Nvidia’s AI PC gambit and China’s flying car flex

By News Room Last updated Jan 9, 2025

Happy new year and welcome to our first issue of #techAsia in 2025. I’m sending this newsletter from Las Vegas where my colleagues and I are covering the first tech extravaganza of the year as always: the CES tech trade show.

As you might’ve guessed, artificial intelligence is once again the main attraction. Every company remotely related to the field is showcasing some kind of AI product at the show, which officially kicked off on Tuesday. While there are a lot more actual use cases this year compared to last, chipmakers are arguably still the only companies that have unveiled AI products that are ready for market and able to make money.

Nvidia’s high-profile CEO, Jensen Huang, made a splash on Monday night when he unveiled in his keynote speech a series of new products, including a $3,000 personal AI computer that will be powered by the highly sought-after Blackwell chip.

But even though every industry player, analyst and journalist I’ve spoken to at the show has said they were impressed by the announcements, Nvidia’s stock dipped over 6 per cent the following day.

Huang didn’t seem too bothered by Wall Street’s reaction on Tuesday morning, when he hosted a media briefing on the sideline of CES. He reiterated the lead Nvidia maintains with the Blackwell platform in the AI chip race as well as his belief that AI will transform the physical world, through applications like in autonomous vehicles.

The leather jacket-clad CEO was also kind enough to give a shout-out to Samsung at the media briefing. He told a room of reporters that he had “no doubt” the South Korean giant will come back from its recent semiconductor woes and catch up with rival SK Hynix to supply critical high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia.

CES is not over yet. My colleagues and I will continue to report from the show about AI innovations that you might actually use this year, what Chinese companies are doing in Las Vegas despite Trump’s upcoming return to the White House and other hot tech themes to watch in 2025, so stay tuned.

A new AI PC game

Nvidia has undoubtedly dominated the data centre chip game in the AI era. Now the US chip giant is kicking off a new phase in the AI PC race by bringing its powerful Blackwell chips to personal computers.

At a keynote speech on Monday, Jensen Huang unveiled the GB10 chipset that turns PCs into AI supercomputers, Nikkei Asia’s Yifan Yu and Cissy Zhou reported.

Good news for AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, who are already in the race: Nvidia says it has no interest in trying to replace all other AI PCs.

The GB10-powered AI supercomputer, starting at $3,000, will be targeted towards AI researchers who need to prototype AI models locally. For users who need AI PCs for productivity or other needs? There might be better and cheaper options out there.

Tencent pushes back

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent woke up to a nasty shock as it discovered it had been labelled a “Chinese military party” by the Pentagon on Monday, writes the Financial Times’ Eleanor Olcott and Zijing Wu.

Tencent said it was planning legal action to challenge its inclusion on an annually updated list of companies determined to have links with China’s military machine if it could not reach an agreement with the US Department of Defense.

While the listing does not directly impact Tencent’s business, analysts say it could presage tougher action against the company by the incoming Trump administration.

It comes after the first Trump administration attempted to ban WeChat, Tencent’s ubiquitous messaging app, from operating in the US in 2020, with accusations it enabled Beijing to surveil Chinese citizens living overseas and carry out misinformation campaigns. A federal judge issued an injunction against Trump’s executive order, saying it violated the constitution.

There is a precedent for Chinese tech companies getting removed from the list. Consumer electronics group Xiaomi successfully removed itself from the Pentagon list when a federal court determined there was insufficient evidence for the designation. Tencent is hoping to find the same reprieve in US courts.

Crunch time

In December, Rapidus began moving cutting-edge EUV chipmaking machines into its plant in Hokkaido. Now, the Japanese government-backed start-up is gearing up for a moment of truth: test production is set to begin around April, and a lot is riding on its success.

Japan is looking to get back into the global chipmaking game after decades on the sidelines. The government is pouring billions into the effort and looking to encourage private investors to join the effort as well, writes Nikkei Asia’s Mitsuru Obe.

Questions over funding and customer acquisitions persist, but with US-China tensions spurring efforts around the world to build up alternative supply chains, some see this as Japan’s best chance in a generation to make its chip dreams come true.

Lift-off economy

While CES used to be a consumer electronics-focused trade show, it has increasingly become a popular platform for automakers to show off their latest and sometimes far-fetched innovations. Flying cars might have sounded more like the latter just a few years ago, but they could become a reality as soon as next year.

Chinese automaker Xpeng’s flying car made its international debut at CES in 2025. Mass production of the Land Aircraft Carrier — a flying module with two seats for low-altitude transport combined with a six-wheeled, four-seat module for use on the ground — is expected to begin in 2026, Nikkei Asia’s Cissy Zhou and Yifan Yu reported.

Xpeng launched its flying venture amid the Chinese government’s push to promote the “low-altitude economy” as a new area of growth.

Flying cars could become the latest front in the US-China tech race, as Washington has also paved the way for companies to launch consumer flying cars by updating related regulations.

Nvidia’s AI PC gambit and China’s flying car flex

A new AI PC game

Tencent pushes back

Crunch time

Lift-off economy

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