The Trump administration’s trade policies have sent global businesses into a tailspin.

But it just might be an opportune time to be a US-based manufacturing company promising to reduce reliance on China for a key battery material.

That’s how Gene Berdichevsky, co-founder and CEO of battery materials startup Sila, views the current moment, as Sila prepares to launch production at a new plant in Moses Lake, Washington.

“The tariff policies can actually be quite beneficial for us,” Berdichevsky told Tech Brew. “We’re starting to see real price signals for manufacturing battery supply chain in America.”

Although the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act established incentives to support domestic clean-energy projects, Berdichevsky said that, in his view, the legislation didn’t go far enough to incentivize localizing all parts of the battery supply chain. Even now, under one of the most protectionist trade regimes in decades, he believes federal policymakers could go further in their efforts to promote US production of battery raw materials.

“The Biden [Section] 301 tariffs exempted graphite, and the reciprocal tariffs exempt natural graphite but not synthetic,” Berdichevsky said. “And the reason is that we are so overly dependent on China for battery anode materials that we can’t even bring ourselves to put any kind of barrier on it.”

Sila’s business is premised on replacing graphite—a key battery input for which the US is heavily reliant on China—with silicon in battery anodes. Such tech advancements could improve battery performance, bring down battery costs, and help localize supply chains.

“Our material can substitute 100% of the graphite. We’ve demonstrated that commercially,” Berdichevsky said. “So we think there’s an opportunity to drive even more onshoring of battery supply chains.”

Keep reading here.—JG

The rest of the economy might be on a bit of a roller coaster lately, but three of the tech giants at the heart of the AI race are holding steady for now.

Microsoft, Meta, and Google each reported earnings and revenue from the first quarter of the year that beat analyst consensus estimates this week and last. The results only reflect each company’s performance through March 31, however—that is, before President Trump’s early-April tariff bonanza kicked off a new stage in a global trade war.

But investors also took heart from Microsoft and Meta’s positive forecast for the current quarter (Google doesn’t provide such guidance, as a rule). Meta expects revenue for Q2 of between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion—in line with analyst expectations—and Microsoft between $73.2 billion and $74.3 billion, higher than analysts had expected, according to CNBC.

Those steadfast numbers come as many big companies have scrapped guidance altogether amid the ongoing volatility around tariff policies.

Big spenders: All three companies have vowed to spend tens of billions of dollars each on AI infrastructure this year as they look to build out generative capabilities. And all three reiterated in their earnings calls that they’re still on course to do so.

Meta had previously said it would spend between $60 billion and $65 billion on capital expenditures this year. CFO Susan Li said during an earnings call that the company is upping that range to $64 billion to $72 billion, due to “increase in the expected cost of infrastructure hardware,” as well as more data center investments to support AI.

“The higher cost we expect to incur for infrastructure hardware this year really comes from suppliers who source from countries around the world,” Li said. “And there’s just a lot of uncertainty around this, given the ongoing trade discussions.”

Keep reading here.—PK

The US is at a crossroads over how it accesses critical minerals, including those used to make battery energy storage systems.

In a contentious House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing this week, representatives discussed whether the US should avoid purchasing nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and other materials from China by mining for them on the sea floor, or recycling and repurposing existing batteries.

And preferred solutions split down party lines: Republican representatives cheered on President Trump’s recent executive order greenlighting deep sea mining in US waters, while Democrats warned of the environmental impacts of deep sea mining and said the process has diminishing returns.

“Deep sea mining is a dirty, destructive, and unproven industry threatening to decimate one of the last untouched ecosystems on earth,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), the committee’s ranking member, said. “And despite what proponents claim, it is not the great silver bullet that solves our critical mineral problem. It’s much more likely that it will create a whole new class of problems, especially if it’s pursued in the reckless cowboy manner reflected in President Trump’s imperial edict.”

Huffman also said that because “battery technology is rapidly changing,” deep sea mining may soon be an ineffective way to procure the needed minerals. What would be effective, according to Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR), is recycling existing batteries to harvest the nickel and cobalt in them. Startups focused on battery recycling technology have recently achieved major funding milestones, and battery recycling plants are popping up across the US.

“Circular economy technologies [are] growing rapidly,” Dexter said. “We do not need to bulldoze the bottom of the ocean to power our clean energy future.”

Keep reading here.—TC

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

Heads up, gamers: Your pastime is about to get more expensive. The Verge reports that Microsoft is raising prices of Xbox consoles, controllers, and games. (And don’t think this is a platform-specific price hike: Nintendo and Sony’s PlayStation have announced hikes, too.)

Opt out: Fun viral trends can seem like a beacon of light on the internet these days, but there are some things you should be aware of prior to uploading your likeness to ChatGPT. Wired details all the data OpenAI can glean from the photo you used to create a virtual action figure of yourself.

ChargeScape CEO Joseph Vellone will be one of many industry experts at our Power Shift event on May 29. He’ll share how EV infrastructure, smart grids, and AI are powering the road ahead. Don’t miss out—plug into this electrifying event live in NYC or virtually!