Cloud Outages, Critical Minerals, and Corporate Tensions

21st October 2025

A global internet disruption sent shockwaves through businesses worldwide after Amazon’s AWS cloud service suffered a major outage. Meanwhile, Washington and Canberra sealed a $3 billion critical minerals pact aimed at reshaping supply chains and reducing China’s grip on rare earths. Elsewhere, Cards Against Humanity buried its feud with SpaceX, ending a bizarre corporate clash over Texas land rights. And as tariffs weigh heavily on global profits, new data shows consumers are footing most of the $35 billion cost. All this and more in today’s Read It And Eat!

Major Headlines

• Amazon says AWS cloud service is back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide

A failure in Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure knocked more than a thousand websites and apps offline for hours yesterday morning, with reports of spotty service persisting throughout the day. Platforms affected ranged from apps like Snapchat to Venmo, as well as the British government’s website. Amazon Web Services provides clients with computing power, data storage, and other infrastructure to host web applications, eliminating the need for companies to maintain their own costly physical servers. Yesterday’s global outage originated at a data center campus in Northern Virginia, renewing concerns among experts about centralized internet infrastructure. AWS is the world's leading infrastructure provider, with roughly 30% of the market share. Microsoft's Azure and Google Cloud trail at 20% and 13%, respectively.

The AWS outage has drawn comparisons to the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage, which affected about 8.5 million Windows systems and cost Fortune 500 clients over $5B Reuters

US and Australia sign $3B critical minerals deal, President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese inked an agreement on Monday that will pump billions of dollars into critical minerals projects. The U.S. and Australia will together contribute $3 billion to the projects over the next six months. The total project pipeline is worth $8.5 billion, the governments said.

As part of the deal, the U.S. Department of Defense will also invest in a gallium refinery in Western Australia capable of producing 100 tons per year. Currently, the U.S. imports approximately 21 tons of gallium, which represents 100% of domestic consumption, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  The move comes as China has restricted exports of certain minerals, including rare earth elements, that are vital to the production of electronics and electric motors. Gallium, for example, is used in microwave circuits and blue and violet LEDs, which can be used to make powerful lasers.

Alongside the critical minerals deal, Australia has agreed to buy $1.2 billion worth of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) from defense startup Anduril. The White House did not specify whether the purchase agreement is new or part of a previously announced $1.12 billion program under which Anduril will deliver a fleet of Ghost Shark AUVs to the Australian Navy. That deal was announced in September. TechCrunch 

• Cards Against Humanity settles trespass lawsuit against SpaceX

  
  

Cards Against Humanity, the irreverent party game company known for its provocative humor, has settled its trespassing lawsuit against SpaceX, one year after filing the complaint and launching a profanity-laced marketing campaign against Elon Musk’s rocket company. The dispute centered on a plot of land along the Rio Grande in Cameron County, Texas, that Cards Against Humanity purchased in 2017. The company crowdfunded the purchase through 150,000 separate $15 donations ($2.25 million total) from supporters who wanted to help block President Donald Trump’s border wall.

The land happened to be located right next to where SpaceX has been building its Starbase rocket complex, a launch facility for the company’s spacecraft. That became an issue in 2024 when Cards Against Humanity accused SpaceX of trespassing on the property and dumping construction equipment and materials there. (SpaceX and a lawyer for the rocket company did not respond to a request for comment.) Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Cards Against Humanity had been seeking $15 million and had told supporters who helped fund the land that it hoped to pay them as much as $100 each from the proceeds. But those supporters won’t receive cash; instead, they can sign up for a “brand new mini-pack of exclusive cards all about Elon Musk,” a special expansion for the popular party game, according to an email they’ve just received. TechCrunch

• Global companies hit by more than $35 billion in US tariffs, but outlook stabilizing

Last Thursday, S&P Global published a report after the company pored over forecasts from 15,000 analysts across 9,000 public companies and found that tariffs will cost companies over $1.2 trillion in lost profits. Naturally, those companies don't plan to stand by and eat those losses.

"Roughly two-thirds ($592 billion) of the incremental cost burden is being passed to consumers via higher prices, while one-third ($315 billion) is absorbed internally through lower earnings," S&P wrote. "With real output declining, consumers are paying more for less, suggesting that this two-thirds share represents a lower bound on their true burden."

And if one report weren't enough, Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius wrote last Sunday that his team had analyzed imports, customs duties, and consumer prices to figure out who's paying the biggest tariff prices. The group found that "US consumers would eventually absorb 55% of tariff costs, US businesses would absorb Reuters

Minor Headlines 

• Researchers develop chip implant and glasses that partially restored vision to patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration  New York Times 

  
  

• Japan elects its first female prime minister Financial Times 

  
  

• Disney streamer unsubscribes doubled amid Kimmel suspension BBC

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• EU weighs ban on ethanol in hand sanitiser over cancer fears Financial Times 

  
  

• Reform UK suspends four Kent councillors after leaked video Financial Times 

  
  

• Europeans rush to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s defence after tense Donald Trump meeting  Financial Times 

  
  

• Ex-FBI director Comey seeks dismissal of charges, cites vindictive prosecution Reuters

  
  

• Chicago judge questions Trump official over ICE agents' use of force Reuters