Amrith Ramkumar

Exclusive | Trump Administration Weighs Patent System Overhaul to Raise Revenue Commerce Department officials are discussing a new fee based on patent value, which could fuel backlash from businesses.

The Trump administration is considering a plan to charge patent holders tens of billions of dollars with a new fee. It'd be a radical overhaul of the patent system and their latest attempt to raise revenue:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump Goes to Bat for Big Tech in Global Trade Talks The administration hopes to use the threat of tariffs and access to the U.S. economy to stop countries from imposing new taxes, regulations and tariffs on U.S. technology firms.

Overseas taxes and regulations on U.S. tech companies are a sticking point in trade talks with several countries, highlighting Trump's focus on digital trade issues and a potential win for the tech industry:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Exclusive | White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’<br> The order would be one of several expected to be released outlining the president’s vision for winning the AI race with China.

The White House's latest effort to go after DEI is an attack on "woke AI"—Trump is expected to ban biased AI companies from working with the government in an executive order:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whit...

Exclusive | National-Security Concerns Tie Up Trump’s U.A.E. Chips Deal Some administration officials worry China could get access to advanced Nvidia chips and are holding up efforts to iron out the agreement.

The US is changing a landmark deal to send Nvidia chips to the UAE due to national-security concerns. Now no chips will go directly to UAE firm G42, a change showing the challenges to Trump's AI agenda. Scoop w/ @eliotwb.bsky.social:
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Nvidia Wins OK to Sell AI Chip to China Again After CEO Meets Trump The U.S. will grant licenses for the H20 chip after it had announced restrictions in April.

Jensen Huang told Trump his company needed freer access to global customers to stay ahead of Chinese competitors like Huawei. 4 days later, Nvidia had approvals it had been seeking for months:
www.wsj.com/tech/nvidia-...

Sam Altman Is Up, Tim Cook Is Down: Big Tech’s Trump Scorecard Technology CEOs and companies donated millions of dollars to the president, and the industry has been aggressive in trying to garner his appeal.

Many of the big tech execs who cozied up to Trump don't have much to show for it, while others have used splashy investments to appeal to him. Our industry scorecard 6 months into the administration:
www.wsj.com/tech/trump-t...

How a Bold Plan to Ban State AI Laws Fell Apart—and Divided Trumpworld A split among the president’s advisers helped give an opening to opponents of the ban.

When the ban on state AI laws fell apart, it showed the division between the pro-tech and MAGA wings of Trump's party. That split will make it hard to enact AI policy:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Hollywood Confronts AI Copyright Chaos in Washington, Courts Technology firms say using copyrighted materials to train AI models is key to America’s success, while creatives want their work protected.

Is training AI models on copyrighted material legal? A battle between tech companies and creative groups over the answer is simmering in DC:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/holl...

Exclusive | U.S. Prepares Action Targeting Allies’ Chip Plants in China A U.S. official told top global semiconductor makers he wanted to revoke waivers they have used to access American technology in China, people familiar with the matter said.

A U.S. official told top chipmakers in allied countries he wants to end a process that lets them operate with American tech in China, a move that could complicate trade talks .
www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill in Big Win for Crypto Industry The legislation, known as the Genius Act, moves to the House, where passage is viewed in Washington as likely, before Trump’s desk.

The Senate passed a key crypto bill 68-30 yesterday, a move that's expected to help legitimize the industry after it poured money into last year's election:
www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Exclusive | Trump Officials Weighed Broader China Tech Restrictions Ahead of Trade Talks Expanding export curbs on chip-making equipment was an option if London talks hadn’t gone well.

The Trump team recently considered much more aggressive China export controls on chipmaking equipment, adding to its arsenal if trade tensions flared again:
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Exclusive | Tech Industry Fights to Save Clean-Energy Tax Credits Microsoft and Google have been leading backers of technologies such as solar projects and battery storage.

Tech industry groups are lobbying to save clean-energy tax credits, a signal that access to power is a top priority for the biggest AI companies. W/ @jenhiller.bsky.social:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump’s Crackdown on Foreign Students Threatens to Disrupt Pipeline of Inventors Immigrants who came as students created the USB port and numerous other innovations.

Can the U.S. lead the world in AI while cracking down on international students? Smart story from
@pkwsj.bsky.social on the proven pipeline of inventors:
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Exclusive | Senators Bash Nvidia’s Plans for Facility in China Sen. Jim Banks and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are accusing the chip maker of undercutting national security.

Nvidia can hardly make a move without facing criticism that it's too close to China. The latest example is pushback from lawmakers over a planned facility in Shanghai that the company calls regular office space:
www.wsj.com/politics/sen...

Exclusive | Tim Cook Called Texas Governor to Stop Online Child-Safety Legislation Apple’s CEO called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after law passed requiring app stores to verify user ages.

Kids online safety bills are becoming such a big threat to Apple that Tim Cook called Greg Abbott last week to lobby on Texas App Store age verification legislation:
www.wsj.com/tech/tim-coo...

