Trump Rally or Bessent Put? Elon Back at Tesla, Google's Gemini Problem, China's Thorium Discovery

China’s strongest trade leverage comes from supply-chain choke points, not tariffs alone. The panel noted China processes more than 90% of rare earths and produces a similar share of rare-earth magnets, giving Beijing leverage over components used across cars, electronics and defense.

Andrew Ross Sorkin said major American brands are quietly losing prestige in China. Executives from companies including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Nike told him they are increasingly presenting themselves as local businesses because Chinese consumers and employees no longer attach the same status to American brands.

Apple was reported to be preparing to manufacture in India all iPhones destined for the U.S., with a target of completing the shift by the end of 2026. The panel said Foxconn and Apple already have Indian production running, making this a scale-up rather than a factory build from zero.

Chamath Palihapitiya disclosed that he now owns a large rare-earth project in India negotiated with the prime minister’s office. After saying he lost roughly half his money over a decade investing in Indian technology startups, he shifted toward infrastructure and specialty-chemical processing following advice from leading Indian industrial families.

Alphabet’s results showed a business far more resilient than the “AI kills Google Search” narrative implies, but distribution is becoming Gemini’s central problem. Alphabet reported $90.2 billion in revenue, 270 million paid subscriptions and 30% cloud growth, while the panel argued those existing subscribers could immediately become Gemini users.

Nvidia told Chamath that its reported Asian revenue substantially overstates where its chips physically go. Roughly 47% of revenue appeared tied to China, Singapore and Taiwan because Nvidia records billing addresses; major U.S. companies often invoice through Singapore while products are shipped to the U.S., Mexico, Taiwan and elsewhere.

The panel distinguished DOGE’s claimed $160 billion in annualized savings from money actually removed from federal spending. They noted that some reported savings were not itemized and emphasized that Congress must eliminate the corresponding appropriations or future lawmakers can simply restore the spending.

China has reportedly demonstrated a working two-megawatt molten-salt thorium reactor while possessing an enormous newly disclosed thorium reserve. The reactor was reportedly refueled while operating, a ten-megawatt successor is planned by 2030, and the underlying molten-salt technology traces back to research pioneered decades ago at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.