Delete All IP Law?

WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech In The News: Tech Rally, Tariffs, Peso Plunge, Nvidia Onshoring

• Companies to watch: OpenAI, Meta, Apple, Genspark, Kodiak, Conifer

• Feature: Delete All IP Law?

• Buzzy Tools: Latest Buzzy tech, AI and financial tools

• Deep Tech: The latest in deep tech, biotech, futurism and more

• Space Tech: Latest news in the space race and aerospace tech

• Crypto: Blockchain and crypto policy and startups or protocols to watch

TECH IN THE NEWS

Tech Stocks Rally — Tech and auto shares caught a relief rally as Trump exempted electronics from China tariffs, weighs pausing auto tariffs to help makers adjust. USD and T. Bonds fates may remain in hands of foreign private sector investors.

Tech Tariffs — The Commerce Secretary revealed the tech, Semiconductors may face new tariffs soon. Trump confirmed a 20% tariff on Chinese-made electronics.

China replied by halting critical rare earth metal exports and magnets, affecting critical U.S. EV, aerospace, and military supply chains as well as the tech sector.

Peso Plunge — The Argentine peso fell 10% against the USD after partial removal of exchange controls. Argentina's stocks jumped 4% and its hard-currency bonds rallied across the board.

Nvidia Onshoring — Nvidia plans a $500B investment in U.S. AI server production over four years, collaborating with TSMC and Foxconn. Huang’s Trump meeting, led to a pause on H20 chip sales restrictions to China.

COMPANIES TO WATCH

OpenAI — OpenAI unveils three new GPT-4.1 coding models for enhanced coding at reduced costs. Retiring 4.5 from its API by July. Revealed plans to mandate ID verification for orgs to bolster security, curb misuse and IP theft.

Meta's Monopoly — The FTC challenges Meta's Instagram, WhatsApp acquisitions in a landmark antitrust trial. And, Llama 4 faces criticism as its ELO rating plummets from 1417 to 1273, par with DeepSeek v2.5, some dubbed it a "debacle."

Apple — Led global smartphone sales in Q1 with a 19% market share, fueled by strong demand for the iPhone 16e in Japan and India. Despite facing challenges in the U.S., EU, and China, Apple outperformed Samsung's 18% share.

Genspark Super Agent — AI Agent app Genspark hit $10M ARR in just 9 days, signaling strong market trust and setting the stage for more innovative features.

Kodiak Robotics — The California-based autonomous trucking company plans to go public via a SPAC merger valuing it at $2.5B including $551M in cash and $110M+ from notable investors.

Conifer — The electric hub motors startup secured a $20M seed for its ferrite magnet motors, targeting markets like lawnmowers, tractors with "drop-in" motors.

Hugging Face — Acquired Pollen Robotics, a French startup behind the humanoid robot Reachy 2, to boost open-source robotics following a joint project "Le Robot".

See more on SignalFires — Companies + Signals to Watch this week

THE HOTTEST THING IN TECH

Delete All IP Law?

"Delete all IP law." A tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent ripples across the tech sphere, especially after being swiftly echoed by X's current owner, Elon Musk. While the immediate trigger remains unclear, these comments arrive amidst a storm of debate surrounding intellectual property, patents, and copyright, particularly as AI companies like OpenAI face a barrage of lawsuits alleging copyright infringement for training their models. This radical stance on IP is an interesting lens we can apply to examine the increasingly complex intersections of tech, global trade tensions, onshoring efforts like Nvidia’s $500B US manufacturing plan, and the foundations of US economic competitiveness.

IP in the AI Age

Jack Dorsey and Musk have been the subject of a big backlash for their Libertarian IP stance over accusations of double standards, since both of them made their millions by rigid enforcement and litigation of their own patents and trademarks. Many also pointed out that IP is enshrined in the Constitution and has been the underpinning of centuries of economic and social progress, and deleting it would threaten our entire economic system. Which, is perhaps the very point. The reality is many, including IP lawyers, are the first to agree the system is deeply flawed and in dire need of reform to reflect the new realities of the AI age. Either AI could be the death of IP completely, or at least a catalyst for serious reform.

The viral trend of generating Ghibli-style images using AI, fueled by OpenAI's integration of image generation into ChatGPT and its rapid user growth gives the impetus to this task. The Ghibli image trend ignited a fierce debate over whether art styles should be protected by copyright. It also appears to have unlocked a massive new market for OpenAI — India, which happens to be the source of origin of a huge amount of IP-breaching content. ChatGPT usage in the subcontinent has exploded over the past month. A week after images were unlocked, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said that India was officially their fastest growing ChatGPT market.

