After Ukraine, Russia’s next move may be in the Middle East—this book shows how and why. West Asia by Mohammed Soliman (@soliman.bsky.social) is out now in the UK. See more: www.politybooks.com/...

Google’s TPUs are on a serious winning streak, across the board. #Anthropic www.anthropic.com/news/expandi...

Just back from the Mediterranean Dialogues in Napoli, after an incredible few days discussing the AI infrastructure boom reshaping the region — from subsea cables to an emerging U.S.–EU–Gulf AI infrastructure bridge.

“We’ve underestimated Chinese power…I think the Chinese technology, military, and economics are stronger than we think they are.” — Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to China

The internet we knew is disappearing. In 2020, almost everything online was written by people. Now, nearly half of it comes from AI and by next year, it could be most of it. AI made words cheap. Truth got expensive.

Shocking for me and for the entire DC foreign policy community. Ashley Tellis has been accused of unlawfully removing classified documents from secure government locations and holding multiple meetings with Chinese officials dating back to 2023. www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/p...

How It Started….. How It's Going

Each F-35 requires 418 kg of rare earths, an Arleigh Burke destroyer requires 2,600 kg, and a Virginia-class submarine requires 4,600 kg. With the majority of U.S. imports coming from China. Unprecedented crisis.

OpenAI makes up around $330B of the $880B total future contract value (RPO) tied to Microsoft, Oracle, and CoreWeave, so a lot of supplier growth depends directly on OpenAI’s stability.

how money is moving around the AI ecosystem

how money is moving around the AI ecosystem

Great discussion by @soliman.bsky.social at @fpri.bsky.social. Even with increases in defense spending, it is the capacity to produce at scale which is going to matter. Do you have the supply chains, raw materials and components in place and the industrial capacity and the requisite labor force? 1/

I keep returning to America's scale problem, and I've decided it's more effective to frame it using defense terms to illustrate its concrete meaning. www.fpri.org/article/2025...

Claude continues to be the firefox of LLMs, huh

OpenAI still commands the lion’s share of traffic in the generative AI space but that grip is loosening. We’re moving toward a more pluralistic, multi-agent ecosystem.

Infrastructure capex is projected to exceed $2.1 trillion by 2029.

Policymakers, scholars, investors: Need to track the seismic shifts in geopolitics, connectivity, AI, energy, and capital linking the Middle East, Mediterranean Europe, and Indian Ocean? Book drops Feb 3, 2026. Pre-order on Amazon. www.amazon.com/West-Asia-Am...

This is why I like the geo-technology concept for getting us to focus both on the brainpower but also on the necessary industrial and resource base …

Great conversation with @emmamashford.bsky.social on why we need a techno-industrial strategy for the exponential age. My view is shaped by two forces: the return of Asia as the center of global power + the rise of AI as the new foundation of industrial strength. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPnm...

🇲🇽🇲🇽 Mexico City — unmatched

AI adoption actually falling now for many firms

Back in 2023, training an LLM was pretty simple: pretraining and post-training. By 2025, the recipe has gotten a lot more layered: data mixtures, midtraining for reasoning and context, advanced post-training, and even model merging. Moving fast….

Of 20 fastest-growing European cities, 10 are Polish

Radiology makes up the bulk of AI medical devices, with nearly 80% of FDA clearances in 2024.

American teenagers aren’t reading less—they’re barely reading at all.

Sam Altman Explains Why the World Needs More AI Infrastructure

The war on terror has come full circle. What was it all about? What was America fighting for, exactly? No one knows… Endless bloodshed and war for war’s sake. Nations destroyed. And irreversible damage to America’s political system.

Huawei has built around 70% of Africa’s 4G networks, partnering with governments and companies in the continent’s largest economies, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Chinese investment and construction in technology in Africa, 2005-2025

#Datacenters sit at the intersection of technology, construction, and heavy industry, where all three have to move in sync to make them work. #AI sovereigncompute.substack.com/p/not-just-c...

Warning from @soliman.bsky.social: American leaders have a choice: build the systems that will shape the future, or others will build them for you. In the coming century, those who control production have the power. www.stimson.org/2025/techno-...

When you ask an LLM a question, you don’t always get the same answer twice. For AI users—whether individuals or enterprises—that’s a serious problem. Read more in my Substack: Determinism as Destiny: Why Defeating Nondeterminism in LLMs Matters open.substack.com/pub/sovereig...

The world today sits in a very precarious place — neither war nor peace.

The 1588 Spanish plan to conquer China aimed to open an eastern front against the Ottoman Empire.

Very useful thread from @soliman.bsky.social about his time at the #HiliForum and the geotechnological intersection of power, finance and computing in the Gulf: x.com/ThisIsSolima...

The gateways to Antarctica

What Columbus thought the world looked like before sailing to the Americas.

Something has fundamentally changed in the relationship between Washington and Silicon Valley that is likely to persist after Trump’s tenure.

Again and again, don’t fall for the myth of a grand Eurasian alliance uniting China, Russia, Korea, Iran, and now India. Beyond a shared disdain for U.S. power, structural realities leave little to hold them together. www.newsweek.com/danger-lumpi...

Eurasia?

Geography is no longer siloed: South Asia and the Middle East form a single system—West Asia—where India is part of the Middle East. Compute, capital, and connectivity will define this expansive region.

What makes the India–Middle East–Europe Corridor different from what I call China Inc.’s Belt and Road Initiative? Here’s my take:

The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

India’s hard work to present itself to the world as the best alternative to Chinese factories — what business executives and big money financiers have embraced as part of the China Plus One strategy — has been left in tatters. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/b...

China is pursuing a strategy of #energy_abundance.

China has nearly tripled its nuclear capacity in 10 years

This should be a wake-up call for every policymaker in developed and developing nations alike!

China’s approach to AI is centered on physical AI: robotics, automation, and industrial applications—grounded in immediate economic utility.

Everything causing American stagnation is in this interview.

One of Washington’s most persistent blind spots is underestimating China’s industrial capacity and its ability to scale production rapidly when intent and incentives align. www.ft.com/content/64ca...