THE RUNDOWN

A US intelligence memo circulated earlier this year claims China's Ministry of State Security recruited a female tech executive at a firm called Megaspeed specifically to get close to Jensen Huang. It's a stark reminder of how seriously Beijing takes the global chip race — and how personal the stakes have become. This comes on the heels of separate security concerns that Nvidia chips are reaching Chinese buyers through shell companies with empty offices, suggesting neither Nvidia nor the Commerce Department are doing enough vetting.

Crypto exchange Binance is having a genuinely terrible week. Hackers made off with $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from its users, and now the company's CFO has announced they're leaving to 'pursue a new venture.' That timing is hard to look past. If you hold crypto on any centralised exchange, today's a good day to revisit your security setup.

Cognition's chief security officer Alex Stamos put it plainly in a wide-ranging conversation this week: AI has fundamentally broken the old rules of cybersecurity, and nobody has fully figured out what comes next. Attackers are moving faster, defences are struggling to keep up, and the gap is widening. It's worth understanding how the threat environment is shifting if you work in tech or manage any kind of digital infrastructure.

Elon Musk confirmed via tweet at 1:30 AM on November 6th that Tesla is winding down Cybertruck production. The truck was always more spectacle than substance — plagued by recalls, a niche design that never found mass appeal, and a price point that made no sense in a tightening economy. It's not exactly a shock, but it is the end of an era for a vehicle that dominated tech headlines for years.

After spending two years getting very cozy with the White House, the US midterm results have apparently sent Big Tech scrambling to rebuild bridges with Democrats. The open question is whether that pivot is genuine or just opportunistic — and whether Democrats will play along. Meanwhile, the midterms have also put a spotlight on data centre policy, with Elon Musk's political standing looking shakier and AI infrastructure spending coming under new scrutiny.

Startup Crusoe has sold its struggling Wyoming data centre project to Google, underscoring just how hard it is to build massive AI infrastructure from scratch. Land, power, permitting, cooling — the challenges are enormous, and even well-funded startups are finding it easier to offload projects than to see them through. Google, with its scale, is better positioned to make it work.

Ships have been spotted loitering near undersea internet cables following Iran's warnings that it could target subsea infrastructure if the US escalates military action. These cables carry the vast majority of global internet traffic, including connections that matter deeply to African nations. It's a vulnerability that doesn't get enough attention — and a reminder that physical infrastructure underpins everything we do online.

Parents across the world are increasingly uncomfortable handing children a fully unrestricted smartphone, and companies are responding. A growing wave of devices — from simplified feature phones to purpose-built kids' handsets with parental controls baked in — is finding real demand. It's a conversation that's very much alive in Ghana too, where school-age children are getting connected earlier than ever.

Samsung is quietly preparing the One UI 9.5 beta ahead of a 2027 launch, and sign-ups are opening soon. If you're a Samsung user who likes being on the cutting edge of software updates, this is your heads-up to get registered. Early beta access typically comes with bugs, but also first looks at new features before they hit the general public.

Sequoia Capital is shutting down its Scouts program — a model it pioneered where founders and operators invested small checks on the firm's behalf in exchange for a share of returns. Other VC firms had copied it widely, but a consensus is forming that the model has hit a ceiling. For African founders watching global VC trends, it signals a broader tightening of how early-stage capital flows — and who gets access to it.

That's the day in tech. Stay sharp out there — the news doesn't slow down, and neither should you.