commission launched a proposal aimed at removing technology from “high-risk” suppliers across the European Union’s most sensitive industries. The draft does not name specific companies, but it is widely understood to target Chinese giants Huawei and ZTE. Cryptopolitan previously reported that Europe is attempting to weed out Western technology in order to achieve “technological sovereignty” and protect its infrastructure from foreign interference. The EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen, the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, stated that the proposal provides the means to “better protect our critical supply chains” and fight cyber threats decisively. Cited by Reuters, a Huawei spokesperson stated that the proposal violates the EU’s own principles of fairness and non-discrimination, arguing that the European representative body is making decisions based on the “country of origin” rather than technical standards or factual evidence. Huawei also reminded that it has the right to escalate the exclusion via the legal route based on what it considers a potential violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. The proposed restrictions would apply to 18 key sectors including 5G and satellite networks, semiconductors, electricity and water supply systems, and even connected vehicles and drones. Mobile operators will have 36 months to remove key components from high-risk suppliers once a list of such vendors is officially published. Will these new security laws lead to higher costs for internet users? Connect Europe, a group that represents major telecommunications providers, estimates that the costs of replacing equipment and complying with the new standards could run into the billions of euros. These costs are a primary reason why some EU countries have been slow to remove Huawei equipment from their current 5G networks. If companies have to spend billions on new equipment, there is a risk that these costs could be passed down to consumers through higher monthly internet and mobile bills. Some operators also fear that a forced phase-out will slow down the rollout of new technology across the continent. In response, the EU’s proposal states that restrictions only take effect after a formal risk assessment that can be started by the Commission or by at least three member countries. Any final decision would theoretically be based on market analysis to understand how it affects the economy. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently announced that Germany will completely ban Chinese components from its future 6G networks. The country has also started the process of removing Huawei gear from its 5G core networks, with a plan for full exclusion by the end of 2026. Sharpen your strategy with mentorship + daily ideas - 30 days free access to our trading program

20 Jan 2026, 22:58

Trump Media Set to Issue Non-Transferable Crypto Tokens, Cutoff Date February 2

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT) has officially announced the date for its highly anticipated distribution of a new digital token to its shareholders, as part of its partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com. The record date for this digital token initiative will be February 2, 2026. Trump Media’s New Crypto Initiative According to the announcement, eligible shareholders will include ultimate beneficial owners and registered holders of at least one whole share of DJT stock as of the record date. In order to ensure a smooth distribution process, Trump Media will gather information from broker participants about eligible holders. Related Reading: Is A New XRP Price Record Imminent? Analyst Forecast Colossal Short Squeeze Ahead After the record date, Trump Media plans to collaborate with Crypto.com to mint the digital tokens, which will be displayed on the blockchain and held in custody until distribution. In addition to the digital tokens, Trump Media has indicated that various rewards will be made available to record-date shareholders throughout the year. These rewards may include benefits or discounts associated with Trump Media’s offerings, such as Truth Social, Truth+, and Truth Predict. CRO Token Plummets The partnership between Crypto.com and Trump Media dates back to August last year, when the Trump-linked company announced a $6.4 billion investment in the crypto exchange’s native token, CRO, as part of a strategic reserve. Related Reading: Ethereum Poised For $4,000 Breakout? Expert Pinpoints On-Chain Triggers For Potential Rally Devin Nunes, Trump Media’s CEO and Chairman, expressed his enthusiasm about the latest move and the partnership with Crypto.com, stating: We look forward to leveraging Crypto.com’s blockchain technology consistent with Securities and Exchange Commission guidance to benefit our shareholders and promote transparency, including by obtaining a clear picture of bona fide beneficial ownership as of the record date. Despite the latest announcement, Crypto.com’s native token failed to capitalize on the news, dropping to $0.089 on Tuesday amid the broader crypto market’s retracement. It has recorded an 11% drop in the past week alone. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

