Philippa Kaur

LOOK AROUND the world of artificial intelligence and OpenAI is everywhere. In early September ChatGPT’s creator reportedly struck a deal to buy perhaps $10bn-worth of custom AI chips from Broadcom. A fortnight later the startup revealed that Nvidia, Broadcom’s larger rival, would invest up to $100bn in it over several years while selling it graphics-processing units (GPUs) worth that amount. On October 6th OpenAI announced a deal with AMD, a third chipmaker, of similar size and circularity. This time it is OpenAI that may take a stake in AMD, which would sell it silicon worth an estimated $90bn or so between 2026 and 2030. More

On a recent evening in Bier Reise ’98, a beer hall in Shimbashi, a lively district in Tokyo, Matsuo Kohei poured one of his last glasses of Maruefu. Unlike its sibling, Super Dry, the lager is rarely seen outside Japan. Thanks to a cyber-attack on Asahi, the brewer of both, Maruefu is becoming rare at home, too. Mr Matsuo said he would run out that night. Without a delivery, a drought of Super Dry would follow within days. The attack, confirmed by Asahi on September 29th, brought most of the company’s 30 factories, as well as call centres and shipments, to a halt. More

Military types are familiar with the idea of gradually ratcheting up the intensity of a conflict. Herman Kahn, an American nuclear strategist of the 1960s, identified no fewer than 44 rungs on the escalation ladder. The lower rungs on Kahn’s ladder include things like “Solemn and Formal Declarations”; the topmost is called “Spasm”, which doesn’t sound good at all. More

Until recently Yu Faxin was best known as a leading scientist and entrepreneur, specialising in advanced semiconductors for military applications. But on September 22nd he made headlines for another reason. His company, Shanghai-listed Great Microwave Technology, disclosed that Mr Yu had been taken away by China’s anti-corruption agency. Mr Yu is in liuzhi, an extra-judicial form of detention in which increasing numbers of Chinese businessmen are being snared. More

Outside Brown’s Hotel in London, a doorman in a smart coat and top hat escorts guests to their taxis. Inside, the fanciest suite goes for over £6,000 ($8,100) per night. The bar serves delicious cocktails for £26. Judging by the crowded lobby, there is no shortage of visitors happy to pay for that sort of pampering. More

“In future, we will be a relevant player on land, at sea, in the air and in space,” proclaimed Armin Papperger (pictured). Rheinmetall’s chief executive had already led the maker of tanks and ammunition on forays into satellites, drones and parts for fighter jets. Last month Germany’s biggest defence firm said it was adding the four shipyards of Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL), based in Bremen, for a sum estimated at €1.5bn-2bn ($1.8bn-2.4bn). More

ONCE YOU start using TikTok, good luck taking your eyes off it. The same goes for the saga of the Chinese app’s American misadventures. Unlike TikTok’s irresistible short videos, this has dragged on for years. Now, at last, it is nearing a denouement. In late September the contours began emerging of an arrangement reached between Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to hand control of TikTok US to a consortium led by American investors. It was either that or, in keeping with a bipartisan law signed in 2024 by Mr Trump’s Democratic predecessor, TikTok would eventually go dark in America. More

J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was a darkly authoritarian figure. During his 48-year reign at the FBI and its forerunner, he exercised personal oversight over decisions large and small, from wiretaps to dress codes. Control bred unthinking obedience. When Hoover once scrawled “Watch the borders” on one of the memoranda that passed across his desk, agents were reportedly dispatched to America’s frontiers with Mexico and Canada. It turned out that he was in fact concerned about the width of the margins on the document. More