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Tech News
Drone delivery company Zipline has closed a new funding round that boosts its valuation, alongside an expanded delivery partnership with Walmart. Specific financial terms of the raise were not detailed in available reporting.
President Trump signed an October 28 proclamation declaring imports of foreign-made industrial robots a threat to national security, directing new negotiations with trading partners and leaving open the possibility of future tariffs. The order cites a Commerce Department investigation under Secretary Howard Lutnick that found such imports pose risks to the US industrial base and create cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Major manufacturers including GM, Ford, Tesla, Boeing and Lockheed Martin rely heavily on these imported robots for production.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent Trump a letter accusing him of using tariff exemptions as a form of personal enrichment. He cited carve-outs for Brazilian meat, diamonds and smartphones as examples that he says don't fit the administration's stated criteria, and demanded White House and USTR communications on tariff relief for over a dozen industries, plus correspondence with executives including Apple's Tim Cook and Rolex's Jean-Frederic Dufour, by November 11.
Apple has released the MacBook Neo, a low-cost laptop priced at $700 that uses a repurposed iPhone processor rather than an M-series chip found in other current Macs. The launch comes shortly before the MacBook Air's price rose by $200 to $1,300, reportedly due to tariffs and rising memory costs.
Counterpoint's Q3 data shows global PC shipments dropped to 57 million units from over 70 million a year earlier, a 21 percent year-over-year decline and a 13.8 percent drop from the prior quarter. The firm forecasts a roughly 27 percent year-over-year decline for Q4 and expects weak conditions to persist into 2027. Lenovo remains the top vendor despite a 23 percent decline, HP fell 31 percent, Dell dropped 25 percent, while Apple slipped only 11 percent, gaining relative market share.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that reshoring production to the U.S. is primarily a financial calculation for business owners rather than a patriotic gesture. The piece walks through a hypothetical $10 million consumer products company weighing higher labor, facility and supply-chain costs against the benefits of automation and shorter logistics chains if it moves manufacturing stateside. The author frames the central issue as whether entrepreneurs can make the economics work, not whether domestic manufacturing is possible in principle.
A Wall Street Journal risk briefing notes that major technology companies are bringing data centers online ahead of schedule even as artificial intelligence development confronts a significant new obstacle. The same report says U.S. tariff pressure is pushing other countries to strengthen their forced-labor regulations.
China's auto industry association reported that passenger car exports jumped 64% year-on-year in September, as domestic sales growth remains weak. Automakers are increasingly turning to overseas markets to sustain growth, even as the EU caps imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles at 350,000 units annually.
President Trump is continuing his aggressive tariff agenda—the steepest U.S. import duties since the Great Depression—despite mounting criticism from trade economists and growing public disapproval. A recent poll found more than 64% of U.S. adults believe Trump has gone too far on tariffs, up from 58% in January, with the Nov. 3 midterm elections approaching.
Samsung quietly increased prices on some of its smartphones last week without public explanation. New reporting now points to a likely cause tied to trade tariffs affecting device costs.
The Consumer Technology Association released new research estimating what it would take to fully reshore production of 10 common household tech categories to the US by 2031. The trade group found this would require $185-230 billion in capital spending, up to 668,000 new full-time workers, and roughly 19 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
Detroit-based startup Bloom has closed a $3.6 million seed round led by SNAK Venture Partners, with participation from Flyover Capital, Mana Ventures, and Detroit-area investors. Originally founded in 2023 to help mobility companies outsource manufacturing and logistics, Bloom pivoted into a marketplace model that uses AI agents to connect buyers with domestic suppliers, parts makers, and manufacturing services. CEO Justin Kosmides says the company has facilitated over 2,000 matches for more than 140 companies so far.