20 Jan 2026, 21:35

Justice Department flags election-related contacts by DOGE staff

The Justice Department told a federal court on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s DOGE team, working inside the Social Security Administration, stored sensitive Social Security data on servers that were never approved by the agency. The filing also said two members of the team secretly communicated with an outside advocacy group tied to efforts to overturn election results in certain states. The DOJ said the issue surfaced while correcting sworn testimony given last year by senior SSA officials during lawsuits over DOGE access to federal data. Those corrections said team members shared information through third-party systems and may have reached private records that a judge had already blocked them from seeing. The court papers said the conduct raised serious questions about how the DOGE project actually operated inside SSA. Justice Department flags election-related contacts by DOGE staff Elizabeth Shapiro, a senior DOJ official, said SSA referred both DOGE employees for possible Hatch Act violations. The law bars federal workers from using their jobs for political purposes. Elizabeth wrote that the two employees were in contact with an advocacy group pushing to overturn election results in specific states. The filing said one of the two signed a Voter Data Agreement that may have involved using Social Security data to compare federal records with state voter rolls. Elizabeth said the agreement and the outside communications were not known to SSA leadership at the time earlier court statements were made. She wrote that SSA believed its prior claims about DOGE, focusing on fraud detection and technology upgrades, were accurate when stated. Elizabeth also said there is no evidence that SSA staff outside the involved DOGE members knew about the advocacy group or the voter-related agreement. She added that the two employees and the advocacy group were not named in the filing. Emails reviewed by the DOJ suggest DOGE staff could have been asked to help the group by accessing SSA data to match against voter lists, but it remains unclear if any data was actually shared. Unapproved servers expose how DOGE handled restricted SSA data Elizabeth also disclosed that Steve Davis, a senior adviser to Musk tied to the DOGE project, was copied on a March 3, 2025, email that included a password-protected file. The file contained private information on about 1,000 people pulled from Social Security systems. Elizabeth said it is unknown whether Steve accessed the file. She also said the current SSA staff cannot open the file to confirm exactly what it contains. SSA continues to say DOGE never had access to official systems of record. Elizabeth wrote that it remains possible that restricted data derived from SSA systems was sent to Steve. That detail was included as part of the DOJ’s corrections to earlier court testimony. The filing also said a DOGE team member briefly received access to private Social Security profiles even after a court order blocked that access. Elizabeth said the access was never used. In a separate case, another DOGE member had access for two months to a call center profile containing private information, and Elizabeth wrote that it is still unknown whether any private data was accessed during that period. According to her, DOGE staff also shared data links using Cloudflare, a third-party service not approved for SSA data storage, meaning it falls outside any security rules. The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them .

20 Jan 2026, 21:20

Anthropic CEO compares selling advanced AI chips to rival nations to "selling nuclear weapons"

Advanced AI chips have become the new front line in global tech rivalry, with Anthropic’s CEO warning against sales to rival nations. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made a stark comparison when discussing advanced computer chips used for AI development. He said that selling these chips to rival nations would be like “selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.” His comments came as the technology took up a major part of the annual gathering in Switzerland, even as discussions about Donald Trump and Greenland got most of the attention. China closing the AI gap faster than expected Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis talked about Chinese progress in the field, noting that the gap between China and Western companies might be smaller than people thought. He said Chinese firms could be just six months behind the cutting edge, rather than one or two years. But he added that Chinese companies haven’t shown they can push past where things are now. His remarks touched on the stir caused nearly a year ago when DeepSeek, a Chinese company, released a model that matched leading American systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT on certain measures while costing far less to develop. The announcement caused a stock market drop that temporarily wiped nearly $1 trillion from US and European technology companies, with Nvidia losing hundreds of billions in market value. The discussion comes as Trump administration officials ease restrictions on advanced AI chip exports to China, moving away from policies meant to keep Beijing from accessing American technology for AI development. While sales of the most advanced processors stay blocked for national security reasons, the shift is a big policy change. Europe has its own problems in the global AI competition Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the continent needs to change how it thinks about things, arguin g it focuses too much on regulation while not doing enough to support local technology companies. He said Europe must build competitive products that can succeed around the world, not just at home. Europe’s work in this area is smaller than what’s happening in the US and Asia. Many promising European companies get bought by larger foreign technology firms. France’s Mistral AI, valued at €11.7 billion ($13.7 billion) in a recent funding round, is Europe’s leading AI startup but remains tiny compared to OpenAI’s valuatio n of ov er $500 billion. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned that without more investment in open source AI, Europe might end up dependent on Chinese models as US companies move toward “closed source” systems. He said this probably wouldn’t be good for Europe. Signal’s Meredith Whittaker gave advice for businesses looking at AI, telling executives to get past what she called an “intimidation factor” around the technology. She said to ask specific questions about what the business actually needs rather than just following trends. Amodei said the world might face something never seen before. Rapid GDP growth mixed with high unemployment or lots of low-wage work and inequality. Hassabis called for international work bringing together philosophers, social scientists, economists and technologists to figure out the best way forward. Meanwhile in the Middle East, G42, the United Arab Emirates’ leading AI company, expects to get its first shipments o f wo rld’s best chips from Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cerebras Systems Inc. within months, according to CEO Peng Xiao. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

20 Jan 2026, 19:00

The rush to build AI data centers is squeezing supplies of memory chips for automakers

Carmakers are staring down another parts problem. The craze to build AI data centers is squeezing supplies of memory chips that vehicles depend on. Memory chip costs have more than doubled, UBS analysts said Tuesday, as reported by Bloomberg. David Lesne’s report warned that disruptions could kick off in the second quarter and hurt global car production. The trouble centers on DRAM chips, dynamic random access memory. Cars use simpler, older versions than AI servers do, but both fight over the same silicon wafers. Supply can’t keep up. Automakers need to hurry and nail down their sources. Matthew Beecham at S&P Global Mobility put it bluntly in a January 8 report . Automakers don’t have much time to redo their systems and lock down supply. The big three chipmakers, Samsung Electronics Co., SK Hynix Inc., and Micron Technology Inc. , are picking data centers over cars because that’s where the money is. UBS flagged who’s in trouble. Suppliers Visteon Corp. and Aumovio SE look shaky. Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. seem more exposed than Ford Motor Co. or General Motors Co., mainly because they lean harder on electronics and driver aids. This isn’t new territory. COVID-19 chip shortages kept millions of cars from getting made. Honda Motor Co. just had to pause some lines because of headaches with Nexperia BV, a chipmaker, a Dutch court yanked away from Chinese owners. Chipmakers got caught flat-footed Factories can’t crank out enough wafers. New ones started going up in 2023, but they take years to complete. Data center chips pull in far better margins than automotive ones. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are chasing the bigger paydays. There’s another wrinkle. These three are killing off older tech like DDR4 and LPDDR4. Cars still run on these. It’s got automakers and suppliers spooked, much like the 2021 panic. Today’s cars keep demanding more DRAM. Basic models use modest amounts. High-end rides with fancy dashboards and semi-autonomous features need loads more for infotainment, sensor data, and wireless updates. Electric and gas vehicles both follow this trend, with luxury models pushing demand higher. The dollar figures paint the picture A stripped-down economy car holds about $24 in DRAM. A tech-packed luxury model might pack over $150. Premium vehicles need substantially more to power their advanced gear. S&P Global Mobility sees two stages coming. In 2026 and 2027, chips will be around if carmakers cough up more cash. Makers pledged to keep DDR4 and LPDDR4 rolling for automotive through the end of 2027, even while stopping consumer production. But prices could jump 70 to 100 percent from 2025 levels. That’s rough for premium cars that already had north of $150 in DRAM last year. Even basic A-segment vehicles averaged around $24. Automakers won’t like it, but they absorbed similar hits from US tariffs in 2026. Overall production probably won’t grind to a halt, though some plants might close briefly as companies hoard chips out of fear. The real pain hits in 2028 Beyond that, old DRAM types vanish regardless of price. Most cars slated for 2028 still use designs needing DDR4 and LPDDR4 in dashboards and safety systems. Those chips won’t exist. Right now, the top 10 dashboard setups and 8 of the leading driver assistance setups planned for 2028 rely on DDR4 and LPDDR4. The industry’s got two years to switch everything to LPDDR5, which factories will keep making. Sounds doable, but chip designers, parts makers, and automakers all need to hustle. Three outfits control 88 percent of the car DRAM supply. There’s no fast answer to the capacity crunch. Automakers have to roll with AI data center expansion while safeguarding their chip pipelines. Sharpen your strategy with mentorship + daily ideas - 30 days free access to our trading program

