Chipmakers’ shares tumble after the Trump administration confirms export controls on semiconductors designed for the Chinese market. Plus, Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML feels the pressure of tariffs. And Google faces a potential $6.6 billion antitrust lawsuit in the UK. Victoria Craig hosts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:01] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, April 16. I'm Victoria Craig for The Wall Street Journal. Tech stocks led a sell-off on Wall Street today. The Nasdaq closed down more than 3 percent. Chip-making heavyweights Nvidia and advanced micro-devices weighed on the index, falling 6.9 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. That's after the Trump administration said chips specifically designed for the Chinese market would now be subject to export controls. Also spooking investors were
[00:00:29] comments from the Federal Reserve chair who said the central bank could face trade-offs trying to shield the U.S. economy from the fallout from the trade war. Meanwhile, Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML said today it saw weaker-than-expected orders last quarter. It warned that President Trump's tariffs are creating uncertainty in the wider industry and predicted that the situation will, quote, remain dynamic for a while. ASML makes machines that produce chips to power artificial
[00:00:56] intelligence platforms and ones that are used in cars and smartphones. Demand for the former has boomed while the latter has cooled. And finally, speculative and opportunistic. That's how Google is describing an antitrust claim filed against it in the U.K. today. The potential $6.6 billion collective action lawsuit was brought by U.K. organizations that published Google ads. They allege the Alphabet-owned company abused its dominance and overcharged for search advertising services. They also claim
[00:01:26] Google's business terms violate competition law and that it gives its own advertising better functionality with its own products compared to rivals. Google has vowed to argue against the claims vigorously. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Thursday's Tech News Briefing podcast.