The first half of 2025 has come and gone. It feels like just yesterday that the January 1st firecracker explosion was seen at KLCC marking the arrival of a new year. In the world of technology, 6 months go by faster and I don't blame you if you forget some of the news listed below.
The year 2025 began with various turmoil and problems that still have a long-term impact on the world of technology and the global economy. Below is a summary of the 10 biggest tech news of the first half of 2025.
1. Trump Tariffs
The excessive tariffs imposed by the United States on all countries of the world are the first choice of this list because they are unreasonable actions that not only damage the American economy but also other countries. In celebration of "Liberation Day", tariffs between 10-64% were imposed on the United States' trading partners.
Malaysia was imposed a 24% tariff while China was punished with a 67% tariff. The formula used by President Trump's administration is to impose tariffs based on the import deficit of trading partners. Malaysia exports more to America and is therefore subject to a 24% tariff. Countries that import more from America are also punished with a 10% tariff. All of this was done by Trump to force foreign companies to return to manufacturing products in America.
The tariff war then became increasingly absurd with China at one point being subject to a tariff as high as 245% before being reduced to only 30%. This was after China blocked the export of rare earth elements to all countries to put pressure on Trump.
Trump's tariffs were then postponed for 90 days but will expire on July 9. There is still no information whether Trump will postpone it again like the order to sell TikTok or whether the global economy will fall sharply again on that date.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Peaking
Investment in AI research and AI data centers is peaking in the first half of 2025. OpenAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic and various other AI companies are investing trillions just to be the first to produce Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
OpenAI with Project Stargate $500 billion to become the United States of the world's data center. Meta bought Scale Ai and established Meta Superintelligence Labs after successfully poaching the best scientists from OpenAI, Google and Safe Super Intelligence by giving rewards of up to $300 million each.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, several data centers worth hundreds of billions were also announced to achieve their aspirations to also become AI superpowers in the near future. In this excitement, an Oxford University study found that the world's AI data centers are dominated by China and the United States with 90% of them using NVIDIA hardware.
The capabilities of artificial intelligence are also increasing. Google Veo 3 can be a short film complete with matching audio. OpenAI's model has begun to cause people to lose their jobs. The CEO of Anthropic also predicted that the unemployment rate in America will increase to 20% in 5 years due to AI.
In a positive development, in China, AI chatbot services were turned off during the Gaokao exam period to prevent students from rushing to enter university and Google Deepmind predicted the movement of typhoons 15 days in advance.
3. Controversy Over AI Hardware In Malaysia
Controversy has also gripped the AI world in Malaysia after a $390 million NVIDIA GPU-powered browser machine was smuggled into China from Singapore via Malaysia. It became a major case because China was banned from buying NVIDIA equipment by the United States. NVIDIA equipment is considered the best and various methods are used to obtain it, even illegally.
Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that 15 hard drives, each containing 80TB of data for training AI, were allegedly smuggled from China to be trained using an AI browser machine in Kuala Lumpur. It is seen as another attempt to circumvent the US restrictions on access to NVIDIA chips imposed on China.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) is in the process of confirming the WSJ report. MITI said that the server machines using NVIDIA chips are not classified as controlled goods in the country. However, Malaysia will cooperate with any government that needs help in monitoring the trade of goods that are considered sensitive under their respective export controls
4. Malaysia's Social Media Licensing Fails
Social media platforms are supposed to have licenses to operate in Malaysia starting January 1, 2025. But as of this month, only Telegram, WeChat and TikTok have operating licenses, according to the Communications Ministry, even though applications have been open since August 2024.
X still insists they do not have 8 million users. Meta, which operates Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has only expressed interest in meeting with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to discuss a license application. Google, meanwhile, has previously not agreed to YouTube being categorized as social media. MCMC has held meetings with Microsoft regarding LinkedIn licensing but to date there is no news that they will apply.
Social media licensing in Malaysia is seen as a step to resolve the long-standing issue of fraud and the spread of false information using popular platforms. But with the government refusing to ban platforms operating without a license, there is no incentive for platform operators to apply.
5. Bitcoin Price Rises Again
Bitcoin prices rose after Donald Trump won the US presidential election but fell again in February. It then rose again and at the time of writing it reached $110,000, albeit briefly. The year 2025 sees the United States aiming to become the world's most cryptocurrency-friendly country. This has driven the rise in cryptocurrency prices since March.
