I believe the biggest story this week was the reported deal that would require a 👀 15% (originally 20% depending on the news source) 👀 cut of revenue that would be paid directly to... a government. In this instance, the US government and two companies; NVIDIA and AMD.

Techmeme: Trade experts: Nvidia's and AMD's deals to export AI chips to China and pay the US 15% of revenue is “unprecedented” and a sign of “a new and dangerous world” (Bloomberg)

From Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.

Of course, allegations, actions, and historical instances of pay-to-play is not a new thing. For such a young country, 100 years of US history goes by in the blink of an eye. So, if "data is the new oil" holds true, the future of our AI value chain might rhyme with history.