Known as the de minimis exemption, it has been used by the Chinese shopping giants Shein and Temu to send millions of packages to the US each year duty-free, helping keep the prices of their products low for Americans. But the exemption is also important for marketplaces like eBay and Etsy that allow people in the US to buy goods from China-based sellers.Scrapping the measure may also negatively impact Amazon, which recently launched a division for affordable made-in-China products that competes directly with Temu and Shein. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Trump tried scrapping the de minimis provision for Chinese packages in February via a separate executive order, but he quickly walked back the measure after it became clear that US Customs and Border Protection did not have the resources in place to inspect millions of additional packages a day and ensure the correct associated tariffs were being paid. His new order says the duty-free exemption will go away on May 2, giving CBP a few weeks to prepare.Ram Ben Tzion, cofounder and CEO of Publican, a digital shipment vetting platform, says he believes Trump intends to use eliminating de minimis as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China, because if the policy is really scrapped and replaced by high tariffs, it could radically reshape online shopping as Americans know it.The magnitude and the importance of this, if it does ultimately come into effect, is gigantic, says Ben Tzion. It could dramatically change e-commerce. It could dramatically change some of the giants that we have known over the past few years.Some tech companies, however, especially those already entrenched in areas like logistics and data analytics, may see opportunities in Trumps trade policies. Almost immediately after the tariffs were announced, defense contractor Palantir published a blog post promoting an artificial intelligence service that the company boasted integrates a wide array of data sources to help businesses ensure that tariff-related decisions consider the full operational context.Jay Gerard, the head of customs and logistics at the Mexico City-based tech and logistics startup Nuvocargo, says that as much as he hates tariffs, theyve created more demand for his companys services. Nuvocargo operates as a freight broker between Mexico and the US, and sells software that helps customers get their goods across the US border. It also helps them process customs documents. The company is now forecasting an increase in customer activity for April, May, and June, predicting that the tariffs will boost business.Still, the past month has been chaos for importers and shippers, Gerard says, leaving many of them in expensive holding patterns. Early in March, Trumped slapped a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports, only to walk it back a couple days later. During that short time, Gerard says, if a freight truck crossed the border, the importer paid the fee.If they imported $100,000 worth of drinks that day, he explains, they were paying $25,000 in duties. If the truck crossed a day later, that disappeared.

Coming in Hot?Some of the biggest Nintendo Switch 2 features won't work out of the box and will require an updateThough the Nintendo Switch 2 is about two months away from launch, we may not be able to use all of its advertised features on day one.Image credit: Nintendo News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on April 3, 2025 Now that everyone is a bit more sober after yesterdays massive Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, its time to dig through the press releases and read the fine print. Shortly after the shows conclusion, Nintendo updated its various regional websites with more details on the hardware and some of the console's new features.Unfortunately, it doesnt sound like all everything we got to hear about will be immediately accessible out of the box.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The big Nintendo Switch 2 press release on Nintendos corporate website offers a few more details on several of the new features coming with the new console, such as GameChat. More importantly, it lists all the major hardware specs (though without specifics).One thing that stands out, however, is that two of them will not be available out of the box, and will instead require an update. Nintendo does not say whether said update will be available on day one, or sometime after launch.The first, and arguably most important, is the Switch 2s ability to support external storage. The upcoming console supports both microSD and microSD Express. However, as noted during the presentation, youll only be able use the Express cards to store games.Unfortunately, microSD Express cards will not be supported immediately. Nintendo says youll need to download a system update before the console can use them, which seems a little silly, considering that Express is the only type of SD card youll be able to use to store Switch 2 games. The 256GB internal storage will have to suffice until then.The good news is that the Switch 2 can read standard, non-Express microSD cards, but youll only be able to use them to transfer screenshots and videos from your existing Switch. Its interesting that you wont be able to use them to play Switch games on the new system, though. Donkey Kong is a bit shocked by this. | Image credit: NintendoThe other Switch 2 feature that will also require a system update to work is not as impactful. The page notes that while 3D audio, the surround sound effect Nintendo showed off in the Direct, will be available out of the box for headphones/external speakers, the Switch 2 will require an update to enable it for the built-in speaker.This isnt a big deal, seeing as most people will either have the console hooked up to their TVs via HDMI (the Switch 2 supports linear PCM 5.1ch), or use it in handheld mode with headphones. The few that really want to blast it using the built-in speaker will have to wait a little longer to get the surround sound effect.The Switch 2 launches June 5.

