Nvidia invests $3.5 billion in MediaTek convertible bonds

Nvidia has invested $3.5Bn in convertible bonds issued by Taiwanese chipmaker Mediatek, marking its largest ever direct investment outside the US.

The deal will see Nvidia buy bonds convertible into Mediatek shares.

The Taiwanese company was once best known for its rivalry with Qualcomm in the mobile phone market, but has gradually shifted its focus to designing custom silicon, taking on the likes of Broadcom and gaining credibility as a partner to major Tech firms seeking to build their own ai chips.

The deepened alliance between the companies positions Mediatek as “a bridge ” between Nvidia and custom ai chip customers. by adopting Nvidia’s platform to assist customers in developing custom AI processors, clients can quickly scale from silicon to rack with the custom chips guaranteed to work seamlessly together with Nvidia’s GPUs.

This should be particularly attractive to small and early custom-chip clients, who want to focus on silicon first and leverage the Nvidia platform to scale to system quickly.

The deal comes as a growing number of ai companies and major cloud providers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic invest in building their own chips so they can be less reliant on Nvidia’s GPUs. Deals like this one with Mediatek allow Nvidia to cede ground to custom silicon while still maintaining its lead as the dominant data center scaffolding.

Reference Sources

1. bloomberg - MediaTek Shares Soar 10% After Blockbuster Nvidia Investment
2. wsj - Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk
3. aawsat - Nvidia Invests $3.5 billion in MediaTek Convertible Bonds
4. thestarmy - Nvidia invests $3.5 billion in MediaTek convertible bonds
5. techcrunch - Nvidia’s $3.5B MediaTek bet reveals its plan for tackling Big Tech’s AI chip buildout

Bessent Tells Japan Officials Rate Hikes Needed, NHK Says

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called on Japan to hike interest rates by invoking director Spike Lee’s most famous movie and saying that the Bank of Japan should “do the right thing.” The 1989 film takes place during a sizzlingly hot day in Brooklyn, while Tokyo in 2026 is actually enjoying an unusually cool summer.

Despite the weather, tensions are running high.

Bessent is piling pressure on BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda by noting that Japan has “probably reached the end of Abenomics.” He’s right, but he’ll find that cuts both ways: during the late Shinzo Abe’s heyday as Prime Minister, the government and central bank were in lockstep — nowhere more so than on Messaging.

The yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond rose to 3% for the first time since October 1996, partly reflecting market concerns about the country’s worsening fiscal health, Kyodo news reported.

The barometer of long-term interest rates crossed the key threshold a day after the estimated size of budgetary requests submitted by government departments for the next fiscal year stood at a record 143 trillion yen (US$890 billion).

Reference Sources

1. wsj - Financial Services Roundup: Market Talk
2. bloomberg - On Japan, Bessent Channels His Inner Spike Lee
3. bernama - Japan 10-year Gov't Bond Yield Hits 3.0 Pct, Highest Since Oct. 1996
4. nationthailand - Global bond rout deepens as Japan’s 10-year yield reaches 3%
5. bloomberg - Bessent Tells Japan Officials Rate Hikes Needed, NHK Says

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda agree to work together on software for cars

Japanese automakers, Honda and Nissan, have agreed to collaborate on the development of Software-Defined vehicles (SDVs), marking the first time Japanese automakers have joined forces in core SDV technologies such as operating systems.

The companies plan to develop and standardise the electronic control units for cars that can largely be controlled and updated by software.

They aim to have them ready to be installed from 2029.

The agreement follows merger talks between the two groups that fell apart in early 2025, even as they agreed to explore collaboration on a case-by-case basis.

The plan had been to create a group able to compete with Chinese EV makers that are rapidly expanding into profitable markets for both groups.

The partnership marks the first time Japanese automakers have joined forces in core SDV technologies such as operating systems. Expanding scale in the Software-Intensive field can help reduce development costs while allowing companies to accumulate more data to improve their vehicles. Software has become a key Differentiator for automakers, which long focused mainly on refining hardware such as engines and Gearboxes.

They’re now trying to pool resources and develop software faster as Chinese rivals led by BYD Co. and Xiaomi Corp. Churn out battery-powered models with sophisticated technology.

Reference Sources

1. ft - Honda and Nissan strike software deal despite failed merger
2. nikkei - Honda, Nissan join forces on vehicle software to boost scale in global race
3. apnews - Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda agree to work together on software for cars
4. bloomberg - Honda and Nissan Team Up to Make Next-Generation Car Software
5. thestarmy - Honda, Nissan target rollout of joint vehicle software in fiscal 2029

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.  

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