That didn’t take long. My vocal critique last week of “Allied Scale” is already facing its first real test and the prospect isn’t looking good at all. If an American-led coalition can’t overcome the issue of rare earths what then of the hundreds, if not thousands, of other Chinese dependencies facing the G7 nations and their collaborators? https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trumps-critical-minerals-pricing-plan-faces-skeptical-g7-divided-industry-2026-06-15/

Anthropic is Dependent on China. So, am trying something new here. Rather than a long winded “China Morning Missive” thought I’d convert it all into a short video. This is my first attempt. Feedback, no matter how brutal, is not just welcome but desired.

Well, once again we have the Law of Unintended Consequences playing out for the whole world to see. Zhipu surges 33% as Wall Street raises bets on China AI after Anthropic curbs

CNBC

Zhipu surges 33% as Wall Street raises bets on China AI after Anthropic curbs

Shares of Chinese AI model developer Zhipu surged as Wall Street banks raised bets on the company's ability to capture global AI demand.

I’ve been asked increasingly about the usage of VPNs in China. Allow me to share with you the policy in the clearest possible way. What is the first rule of Fight Club?

So I see that my compatriot Americas remains blissfully distracted by Bread and Circuses. You’d think that after some 2,000 years the lesson would have been learned. But hey, there’s still a cage match upcoming at the White House.

My wife amazes me. She headlined a massive yoga event last night. Brought out her unique style. The crowd of +200 went WILD.

So on the topic of Fable 5, what happens to all the in-house Chinese engineers working that essentially built the Anthropic and OpenAI models? Logic based on the government directive would mean none of those individuals would be permitted to any further work.

This never gets old. Have a great weekend all.

Such steak differences. Here we have China’s approach to a nationwide AI roll out and then you have OpenAI preparing for a massive IPO and all other American groups tapping capital markets left right and center.

MSN

For those of you interested in the whole DRAM and NAND flask industries, this article below is a fantastic overview of the play being made by China’s two primary competitors. And here is my favorite quote from the article. “Despite such progress, analysts generally believe the immediate threat to Korean companies remains limited.” Cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard others make a similar statement (different industries) only to get their heads handed to them two years later. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/companies/20260606/chinese-memory-firms-edge-closer-to-challenging-koreas-chip-giants

“Remember remember the fifth of November.” Bitcoin caps a dismal week as price wallows 50% below its all-time high

CNBC

Bitcoin cracks $60,000, sinking to lowest level since October 2024

The weeklong sell-off was exacerbated after a stronger-than-expected May jobs report Friday sent yields higher and pressured risk assets.

Saw somewhere here that more short videos were needed to build adoption. Decided to play along.

The definition of asymmetric soft power in action. Is it even a race anymore? Elon has to be apoplectic. Unitree robots on America primetime television. Basically a sponsorship on American TV. China’s ability to figure out ways to game the American system never ceases to amaze me. And this comes on top of Nvidia this week picking Unitree for its “physical AI” platform. Company also expected to go public on a months time.

Yahoo Entertainment

Unitree's Human-Like Dancing Robots Amaze Judges on 'America's Got Talent' Season 21

The judges can’t believe their eyes as Unitree robots dance perfectly across the stage to 'Abracadabra' by Lady Gaga.

China Morning Missive – Nvidia Pushes the Envelope Well, this is one way to square the circle. If you can’t sell your chips to China, then you might as well bring China to your chips, your most advanced chips I might add. While not the perfect analogy to make, it still came as a surprise to a great many when Nvidia announced that it would be partnering with Chinese robotics heavyweight Unitree for its “physical AI” platform. It should be noted that the company did follow up on that announcement with claims that it would also be working with robotic companies in American, Europe and South Korea. Granted, no names were provided in the revised press release. The wordsmith applied in the press release is laudable. Unitree was said to provide only the “chassis” whereas Nvidia would be providing the Jetson Thor “hardware”. I’m not entirely certain that a miniature motherboard counts as hardware in this context when your partner is literally delivering the required physical delivery platform. You’ve all heard me say this numerous times; what China did to the global EV market is no ongoing with the humanoid robotics market. This time it’ll just be faster.

CNBC

Nvidia picks Unitree for humanoid robot platform as Chinese startup eyes IPO

The U.S. chipmaker's first publicly available humanoid robotics system will use humanoids from Chinese startup Unitree.

Robert Frost has always been right and with that these are the times when legends are born.

Did another long form interview last week. All things China. Covered a ton of ground and covered mostly issues that aren’t being discussed virtually anywhere else, at least that I can find.

Here’s a peak into the real China. And I’m here to tell you that fundamentally nothing has changed in 30 years. And that’s good! Good friends. Good food. And laughter. The people all over the world have far more in common than what separates us. A message that isn’t shared enough these days.

Downtown Shanghai has truly been gentrified. Am right now about 40 min outside downtown and the food and environment has taken me back decades. The food tonight I didn’t expect. It’s awesome.

This is going to be a ton of fun. Haven’t done a proper OG Chinese dinner like this in years.

Saturday morning walks here are the best. The city is quiet and at peace.