Tech Week in Review: (August 11–17, 2025)

Welcome to this week’s Weekly Wrap Up, your go to simplified rundown of the biggest tech headlines from August  11 through August 17, 2025. Investors hang tight as the markets responded to U.S. trade maneuvers and AI chip policy, big-name firms made strategic moves, AI developments surged forward, and Infosec kept serving up drama. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead of the curve.

Major Highlights

1)Chipmakers Pay Up for China Licenses
Nvidia and AMD have struck an unprecedented deal; by agreeing to hand over 15% of revenues from China AI chip sales to the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses. Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan headed to the White House amid this semiconductor power play and mounting pressure.

2) Markets Tread Lightly Ahead of Inflation Readings
U.S. markets opened flat this week, with the Dow down about 0.5%. Investors were eying the Federal Reserve’s next move as inflation data loomed and trade policy hung in the balance.

AI & Innovation Moves

3) Cohere Scores a Big Win
AI startup Cohere led the fundraiser headlines with a giant $500 million round, valuing the company at around $6.8 billion. A clear sign that enterprise AI is still drawing heavyweight capital.

4) SpaceX & Amazon Team Up for Kuiper Launch
On August 11, SpaceX flew its 100th mission of 2025, launching 24 Kuiper satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper from Florida, further strengthening the rival satellite-internet race.

Tech Events This Week

5)AI4, Visual Studio Live & More
August hosted a vibrant lineup of tech gatherings:

Visual Studio Live (Aug 4–8, Redmond): deep dives into GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI.

AI4 (Aug 11–13, Vegas): spotlight on giants like Geoffrey Hinton and Fei-Fei Li.

TechCon 365 & TechMentor (Aug 11–15): hands-on Microsoft 365, AI, and IT leadership content.

RTC Career Summit (Aug 13, virtual): women in tech connected live.

Science & Tech Nuggets

6) GPT-5 Hits the Scene
On August 7, just before our week, OpenAI launched GPT-5, boasting “PhD-level intelligence.” This next-gen AI brought stronger reasoning, expanded token context, and rapid adoption in startups and big tech.

That wraps up August 11–17. From chip diplomacy shaping trade policy to AI funding & global satellite launches, it’s been a whirlwind.

Thanks for checking in, and don’t forget to share, comment, and follow us on socials to stay powered up and in the loop.

References

Investors.com – Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq Today: Nvidia, AMD chip export license deal

Investopedia – 5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens August 11, 2025

The Times (UK) – Live: FTSE 100, global markets and corporate updates

TechStartups – Cohere raises $500M, valued at $6.8B

TS2.Tech – Beyond AI: August 11–12 tech news highlights (SpaceX & Kuiper)

TechRadar – Top Tech Conferences: The Ultimate Event Guide

Wikipedia – 2025 in Science (GPT-5 launch)