Boom Time for AI Challengers

Boom Time for AI Challengers

Silicon Valley startup Modular, founded by Apple [AAPL] and Alphabet [GOOGL] veterans, has raised $250m at a $1.6bn valuation to build an alternative to Nvidia’s [NVDA] Cuda, the Financial Times reported. Meanwhile, Nvidia-backed Cohere has hit a valuation of $7bn, according to Bloomberg; based in Toronto, Cohere builds large language models and customizes them for businesses, competing with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. Lastly, the UK’s Nscale announced yesterday it had raised $1.1bn in the largest Series B in European history.

Is This a ‘Sputnik Moment’ for Quantum? 

“My instinct is yes,” Philip Intallura, group head of quantum technologies at HSBC Holdings [HSBC], told Bloomberg, after the firm said it achieved a world-first in applying quantum computing to financial markets, using IBM’s [IBM] Heron processor to improve bond price prediction accuracy by 34%. The bank applied quantum processing to anonymized European bond data, marking the first large-scale use of real trades. 

Scrap the Digital Markets Act: Apple 

Apple has urged the EU to repeal its Digital Markets Act, a 2022 law designed to curb big tech’s power and protect smaller rivals, threatening fines of up to 10% of global revenue for noncompliance. The move escalates US tech pushback against European oversight amid broader transatlantic tensions over digital regulation. Apple calls for a “fit-for-purpose” replacement, the Financial Times reported. 

Is Bitfarms a Value-Oriented Play on AI Infrastructure? 

Bitfarms [BITF] sits at the intersection of cryptocurrency mining and emerging AI infrastructure, offering both growth potential and execution risk. Its low-cost energy base and disciplined bitcoin strategy provide a foundation, but margin pressure and competition remain key challenges. In this stock analysis, OPTO argues that investors must weigh the upside of AI diversification against the inherent volatility of crypto and capital-intensive expansion.

Healthy Car Sales in Europe

EU passenger car registrations rose 5.3% year-over-year to 677,786 units in August 2025, led by Spain, up 17.2%; Germany, up 5.0%; and France, up 2.2%; while Italy fell 2.7%, Seeking Alpha detailed. Chinese BYD [BYDDF] outsold Tesla [TSLA] for the second month, up 201.3% vs Tesla’s 36.6% drop. Volkswagen [VWAGY] rose 6.3% to a 28.1% market share. Battery electric vehicle registrations surged 30.2%, driven by Spain’s impressive 160.8% jump.

New QCOM Chip: The Future of Mobile Technology?

Qualcomm [QCOM] unveiled its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile chip at the annual Snapdragon Summit on Wednesday, touting faster performance and advanced AI capabilities. Powered by its third-generation Oryon CPU and Adreno GPU, it can run personalized AI assistants in real time, allowing you “to experience the future of mobile technology today”, Qualcomm Senior Vice President and General Manager for Mobile Chris Patrick said in a statement.

Should TTMI Stock Be on Your Radar?

Incorporated in 1978, TTM Technologies [TTMI] plays an important role in advanced electronics manufacturing, supplying sectors including aerospace, networking, defense and automotive. It maintains strong partnerships with industry leaders like Arista Networks [ANET] and RTX [RTX]. But, until recently, it has largely flown under the radar. OPTO explores TTM's fiendishly technical core business, and explores why it's suddenly attracting investor interest.