Exclusive: U.S. Lawmakers Call for Probe Into Chinese EV Charging Startup Two lawmakers are calling for a probe into a Chinese EV charging startup that does business in the U.S., the latest bid to crack down on China’s access to American consumers and technology.

Lawmakers are asking for an investigation of Chinese EV charging upstart Autel Energy, the latest bid to crack down on China's access to the American market:
www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

How Gulf Sheikhs Played Their Trump Cards Into a Massive AI Chip Deal The U.A.E.’s ruling family used headline-grabbing investment numbers, deals with Trump family businesses and ties with tech executives to score an Nvidia deal.

"This is a bonanza"—A record-setting agreement to send Nvidia AI chips to the UAE has tech execs celebrating while some officials worry the hardware will end up in China:
www.wsj.com/tech/how-gul...

Exclusive | Democrats Want Answers From Trump on Binance Founder’s Pardon Push First family’s financial ties to Binance are raising concerns about conflicts of interest

My colleagues have reported that crypto exchange Binance is doing business with Trump's family while its founder seeks a presidential pardon. Now 3 senators want answers from the administration on those talks:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

U.S. to Overhaul Curbs on AI Chip Exports After Industry Backlash A rule limiting many countries’ access to American technology was set to take effect May 15.

Trump is reshaping Biden era AI chip export rules, but the new administration's changes might not be as industry friendly as investors hope:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai-chip...

Trump’s Biggest Meme-Coin Investors Get Invited to Dinner With the President The price of $TRUMP soared on news of a gala for major token holders, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.

Trump invited the top holders of his crypto meme coin to a private dinner outside DC, fueling fresh conflict of interest concerns. One official called it “an outside business engagement”:
www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

U.S. Tries to Crush China’s AI Ambitions With Chips Crackdown New chip restrictions for Nvidia and AMD show the Trump administration’s determination to battle China on tech advances as well as trade.

The latest chip export controls show how the Trump administration's mindset on tech is similar to its approach to trade—Toughness and a bit of chaos:
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Shifting Signals on Tech Tariffs Fuel Fresh Trade Uncertainty A string of mixed signals from the Trump administration over the weekend regarding tariffs on smartphones, laptops and other electronics fueled fresh uncertainty over U.S. trade policy.

A weekend filled with mixed signals on tech tariffs and exemptions has industry execs bracing for more chaos and new tariffs on chips, smartphones and more:
www.wsj.com/tech/trump-t...

The Ripple Effect Trump’s Tariffs Will Have on the Rest of His Agenda It isn’t just inflation. Manufacturing and artificial intelligence are at risk, too.

Tariffs are set to push up the cost of building data centers needed to train AI models, hindering one of Trump's main tech priorities. A look at how the tariffs will affect the rest of his agenda:
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

A Peter Thiel Protégé Is Leading Trump’s AI Strategy Against China He will work to counter Beijing without disrupting U.S. businesses.

Michael Kratsios came up in tech working for Peter Thiel and pushing back against Huawei in the first Trump administration. Now he has to craft an AI strategy that works for tech companies and national-security hawks:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump Ushers In ‘New High Water Mark’ for Deregulation The president’s tariffs are clouding the outlook for plans to cut rules and Elon Musk’s efficiency efforts.

Trump's push to dismantle regulations and boost crypto is being overshadowed by tariff fears:
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Exclusive | U.S. Likely to Ban Chinese App DeepSeek From Government Devices The White House is weighing measures to restrict the artificial-intelligence upstart, including banning its chatbot from government devices.

Trump is weighing several measures to contain Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek, but he risks angering companies that want technology shared freely:
www.wsj.com/tech/u-s-lik...

The Polarizing Crypto Executive Who Wooed His Way Into Trump’s Orbit Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stands to benefit from the inclusion of the XRP token in a U.S. digital-asset stockpile.

As Trump takes action to reward the crypto industry, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is emerging as one of the biggest winners. Our look at one of the most divisive players in the sector:
www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Trump’s Crypto Advisers Weigh Paths to a National Stockpile The president wants to build a federal cryptocurrency reserve. His subordinates are starting by counting up crypto the government already holds.

How would a federal crypto reserve even work? I run through some of the issues Trump's team is tackling and some of the logistical challenges they'll face along the way:
www.wsj.com/articles/tru...

The Little-Known College Football Player Quarterbacking Trump’s Crypto Agenda Bo Hines had invested in the sector for nearly a decade before joining the administration.

Bo Hines learned about crypto playing wide receiver in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Now he's shepherding Trump's crypto agenda and leading work on the crypto reserve:

Exclusive | Microsoft Urges Trump to Overhaul Curbs on AI Chip Exports The request highlights the president’s challenging task of trying to boost U.S. businesses and limit China’s advances in artificial intelligence.

Microsoft is asking Trump to loosen and simplify AI chip export controls that apply to nations friendly with the U.S. The request shows how hard it will be to enact pro-business policies while looking tough on China: