SpaceX's $1.5T 2026 IPO, Australia's Social Media Ban, Big Tech's Billion Dollar AI investment in India, and Nvidia's Chip Tracking.
- Dipo Owolabi
- Dec 10, 2025
- 5 min read
10th December 2025 The global tech arena is witnessing a wave of trillion-dollar ambitions and critical interventions. SpaceX is targeting an unprecedented $1.5 trillion valuation and a record $30 billion IPO to fund ventures like space-based data centers, while Australia enforces the world's first under-16 social media ban, a bold regulatory move other nations are monitoring. Simultaneously, India has emerged as the new epicenter for frontier AI capital, with Microsoft and Amazon committing over $52 billion to build the country's digital future. Meanwhile, Nvidia is embedding location-tracking tech into its chips, a response to U.S. national security demands that places the firm at the center of escalating U.S.-China tech tensions. All this and more in today's Read It And Eat!
Major Headlines
Elon Musk's SpaceX is pursuing an initial public offering mid-to-late 2026, looking to raise more than $30 billion, with a valuation of $1.5 trillion, per Bloomberg. If successful, this would be the largest IPO in history
The targeted $30 billion raise would eclipse the current record. That record is held by Saudi Aramco. Its 2019 public listing raised $29 billion. SpaceX’s current valuation is already skyrocketing in private markets. A recent secondary share sale for employees valued the company above $800 billion. According to Bloomberg, the company recently firmed up that sale, allowing employees to sell around $2 billion in shares.
SpaceX expects to use funds from the public listing to develop space-based data centers, including purchasing the chips required to run them, an idea Musk expressed interest in during a recent event with Baron Capital, according to Bloomberg News, which had reported the development earlier in the day. The company is expected to make around $15 billion in revenue in 2025, increasing to between $22 billion and $24 billion in 2026, with the majority coming from Starlink. Bloomberg
Australia has enacted the world’s first social media ban for users under 16, effectively blocking millions of teenagers from platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Social media companies now face heavy fines if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to prevent underage access, with the government naming 10 major platforms for initial enforcement. The law, hailed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a historic reform designed to protect young people from harmful content, has no exemption for parental consent, making it the strictest policy of its kind globally.
The ban has received broad support from parents and some mental health advocates, who see it as a necessary shield against cyberbullying and exploitative algorithms. However, it faces strong opposition from many young people who argue it cuts off vital social connections, particularly for marginalized groups, and from tech firms who warn it represents government overreach. Critics also question its practicality, noting that determined teens have already found ways to circumvent age checks and may migrate to less moderated corners of the internet.
While the Australian government acknowledges the rollout won’t be perfect, regulators are positioning the policy as a long-term test case that other nations, including Denmark, Greece, and Brazil, are watching closely. Online safety officials will begin compliance checks immediately, with plans to publicly report on the ban’s effectiveness by Christmas. As both sides prepare for a prolonged battle over digital freedoms and child protection, Australia’s experiment will likely shape the global debate on regulating youth access to social media. BBC
In mid-October, Google announced a massive $15 billion AI investment to build data centres and data hubs in India, and within the last 24 hours, Microsoft and Amazon announced colossal financial commitments totalling over $52.5 billion to build the country’s AI future. Microsoft is investing $17.5 billion over four years to expand hyper-scale cloud infrastructure and embed AI into national platforms like the E-Shram employment portal. Amazon followed with an even larger pledge of $35 billion by 2030, aiming to create one million jobs and bring AI tools to 15 million small businesses.
These moves represent more than a spending race; they are a strategic bet on India’s scale and digital foundations. Microsoft’s investment, its largest ever in Asia, focuses on national “AI diffusion” and digital sovereignty, aligning with the government’s vision. It also includes a commitment to train 20 million Indians in AI skills. Similarly, Amazon’s plan targets “AI-driven digitization” and aims to quadruple the country’s e-commerce exports to $80 billion.
India's appeal lies in its vast market, booming digital economy, and its established "digital public infrastructure," which companies can now build upon with AI. As global competition intensifies, the country has become a critical proving ground for deploying and scaling AI, positioning itself to be a defining player in the global technology landscape. Reuters
Nvidia $NVDA is developing new software for its AI chips, designed to help large data center operators monitor the health and inventory of their entire GPU fleets. The software will use a time-delay technique to provide location tracking on par with internet-based services, starting with the latest, more secure “Blackwell” chips. This aims to give customers better control over their hardware assets.
The initiative comes as the U.S. government pushes for measures to prevent the smuggling of advanced AI chips to restricted countries like China. Nvidia’s location-verification feature could directly address these concerns. However, this has also drawn scrutiny from China, whose top cybersecurity regulator questioned Nvidia over whether its products contain “backdoors” for U.S. access, an allegation Nvidia strongly denies.
The situation highlights Nvidia’s position at the center of U.S.-China tech tensions. Following a recent U.S. decision to allow exports of an older chip model to China, experts are skeptical about China’s willingness to purchase them amid the regulatory mistrust. Nvidia maintains that building secure location verification without compromising chip security is technically possible. Reuters
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