After labeling the trillion-dollar orders, Jensen Huang has brought BYD and Geely onto the autonomous driving table.
1｜Jensen Huang’s Trillion Dollars Doesn’t Even Include the Roads
This morning, Jensen Huang announced at GTC that Blackwell and Vera Rubin procurement orders will exceed $1 trillion by 2027. This figure is double last year’s estimate. He added, “We are supply-constrained, and I’m certain the demand for computing will far exceed this number.”
But the $1 trillion is just the data center bill. On the same day, NVIDIA announced that BYD, Geely, Nissan, and Isuzu have joined the Drive Hyperion platform to develop Level 4 autonomous driving. Robotaxis in partnership with Uber will launch in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027, expanding to 28 markets before 2028. Jensen Huang called this “the ChatGPT moment for autonomous driving.”
(Source: CNBC / TechCrunch / The Verge)
2｜Kalanick’s Eight-Year Bet: The Physical World Isn’t Yet Automated
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick has revealed Atoms, a robotics company secretly operating for eight years. Formerly known as CloudKitchens and City Storage Systems, it has thousands of employees, none of whom were allowed to list the company name on LinkedIn. Its three business lines target food infrastructure, mining automation, and robotic chassis. In an open letter, he wrote a defining statement: “Software has automated language and math, but the full automation of the physical world remains uncharted territory.”
According to Fortune, Kalanick is about to acquire Pronto, an autonomous driving company founded by former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski, with support from Uber. Eight years ago when he was ousted from Uber, autonomous driving was still Waymo’s solo show. Eight years later, he returns with robots, just as NVIDIA announces the “ChatGPT moment for autonomous driving” the same week. The timing isn’t a coincidence; it’s a signal.
(Source: All-In Podcast / Fortune / TechCrunch)
3｜Murata Raises Prices by 35%: The Hidden Bill for AI Infrastructure Arrives
According to 36Kr citing Shanghai Securities News, Murata Manufacturing, the world’s largest MLCC supplier, has initiated a comprehensive price increase for AI servers and high-end automotive-grade products, ranging from 15% to 35%, effective April 1. Murata holds over 40% of the global MLCC market share and 70% in AI server MLCCs. This is the first large-scale price adjustment in three years.
Everyone is counting GPU prices. No one is counting the price of that capacitor on the circuit board. Murata’s monopoly in AI server passive components is no less than NVIDIA’s in GPUs, except it doesn’t host GTC. When the invisible layer of the supply chain starts pricing scarcity, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill only goes up.
(Source: 36Kr / Shanghai Securities News)
4｜SEC Wants Public Companies to Submit Reports Only Twice a Year
According to TechCrunch citing WSJ, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is discussing with exchanges allowing public companies to switch from quarterly to semi-annual reporting. The reason is that the compliance cost of quarterly financial reports is too high, dampening companies’ willingness to go public. This is the largest potential change in U.S. public company disclosure rules in over 50 years.
For tech companies betting heavily on AI infrastructure, submitting two fewer reports means explaining “where the money went” two fewer times. Meta’s quarterly AI capital expenditure burn can now be hidden within the larger figures of semi-annual reports. The beneficiaries of deregulation are first those companies that need time to prove the correctness of long-term investments.
(Source: TechCrunch / WSJ)
Also Worth Knowing ↓
Alibaba has established the Alibaba Token Hub business group and issued AI tool token allowances to all employees. Employees can freely use paid tools like Wukong and Qoder series, with reimbursements for purchasing Bailian Coding Plan or external AI development tools. From “encouraging trial use” to “standard equipment for all,” tokens are becoming the second means of production for big tech employees. (Source: 36Kr)
FDIC is preparing to halt pass-through insurance for stablecoin deposits. If passed, stablecoin holders will not be able to obtain FDIC deposit protection through issuers. The “deposit-like” narrative of stablecoins has just had its last safety rope pulled away by regulators. (Source: Payments Dive)
Deepfake conspiracy theories about Netanyahu are spreading on social media, forcing the Israeli government to respond. The so-called “evidence” includes extra fingers in videos and coffee cups defying gravity. During wartime, deepfakes have shifted from a technical issue to a national security issue. (Source: The Verge)
Picsart has launched an AI Agent marketplace, allowing creators to “hire” AI assistants on demand. The first four agents are live, with weekly additions. Creative tool platforms are transitioning from selling features to selling labor. (Source: TechCrunch)
