Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's intimate relationship with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy has highlighted divisions in Washington over the export of advanced chips to China. Huang, the head of one of the most critical firms in the global artificial intelligence race, has long been among Silicon Valley's most powerful voices arguing against restrictions on high-end chip sales. Whereas hawkish voices argued that Beijing should not have access to cutting-edge US technology on national security grounds, Huang and like-minded executives argued that China already had the computing power to make strides in AI and that wider uptake of US technology would help maintain its dominance in the field. Jensen Huang's lobbying now faces intense scrutiny following claims that former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang -- with whom he had an affair -- was an intelligence agent recruited by China's Ministry of State Security. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the allegations, calling them "entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China".

Why do the midterms matter? In September, a poll found that 70 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans supported limiting the construction of new data centres in the United States. But that opposition was tested in Tuesday's midterm election, with analysts examining key races to see if the public backlash would translate into votes. There were 41 ballot measures related to data centres in Tuesday's midterms, spread across the country. According to Data Centers on the Ballot, an election-monitoring project run by Redbud Consulting, voters are on track to reject data centre development in all but one of the contests.

A tech stock rout that began overnight in the United States has persisted in Asian trading. Market authorities in South Korea paused trading on Friday as prices plunged across the region. Global markets have been rattled by a sharp fall in the trading price of tech stocks, which is driven by fears that the Democrats' victory in the US midterm elections will increase regulatory scrutiny of AI and slow the country's data centre build-out. Indices in South Korea and Taiwan plunged more than 8 percent after the opening bell, before cutting losses as authorities scrambled to stem the selling. Wall Street's volatility "fear gauge" soared overnight on Thursday and the tech-focused Nasdaq sank 5.5 percent, wiping $3 trillion off S&P 500 firms, as investors fretted that the Democrats could put the brakes on the AI boom being encouraged by President Donald Trump.

Palantir harvests battlefield data that Ukraine pays for'with blood' Share Palantir harvests battlefield data that Ukraine pays for'with blood' on social media Months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Palantir's CEO Alex Karp became the first chief of a major Western Big Tech company to personally visit Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in June 2022 that he was "delighted" to receive the support of such a company in the fight against Russia "on the digital front line". Ukraine has since become the first nation in modern history to systematically collect battlefield data, a crucial asset for training military artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise patterns and make predictions. The trove of real-world combat data obtained from video and sensor feeds over four years of conflict is helping Ukraine monitor, predict and respond to Russian attacks with the help of Palantir's products. Yet observers say the data is also boosting the capabilities of the United States corporation whose technologies are implicated in human rights abuses, including in Israel's genocide in Gaza, raising questions about the growing leverage that private tech corporations are acquiring over sovereign states.

Is the war entering a new phase? Three black naval drones resembling oversized plastic toys struck a freighter sluggishly navigating the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria on October 28. Aerial drones joined the attack, and explosions rocked the Liberian-flagged Contship Jet Monrovia, loaded with more than 400 terracotta-coloured containers. The vessel, travelling from the Israeli port of Haifa to Romania, listed and sank, but all 18 crew members were rescued, Bulgarian authorities said. The drones were Russian, Kyiv claimed, adding that the attack was designed to make the Black Sea unsafe for civilian ships, paralyse Ukraine's exports of grain and further hobble its war-ravaged economy.

Is the war entering a new phase? They release them by cutting off their fins and dropping them in the sea. Their bodies, with net marks on their skin, are often washed ashore. It failed - but the ongoing hostilities have been killing "hundreds times more" bottlenose and short-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises, according to Ivan Rusev, head researcher at the Tuzly Lagoons national park in southern Ukraine. In 2022 alone, some 50,000 dolphins died this way, and by 2026, the number exceeded 120,000, or one in four cetaceans in the Black Sea, Rusev told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera is marking its 30-year anniversary with a transformation of the network, introducing a three-channel structure for its Arabic-language broadcasting operation and 33 programmes aimed at providing audiences with more in-depth coverage and analysis. Since its launch on November 1, 1996, the Qatar-based network has helped reshape Arab journalism, challenging dominant political narratives and providing a platform for political debate rarely seen on television in the region at the time. Benguenna said that Al Jazeera had popularised practices such as breaking news alerts, continuous live coverage, and exclusive reporting, which were subsequently adopted by other Arab broadcasters. Former Al Jazeera news director Ahmad al-Sheikh echoed that sentiment during his appearance on the same broadcast. He described the Arab world's media environment as previously devoid of independent voices, and credited Al Jazeera with providing an example for other Arab broadcasters to improve standards across the board.

How Venezuela's earthquake amputees adapt to life without limbs Experts say recovery for earthquake survivors will likely be a lifelong endeavour, given the physical and mental toll of the June 24 tragedy. Share How Venezuela's earthquake amputees adapt to life without limbs on social media Ricardo Contreras's new leg rests on a wooden countertop. More than four months after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, the 24-year-old is still recovering from his injuries. When he was trapped beneath the rubble on the night of June 24, he waited hours to be rescued. His left leg had been pinned beneath a fallen door frame, limiting its blood circulation.

Will Gulf states join war? Sudan's soaring fuel prices make getting by harder for workers Share Sudan's soaring fuel prices make getting by harder for workers on social media Azhari Mohamed drives his minibus and eight passengers seven times a day from the Shagar neighbourhood in the Port of Sudan to the city centre and back again. But despite the long hours - working from 6am to 9pm - fuel shortages in the city have made it difficult for the 60-year-old to make a living. With fuel increasingly difficult to obtain, he now spends two days on the road and a third day queuing for fuel. He can spend more than five hours waiting in line when he needs to fill the tank of his minibus and often finds petrol has run out before his turn comes.

Who owns India's textile traditions in age of AI-enabled mass production? Share Who owns India's textile traditions in age of AI-enabled mass production? on social media Bitupan Deka was out shopping for a "gamusa" (traditional scarf) with his mother in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya when he noticed something unusual. "Every shop selling the scarf had the same handful of patterns repeated over and over," he told Al Jazeera over the telephone from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. Cutting down the number of designs they produce was a cost-saving practice followed by the manufacturers." This discovery prompted Deka, an assistant professor of computer technology at Shillong's MIT University, to create a system that can produce infinite new designs for such fabrics. "My work isn't meant to replace the traditional designers.