DeepSeek who?

Nvidia said demand for its AI chips remained strong in its first quarterly earnings report since DeepSeek’s cheaply trained models raised questions about the need for Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chips. The Nvidia results—often read as tea leaves for broader AI momentum—came after a post-DeepSeek earnings season left the rest of Big Tech largely unscathed.

So what happened to those fears that the upstart Chinese lab’s innovation could mark a new era of shoestring budgets? Analysts say they may have been overblown—and the real story is a bit more complicated.

To recap: DeepSeek’s ability to train AI that performs on par with leading models despite export controls curbing access to the latest chips triggered a sell-off of Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks earlier this year.

As the company that’s cornered the market on AI chips, Nvidia has a lot riding on the tens of billions that tech giants are planning to plow into AI infrastructure this year. But DeepSeek’s efficiency measures—if its budget disclosures indeed hold water—raised questions about whether that scale was even necessary.

“It was a shock to the system in terms of realizing that you didn’t have to maintain the current course of spending more, faster,” Alvin Nguyen, senior analyst at Forrester Research, told Tech Brew.

Except that: One issue with that narrative, though, according to Nguyen, is that Nvidia’s customers are largely hyperscalers or other deep-pocketed buyers ready to shell out for the best of the best when it comes to AI infrastructure.

Keep reading here.—PK

Who doesn’t love a good deal?

A new report from EY and Eurelectric (a federation of the European electricity industry) makes the case that technologies that optimize electric-vehicle charging can offer just that––to grid operators and EV owners alike.

The research suggests that vehicle owners could save as much as 20% on their total cost of vehicle ownership by “moving to electric, smart-charging, and selling energy back to the grid.” And grid operators in Europe, on which the research focused, could save €4 billion ($4.3 billion) annually thanks to such technologies.

The report adds to a growing body of efforts and examples of EVs becoming more closely intertwined with the grid.

“We figured if we want to go faster on decarbonizing transportation, the solution has to be better and cheaper for customers––period,” Serge Colle, EY global power and utilities leader, told Tech Brew.

Keep reading here.—JG

Insiders in the industrial sector are decidedly not optimistic about the sector meeting its sustainability goals, a new survey showed.

At companies in the US, China, Japan, India, and Germany, 1,000 engineers and industrial executives were asked about their companies’ goals and day-to-day efforts with new technology, including AI, for TE Connectivity’s annual Industrial Technology Index. The survey was wide-ranging, but revealed some key metrics about how industrial employees think their companies are doing when it comes to responding to the climate crisis.

In response to the statement, “My organization will reach its own sustainability goals, even if not in line with industry goals,” only 51% of respondents agreed. Why? There seem to be four explanations: lack of sustainable technology, inadequate government regulations, not enough money to make it happen, and difficulties making the entire supply chain sustainable.

• More than four in five engineers and executives said there’s a “lack of sustainable tech currently available” to them.
• Over 60% of respondents said “stricter regulations” would help them reach their sustainability goals.
• Almost 70% said “economic constraints” prevent their industries innovating for sustainability.

Keep reading here.—TC