Solid-State Batteries, Nvidia’s Supreme Court Bid, and More!
Editor’s Note: Happy Wednesday, dear reader! As heat waves sweep across most of the country, I hope you are staying cool.
Now let’s get to it!
TDK’s New Battery Could Be a Game-Changer
Japanese electronics firm TDK Corp. (OTCMKTS: TTDKY) announced this week that it had made a significant breakthrough in its production of solid-state batteries.
According to TDK, its new battery material has an estimated energy density — the amount of energy stored — of 1,000 Watt hours per liter. That’s an energy density roughly 100 times what it has achieved with its conventional solid-state battery currently in production.
Solid-state batteries are in demand, particularly for wearable devices such as smartwatches and hearing aids. That’s because these tiny batteries are capable of storing more energy than the popular lithium-ion batteries. They also take a shorter time to charge to full capacity.
According to TDK, the new batteries comply with European Union safety regulations. They’re made with oxide-based solid electrolyte material, which is safe to wear.
No doubt, TDK’s next-generation solid-state battery will be in hot demand. And we can expect to see its list of high-profile clients grow.
The company is already a major battery supplier to Apple. The new battery will likely play a big role in the development of the Cupertino Giant’s new models. Apple has lately been working on bringing out devices that are thinner than ever before, including a new iPad Pro and a super-skinny iPhone 17 edition.
Supreme Court Lends an Ear to Nvidia
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had agreed to hear the chipmaker out. Nvidia has petitioned the highest court in the land to scuttle a lawsuit that accuses Nvidia (NSDQ: NVDA) of securities fraud.
More specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the chipmaker misled investors about the portion of its business that relies on the volatile cryptocurrency industry.
Nvidia, whose share prices have soared in the past 18 months and who is one of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2024 — with gains north of 120% — has become a household name due to its prowess in both gaming and artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.
But Nvidia’s products are also used by the cryptocurrency industry. In particular, Nvidia’s chips are used for mining cryptocurrencies. This process, which results in the creation of coins such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), requires chips that can perform complicated mathematical equations.
Back in 2018, Nvidia and its top brass were named in a lawsuit led by Swedish investment firm Ohman Asset Management. The plaintiffs alleged that the company violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1937 by falsely downplaying the amount of revenue that Nvidia derived from crypto-related sales.
Although a U.S. district judge initially dismissed the suit, it was received by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This court found that there was adequate evidence that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had made “false or misleading statements and did so knowingly or recklessly.”
And although the company has agreed to settle the charges with a $5.5 million payment, the suit has proceeded.
Now Nvidia is urging the Supreme Court to let the matter drop.
Nvidia isn’t the only Big Tech company petitioning the Supreme Court these days. Last week, Meta Platforms (NSDQ: META) lodged a plea for the court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the social media company misled investors about the misuse of their data.
Tesla at $2,600?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made bold claims about his company’s Optimus robot.
Optimus is a humanoid robot that he claims could make Tesla worth as much as $25 trillion. At last week’s Tesla annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Musk said that the electric vehicle (EV) company is about to write a “new book” — let alone a “new chapter” in its history.
Although Musk provided scanty details about exactly what Optimus’ current capabilities are, he suggested that one day it could provide household services much like the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO in the Star Wars franchise.
According to the controversial CEO, Tesla will begin limited production of Optimus robots next year. In fact, he forecast that there will be “over 1,000, or a few thousand, Optimus robots working at Tesla” by the end of 2025.
We’ll have to wait and see. Musk is infamous for making bold claims that don’t come to fruition.
It’s also quite a stretch to imagine that Tesla — or any company, for that matter — could one day have a market cap of $25 trillion. That’s roughly eight times the value of the world’s current market cap winner, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL). It’s also more than half the value of the entire S&P 500 put together (roughly $45.5 trillion).
Another Tesla super-bull, Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, has predicted that Tesla’s stock will be worth $2,600 by 2029 thanks to its theoretical commercial robo-taxi business. That would hand the EV maker a market cap of more than $8 trillion.
How Do You Get Your News?
It’s no secret that online news has overtaken print media as the top news source for many consumers.
According to a recent Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 77% of more than 90,000 respondents in 47 countries said that they get their news online.
By comparison, only 19% said that they read printed news. And 55% said that they watch the news on TV.
Breaking it down further, Reuters found that respondents find online news in varying ways. The largest percentage (29%) reported that they get news through social media. While 25% said that they find news through search tools such as Alphabet’s (NSDQ: GOOGL) Google, only 22% of respondents said that they directly visit the websites of news outlets online.
Take a look:
You will find more infographics at Statista
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