Consumer Tech News (Dec 22-26): Trump Ends "Woke" Policies at U.S. Universities, FCC Blocks Chinese Drone Competition & More

This Holiday season, popular "Buy Now, Pay Later" services have accounted for a significant slice of consumer checkouts, even as rising regulatory scrutiny and debt concerns loom over the sector.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has touted the President Donald Trump administration’s end to “woke” university policies in the U.S.

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya issued a stark warning to Silicon Valley this week: the growing "Stop AI" movement, championed by figures like Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is not spreading because it is radical, but because it sounds rational to an increasingly squeezed American public.

The U.S. drone industry got a major boost this week as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially grounded the competition from China. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) took X and said they are investigating whether tech giants Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) are indirectly making U.S. households pay for their AI data centers.

A federal judge blocked Texas from enforcing a sweeping child safety law aimed at app stores, delivering a significant legal win to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, and the broader tech industry.

China

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration signalled a tough stance on Chinese semiconductors while delaying actual tariffs until 2027.

Authorities in China have unveiled a new energy-consuming standard for EVs in a first-of-its-kind regulation in the world.

China called for cooperation and fair treatment, as ByteDance moved to transfer control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL)-led investor group in an effort to avert a potential ban.

Media, Software & Semiconductor

Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY) has reportedly gained access to Nvidia Corp.’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) most powerful Blackwell AI chips by renting computing capacity at overseas data centers, highlighting how Chinese tech giants are navigating U.S. export restrictions.

Groq announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia for its inference technology on Wednesday, aiming to boost high-performance AI inference worldwide. 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM) is reportedly accelerating factory construction and equipment deliveries after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Taiwan underscored surging AI chip demand, pushing suppliers to operate at full capacity well into 2026.

A consortium of private equity firms, led by Permira and Warburg Pincus, announced a deal to buy investment and accounting software company Clearwater Analytics (NYSE:CWAN) for about $8.4 billion, including debt.

California-based Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is seeing its Growth metrics surge in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, amid the unrelenting growth in AI capex spending, which is showing no signs of slowing down.

Oversonic Robotics, an Italian company specializing in cognitive humanoid machines, has signed an agreement with STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM) to integrate custom-built humanoid robots into the chipmaker's global production and logistics operations.

Alphabet Inc.‘s Robotaxi service Waymo reportedly paused its services again in the San Francisco Bay Area amid flash flood warnings on Christmas Day.

Alphabet subsidiary Google, in an unprecedented move, has started allowing users to change their @gmail.com addresses, according to an official Google support document.

Italy’s antitrust authority has ordered Meta Platforms to suspend controversial WhatsApp terms amid an investigation into whether the company unfairly sidelined rival AI chatbot providers.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is in talks to acquire application monitoring startup Observe Inc. for about $1 billion.

Smartphones

Apple is reportedly preparing to expand its artificial intelligence strategy beyond iPhones and Macs, with AI-powered wearable devices expected to debut in 2026.

As holiday shoppers hunt for the perfect gift, Apple’s latest iPod–sock-type product reminded everyone that not every present from Cupertino fits neatly under the Christmas tree.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has imposed a fine of 98.6 million euros ($115.53 million) on Apple for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the mobile app market.

Finance

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) stock rose Monday after the payments technology provider announced two separate partnerships with Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) aimed at advancing agentic commerce capabilities for merchants.

Automobiles, Robots & Spacecrafts

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a probe into Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 vehicles, focusing on emergency door release issues.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) has slammed Tesla CEO Elon Musk, claiming that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the automaker $50,000 after a worker from the lawmaker’s district was electrocuted at Tesla’s Gigafactory Austin facility.

Tesla reportedly registered more than 1,500 vehicles for its California ride-hailing fleet.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has touted the Optimus humanoid robot and xAI‘s AI model Grok as better alternatives to state-funded healthcare services.

Elon Musk has claimed that a driverless Robotaxi drove him around Austin as the billionaire’s end-of-the-year driverless goal draws closer.

Ride-hailing giants Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) and Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) have partnered with Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc.-backed (NASDAQ:BIDU) Robotaxi company Apollo Go to bring self-driving taxis to the UK.

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ:FFAI) disclosed that its Middle East subsidiary inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with RAK Digital Assets Oasis (also known as RAK Innovation City).

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) disclosed the deployment of the largest commercial communications array ever installed in low Earth orbit.

AST SpaceMobile outlined new details on its next-generation BlueBird satellites, which are designed to deliver 24/7 high-speed cellular broadband directly to everyday smartphones worldwide.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hailed the company’s satellite internet service provider, Starlink, which recently announced it had reached 9 million worldwide customers.

iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT), the maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, with co-founder Colin Angle blaming intense competition from Chinese rivals and failed regulatory approvals for accelerating the company’s downfall.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

New York Times investigative reporter and author John Carreyrou filed a federal lawsuit accusing major AI companies of illegally using copyrighted books to train their chatbots without permission.

OpenAI has reportedly seen a significant improvement in its profit margins, marking a crucial development in the AI industry.

The artificial intelligence sector generated unparalleled wealth in 2025, creating more than 50 new billionaires as investors poured billions into AI companies.

Elon Musk doubled down on claims about money becoming obsolete in the future with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotics.

Deutsche Bank analysts raised concerns about the crucial role of AI investments in the latest better-than-expected U.S. GDP data, underscoring its significance in maintaining the country's economic stability.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is accelerating its artificial intelligence strategy across both software and computing infrastructure, aiming to drive deeper AI adoption in the workplace while strengthening long-term cloud and hardware capabilities.