"I don't understand why there's any debate to be had".Yesterday, as you'll all be aware, Nintendo showed off the Switch 2 along with a bunch of games, one of which was a new entry in the Donkey Kong saga.Donkey Kong Bananza showcased a new version of the character, marking the first time he's been redesigned for a game since Rare's Donkey Kong Country back in 1994.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Make it snappy.We were slightly mixed on the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera when it was revealed in yesterday's GameChat rundown. Sure, it's a neat little curio and we're sure it will lead to some fun times, but there's no denying that it looks a little... Kinect-y.Well, all of those fears are now banished as we've seen that accessory manufacturer HORI is making an official Piranha Plant-inspired design for the camera. Folks, it's adorable (thanks for the heads up, VGC).Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a costly and complex challenge for global businesses, thanks to fragmented regulations and banking systems. Dubai-based fintech Fuse aims to simplify that with a cross-border payments API and has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to make it happen.Founded in 2023 by George Davis, former co-founder of BVNK, and CTO James Smith, Fuse says its the first infrastructure-grade payments platform offering virtual International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) in the region. This is a product Davis says is commonplace in Europe but nearly absent across MENA.Were currently the only provider of virtual IBANs in the Middle East, Davis told TechCrunch. Its a hyper-commoditized product in Europe, but here, it simply didnt exist.Fuses core product includes USD virtual accounts for cross-border money movement and dirham-denominated IBANs for local UAE payments. That allows the startup to offer first-mile collections and last-mile payouts for international businesses without requiring them to set up a local entity, handle their own FX, or navigate licensing.Davis outlines two legacy options for global companies trying to move money in MENA: local payment firms that lack scale, or larger cross-border players like Thunes, which often operate without local licenses and rely on patchy partnerships.Fuse sits in the middle with a fully licensed, infrastructure-grade platform that simplifies money movement across the Middle East using virtual IBANs and local payout rails. With these options, global businesses can operate in the region without setting up local infrastructure or navigating regulatory red tape.Most of Fuses clients are businesses in the U.S., Europe, and Asia that want to operate in MENA but lack the banking setup or licenses to do so quickly.Virtual IBANs to do the jobOne use case is employers of record (EORs). For instance, a U.S.-based company with employees in the UAE typically needs a local bank accountsomething hard to obtain without residency or licensingto pay salaries in dirhams under the correct business name. Fuse solves this by issuing USD-denominated virtual IBANs, allowing businesses to top them up and pay salaries locally in AED (dirhams) directly to named beneficiaries.Customers can create unlimited IBANs in their end customers names and make local payments, said CEO George Davis. Those customers dont need to be residents or have local entities; they can be anywhere in the world.Fuse now serves over 20 clients, including EORs, remittance firms, crypto platforms, marketplaces, and PSPs. Clients include DLocal, RemotePass, and platforms like Deel, Airbnb, and Etsy as they expand into MENA.The UAE remains Fuses anchor market, but the platform has begun enabling direct payouts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan and supports wholesale foreign exchange for Indian and Chinese businesses operating in the UAE that need to repatriate funds through controlled corridors, some of the regions busiest trade and remittance routes.There are many startups in various regions with identical offerings but Davis sees more similarities with Visa-backed Currencycloud. Both offer virtual accounts, FX, and cross-border payments, but while Currencycloud is global, Fuse is built for the Middle East, he said.And its striking at the right time. Businesses across MENA arent just underserved; theyre transacting more than ever, driven by a surge in e-commerce and digital payments. That demand, Davis believes, creates a rare window for regional infrastructure players to win.Global cross-border payments tend to be winner-takes-all markets, he said. But to win, you now need local specialists. Thats what were building.Experience from TrueLayer and BVNK So far, its working. Fuse is processing hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter and growing revenue more than 50% month-over-month. In fact, Davis says Fuse made more this quarter than it did all of last year. The company makes money by charging fees on each transaction.Daviss interest in solving cross-border payments for the Middle East came from firsthand experience. At TrueLayer, he helped scale the fintech from a data aggregator to a payments and open banking platform serving over 100,000 businesses. At crypto infrastructure startup BVNK, which he co-founded and served as chief product officer, he saw how hard it was for global businesses to expand into the Middle East.We were supporting global businesses using stablecoins to move money out of emerging markets, he said. We felt the pain of entering MENAand so did others I was advising. Thats what sparked Fuse.He launched Fuse in 2023 with CTO James Smith, a longtime collaborator who led engineering at both TrueLayer and BVNK. The two now lead a 12-person team across engineering, product, and compliance.Northzone, the European multi-stage VC that has backed the likes of Klarna and Spotify, led the $6.6 million round, with participation from Flourish Ventures, Alter Global, and notable angels, including Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga GB Agboola and former Morgan Stanley MENA president George Makhoul.The Fuse team is transforming payment infrastructure in one of the worlds fastest-growing markets, said Sanjot Malhi, partner at Northzone. Their ability to simplify MENAs complex cross-border flows is exactly what the region needs.Fuse plans to use the fresh capital to grow its team, secure additional regional licenses, and expand its product suite beyond the UAE.BVNK grabs $40 million for its crypto banking services

The caller identity app Truecaller said that it crossed the 450 million user mark earlier this week. The company said that it added 50 million users in the past 10 months and 15.5 million users since the beginning of 2025. India is the companys biggest user base. So it wasnt surprising when Truecaller promoted Chief Product Officer and MD of India operations, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, to the CEO position after the companys co-founders decided to step back from day-to-day operations last year.Image Credits: TruecallerJhunjhunwala said that while India remains a critical market for Truecaller, it also saw growth in other regions.We are proud that we now serve more than 450 million users globally. As before, we continue to see steady growth in our largest market, India, but the fastest relative growth is in markets outside of India. So far in 2025, we see strong growth trends in Latin America, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, and the US, to mention a few markets, he mentioned in a blog post.Truecallers growth and position in India might be challenged as the countrys telecom department is pushing mobile carriers to implement its own caller ID system, which could rival the Sweden-based companys product.The company said that throughout Q4 2024, it maintained an active user base of nearly 430 million users. The company had positive results for the quarter ending December, with net sales up 23% and profit after tax up 29% year-over-year. The companys stock is up more than 33% year-to-date at the time of writing.Earlier this year, the company also integrated its caller ID product to work better with iOS. Until then because of operating system level restrictions from Apple, the live caller ID feature wasnt on par with its Android equivalent. Truecaller has also focused on creating value beyond just caller ID by introducing products like call recording and transcription and an AI-powered assistant for call screening. It has been trying to improve its experience as an SMS and chat client.

Movie & Games TrailersStar Wars: Tales of the UnderworldBy Vincent Frei - 03/04/2025 New adventures from the shadows of the Star Wars galaxy with Tales of the Underworld. Discover the trailer for this all-new animated anthology series created by Dave Filoni, featuring Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane like youve never seen them before!The Animation and VFX are made by:Lucasfilm AnimationCreator: Dave FiloniRelease Date: May 4, 2025 (Disney+) Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

