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If there’s one company that encapsulates the times, it’s Nvidia.

The self-proclaimed “engine of AI” is more than just another tech giant. It’s key to President Donald Trump’s $500 billion Stargate project aimed at leading the world in artificial intelligence.

It’s also a touchstone for the state of US-China relations.

So when Nvidia releases its corporate results later today, it’s of as much interest to the political as the financial world.

An Nvidia chip. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images

Nvidia’s earnings and projections, delivered after the market closes in the US, will tell investors whether the world’s first $4 trillion company is still benefiting from a surge in spending on AI systems. It’s also a window to the prospects of other tech companies’ bets on AI computing.

In ordinary times, that would be enough to chew on. But for the chip industry, there’s a whole new set of variables as US-China rivalry increasingly focuses on access to semiconductor technology as a point of leverage.

Many analysts have thrown up their hands and said they don’t know how much revenue Nvidia will report for China.

The picture is further muddied by Trump’s move to take a cut of Nvidia’s sales to China, coupled with Beijing’s efforts to discourage companies from using the H20 processor that Washington has allowed for export — Chinese AI chip designer Cambricon announced a record profit today amid a wave of demand for local semiconductors.

It all adds up to a daunting landscape for CEO Jensen Huang.

His ability to drop in at the White House and persuade Trump to make a deal, then fly to Beijing and explain to China’s leadership how that’ll help them, is likely the best method he has of steering a path forward.

For the head of the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia’s corporate jet might be more important than anything he says on today’s call with investors. — Ian King

Jensen Huang in Beijing on July 16. Source: Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

Trump imposed a 50% tariff on some Indian goods — the highest in Asia and doubling the existing duty — to punish the country for buying Russian oil, upending a decades-long push to forge closer US ties with the government in New Delhi. The rate leaves India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, facing a likely slump in trade with its largest export market and raises questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to transform the nation into a major manufacturing hub.

Trump said he’s prepared for a legal fight with Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after she vowed through her lawyer to challenge his move to oust her from her post following allegations she falsified mortgage documents. The president’s team is reviewing options for exerting more influence over the Fed’s 12 regional banks that would potentially extend its reach beyond personnel appointments in Washington.

Lisa Cook arriving at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming on Aug. 23. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

With lawmakers preparing to topple the government in a Sept. 8 confidence vote, France’s latest bout of political instability is set to endanger its economic recovery as companies hold off on hiring and investment. Fund manager Carmignac, meanwhile, warned that bond yields could spike to 100 basis points above those of their German peers if the crisis deepens.

Germany, France and Poland are set to bolster Moldova’s leadership amid mounting concerns that next month’s parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic might produce a strong result for pro-Russian parties. Today’s show of support by three heavyweight leaders for pro-European President Maia Sandu underscores how the Sept. 28 contest has become a crucial test of Western sentiment in a nation struggling to break free of Moscow’s orbit.

Maia Sandu at the Presidential Palace in Chisinau on May 30, 2023. Photographer: Ioana Moldovan/Bloomberg

Trump warned of “an economic war” if he cannot get Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy to end the conflict in Ukraine caused by Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor, saying he had “very serious” consequences in mind if the fighting continues. Trump’s shuttle diplomacy with Putin and Zelenskiy raised the possibility of the two presidents’ first in-person talks since the February 2022 all-out offensive, yet more than a week after the Alaska summit with the Kremlin leader, there’s been no meeting scheduled. 

Emmanuel Macron pushed back yesterday against claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the French president was abetting antisemitism by planning to recognize a Palestinian state.

Iran and representatives of the UK, France and Germany will “maintain contacts in coming days” after talks on Tehran’s nuclear program concluded yesterday without a breakthrough.

India’s top air commander has advised caution about an ongoing military overhaul that is the largest in seven decades, in a show of skepticism over a plan the government has embraced.

The European Union will seek to fast track legislation by the end of the week to remove all tariffs on US industrial goods, a demand made by Trump before the US will lower its duties on the bloc’s automobile exports.

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Chart of the Day

Africa has become a new hotspot for Chinese exports as Trump’s tariffs redraw trade for the world’s biggest manufacturing nation. Sales to the continent of 1.5 billion people have climbed 25% from a year earlier in 2025 — a rate of growth far outpacing other major markets — while orders from the US slumped. China’s exports to Africa so far this year are on track to exceed $200 billion for the first time.

And Finally

On a crisp Beijing morning in April, China’s top military leaders gathered for a tree-planting ceremony that gave a rare glimpse into power politics under President Xi Jinping. The second-highest ranking uniformed officer in the People’s Liberation Army was missing, the latest casualty of a sweeping purge and the most senior general to be ousted since Mao Zedong’s chaotic rule ended in 1976. Xi has removed almost a fifth of the generals he appointed, something his predecessors never did, a Bloomberg News analysis shows. It leaves China watchers asking: Is it a sign of Xi’s strength or weakness?

A portrait of Xi Jinping at the Museum of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.  Source: Bloomberg

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