The Collingridge dilemma is a problem of timing. David Collingridge, who worked at the Technology Policy Unit of the University of Aston in Birmingham, set it out in his 1980 book The Social Control of Technology. His point was blunt. When a technology is young, it's cheap to steer, but nobody knows enough to steer it well. By the time its effects are plain, it has wound itself … [Read more...] about The Collingridge Dilemma
Reports
The Sum of All Fears Hits Markets as Gold Sinks to One-Year Low and Silver Slips Below $50
Gold fell to its lowest level in more than a year on Friday, October 30, and silver dropped below $50 an ounce for the first time since November 2025. Spot gold lost as much as 3.5% on the session and traded near $3,881 in the afternoon. Silver gave up around 6.5% and touched $49. Platinum hit a 13-month low at about $1,425, and palladium slipped under $1,000 for the first time … [Read more...] about The Sum of All Fears Hits Markets as Gold Sinks to One-Year Low and Silver Slips Below $50
IBM Will Never Be the Company It Used to Be
IBM will never again be the company that defined the direction of computing for much of the corporate world. That is my judgment about its place in the industry, rather than a prediction that its business will disappear. IBM can remain useful, profitable and deeply embedded in its customers' operations. Recovering the authority of the old IBM would require something much … [Read more...] about IBM Will Never Be the Company It Used to Be
Alphabet Q3 2026 Earnings and the 12% Search Growth That Matters More Than the SpaceX Miss
Alphabet lost about 12% on Thursday, trading near $285 against Wednesday's $324.89 close, and roughly $490 billion of market value went with it in one session. The headline was diluted EPS of $2.12 against a $3.02 consensus. Most of that gap is SpaceX. Alphabet holds about 551 million SpaceX shares, SpaceX fell from $170.86 to $150.86 over the quarter, and the net loss on … [Read more...] about Alphabet Q3 2026 Earnings and the 12% Search Growth That Matters More Than the SpaceX Miss
Marvell Falls 8% on Lumentum Takeover Talks Because the Deal Can Only Be Paid in Stock
Marvell Technology fell 7.7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, to $232.39 from a $251.65 close, after Bloomberg reported the chipmaker is in advanced talks to buy Lumentum Holdings. Lumentum went the other way, up about 10% to roughly $1,008 from $913.95. Neither company has confirmed anything. No price, premium or payment mix has been reported. An announcement could come as … [Read more...] about Marvell Falls 8% on Lumentum Takeover Talks Because the Deal Can Only Be Paid in Stock
Seagate, Teradyne and Corning Beat on AI Demand and Two of Them Still Fell
Three suppliers to the AI build-out reported third-quarter numbers on Tuesday. Hard drives, chip testers and optical fiber. All three grew fast. The market still punished two of them, which says more about expectations than about the businesses. Seagate: a 61% jump and record margins Seagate's fiscal first-quarter revenue came in at $4.23 billion, up 61% on a year ago and … [Read more...] about Seagate, Teradyne and Corning Beat on AI Demand and Two of Them Still Fell
Tenstorrent Raises $1.5 Billion at a $6.2 Billion Valuation and Bets on Selling AI Chips at Every Size
Tenstorrent has closed a $1.5 billion Series E at a $6.2 billion post-money valuation. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round. The Santa Clara company, run by chip architect Jim Keller, roughly doubled its valuation from the previous round. The investor list is the interesting part. Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley and ARK Invest sit next to trading firms Virtu … [Read more...] about Tenstorrent Raises $1.5 Billion at a $6.2 Billion Valuation and Bets on Selling AI Chips at Every Size
How to Tell an AI Infrastructure Order From an AI Infrastructure Story
An AI infrastructure announcement can describe a real commercial commitment, a financing ambition, a capacity reservation or a plan that still depends on several other plans. The headline often compresses those distinctions into a single large number. Reading it well means reconstructing the chain between the statement and the eventual economic activity: who has agreed to do … [Read more...] about How to Tell an AI Infrastructure Order From an AI Infrastructure Story
Hybrid Bonding Is the Bottleneck Nobody Prices Into HBM4
On Monday Applied Materials said it would more than double its holding in BE Semiconductor Industries (Euronext Amsterdam: BESI), taking it to about 20% of the Dutch bonder maker's shares. Four days earlier Besi had reported third-quarter orders of €342.6 million, up 96% on a year ago and well above the roughly €298 million analysts expected. And yet by early October the stock … [Read more...] about Hybrid Bonding Is the Bottleneck Nobody Prices Into HBM4
EQT and Ovintiv Pay for Drilling Inventory While Johnson Controls Sells Its Alarm Business
Monday's deal tape had two kinds of transaction on it, and they ran in opposite directions. Two energy producers paid to lengthen their runway, one in stock and one in cash. An industrial conglomerate sold a product line that no longer fits the company it is trying to become. A private equity firm added a risk officer to its board. Each one tells you what a buyer thinks is … [Read more...] about EQT and Ovintiv Pay for Drilling Inventory While Johnson Controls Sells Its Alarm Business
