Chinese tech company Huawei says it is struggling to secure enough processors to manufacture its mobile phones, due to a U.S. ban on the sale of parts to the company. Huawei says this ban is damaging its business and that it will not be able to produce its own processors for much longer. As reported by AP, Richard Yu, president of Huawei’s consumer unit, discussed the issue at the China Info 100 conference this week. “This is a very big loss for us,” Yu said. “Unfortunately, in the second round of U.S. sanctions, our chip producers only accepted orders until May 15. Production will close on September 15. This year may be the last generation of Huawei Kirin high-end chips.” This is part of a broader overall issue for the company in securing processors, with Yu saying that the company not only lacks the ability to manufacture its own chips, but also lacks access to a reliable supply of third-party chips. The company is projected to sell fewer smartphone handsets this year compared to last year. This dispute began last year when the U.S. government took action against Huawei by the Department of Commerce putting the company on its “Entity List.” This forbids the company from acquiring parts or components from U.S. suppliers unless the U.S. government specifically allows it. The action was taken on May 15, 2019, as part of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. This meant that Huawei was unable to support certain Google apps on its devices and Huawei users could not access the Google app store. The U.S. government took this action because it believed that Huawei products were unsafe and that software on its devices could contain a backdoor which would allow the Chinese government to access user data. This could potentially allow the Chinese government to spy on users. Huawei denied this, but the company was placed on the Entity List anyway with the order against supplying the company being extended until next year. Similar tensions have arisen recently between the U.S. government and video app TikTok, with the U.S. claiming that the app is collecting user data which could be funneled to the Chinese government and is therefore a threat to national security. If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time.  The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55. In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner. The iPad Fold, as it’s being touted, could arrive as soon as next year. A new report suggests that the first folding iPad could be on track to land in 2026. Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.

Chinese tech company Huawei says it is struggling to secure enough processors to manufacture its mobile phones, due to a U.S. ban on the sale of parts to the company. Huawei says this ban is damaging its business and that it will not be able to produce its own processors for much longer. As reported by AP, Richard Yu, president of Huawei’s consumer unit, discussed the issue at the China Info 100 conference this week. “This is a very big loss for us,” Yu said. “Unfortunately, in the second round of U.S. sanctions, our chip producers only accepted orders until May 15. Production will close on September 15. This year may be the last generation of Huawei Kirin high-end chips.” This is part of a broader overall issue for the company in securing processors, with Yu saying that the company not only lacks the ability to manufacture its own chips, but also lacks access to a reliable supply of third-party chips. The company is projected to sell fewer smartphone handsets this year compared to last year. This dispute began last year when the U.S. government took action against Huawei by the Department of Commerce putting the company on its “Entity List.” This forbids the company from acquiring parts or components from U.S. suppliers unless the U.S. government specifically allows it. The action was taken on May 15, 2019, as part of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. This meant that Huawei was unable to support certain Google apps on its devices and Huawei users could not access the Google app store. The U.S. government took this action because it believed that Huawei products were unsafe and that software on its devices could contain a backdoor which would allow the Chinese government to access user data. This could potentially allow the Chinese government to spy on users. Huawei denied this, but the company was placed on the Entity List anyway with the order against supplying the company being extended until next year. Similar tensions have arisen recently between the U.S. government and video app TikTok, with the U.S. claiming that the app is collecting user data which could be funneled to the Chinese government and is therefore a threat to national security. If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time.  The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55. In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner. The iPad Fold, as it’s being touted, could arrive as soon as next year. A new report suggests that the first folding iPad could be on track to land in 2026. Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.