Tech’s defining theme today is scale: bigger compute, bigger chip profits, and bigger bets on autonomy. In Europe, Brussels is proposing €10 billion for seven AI “gigafactories,” hoping to turn concerns about dependence on U.S. and Chinese technology into a homegrown computing push backed by far more private capital. That same AI buildout is already transforming the semiconductor market, with Samsung posting record quarterly profit as demand for advanced memory chips for AI servers overwhelms weakness in phones and consumer electronics, while also warning that supply shortages could tighten further. In the U.S., Amazon-owned Zoox cleared a milestone after winning federal approval to charge for rides in its steering-wheel-free robotaxis, a cautious but notable step toward commercial driverless transport. And on the lighter, stranger edge of internet culture, Singapore fined a French teenager whose viral straw-licking stunt became a real-world lesson in how online clout can carry offline consequences.