AMD takes on Nvidia, US takes on Chinese AI models and AI spending still spooks investors

AMD debuted new GPUs, CPUs, and processors for physical AI and robotics this week, challenging Nvidia's dominance in AI infrastructure. U.S. lawmakers proposed a 'kill switch' for rogue AI after OpenAI models hacked Hugging Face, while the Treasury threatened sanctions against Chinese AI model makers over alleged distillation. Investors remain skeptical of AI spending, with Alphabet and Tesla shares falling despite strong earnings, though Intel and SAP posted better-than-expected results.

AMD takes on Nvidia, US takes on Chinese AI models and AI spending still spooks investors Maybe Nvidia ultimately won’t win the entire AI enchilada, even as it reminded everyone this week that it offers everything https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/nvidia-doubles-ai-factories-showcases-massive-vera-rubin-performance-gains/ you need to build AI factories. This week, Advanced Micro Devices also announced https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/amd-debuts-next-generation-ai-infrastructure-frontier-models-agentic-workloads-autonomous-robots/ a raft of new graphics processing units, central processing units and other processors for physical AI and robotics. Nvidia may need to look over its shoulder, but it’s still the king, and looks stronger than ever. As theCUBE Research’s Dave Vellante noted https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/18/amds-next-reinvention-new-playbook-ai-era/ , AMD CEO Lisa Su engineered an incredible turnaround, but this next one requires an entirely new kind of reinvention. The entire AI industry is also looking over its shoulder as Chinese models continue to surprise with their frontier-level capabilities — this week from Alibaba https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/19/alibaba-previews-qwen3-8-claims-second-claude-fable-5/ , for one. And the AI code repository Hugging Face also employed https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/hugging-face-uses-open-weights-z-ai-glm-5-2-defend-attacker-commercial-frontier-model-refusal/ China’s Z.ai model to battle attackers after U.S. models didn’t allow it. Meantime, OpenAI said its own AI models broke out of testing and hacked https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/openai-says-ai-models-broke-testing-hacked-hugging-face/ Hugging Face, and U.S. lawmakers are proposing https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/lawmakers-call-kill-switch-rogue-ai-causes-alarm/ a “kill switch” for such situations. Anyway, the government is looking askance at the rise of Chinese models, accusing Moonshot AI of “distilling” other models to power its latest Kimi model that debuted last week. And it may crack down https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/u-s-treasury-secretary-bessent-threatens-sanctions-chinese-ai-model-makers/ on Chinese model makers — though many people, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, think the charges of distillation ring a bit hollow https://x.com/haider1/status/2079945859790410075 . Investors remain unconvinced that AI will pay off for big tech companies. Alphabet had quite an impressive quarter https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/alphabets-stock-sinks-bumps-ai-infrastructure-spending-yet/ , but its stock fell almost 15% Thursday, and Tesla’s shares fell almost 7%, on rising worries about all the costs of chasing the AI boom. IBM’s in a bit of a different pickle, as CEO Arvind Krishna again noted https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/ibm-cuts-outlook-software-mainframe-weakness-weighs-results/ that despite rising AI business, the company didn’t have the products customers wanted, and its shares are down about 30% on the year. Others fared better, even if investors were still wary. Thanks to the demand for CPUs for running AI models, Intel crushed https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/intel-posts-highest-rate-revenue-growth-15-years-crushing-expectations-latest-results/ its second quarter. And even SAP, still laboring under fears that AI will crush enterprise software, had a big earnings beat https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/sap-shrugs-off-ai-eating-software-fears-big-earnings-beat/ . Two more big tech earnings weeks are coming up that will shed further light on whether the AI push is paying off — next week headlined by Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple, the following week including AMD, Palantir and many others. This column will be on vacation for the next two weeks, returning Aug. 14. Enjoy the summer But our reporters and analysts will be posting as usual throughout, so you can always see the latest on SiliconANGLE.com http://www.siliconangle.com . Here’s all of this week’s enterprise and emerging-tech news and analysis from SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Research and beyond: Analysis, opinion and food for thought Why the next battle for technology IPOs begins years before companies go public https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/next-battle-technology-ipos-begins-years-companies-go-public/ Mark Zuckerberg launches https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/mark-zuckerberg-ai-optimism AI optimism campaign He’s got to be kidding, right? Understanding the AI economy: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/research/understanding-the-ai-economy/ Latest study from Google says https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-study-says-ai-is-helping-workers-not-replacing-them-4b7bba39?st=atMTSb&reflink=desktopwebshare permalink AI is helping workers, not replacing them Data centers expected https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/21/data-centers-expected-to-use-4x-more-electricity-by-2035/ to use 4x more electricity by 2035 AI and data: China’s AI models put US on edge Policy Senior White House official accuses Moonshot AI of copying Anthropic’s leading frontier model https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/senior-white-house-official-accuses-moonshot-ai-copying-anthropics-leading-frontier-model/ US Treasury Secretary Bessent threatens sanctions against Chinese AI model makers https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/u-s-treasury-secretary-bessent-threatens-sanctions-chinese-ai-model-makers/ Lawmakers call for a ‘kill switch’ after rogue AI causes alarm https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/lawmakers-call-kill-switch-rogue-ai-causes-alarm/ Anthropic settles with authors and publishers for $1.5B in landmark copyright case https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/anthropic-settles-authors-publishers-1-5-billion-landmark-copyright-case/ New models and services OpenAI launches Health in ChatGPT a day after lawsuit seeks to block it https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/openai-launches-health-chatgpt-day-lawsuit-seeks-block/ Google expands Gemini with cheaper models and a bug-hunter it keeps on a leash https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/google-expands-gemini-cheaper-models-bug-hunter-keeps-leash/ Alibaba previews Qwen3.8, claims it’s second only to Claude Fable 5 https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/19/alibaba-previews-qwen3-8-claims-second-claude-fable-5/ Cisco releases Antares, open-weight small models for locating code vulnerabilities https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/cisco-releases-antares-open-weight-small-models-locating-code-vulnerabilities/ Databricks and Microsoft expand Azure partnership into the 2030s https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/databricks-microsoft-expand-azure-partnership-2030s/ OpenAI introduces Presence to help enterprises build AI agents https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/openai-introduces-presence-help-enterprises-build-ai-agents/ Block launches Buzz, an open-source workspace for humans and AI agents https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/block-launches-buzz-open-source-workspace-humans-ai-agents/ Harness launches Agent DLC for developers to deploy AI agents using familiar processes and tools https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/harness-launches-agent-dlc-developers-deploy-ai-agents-using-familiar-processes-tools/ WekaIO revamps its AI data storage platform and unveils its first hardware for agentic workloads https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/wekaio-revamps-ai-data-storage-platform-unveils-first-hardware-agentic-workloads/ Exclusive: Speakeasy service tracks enterprise-wide AI agent spending https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/speakeasy-service-tracks-enterprise-wide-ai-agent-spending/ ShelterZoom subsidiary Mithra launches AI ‘trust infrastructure’ platform https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/shelterzoom-subsidiary-mithra-launches-ai-trust-infrastructure-platform/ Money matters AI materials science startup CuspAI raises $450M in funding https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/ai-materials-science-startup-cuspai-raises-450m-funding/ Stripe reportedly https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/stripe-in-talks-to-buy-buzzy-ai-model-marketplace-openrouter-decc6a74?st=VZPrDL&reflink=desktopwebshare permalink in talks to buy buzzy AI model marketplace OpenRouter Sierra acquires https://runtimewire.com/article/sierra-acquires-takeoff-long-horizon-ai-agents TakeOff, the long-horizon AI agent platform Ropedia raises $22M to scale human-centric data collection for embodied AI https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/ropedia-raises-22m-scale-human-centric-data-collection-embodied-ai/ SkyPilot nabs $20M to ease AI infrastructure management https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/skypilot-nabs-20m-ease-ai-infrastructure-management/ Infinity raises $15M to run AI inference on any chipset https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/infinity-raises-15m-run-ai-inference-chipset/ Legal AI startup Vikk AI raises $4.2M to build lawyer ads inside AI search https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/legal-ai-startup-vikk-ai-raises-4-2m-build-lawyer-ads-inside-ai-search/ Around the enterprise: AMD rising New products and services Coverage around the AMD Advancing AI event: Microsoft to use AMD’s AI-optimized Helios racks in Azure https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/microsoft-will-use-amds-ai-optimized-helios-racks-azure/ AI infrastructure systems redefine the AMD-Nvidia rivalry as inference reshapes the market https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/ai-infrastructure-systems-power-enterprise-tech-amdadvancingai/ Jensen says not so fast: Nvidia doubles down on AI factories as it showcases massive Vera Rubin performance gains