OpenAI has argued that training on publicly available data falls under fair use, but this remains a hotly contested legal area with numerous court cases underway that will give us more clarity on where the law of the land lies in 2025.

Adding another layer, OpenAI just announced a new "Verified Organization" process requiring ID verification for organizations to access certain future advanced AI models. This measure aims to enhance security, mitigate unsafe AI usage, and potentially prevent IP theft. This move follows reports of a DeepSeek, allegedly exfiltrating large amounts of data through OpenAI’s API. It's also worth noting that OpenAI blocked access to its services in China last summer after concerns around the secure and responsible development and deployment of advanced AI.

Tariffs Ramp Up

That segues nicely into the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China. China just responded to Trump’s tech tariffs by suspending exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, a move that directly threatens to choke off supplies vital to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and military contractors globally. The impact of this export suspension could be far-reaching. Shipments of magnets, crucial components in everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports as the government drafts a new regulatory system. This new system could potentially prevent supplies from reaching companies, including US military contractors, jet engines, lasers, carmakers, and even components for AI servers and smartphones.

The obvious problem is these threaten critical inputs for the future supply chain of drones and robotics, and autonomous vehicles, considered the future of warfare and economics. Unlike some Japanese companies that maintain over a year's supply of rare earths due to past embargoes, many American firms keep little to no inventory, leaving them vulnerable to supply disruptions.

Trump's "flexibility," on tariffs, has also fueled uncertainty and confusion about his administration's intentions both abroad and domestically. While Trump recently paused new taxes on some imported electronics (albeit temporarily according to the Commerce Secretary), he also announced plans for new tariffs specifically targeting imported semiconductors, a crucial component for the booming AI industry.

Building Chips At Home

Nvidia also announced a $500 billion investment in U.S. AI server production over four years, collaborating with TSMC and Foxconn. This move is seen as aligning with the “America-first” approach to AI and was likely a condition for avoiding export controls on the H20 chips. Addressing local manufacturing pressures and boosting AI chip demand and job creation is great, but it faces serious challenges, including potential retaliatory tariffs from China and a shortage of skilled workers as well as higher costs than in Taiwan. Chinese control over minerals also directly impacts the AI sector as they are vital ingredients in capacitors, key electrical components of the computer chips that power AI servers and smartphones.

Tech In The AI Age

Ultimately, the seemingly disparate threads of China's critical mineral export controls, the IP debates sparked by AI, the geopolitical race for AI dominance, and US trade policies under President Trump are deeply interconnected. They highlight a world grappling with rapid technological change and transition, and the resulting tensions over supply chain security, economic competitiveness, and the fundamental rights of creators in the digital age. As Dorsey's provocative tweet suggests, the old world may be dead, meaning it's time for a re-evaluation of everything as AI consumes the economy.

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Google — “Workspace Flows” AI tool for managing emails, data, meetings.

YouTube — AI tool generates copyright-free music, via prompts.

Microsoft Recall — Copilot Plus rolls out screenshot recording activity tool.

Canva — Visual Suite 2.0 merges productivity, creativity for seamless design.

ByteDance — Developing AI smart glasses similar to Meta's Ray-Ban.

inTouch — AI calls elderly parents, summarizes mood, attracting support, critiques.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

Ziroh Labs AI System — Runs AI efficiently without advanced chips.

DolphinGemma — AI model deciphers dolphin sounds for comms research.

UTI Antibiotic — Promising treatment for drug-resistant gonorrhoea.

DARPA Quantum Initiative — DARPA identifies quantum tech developers.

Electrical Synapses — Gene editing mice may enhance sociability, reduce OCD.

Lab-Grown Chocolate — Lab created chocolate with unique flavors, nutrition.

CRYPTO WATCH

Strategy Expands — Strategy has acquired 3,459 BTC for $285.8M boosting its holdings to 531,644 BTC. The purchase was funded by proceeds from selling MSTR.

Anchorage Digital Probe — The US DHS is investigating Anchorage Digital, consulting former employees about its practices. CEO Nathan McCauley recently participated in a White House crypto summit.

Mantra's OM Token Crash — OM token dropped 93% in 20 minutes, losing $5B market cap. Co-founder JP Mullin blames negligence, market manipulation by CEXs.

Babylon Mainnet Launch — The Babylon direct Bitcoin staking protocol launched its Layer 1 mainnet, Genesis, boosting the BABY token price by over 25%.

SPACE_RACE

Blue Origin_Katy Perry and first all-female space mission in 60 years return to earth.

Derek Tournear_Returns amid satellite challenges, possible SpaceX Starshield shift.

NASA_Maryland lawmakers fight against 50% cuts to protect natsec, innovation.

Solar Storm Alert — CMEs may cause auroras visible in New York, Idaho this April.

MEMETICS

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