To view this content, you must be a member of Entagma's Patreon at $29 or more

The Gefion AI Supercomputer (GAIS) project, which delivers Denmarks first artificial intelligence (AI) turbo-charged supercomputer, has positioned Denmark as the most advanced of the Nordic regions quantum computing investing nations.It also serves to accelerate the use of AI to drive innovation across Denmarks business and industrial sectors.Built on the Nvidia DGX SuperPOD AI supercomputer, GAIS is powered by 1,528 Nvidia H100 Tensor Core graphics processing units (GPUs) and interconnected using Nvidia Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking.GAIS will be used to tackle high-performance computing (HPC) workloads using a full-stack datacentre platform.The Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI), the company established to operate Gefion, is drawing a significant part of its funding from two principal investors and owners, the state-controlled Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO); and Danish philanthropic institution Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF). The NNF acquired an 85% equity holding in DCAI and the EIFO owns the remaining 15%.This groundbreaking private-public partnership has committed 95m in startup development capital to the GAIS project over its initial stage. The NNF is contributing 81m and the EIFO the remainder. The former, a charitable foundation, has a net worth of almost 163bn. Last year, it distributed grants of over 1.3bn to qualifying research and innovation projects.The DCAIs goal is to have the GAIS resource generally available to researchers, industry and other selected users by June 2025, said Nadia Carlsten, the companys CEO. Gefions launch is a remarkable achievement given it took only six months from disclosure of the project to completion for what is a complex state-of-the-art supercomputer, she said. We now have a leading capability that is ready for customers to start testing new use cases on. Gefion is the game-changer that many innovators in Denmark had been waiting for.Under an agreement reached between the owners and stakeholders, all revenues generated from GAIS will be reinvested in the DCAI managed project. The turbo-charged computer will be operated on 100% renewable energy sources.The GAIS was built by Eviden, the high-performance computing and systems integration subsidiary of French IT firm Atos.The pilot phase of GAIS will focus on making it ready-to-use for selected customers that are using AI to accelerate innovation in a broad range of areas; including quantum computing, drug discovery, societal challenges, deep learning and the transition to green energy.The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) is among the first scientific agencies selected to have access to GAIS during the pilot test stage. The DMIs meteorologists are using GAIS to develop a Danish weather model, based on 33 years of recorded data, that can predict weather and climate events with greater accuracy.The superpower components in GAIS will present Danish enterprises and organisations with entirely new opportunities, said Morten Bdskov, the Danish industry, business and financial affairs minister.Gefion has the potential to drive innovation and advance the green transition, he said. It will enable tailor-made solutions, and strengthen the competitive standing of Danish companies in global markets. At a time of heightened international competition, this AI supercomputer, and its groundbreaking technology, can propel Danish businesses into the future. Significantly, Gefion will help Danish companies and researchers develop innovative solutions to future challenges.Read more about supercomputersDenmark had no GPU-accelerated supercomputers in use before the launch of GAIS. This lack of access to supercharged computing power was widely regarded by Danish legislators and technology sector leaders as a significant roadblock to further bolstering the countrys AI-based research ecosystem.GAIS will provide fresh momentum to drive future AI-based research, innovation and growth opportunities for enterprises of all sizes in Denmark, said Peder Lundquist, CEO at EIFO. Denmark is already an important player in AI-based research and business development, he said. The power and innovation behind Gefion, and the possibilities it brings, can accelerate development many times over. EIFOs investment in DCAI will support Danish businesses in key areas like green transition and life science. It will also accelerate the commercialisation of research.Collaboration between the EIFO, NNF and the DCAI is happening at a time when the state agency is further scaling-up its partnership-based investments in innovative deep tech projects, particularly within its strategic focus areas, AI; quantum computing; the green transition; life sciences; and the commercialisation of research.The Gefion AI supercomputer is officially ranked 21st on the Top 500 list of the worlds most powerful supercomputers. It will enable research and innovation at levels previously unattainable in Denmark , said Carlsten.Gefions number-21 ranking on the Top 500 list is a milestone for DCAI and Denmarks global standing in AI and supercomputing, she said. This recognition is not only proof of the advanced technology we are able to provide to our customers, but it also reflects our ambitions to drive leading edge scientific research and innovation that was previously not possible to do in Denmark.As part of the lead-in to the central project, the DCAI ran a competition in 2024 to identify innovative AI use cases that had the capability to fully harness the potential of GAIS. The DCAI selected six out of a total of 50 proposals received to run during the pilot phase.Among the approved pilot projects is a proposal from the University of Copenhagen to test large-scale distributed simulation of quantum algorithms for quantifying molecular recognition processes.The Technical University of Denmark will use GAIS to explore CO2 reduction methods in non-metal formate dehydrogenase using machine-learned force fields. In addition, the Danish Meteorological Institute will employ GAIS to develop proficient atmospheric prediction with intelligent environmental network models.

Wake up to a new app on your iPhone after the iOS 18.4 update? You're not the only one.