Google and Unity reach a partnership on new AI gaming platform

(1) The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will exempt certain Arctic oil and gas exploration activities from environmental review. The Department of the Interior issued a notice waiving winter oil and gas exploration reviews in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A). (2) The exemption applies to activities such as seismic surveys to assess oil locations, construction of temporary roads, and the drilling of exploratory wells. These activities are typically conducted in preparation for larger-scale oil production. (3) The administration stated that this move could eventually help oil companies access fuel more quickly, claiming that past instances showed such activities did not result in significant environmental impacts. (4) Kevin Pendergast, Alaska State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, said in a written statement that this will "allow developers more flexibility in targeting energy resources within the petroleum reserve, ultimately increasing domestic energy supply, providing stable energy costs, and bringing more revenue to Alaska communities and the American public." (5) Environmental activists criticized the measure. Earthjustice attorney Janet Bering said in a written statement: “By issuing this categorical exclusion, the current administration is attempting to quickly advance large-scale oil drilling and seismic exploration activities without any further environmental analysis or public input. This excludes the public from this decision and future decisions.” (6) Prior to this, the administration had also recently proposed measures to accelerate oil production in the reserve.

As tech companies race to build faster AI data centers, Lumentum stated that its optoelectronic components capacity has been almost fully booked, a situation expected to continue until around 2029. Earlier this year, Nvidia invested $2 billions in the company. Lumentum mainly supplies advanced indium phosphide devices, which help enable high-speed cloud computing and data transmission. Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston said that next year the company will be unable to meet about 70% of product demand, and 30% of demand will remain unmet until before 2028. Hurlston previously mentioned that the company is expected to have its capacity sold out before 2028. He said, "We are doing our best to catch up and expand capacity as quickly as possible, but compared to customer demand, we are still far behind. Our capacity is already completely sold out, and there is no sign of this ending in the short term."

On October 8, the People’s Bank of China released its policy stance on the RMB exchange rate. The stance clarifies that China implements a managed floating exchange rate system based on market supply and demand, adjusted with reference to a basket of currencies, and insists on allowing the market to play a decisive role in the formation of the exchange rate. The central bank made it clear that it does not preset a target exchange rate level, will not intervene in long-term exchange rate trends, and will maintain exchange rate flexibility with two-way fluctuations. Since 2017, the People’s Bank of China has exited regular foreign exchange intervention. The central bank will focus on preventing significant short-term exchange rate volatility, especially sharp and rapid depreciation, from impacting financial stability. In specific scenarios such as sudden pandemics or major external shocks like the tariff war in April 2025, macroprudential tools will be used for adjustments and expectations management, and in extreme cases, direct foreign exchange intervention may be conducted to prevent destructive short-term overshooting of the exchange rate. These measures comply with international rules and practices. The central bank stated that since the 2005 exchange rate reform, the RMB exchange rate has fluctuated in both directions and has generally remained strong among major international currencies. The People’s Bank of China also explicitly expressed that China neither needs nor intends to gain a trade competitive advantage through exchange rate depreciation. Furthermore, the central bank reaffirmed its commitment to the strategic direction and key initiatives set out in the “15th Five-Year Plan,” to promote a transformation in the mode of economic growth, expand domestic demand and high-level openness, and contribute to a new round of global economic rebalancing. China will also strengthen international economic and financial cooperation, actively participate in and advance global financial governance reforms, and help safeguard global economic and financial stability. (CCTV)

Many traditional views hold that the RMB exchange rate is solely determined by the central bank, appreciating or depreciating at its discretion. This is a major misconception. In its latest statement, the central bank has once again reiterated that China is committed to allowing the market to play a decisive role in exchange rate formation. China implements a market-based exchange rate regime and has completely withdrawn from regular interventions since 2017. In the future, the RMB exchange rate will not be deliberately appreciated or depreciated. China will continue to respect the market, uphold bottom lines, avoid gaming, and refrain from manipulation. This is the most fundamental and certain long-term trend for the RMB exchange rate in the coming years. (CCTV)