China's latest round of rare-earth export controls gives the country dominion over precious resources — regulations have far-reaching implications for the semiconductor industry

(Image credit: Getty Images / Cheng Xin)

Last week, a new round of the U.S.-China trade war commenced. China imposed export controls on a new set of rare earth materials and the methods of their processing, which may impact a variety of products and industries. More importantly, China expanded its export control framework beyond raw materials, now reaching actual products and complex devices made outside of China. This means that a product produced anywhere in the world, but containing rare earth materials from China

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Two Nvidia DGX Spark systems combined with M3 Ultra Mac Studio to create blistering LLM system — EXO Labs demonstrates disaggregated AI inference and achieves a 2.8× benchmark boost

(Image credit: EXO Labs)

EXO Labs' primary project is EXO, an open-source framework for running large language models (LLMs) efficiently across mixed hardware setups. Rather than treating inference as a task bound to a single GPU or accelerator, EXO automatically spreads workloads across whatever devices you have—turning a cluster of desktops, laptops, workstations, servers, tablets, or even smartphones into a cooperative AI mesh. EXO's newest demo combines two of NVIDIA's DGX Spark systems with Apple's

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PC gaming smashes consoles in Battlefield 6 sales, report claims — blockbuster shooter sells 6.5m units, generating an estimated $350 million in revenue

(Image credit: EA / Steam)

Battlefield 6 has been an enormous success for EA from the day it was announced. Ever since Call of Duty essentially shot itself in the foot with the Black Ops 7 reveal, Battlefield became the community's saving grace, all the way from the beta to, now, its launch. It's been such a hit that Alinea Analytics is reporting the military shooter has already sold more than 6.5 million copies across PC and console, generating over $350

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TSMC posts record quarter results as skyrocketing AI and HPC demand drives two-thirds of revenue — company pulls in $33.1 billion

(Image credit: TSMC)

TSMC on Thursday reported revenue of $33.10 billion, marking its best quarter ever. The record earnings were driven by booming sales of AI processors and infrastructure — which now command nearly two-thirds of the company's sales — as well as ramp-up of Apple's latest N3P-based processors for smartphones and PCs. The company expects AI drive to continue in the foreseeable future and forecasts further revenue growth in the final quarter of the year.

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PayPal crypto partner accidentally mints stablecoins worth double the world’s total GDP — Paxos undersells $300 trillion incident as an ‘internal technical error’

(Image credit: PayPal, Paxos)

Even in 2025, some aspects of cryptocurrency seem rather risky, despite assurances that certain coins are fully backed, stable, and secure. A hair-raising case in point hitting the newswires today is provided by PayPal’s crypto partner Paxos, which accidentally minted $300 trillion PYUSD a few hours ago. This so-called ‘stablecoin’ is said to be “fully backed by US dollar deposits, US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents.”

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Tragic OceanGate Titan submersible’s $62 SanDisk memory card found undamaged at wreckage site — 12 stills and nine videos have been recovered, but none from the fateful implosion

(Image credit: Scott Manley, David Case at the NTSB)

Recovery teams working on the Titan submersible have found the vessel's specialist stills and video camera intact. Fascinatingly, while there was some damage to the camera’s housing and internal components, tech and science enthusiast Scott Manley reveals that the internal SD card was “undamaged.” Contents of the memory card have since been investigated, and 12 stills and nine videos have been recovered.

The recovery teams found a hardened underwater camera in the wreckage of

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Nvidia’s RTX 5070 breaks the $500 barrier — MSI RTX 5070 Shadow 2X OC available for $499 on Amazon

(Image credit: Future / MSI)

Now might be the perfect time to invest in an Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU, especially if you're aiming for strong 1440p gaming performance. The MSI RTX 5070 Shadow 2X OC is currently down to its lowest price of $499 on Amazon , making it the most affordable RTX 5070 you can buy today.

The RTX 5070 originally launched with an MSRP of $549,

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Microsoft wants you to talk to Windows 11 PCs again — Copilot gets 'conversational' input to complement your mouse and keyboard

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is pushing to make every Windows 11 PC an AI PC. In new updates, the company is focusing on further integrating AI into Windows 11 apps and experiences (not just chatbots), and making voice as much of an input option as the keyboard and mouse.

The idea, Microsoft says, is that AI on a PC should be easy and natural to interact with in either text or voice; that it should be able to see your screen and information and help;

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Lian Li Lancool 207 Digital review: The best on the market, now with a six-inch screen

Tom's Hardware Verdict

Lian Li’s Lancool 207 Digital is impressive on multiple fronts, featuring strong airflow and a six-inch, 1,600 x 720 screen that functions as a secondary monitor. It’s a great mix of features and performance at a surprisingly affordable price.

Pros

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    Low price, considering the good-looking six-inch display

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    Anti-sag GPU bracket included

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    Impressive thermal performance

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    Effective

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Fantikk T1 Max Soldering Iron Review: Simplicity to the Max

Tom's Hardware Verdict

Fantikk's T1 Max is a good soldering solution for those who want a simple means to get smaller projects done. For those who need lots of soldering power, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Pros

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    Simple to use

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    Heats up and cools down fast

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    Completely wireless

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    Soldering tips are easy to come by

Cons

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    Handle is wide

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    Weight balance is off

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    Learning curve required for LED user interface

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    Not for large soldering joints

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