
Honda starts making batteries for data centres at a factory built for EVs it cancelled
THE SO WHAT
Honda repurposing a cancelled EV battery plant to feed data center storage is a clean example of capital following AI-era demand—energy storage for compute now competes directly with transportation. If you depend on batteries or grid-scale storage, assume tighter supply and start securing long-term agreements early.
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Deep & Emerging TechQualcomm High Bandwidth Compute aims to compete with High Bandwidth Flash and Memory by stacking LPDDR just above the CPU to 'eliminate HBM tax'
Qualcomm’s High Bandwidth Compute pitch — stacking LPDDR above the CPU to dodge the HBM tax — is a direct attempt to reprice AI memory bandwidth. If you’re planning data center AI deployments, you now have to model not just GPU vendors but alternative memory architectures into your three-year TCO.
Deep & Emerging TechApple Seeks to Buy Chinese-Made Memory Chips With Lobbying Push
Apple lobbying to buy from Pentagon-blacklisted Chinese memory makers underlines how fragile the global chip supply is — even for the most powerful buyers. If your product roadmap assumes cheap, abundant memory, you should be stress-testing BOM costs and redesign options now.
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A single explosion taking out a rocket motor test site shows how concentrated and fragile parts of the defense industrial base still are. Defense and dual-use builders should map single-point facilities in their own supply chains and plan redundant test and production capacity.
Deep & Emerging TechData Center Build-Out Supports High Valuations: Bilicic
If Lazard and Kirkland are openly tying high asset valuations to data center build-out, the market is now underwriting infra growth assumptions as much as cash flow. Operators planning AI-heavy roadmaps should expect continued competition for power, land, and interconnect—and model project timelines and costs accordingly.