Not long ago, Tesla was a symbol of progress and sustainable innovation. Now, what it represents…depends largely on who you ask.

This week, Donald Trump bought a bright red Tesla Model S, calling it a “great product” in a public display of support for Elon Musk, one of his administration’s biggest benefactors. The Presidential endorsement kind of worked? Sending the stock up 4%, but it barely put a dent in the broader freefall. Since Musk took on the role as Trump’s economic adviser, Tesla’s stock has cratered nearly 50%, wiping out $800 billion in its market cap

The thing is, Tesla's problems aren’t operational, their problem is being canceled by the left. In Germany, where Musk openly backed the far-right AfD party on Twitter (sorry, X), Tesla's sales collapsed 76% YoY, despite a broader EV market rebound. Meanwhile, Tesla dealerships around the world are being vandalized, torched, and even shot at. Even Tesla superfans are hesitating—not because of range anxiety, but because driving one makes you a target.

All of this is happening while Tesla’s competitors surge ahead. Global EV sales jumped 21% in January, yet, Tesla’s numbers slipped. The Model Y still holds its spot as the world’s best-selling EV, but China’s Geely Geome just overtook the Model 3.

In what we can only describe as the boomerang effect, Trump’s economic moves—some meant to hit China—have swung right back, fueling a rally in Hong Kong’s once-forgotten equity markets. The Hang Seng Tech Index¹ has surged 29% in 2025 already, hitting its highest level in three years.

It’s not hard to see why, tbh. Chinese stocks are looking dirt cheap, still trading 30% below their 2021 highs and sitting at just 7 times forward earnings². Compare that to the S&P 500’s 20 times valuation³, and you start to see why U.S. investors are sniffing around for better deals. But low prices alone don’t spark a stampede—DeepSeek’s R1 AI model, which definitely sounds like a broken record by now, has reignited interest in China’s tech sector, reminding investors that Western dominance in AI is no longer unilateral.

And investors are not just browsing. J.P. Morgan has reported record-breaking conversions of U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan into Hong Kong dollars, signaling that this shift isn’t just talk—money is actually moving.

The irony is that this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Trump’s economic unpredictability—his last-minute tariff reversals on Canada and Mexico, his refusal to rule out a recession, and general policy whiplash—has made U.S. markets look increasingly unstable. As we learned in Microeconomics 1, investors are risk-averse, and as Kamal Bhatia, CEO of Principal Asset Management put it: “No one wants their investment strategy rewritten every three years.”

Universities across the US, and beyond, are hitting the brakes on hiring and cutting staff as Trump’s funding cuts and the dismantling of USAID shake up their budgets. Johns Hopkins University just slashed 2,200 jobs, and with Trump’s deep NIH cuts, some schools could lose over $100 million in research funding.

Trump’s also going after DEI programs, transgender activism, and student protests, even leading to the detention of Mahmoud Kahlil by ICE. On March 7, he yanked $400 million from Columbia University over antisemitism claims, and now the Education Department is threatening to pull funding from 60+ universities unless they beef up protections for Jewish students. That’s already sparked hiring freezes at Harvard, MIT, and UPenn.

If that wasn’t enough, Trump’s administration rolled out a new questionnaire for researchers working with US agencies in foreign aid, medicine, vaccines, and defence. They now must prove their projects boost “American influence, trust, and reputation” — whatever that means. The survey also asks about ties to China, DEI, gender ideology, and environmental justice, with responses deciding future funding.

The impact isn’t just in the US, Australian universities and funding down under are also caught in the crossfire. For those of us at ANU, what with the ongoing hiring freeze and a $200m deficit, any less funding could be a pretty grim story.

If you’re not aware, self-driving taxis are already part of city life in China, and Pony AI, a big player in the robotaxi industry over in China, is betting big that they’re about to take over city streets.

The company, which already has 300+ robotaxis cruising around Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, is gearing up for a massive expansion. By the end of this year, it wants 1,000 more on the road, and within three years, over 10,000.

A massive roadblock for robotaxis apparently is that it’s eye-wateringly expensive to manufacture one. To fix that, Pony AI is teaming up with Toyota, Guangzhou Auto, and Beijing Auto to mass-produce self-driving cars at a much lower cost, bringing the price per vehicle down to an estimated 270,000 yuan (~$40,000 USD).

Pony AI isn’t making money yet, but the sentiment it’s giving out is that it is not strapped for cash. After raising $452 million from its Nasdaq IPO last year, CEO James Peng insists the company’s cash flow is solid (ok, big flex) and expects to break even by 2025 or 2026.

Thinking of bending the corner with a Pony AI? Don’t hold your breath unless you’re in China. Pony AI isn’t looking to expand overseas anytime soon—it’s staying put, where demand is massive, regulations for the industry are more lax, and the government encourages self-driving cars.

After months of uncertainty, Intel has finally landed on a new CEO, and it’s a familiar face: Lip-Bu Tan, a former Intel board member. His appointment comes after the December shake-up that saw Pat Gelsinger ousted, leaving the struggling chip giant in limbo while the industry battled some serious turbulence.

Tan isn’t new to the semiconductor world, he used to run Cadence Design Systems, a company that’s all about chip design software. So yeah, he knows his way around silicon. Investors clearly approve—Intel’s stock jumped 11% in after-hours trading after the news broke. People had already been speculating that Tan was the board’s top pick, especially since Intel’s been dealing with layoffs and stalled factory projects in Europe.

His timing? Couldn’t be more critical. The US is doubling down on domestic chip production to reduce reliance on Taiwan’s TSMC, which pretty much owns the cutting-edge semiconductor market. Now, it’s up to Tan to get Intel back on track, regain its competitive edge, and navigate the intense geopolitics of the industry. No pressure, right?

• SpaceX has successfully launched a rescue mission team to the International Space Station (ISS) to rescue astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who have been stranded for nine months.

• The US’ February inflation report dropped on Wednesday, headline CPI rose 2.8% YoY and core inflation rose by 3.1% YoY, still outside of the Fed’s goal of 2%

• Former Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on Tuesday and is en route to the Hague (ICC) to sit trial for crimes against humanity during his 6 year “war on drugs” leading to the deaths of thousands

• Pokemon Go was purchased by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund (PIF), Niantic (the developer) signed it over for a sum of $3.5 billion

• Chinese inflation also dropped with a headline CPI change of -0.7% and core CPI changing by -0.1% YoY amid ongoing factory deflation

1. Hang Seng Tech Index: Tracks the 30 largest technology companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

2. Forward Earnings: AKA Forward P/E ratio, it is a financial metric that compares a company’s current share price to its expected earnings per share for the next 12 months. This ratio helps investors assess how much they are paying today for each dollar of anticipated future earnings.

3. 20 Times (20x) Valuation: The Hang Seng Index’s forward P/E ratio of 7 means that investors are willing to pay $7 for every dollar of expected earnings over the next 12 months, suggesting a lower valuation compared to the S&P’s forward P/E of 20.

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