https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/nvidia-doubles-ai-factories-showcases-massive-vera-rubin-performance-gains/ Analysis from Zeus Kerravala: Nvidia Vera Rubin: Inside the agentic AI factory that rewrites the CPU playbook https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/nvidia-vera-rubin-inside-agentic-ai-factory-rewrites-cpu-playbook/ Anthropic to buy up to 2 gigawatts of GPU capacity from AMD https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/anthropic-buy-two-gigawatts-gpu-capacity-amd/ And ICYMI, Dave Vellante’s pre-event analysis to put it all in context: AMD’s next reinvention: A new playbook for the AI era https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/18/amds-next-reinvention-new-playbook-ai-era/ Yikes, if even a quarter of all this is true, that’s a Meta mess: Meta’s infrastructure team needs a culture reset per SemiAnalysis https://newsletter.semianalysis.com/p/metas-infrastructure-team-needs-a?utm source=post-email-title&publication id=6349492&post id=207968269&utm campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=qn48&triedRedirect=true&utm medium=email Google reportedly developing ‘Frozen v2’ AI chip optimized for Gemini models https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/google-reportedly-developing-frozen-v2-ai-chip-optimized-gemini-models/ Intel to manufacture firewall chips for Fortinet, its first public foundry customer https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/intel-manufacture-firewall-chips-fortinet/ Oracle debuts Base Database Cloud@Customer system for on-premises databases https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/oracle-debuts-base-database-cloudcustomer-system-premises-databases/ Earnings Alphabet’s stock sinks after it bumps up AI infrastructure spending yet again https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/alphabets-stock-sinks-bumps-ai-infrastructure-spending-yet/ IBM cuts outlook as software and mainframe weakness weighs on results https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/ibm-cuts-outlook-software-mainframe-weakness-weighs-results/ Intel posts its highest revenue growth in 15 years, crushing expectations in its latest results https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/intel-posts-highest-rate-revenue-growth-15-years-crushing-expectations-latest-results/ SAP shrugs off fears of AI eating software with big earnings beat https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/sap-shrugs-off-ai-eating-software-fears-big-earnings-beat/ AI server maker Supermicro’s stock gains on $60B order backlog and stronger margins https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/ai-server-maker-supermicros-stock-gains-60b-order-backlog-stronger-margins/ ServiceNow beats estimates and raises outlook as AI passes $1B in bookings https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/servicenow-beats-estimates-raises-outlook-ai-passes-1b-bookings/ Tesla earnings miss https://www.investors.com/news/tesla-earnings-elon-musk-robotaxi-optimus-electric-vehicle-evs/ despite strong EV sales; Elon Musk preaches robotaxi caution Texas Instruments beats https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-texas-instruments-beats-q2-2026-estimates-shares-fall-after-hours-93CH-4807116 Q2 2026 estimates, shares fall after hours Mobileye reports https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/mobileye-nasdaq-mbly-reports-bullish-132245946.html bullish Q2 but stock drops Pegasystems stock tumbles https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/pegasystems-stock-tumbles-10-as-ai-challenges-drive-q2-earnings-revenue-miss-93CH-4804218 10% as AI challenges drive Q2 earnings, revenue miss STMicroelectronics profit misses https://www.reuters.com/technology/stmicros-q3-revenue-view-slightly-lags-estimates-even-chip-demand-recovers-2026-07-23/ estimates, shares fall 14% RingCentral earnings https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/ringcentral-inc-earnings-beat-by-006-revenue-topped-estimates-4809940 beat, revenue tops estimates Other money matters Oracle secures $7B contract to supply the Pentagon with vital software and services https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/oracle-secures-7b-contract-supply-pentagon-vital-software-services/ Travis Kalanick’s industrial automation startup Atoms raises $1.7B in funding https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/industrial-automation-startup-atoms-raises-1-7b-funding/ AI data center builder Fluidstack raises $830M at $7.5B valuation https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/ai-data-center-builder-fluidstack-raises-830m-7-5b-valuation/ AI chip startup Etched more than doubles valuation in new $300M round https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/ai-chip-startup-etched-doubles-valuation-10-3b-new-300m-round/ Policy France to become first EU nation to ban social media for children under 15 https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/france-become-first-eu-nation-ban-social-media-children-15/ Cyber beat: OpenAI agents go rogue Attack & response OpenAI says its own AI models broke out of testing and hacked Hugging Face https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/openai-says-ai-models-broke-testing-hacked-hugging-face/ New services Box adds security controls to govern AI agents working with enterprise content https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/box-adds-security-controls-govern-ai-agents-working-enterprise-content/ Exclusive: Fig launches Figaro AI agent and brings CI/CD to security operations https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/exclusive-fig-launches-figaro-ai-agent-brings-ci-cd-security-operations/ Google rolls out selfie video sign-in for account recovery https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/google-rolls-selfie-video-sign-account-recovery/ Cato Networks and CrowdStrike partner to unify network and endpoint security https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/cato-networks-crowdstrike-partner-unify-network-endpoint-security/ NowSecure adds AI-native testing to keep pace with AI-built mobile apps https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/nowsecure-adds-ai-native-testing-keep-pace-ai-built-mobile-apps/ Ivanti adds predictive remediation to get ahead of the patch backlog https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/ivanti-adds-predictive-remediation-get-ahead-patch-backlog/ Lookout launches tool to expose vulnerable code hidden inside mobile apps https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/lookout-launches-tool-expose-vulnerable-code-hidden-inside-mobile-apps/ Swimlane launches AI security operations center for managed security services providers https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/swimlane-launches-ai-security-operations-center-managed-security-services-providers/ OneSpan debuts DigipassONE platform to modernize bank authentication https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/onespan-debuts-digipassone-platform-modernize-bank-authentication/ AWS turns Security Hub into an AI and multicloud security control plane https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/aws-turns-security-hub-ai-multicloud-security-control-plane/ Money matters AI-native endpoint security startup Glow is born a unicorn after raising $180M https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/ai-native-endpoint-security-startup-glow-born-unicorn-raising-180m/ Neo Security bags $100M to build the secure control layer for enterprise AI agents https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/20/neo-security-bags-100m-build-secure-control-layer-enterprise-ai-agents/ AegisAI banks $36M as AI spear-phishing surges fivefold in a year https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/aegisai-banks-36m-ai-spear-phishing-surges-fivefold-year/ Abstract Security raises $25M Series A extension, recurring revenue up 380% https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/abstract-security-raises-25m-series-extension-recurring-revenue-380/ Exclusive: StrongestLayer raises $4.1M for reasoning-based email security https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/22/exclusive-strongestlayer-raises-4-1m-reasoning-based-email-security/ Elsewhere in tech: Robots march on Humanoid raises $152M at $1.35B valuation to bring human-like robots into factories https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/humanoid-raises-152m-1-35b-valuation-bring-human-like-robots-factories/ IBM acquires quantum computing research lab HRL https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/ibm-acquires-quantum-computing-research-lab-hrl/ Bluecore Energy raises $10M to put nuclear reactors on barges https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/21/bluecore-energy-raises-10m-put-nuclear-reactors-barges/ Comings and goings Amazon cut https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-cuts-jobs-its-artificial-general-intelligence-group-2026-07-22/ jobs in its artificial general intelligence group as it reportedly shuts https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/amazon-shuts-ai-agent-research-lab-agi-layoffs its AI agent research lab. Hmm. Monday.com cut https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/udx1nmbdq 20% of workforce as it restructures for the AI era. Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua is stepping down https://www.mobileye.com/news/mobileye-announces-planned-leadership-transition/ after 27 years. No successor was named as a CEO search gets underway. Meta named Assaf Keren , a former chief security officer at Qualtrics and a former chief information security officer at PayPal, as its next CISO, succeeding Guy Rosen , who will leave in 2026 per Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-22/meta-taps-new-chief-security-officer-from-qualtrics-paypal . Chris Hall , Trump’s latest AI czar, has already resigned https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/20/trumps-latest-ai-czar-has-already-resigned/ after three months. What’s next Earnings Monday, July 27: Cadence, F5 Networks Tuesday, July 28: Commvault, PayPal, NXP Semi, Seagate Wednesday, July 29: Microsoft, Qualcomm, Arm, Samsung, Meta, Equinix, Tenable, Fortinet, Robinhood, Check Point Software Thursday, July 30: Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Rivian Image: SiliconANGLE/Reve A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE: Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network , where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities. 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos , powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network. Are you AWS customer? Support SiliconANGLE Financially by buying your AWS services from our Marketplace portal page and links. 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