Capacity development

Apple to shift US iPhone assembly to India by 2025

Apple is preparing to assemble all iPhones sold inside the US in India by next year, aiming to produce over 60 million units annually in the country by 2026.

The move comes in response to mounting geopolitical tensions and renewed tariff threats under former President Donald Trump’s trade agenda, which once imposed duties as high as 145% on Chinese imports.

The decision marks a major shift in Apple’s supply chain strategy, which has long depended on China. By doubling production in India, Apple hopes to reduce its exposure to trade-related risks instead of relying on short-term tariff exemptions.

Foxconn’s plant in Tamil Nadu and Tata Electronics are leading the effort, with support from India’s government through manufacturing incentives and subsidies.

While Apple remains dependent on Chinese suppliers for many components, shifting final assembly to India reflects growing urgency. Trump-era tariffs triggered a $700 billion market loss for the company in early 2024, prompting Apple to act swiftly instead of waiting for further shocks.

Around 20% of all iPhones are now made in India, a figure expected to rise sharply in the coming years.

Although challenges remain, such as the complexity of relocating the broader supply chain, analysts believe the shift is crucial for Apple’s long-term growth.

With US production capacity lacking the scale and workforce needed, India presents a more viable solution to ensure continued momentum and price stability in Apple’s most important market.

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TikTok moves into Japanese E-commerce

Chinese social media giant TikTok is preparing to launch its online shopping service in Japan within the coming months, according to a report by the Nikkei newspaper.

The company plans to begin recruiting sellers soon for TikTok Shop, its e-commerce arm that has already made waves in other regions through livestream-based sales of a wide range of products, from footwear to cosmetics.

The move is part of TikTok’s broader strategy to grow internationally, especially while its future in the US remains uncertain. The platform recently expanded into France, Germany and Italy, pushing further into the European market instead of relying solely on existing user bases.

TikTok Shop is known for offering attractive discounts and allowing users to earn commissions by promoting items in live broadcasts.

In contrast, TikTok’s operations in the US continue to face political and regulatory hurdles. A law passed in 2024 requires ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to sell off its US assets by January 19.

Although President Donald Trump indicated a deal might still happen, he also suggested any agreement could be delayed due to shifting dynamics in US-China trade relations.

Despite not immediately responding to media requests for comment, TikTok seems determined to strengthen its foothold in international markets.

By entering Japan’s e-commerce space, the company signals it intends to expand through business innovation and regional diversification instead of waiting for political clarity in the United States.

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UN prepares for possible shifts in US financial contributions

The United Nations faces renewed financial uncertainty as Donald Trump’s administration reviews all US support for international organisations. Trump has already slashed voluntary funding across multiple UN agencies and withdrawn from bodies like the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council.

A leaked White House memo even suggests that cuts to assessed contributions—mandatory payments that keep core UN operations running—are on the table, sparking fears of a major financial crisis. While a complete US withdrawal from the UN is seen as unlikely, experts warn that the US could cripple the organisation by indefinitely halting payments, creating a gaping hole in its budget.

In 2023, the US contributed around $13 billion to the UN, covering about a quarter of its budget. The potential for missed payments raises concerns not just about immediate financial collapse, but about the future of multilateralism itself, drawing parallels to the League of Nations’ demise in the early 20th century.

The situation is complicated by internal divisions within the Republican Party, with some favouring a transactional approach to UN reform while others push a hardline, anti-multilateralist agenda. With peacekeeping budget negotiations looming and no US ambassador to the UN yet appointed, uncertainty dominates.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has launched the UN80 initiative, aiming to streamline operations and reassure sceptical donors, but it remains unclear if these reforms will be enough to placate Washington.

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WHO battles funding shortfall with new restructure plan

Just weeks before the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) unveiled a major restructuring plan in response to severe financial challenges. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the streamlining of the agency’s Geneva headquarters, reducing its divisions from ten to four and departments from sixty to thirty-four.

With funding slashed by donor cuts, including the United States’ withdrawal that alone cost WHO $1.2 billion, the agency faces a staggering $600 million deficit this year and anticipates a 45% shortfall in its upcoming $4.2 billion budget. The internal response to the restructuring has been tense.

Staff members expressed frustration at the top-down decision-making process and criticised past spending on what they saw as unnecessary management layers. Although no specific job cut numbers were provided, Tedros confirmed that executive management would bear the initial brunt of the downsizing.

A consulting group, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been advising on the changes behind closed doors, further fueling concerns about transparency. Outside experts view the overhaul as a return to a more focused, ‘normative’ WHO, echoing the approach under former Director-General Margaret Chan.

Yet key questions remain unanswered, such as whether costly country offices will be closed or WHO’s activities will shift back to its original mission of setting international health standards. European Union representatives and other member states have also voiced scepticism, demanding a detailed roadmap to sustainability before approving the new budget.

As the World Health Assembly approaches, debates are intensifying. While some see the crisis as a rare opportunity to realign the WHO with its foundational goals, political sensitivities around funding, office closures, and expanding member contributions suggest that achieving consensus will be anything but easy.

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IBM commits $150 billion to US tech

IBM has announced a major investment plan worth $150 billion over the next five years to solidify its role as a global leader in advanced computing and quantum technologies.

The move also aims to support US economic growth by expanding local innovation and manufacturing, instead of relying heavily on overseas operations.

Over $30 billion of the funding will be directed towards research and development, helping IBM advance in areas such as mainframe and quantum computer production.

According to CEO Arvind Krishna, this commitment ensures that IBM remains the core hub of the world’s most sophisticated computing and AI capabilities. The company already operates the largest fleet of quantum computing systems and intends to continue building them in the US.

The announcement comes amid a wider shift among major tech firms investing heavily in US-based infrastructure.

Companies like Nvidia and Apple have each pledged massive sums—Nvidia alone is preparing to invest up to $500 billion—in response to President Donald Trump’s call for greater domestic manufacturing through policies like reciprocal tariffs.

By focusing investment at home instead of abroad, IBM joins a growing list of tech leaders aligning with government efforts to revitalise American industry while maintaining their global competitiveness in AI and next-generation computing.

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ChatGPT adds ad-free shopping with new update

OpenAI has introduced significant improvements to ChatGPT’s search functionality, notably launching an ad-free shopping tool that lets users find, compare, and purchase products directly.

Unlike traditional search engines, OpenAI emphasises that product results are selected independently instead of being sponsored listings. The chatbot now detects when someone is looking to shop, such as for gifts or electronics, and responds with product options, prices, reviews, and purchase links.

The development follows news that ChatGPT’s real-time search feature processed over 1 billion queries in just a week, despite only being introduced last November.

With this rapid growth, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a serious rival to Google, whose search business depends heavily on paid advertising.

By offering a shopping experience without ads, OpenAI appears to be challenging the very foundation of Google’s revenue model.

In addition to shopping, ChatGPT’s search now offers multiple enhancements: users can expect better citation handling, more precise attributions linked to parts of the answer, autocomplete suggestions, trending topics, and even real-time responses through WhatsApp via 1-800-ChatGPT.

These upgrades aim to make the search experience more intuitive and informative instead of cluttered or commercialised.

The updates are being rolled out globally to all ChatGPT users, whether on a paid plan, using the free version, or even not logged in. OpenAI also clarified that websites allowing its crawler to access their content may appear in search results, with referral traffic marked as coming from ChatGPT.

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AI educational race between China and USA brings some hope

The AI race between China and the USA shifts to classrooms. As AI governance expert Jovan Kurbalija highlights in his analysis of global AI strategies, two countries see AI literacy as a ‘strategic imperative’. From President Trump’s executive order to advance AI education to China’s new AI education strategy, both superpowers are betting big on nurturing homegrown AI talent.

Kurbalija sees focus on AI education as a rare bright spot in increasingly fractured tech geopolitics: ‘When students in Shanghai debug code alongside peers in Silicon Valley via open-source platforms, they’re not just building algorithms—they’re building trust.’

This grassroots collaboration, he argues, could soften the edges of emerging AI nationalism and support new types of digital and AI diplomacy.

He concludes that the latest AI education initiatives are ‘not just about who wins the AI race but, even more importantly, how we prepare humanity for the forthcoming AI transformation and coexistence with advanced technologies.’

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Quantum encryption achieves new milestone without cryogenics

Computer scientists at Toshiba Europe have set a new record by distributing quantum encryption keys across 158 miles using standard computer equipment and existing fibre-optic infrastructure.

Instead of relying on expensive cryogenic cooling, which is often required in quantum computing, the team achieved this feat at room temperature, marking a significant breakthrough in the field.

Experts believe this development could lead to the arrival of metropolitan-scale quantum encryption networks within a decade.

David Awschalom, a professor at the University of Chicago, expressed optimism that quantum encryption would soon become commonplace, reflecting a growing confidence in the potential of quantum technologies instead of viewing them as distant possibilities.

Quantum encryption differs sharply from modern encryption, which depends on mathematical algorithms to scramble data. Instead of mathematical calculations, quantum encryption uses the principles of quantum mechanics to secure data through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

Thanks to the laws of quantum physics, any attempt to intercept quantum-encrypted data would immediately alert the original sender, offering security that may prove virtually unbreakable.

Until recently, the challenge was distributing quantum keys over long distances because traditional fibre-optic lines distort delicate quantum signals. However, Toshiba’s team found a cost-effective solution using twin-field quantum key distribution (TF-QKD) instead of resorting to expensive new infrastructure.

Their success could pave the way for a quantum internet within decades, transforming what was once considered purely theoretical into a real-world possibility.

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AI tool improves accuracy in detecting heart disease

A team of researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has successfully calibrated an AI tool to more accurately assess the likelihood of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in patients.

By assigning specific probability scores, the AI model now offers clearer guidance to clinicians and patients regarding disease risk.

HCM, a thickening of the heart muscle that affects around one in 200 people globally, can lead to serious complications such as heart failure or sudden cardiac death.

The Viz HCM algorithm, already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, previously provided vague classifications like ‘suspected HCM.’ Thanks to model calibration, clinicians can now give patients more precise estimates—for instance, a 60% probability of having the condition.

Researchers ran the algorithm on nearly 71,000 patients who had undergone electrocardiograms between March 2023 and January 2024. Out of these, 1,522 were flagged by the AI, with further review of medical records and imaging confirming diagnoses.

The results validated that the newly calibrated probabilities closely reflected real-world outcomes, improving the tool’s accuracy and practical utility.

Experts say this advancement enhances clinical workflows by helping doctors prioritise patients based on their actual risk levels.

Beyond technological innovation, the study marks a step forward in integrating AI responsibly into everyday clinical practice—making healthcare more personalised, interpretable, and effective.

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Google boosts AI in coding and cloud growth

More than 30% of all code at Google is now written with the help of AI, according to CEO Sundar Pichai during Alphabet’s Q1 2025 earnings call.

Developers are embracing AI-generated suggestions in nearly one out of every three code changes, thanks to improved models and the rollout of agentic workflows—AI systems designed to manage complex, multi-step tasks.

Pichai noted that AI-assisted coding is expanding across the company, with customer service teams leading the way in adoption.

Alphabet reported strong financial results, with quarterly revenue climbing 12% year-over-year to $90.2 billion. Net income rose sharply by 46% to $34.5 billion, and earnings per share jumped 49%.

While there was a slight quarterly dip in revenue from the previous quarter, Google’s core advertising business, YouTube, and Google Cloud all contributed to year-on-year growth. Cloud revenue, in particular, increased 28% due to surging demand for AI and infrastructure products.

The recently released Gemini 2.5 Pro model was described by Pichai as ‘state-of-the-art’, outperforming rivals across benchmarks and landing the top spot on Chatbot Arena. Gemini models are now integrated across 15 Google products used by more than half a billion people.

Features like Gemini Live and AI-powered camera tools are being rolled out on Android and Pixel devices, while Google Assistant will also receive a Gemini upgrade later this year.

Instead of slowing down, Google is accelerating its AI development with initiatives like Gemini Robotics Models, the AI Co-Scientist for research, and the continued success of AlphaFold, used by over 2.5 million scientists.

With over 200% growth in users of AI Studio and Gemini API, and more than 140 million downloads of Gemma models, Google is clearly positioning AI at the centre of its future across products, platforms, and research.

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