The market is showing a trend that the value of the world's major cryptocurrencies will surge this year. This has prompted James Howells, an individual in Wales, to buy a landfill. He believes that the site contains a hard drive that stores 8,000 of his Bitcoins. Since 2013, Howell has asked Newport City Council in Wales for permission to search for the hard drive containing his Bitcoin digital wallet after it was accidentally thrown away.
His request was denied for security reasons but with the landfill now closed, he tried again in February to buy it in the hope of receiving a reward worth RM 3.68 billion.
6. The Status of the Most Valuable Companies Has Changed Several Times
Due to Trump's Tariffs, the market value of the world's major companies has been severely affected. For a while, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Apple lost their status as companies with a market value of more than $ 3 trillion. Other companies including Elon Musk's Tesla were affected by tariffs imposed on aluminum and components that had to be imported from China.
It is estimated that more than $3 trillion worth of stocks were disposed of within a day after Trump's tariffs were announced. Apple was affected because the majority of its products are still manufactured in China. Microsoft was affected because the AI data center equipment it wants to build also needs to be imported from China. NVIDIA was also affected because Trump's rumors are believed to completely block the sale of AI chips to China. The market only recovered after Trump agreed to postpone the tariffs for 90 days. At the time of writing, NVIDIA was at the top, followed by Microsoft and Apple.
7. No More Obstacles to America's Purchase of AI Chips
Before handing over the presidency to Donald Trump, Joe Biden introduced the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule. Malaysia was placed in the second category of countries, which caused the purchase of chips for AI data centers to be limited. The rule was introduced to ensure that the supremacy of the United States in AI would not be challenged by other countries, especially China.
For Malaysia, this rule is like cutting off a leg at the knee when Malaysia is trying to become the AI data center of Southeast Asia. Various regulations are imposed by the United States on countries that want to buy AI chips. But in May, the Artificial Intelligence Proliferation Rule was lifted by Trump after Saudi Arabia and the UAE agreed to purchase US weapons to enable them to buy hundreds of billions in AI chips.
8. Bill Gates Donates $200 Billion Worth of Wealth
In May, Bill Gates announced that he would donate his entire $200 billion (~RM 862 billion) fortune to the Gates Foundation. Since the Gates Foundation was established, more than $100 billion has been donated in 25 years. Bill Gates will double that by donating $200 billion over 20 years. He also announced that on December 31, 2045, the Gates Foundation would then close. If Bill Gates lives long, he will be 90 years old that year.
The inspiration to donate all his wealth came after reading an 1889 essay by Andrew Carnegie called The Gospel of Wealth. In the essay, the wealthy have a responsibility to give back to society, a radical idea at the time that laid the foundation for philanthropy as we know it today. Carnegie also said that “the man who dies rich dies ignominy.”
9. Seaweed Found to Prevent Cancer Spread
Seaweed oil has long been used to treat wounds and we are sure you have at least one at home and it is one of the hand-me-downs when you go to Langkawi. Researchers from the University of Mississippi have now found that a compound produced by seaweed can prevent the spread of cancer.
Cancer spreads to other parts of the body through a process called metastasis caused by the enzyme Sulf-2. Human cells are covered in small hair-like structures called glycans that help with cell communication, immune response and recognition of threats such as pathogens. Cancer cells alter certain enzymes in the body, including Sulf-2, which in turn alters the structure of glycans. This modification helps cancer spread.
But a sugar compound called fucosylated chondroitin sulfate produced by seaweed from the species Holothuria floridana can block Sulf-2 in tests conducted in the laboratory. When Sulf-2 is blocked, cancer metastasis can be prevented from occurring.
10. Ukrainian Drone Fleet Destroys Russian Bombers
Last year, the MOSSAD attack on Hezbollah using pagers and walkie talkies became a sensation because it was a tactic that had never been done on a large scale. In June, 41 Russian bombers were destroyed or successfully damaged using drones launched from containers by Ukraine, in another unprecedented military operation.
The attack was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) using hundreds of small drones hidden on the roofs of containers. Upon arriving at the Russian bomber airbase, the drones were launched, believed to have been carried out by a drone using the open source Ardupilot software.
The damage is estimated to be worth $9 billion and resulted in Russia losing 34% of its strategic bomber fleet. The attack has been nicknamed the Russian Pearl Harbor because of its surprise.