20 Jan 2026, 18:45

U.S. labor market is facing a growth freeze, with hiring and layoffs at their worst levels since the COVID-19

The U.S. Labor Market experienced record low growth in 2025. The number of layoffs last year was on par with those during the height of the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, and the number of unemployed Americans has outpaced job openings for the first time since 2021. The latest U.S. Labor Market data paints a rather bleak picture for those seeking employment in 2026. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that U.S. employers added roughly 580,000 jobs in 2025, a drastic decrease compared to the 2 million jobs that were added in 2024. This marks the lowest number of jobs added to the U.S. labor market since the Pandemic. As of December 2025, the unemployment rate is sitting at around 4.4%, with around 7.5 million people currently facing joblessness. However, this number doesn’t quite accurately assess the gravity of the current labor market situation. The BLS also reports that the number of people who are “not in the labor force who currently want a job” is around 6.2 million as of December 2025. The reason these individuals were not classified as unemployed is because “they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unable to take a job.” The number of people who have been unable to find full-time work and are thus forced to work part-time jobs for economic reasons is 5.3 million. This number has grown by nearly 1 million (980,000) over the last year. As a whole, this data shows a perilous job market where there is a growing number of people looking for full-time employment, yet there simply aren’t enough job opportunities available. The amount of time it takes to find a job in the first place has increased substantially as well. Additional data by the BLS shows that a quarter of people who are currently unemployed have been out of work for over 6 months. This statistic is also on par with Pandemic levels. Why the labor market is so bad right now The U.S. job market is currently experiencing a growth freeze, and there are a number of reasons why. At the top of the list are inflation and economic pressures. Growth Shuttle reports that rising prices in the United States is not only extremely difficult for consumers to grapple with, but it also impacts businesses as well. The unfortunate result is that a growing number of layoffs have ensued as an attempt by corporations to maintain profit margins amid rising economic instability. Certain companies that rely on international imports as a part of their business model have been greatly impacted by increased tariffs as well, which has also resulted in hiring freezes and increased layoffs. The rise of artificial intelligence in 2025 has also contributed to this tumultuous job market. In an effort to adapt to the changing economic landscape amid tariffs and inflation, many companies have shifted towards automation to increase their profit margins. Advancements in AI have allowed many companies to reduce human capital in entry-level positions like customer service and manufacturing by investing in AI products and services. This is particularly the case in the technology industry and marks a concerning shift in corporate policy for those seeking employment in 2026. Entry-level positions may become increasingly unavailable due to the utilization of artificial intelligence by employers. The last factor contributing to the hiring freeze is that people who have not been impacted by layoffs or AI replacement are highly reluctant to quit their current positions. This is obviously a very understandable position for employees to take, considering the grim and uncertain state of the job market right now. The future of the job market in 2026 and beyond JP Morgan published a report in December of 2025 that depicted a rather mixed outlook on what to expect for the future of the job market in 2026. On one hand, contrary to what some believe, the report does not showcase any concerns over large-scale job displacement due to artificial intelligence. Still, it does predict that the first half of the year will largely be an echo of 2025, anticipating continued slow growth in the labor market. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), reports that it will take some time for the labor market to return to an increase in hiring activity, predicting a slow year for job growth in 2026. Although SHRM expects unemployment will stabilize later this year, people entering the labor market will still struggle with finding full-time work. Contrary to JP Morgan, SHRM anticipates that entry-level positions will continue to be highly impacted by AI displacement in 2026, while the healthcare industry will continue to have ample employment opportunities. Additional labor market data is set to be released by the BLS in early February of this year. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .