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The AI Cold War That Will Redefine Everything By Josh Chin and Raffaele Huang

William Attardi on November 12, 2025

China’s leaders were anxious and frustrated. The world’s most promising new technology was being dominated by OpenAI, Google and other American companies. The U.S. still has a clear lead, producing the most powerful AI models. China can’t match it in advanced chips and has no answer for the financial firepower of private American investors, who funded AI startups to the tune of $104 billion in the first half of 2025, and are gearing up for more. But it has a massive population of capable engineers, lower costs and a state-led development model that often moves faster than the U.S., all of which Beijing is working to harness to tip the contest in its direction. The U.S. still has a clear lead, producing the most powerful AI models. China can’t match it in advanced chips and has no answer for the financial firepower of private American investors, who funded AI startups to the tune of $104 billion in the first half of 2025, and are gearing up for more. But it has a massive population of capable engineers, lower costs and a state-led development model that often moves faster than the U.S., all of which Beijing is working to harness to tip the contest in its direction.  Both countries are driven as much by fear as by hope of progress and believe market share for their companies across the world is up for grabs—and with it, the potential to influence large swaths of the global population. The AI Cold War That Will Redefine Everything – WSJ

Trump Expands Critical Minerals List to Copper, Met Coal, Uranium

William Attardi on November 8, 2025

The Trump administration on Thursday added 10 minerals to a list it deems essential for the U.S. economy and national security, including copper, vital to electric vehicles, power grids, and data centers, and metallurgical coal, used to make coke fuel for steel production.  The Interior Department’s critical minerals list guides federal investments and permitting decisions and helps shape the government’s broader minerals strategy. The administration is expanding the list amid efforts to boost domestic mining and cut reliance on imports, particularly from economic rival China.  Trump expands critical minerals list to copper, met coal, uranium | Reuters

Trump Meets with Xi, Declares Immediate Cut to Tariffs by Josh Chin Follow and Meridith McGraw

William Attardi on November 1, 2025

U.S.-China summit offers relief to both sides while high-stakes rivalry carries on. President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping emerged from their first face-to-face meeting in six years with a temporary truce in the bruising trade fight between the two superpowers. Their agreement lowers immediate tensions between the U.S. and China, which have been locked for months in a bitter struggle over trade and technology that has hurt both their economies. The agreement includes a reduction in stiff U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for a pledge by China to crack down on the trade in the chemicals used to produce fentanyl. China also promised to ease the exports of rare earths—minerals that Western manufacturers rely on to make a range of goods. And Beijing promised to buy “tremendous amounts” of American soybeans.  Trump Meets With China’s Xi, Declares Immediate Tariff Cut – WSJ

Wyoming’s First New Coal Mine in Decades to Extract Rare Earths

William Attardi on July 16, 2025

The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades is launching a potentially half-billion-dollar effort to extract rare earth metals from the fossil fuel that is crucial for tech products and military hardware. The only operating U.S. rare earths mine is at Mountain Pass in California. Nearly all of the nation’s supply comes from China, the source of nearly 90% of the world’s supply. Wyoming’s First New Coal Mine in Decades to Extract Rare Earths – electrifiED

China Is Quickly Eroding America’s Lead in the Global AI Race by Liza Lin, Josh Chin, Raffaele Huang

William Attardi on July 2, 2025

Chinese artificial-intelligence companies are loosening the U.S.’s global stranglehold on AI, challenging American superiority and setting the stage for a global arms race in the technology. In Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, users ranging from multinational banks to public universities are turning to large language models from Chinese companies such as startup DeepSeek and e-commerce giant Alibaba’s alternatives to American offerings such as ChatGPT. OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the world’s predominant AI consumer chatbot, with 910 million global downloads compared with DeepSeek’s 125 million, figures from researcher Sensor Tower show. American AI is widely seen as the industry’s gold standard, thanks to advantages in computing semiconductors, cutting-edge research and access to financial capital. The competition, some industry insiders say, has set the world on the path toward a technological Cold War in which countries will have to decide to align with either American or Chinese AI systems. China Is Quickly Eroding America’s Lead in the Global AI Race – WSJ

How A Lighting Firm Is Quitting China for Cambodia

William Attardi on July 1, 2025

 Lucidity Lights, a maker of lamps and other lighting products, accelerated its production shift from China to Cambodia in response to rising tariffs and changing global trade dynamics. Company officials said trade policies in President Donald Trump’s first term served as a wake-up call to move production. Lucidity has now moved 70% of its manufacturing to Cambodia and plans to fully exit China. Until last year, his company’s products—lamps and other lighting goods sold to retailers including Walmart and Home Depot—had been made in China.The transition has allowed Lucidity to secure new retailer contracts and boost revenue this year despite ongoing logistical and supply chain challenges in Cambodia.  The Wall Street Journal

GE Appliances Moves Washing Machine Production from China to Kentucky with $490 Million Investment

William Attardi on June 27, 2025

GE Appliances announced a nearly half-billion-dollar project Thursday that it says will create 800 new jobs and shift production of clothes washers from China to its massive manufacturing complex in Kentucky. GE Appliances says nearly all the steel used in its U.S. manufacturing for its appliances comes from American steelmakers. The redesigned factory will become its most advanced manufacturing plant for clothes washing production, the company said, featuring the latest in automation, robotics and material-handling technologies including automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots.  GE Appliances shifting washing machine production from China to Kentucky | AP News

Electric Vehicles Catching on in the United States and Around the Globe By Rick Laezman

William Attardi on June 12, 2025

While still a relatively small portion of the total number of vehicles on the road, electric vehicles are catching on, and their numbers are growing. The trend is happening around the globe and in various states in the United States.According to the “Global EV Outlook 2025” report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), global sales of electric cars are climbing. They are on track to surpass 20 million in 2025, which would account for over a quarter of cars sold worldwide. That’s also an increase of 35% from the same time last year.In a country-by-country comparison, China maintains its position as the EV market leader. EVs account for almost half of all Chinese car sales in 2024.In the United States, electric car sales grew by about 10% year-on-year, reaching more than one in 10 cars sold. Electric Vehicles Catching on in the United States and Around the Globe – Electrical Contractor Magazine

Trump Says China Trade, Tariff Deal ‘Done,’ Awaits His and Xi Jinping’s Approval

William Attardi on June 11, 2025

President Trump on Wednesday announced that the deal with China “is done,” and is awaiting his and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s approval. ,” Trump postedon Truth Social.  “OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME. FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” Trump says China trade, tariff deal ‘done,’ awaits his and Xi Jinping’s approval | Just The News

Tariff Tracker, May 12: An Agreement with China

William Attardi on May 12, 2025

The temporary agreement is seen as a potential breakthrough for negotiations with multiple countries.  In what is being described as a major trade breakthrough, the U.S. and China have agreed to slash tariffs for 90 days while both sides negotiate a new agreement. The decision has pushed stocks up on Monday, and is a solid beginning to what may be a long-term agreement. Chris Kuehl, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Armada, tells us that while some questions remain, a long-term agreement will go a long way toward helping American manufacturing.  Tariff Tracker, May 12: An Agreement With China – electrifiED

It’s Back to School – How Some of Our Most Acknowledged Universities Got Their Name – Who were the true visionaries who would donate half of their estate to sculpting the minds of the future. These stories are monuments to history and culture. Let’s take a stroll through academia’s memory lane and uncover the origins of these storied university names!

  1. Ah, Harvard! The Ivy League giant was once a small college in the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlement called New Towne. But where did “Harvard” come from? Enter John Harvard, a clergyman who, in 1638, decided to bequeath half his estate and his library (a whopping 400 books!) to the fledgling college. Grateful for this generous gift, they promptly named the institution after him.
  2. A gem of New Haven, Connecticut, Yale is another Ivy League powerhouse known for its prestigious law and drama schools. It owes its name to Elihu Yale, a wealthy merchant who, in 1718, donated a modest shipment of goods (including portraits, books, and textiles) to a struggling collegiate school. Those goods were auctioned off, raising a much-needed £562 –a small fortune at the time.
  3. Dartmouth is renowned for its beautiful rural setting, nestled in the picturesque town of Hanover, New Hampshire. It was named after the Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, a British nobleman who supported the college’s founding –despite never actually setting foot in America!
  4. Brown, this Rhode Island Ivy University, known for its open curriculum and emphasis on student choice, was founded with a mouthful of a name – the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It was renamed in 1704 for Nicholas Brown, Jr., a prominent merchant whose family donated generously to the school.
  5. Perched atop a hill overlooking Ithaca, New York, Cornell is celebrated for its diverse academic programs and its stunning natural surroundings. Founded by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, this university was unique for its commitment to practical education, allowing students the freedom to choose their own course of study. It was a revolutionary notion at the time, which would guide a curricular reform across the country.
  6. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford is renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and its close ties to the tech industry. But this California powerhouse has a touching origin story. Leland Stanford, Jr., the founder’s son, tragically died young from typhoid fever. His father Leland Sr., railroad magnate and former state governor, and his mother Jane, founded the university in his memory, ensuring his legacy lived on through the pursuit of knowledge.
  7. This North Carolina research giant, known for its strong medical and law schools, underwent a bit of a name change in its history. Originally called Trinity College, it was renamed Duke University in 1924 after James Buchanan Duke, a tobacco and electric power industrialist who founded the American Tobacco Company. He established The Duke Endowment, to which he donated throughout his life and left half his estate after his death.
  8. Nestled in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt is a renowned research university with a vibrant campus life. It owes its name to “The Commodore,” Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping and railroad magnate, who provided the initial gift to establish the university.
  9. Texas businessman William Marsh Rice provided the initial funding for this Houston university, but did not live to see its opening. He was murdered by his valet as he slept, in a plot to forge the man’s will. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Rice University flourished through the years, becoming an institution known for its strong engineering and science programs.
  10. Who was Harvard named after? Origin of university names