After labeling the trillion-dollar orders, Jensen Huang has brought BYD and Geely to the autonomous driving table.
1| Jensen Huang's Trillion Dollars Doesn't Even Include the Roads
This morning, at GTC, Jensen Huang announced that procurement orders for Blackwell and Vera Rubin will exceed $1 trillion by 2027. This number is double last year's estimate. He added, "We are supply-constrained, and I am sure the demand for computing will far exceed this number."
But the $1 trillion is only the data center's account. 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 developed in collaboration with Uber will be deployed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027, covering 28 markets by 2028. Jensen Huang called this the "ChatGPT moment for autonomous driving."
(Source: CNBC / TechCrunch / The Verge)
2| Kalanick, After Lying Low for Eight Years, Is Betting That the Physical World Has Not Yet Been Automated
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick has revealed his secretly operated robotics company, Atoms, which has been running for eight years. Formerly known as CloudKitchens and City Storage Systems, the company has thousands of employees, none of whom were allowed to list the company name on LinkedIn. Its three business lines focus on food infrastructure, mining automation, and robotic chassis. In a public letter, he wrote a defining statement: "Software has automated language and mathematics, but the full automation of the physical world remains an untapped frontier."
According to Fortune, Kalanick is about to acquire the autonomous driving company Pronto, 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 has returned with robotics, and NVIDIA just announced the "ChatGPT moment for autonomous driving" in the same week. The timing is not a coincidence—it's a signal.
(Source: All-In Podcast / Fortune / TechCrunch)
3| Murata Raises Prices by 35%, the Hidden Bill for AI Infrastructure Has Arrived
According to 36Kr, citing a Shanghai Securities News report, Murata Manufacturing, the world's largest MLCC supplier, has initiated a comprehensive price increase for AI servers and high-end automotive-grade products, with a range of 15% to 35%, effective April 1. Murata holds over 40% of the global MLCC market share and 70% of the AI server MLCC market share. This is the first large-scale price adjustment in three years.
Everyone is counting the price of GPUs. No one is counting the price of that capacitor on the circuit board. Murata's monopoly in passive components for AI servers is no less than NVIDIA's monopoly in GPUs—it just doesn't host a GTC. When the invisible layer of the supply chain starts pricing scarcity, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill will only go up.
(Source: 36Kr / Shanghai Securities News)
4| SEC Wants Public Companies to Submit Reports Only Twice a Year
According to TechCrunch, citing a WSJ report, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is discussing with exchanges the possibility of 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, discouraging companies from going public. This is the biggest potential change in the U.S. public company disclosure system in over 50 years.
For tech companies betting heavily on AI infrastructure, submitting two fewer reports means having to explain "where the money went" two fewer times. The AI capital expenditure that Meta burns through in a quarter can now be hidden in the larger numbers of a semi-annual report. The beneficiaries of deregulation are, first and foremost, those companies that need time to prove the correctness of their long-term investments.
(Source: TechCrunch / WSJ)
Also Worth Knowing ↓
Alibaba has established the Alibaba Token Hub business group and is providing all employees with AI tool Token allowances. Employees can use paid tools such as Wukong and Qoder series for free, and purchases of Bailian Coding Plan or external AI development tools can be reimbursed. From "encouraging trial use" to "standard equipment for all," Token is becoming the second means of production for employees of large companies. (Source: 36Kr)
The FDIC is preparing to halt pass-through insurance for stablecoin deposits. If passed, stablecoin holders will no longer 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)
Netanyahu deepfake conspiracy theories 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, deepfake has evolved from a technical issue to a national security issue. (Source: The Verge)
Picsart has launched an AI Agent market, allowing creators to "hire" AI assistants on demand. The first four Agents are now available, with weekly additions. Creative tool platforms are shifting from selling features to selling labor. (Source: TechCrunch)
