Malaysia’s government is verifying media reports that a Chinese company may be circumventing U.S. export curbs on high-end AI chips by using servers housing Nvidia chips based in the Southeast Asian country.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese engineers had flown to Malaysia in March carrying hard drives containing data to build artificial intelligence models in Malaysian data centers using advanced Nvidia chips.

The engineers planned to bring the AI models back to China, the report said.

The United States has cracked down on exports of advanced semiconductors to China, including those made by U.S. tech giant Nvidia, as it seeks to retain a competitive edge over the technology.

A Malaysian trade ministry statement on Wednesday said it was “verifying the matter with relevant agencies if any domestic law or regulation has been breached”.

The ministry said that while servers using Nvidia and AI chips are not classified as controlled goods under Malaysian law, the country “will cooperate with any government that requires assistance in monitoring trade in sensitive goods under the export control of their respective countries”.

Data centers in Malaysia “are free to make their own commercial decisions”, the statement said, but added that it was illegal for any person or firm to circumvent export controls.

The trade ministry said it “will always act firmly against any company operating in Malaysia, including those involved in semiconductor and AI industries, that violates Malaysian and international trading regulations”.

Asked about the reports, Beijing insisted it required Chinese firms to operate according to local laws and regulations.

“At the same time, it opposes any act of coercing other countries to restrict their cooperation with China,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing.

“China is willing to work with countries in the region, including Malaysia, to jointly maintain a free and open international trade order,” he added.

Singapore in March charged three men with fraud in cases reportedly linked to the transfer of AI-powering Nvidia chips to China.

The Singaporean government said servers potentially containing AI-powering Nvidia chips shipped from the United States to Singapore had ended up in Malaysia, but that their final destination was unknown.

Local media linked their cases to the alleged movement of Nvidia chips from Singapore for use by Chinese AI firm DeepSeek.

In January, DeepSeek released its R1 chatbot, shaking the global tech market and claiming its tool can match the capacity of top U.S. AI products for a fraction of their costs.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologized Thursday for a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen that has provoked widespread anger and put her government on the brink of collapse.

Her main coalition partner has quit and calls are mounting for her to resign or announce an election, throwing the kingdom into a fresh round of political instability as it seeks to boost its spluttering economy and avoid U.S. President Donald Trump’s swinging trade tariffs.

The conservative Bhumjaithai party pulled out on Wednesday saying Paetongtarn’s conduct in the leaked call had wounded the country and the army’s dignity.

As pressure grew on Thursday Paetongtarn, the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra—Thailand’s most influential but controversial modern politician—apologized at a press conference alongside military chiefs and senior figures from her Pheu Thai party.

“I would like to apologize for the leaked audio of my conversation with a Cambodian leader which has caused public resentment,” Paetongtarn told reporters.

In the call, Paetongtarn is heard discussing an ongoing border dispute with Hun Sen—who stepped down as Cambodian prime minister in 2023 after four decades but still wields considerable influence.

She addresses the veteran leader as “uncle” and refers to the Thai army commander in the country’s northeast as her opponent, a remark that sparked fierce criticism on social media.

The loss of Bhumjaithai’s 69 MPs left Paetongtarn with barely enough votes to scrape a majority in parliament, and a snap election looks a clear possibility—barely two years after the last one in May 2023.

Two other coalition parties, the United Thai Nation and Democrat Party, will hold meetings to discuss the situation later Thursday.

Paetongtarn will be hoping her apology and show of unity with the military are enough to persuade them to stay on board.

Losing either would likely mean the end of Paetongtarn’s government, and either an election or a bid by other parties to stitch together a new coalition.

Resignation calls

Thailand’s military said in a statement that army chief General Pana Claewplodtook “affirms commitment to democratic principles and national sovereignty protection”.

“The Chief of Army emphasized that the paramount imperative is for ‘Thai people to stand united’ in collectively defending national sovereignty,” it added.

Thailand’s armed forces have long played a powerful role in the kingdom’s politics, and politicians are usually careful not to antagonize them.

The kingdom has had a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and the current crisis has inevitably triggered rumors that another may be in the offing.

If Paetongtarn is ousted in a coup she would be the third member of her family, after her aunt Yingluck and father Thaksin Shinawatra, to be kicked out of office by the military.

The main opposition People’s Party, which won most seats in 2023 but was blocked by conservative senators from forming a government, urged Paetongtarn to call an election.

“What happened yesterday was a leadership crisis that destroyed people’s trust,” People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said in a statement.

The Palang Pracharath party, which led the government up to 2023 and is headed by General Prawit Wongsuwan—who supported a 2014 coup against Paetongtarn’s aunt Yingluck—said the leaked recording showed she was weak and inexperienced, incapable of managing the country’s security.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters, some of them veterans of the royalist, anti-Thaksin “Yellow Shirt” movement of the late 2000s, demonstrated outside Government House Thursday demanding Paetongtarn quit.

Awkward coalition

Paetongtarn, 38, came to power in August 2024 at the head of an uneasy coalition between Pheu Thai and a group of conservative, pro-military parties whose members have spent much of the last 20 years battling against her father.

Growing tensions within the coalition erupted into open warfare in the past week as Pheu Thai tried to take the interior minister job away from Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul.

The loss of Bhumjaithai leaves Pheu Thai’s coalition with just a handful more votes than the 248 needed for a majority.

The battle between the conservative pro-royal establishment and Thaksin’s political movement has dominated Thai politics for more than 20 years.

Former Manchester City owner Thaksin, 75, still enjoys huge support from the rural base whose lives he transformed with populist policies in the early 2000s.

But he is despised by Thailand’s powerful elites, who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilizing.

The current Pheu Thai-led government has already lost one prime minister, former businessman Srettha Thavisin, who was kicked out by a court order last year that brought Paetongtarn to office.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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As Israel and Iran trade fire in their most intense confrontation in history, members of the Iranian diaspora in Europe are torn between hopes for change and fears for their loved ones back home.

In Frankfurt, Hamid Nasiri, 45, a product developer at a pharmaceutical company, said he had “mixed feelings” about the fighting, started by Israel on Friday after weeks of tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Like many Iranians in Europe, he sees Israel’s offensive as a chance to topple the Iranian leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — long accused of human-rights abuses and brutally repressing dissent.

“On the one hand, Israel’s actions are specifically directed against the Islamic government, which is itself known for its brutal methods. That gives me a certain hope,” Nasiri said.

“At the same time, I naturally mourn for the people of Iran. When women, children and now scientists are killed, I find that morally very disturbing,” he said.

“Many are caught between hope for change and horror at what is happening right now,” said an Iranian teacher based in Frankfurt who did not want to give her name.

She has not been able to reach a friend living in northern Tehran since Friday.

‘Really upset’

In London, around a dozen members of the Iranian diaspora gathered in front of the Iranian embassy on Monday.

Some were waving Israeli flags, others the flag of the Pahlavi dynasty — the ruling house of Iran until the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Psychology student Maryam Tavakol, 35, said she supported Israel’s assault.

“There is no freedom in Iran, no human rights… We support each act that makes the Islamic republic weaker,” said Tavakol, who left Iran in 2019 and has been living in the UK for two years.

But Ali, 49, a restaurant worker living in London who did not want to give his last name, said he would prefer the arch rivals to “sit down and speak to each other”.

“(I have) never supported the Iranian regime, I don’t like the regime,” said Ali, who left Iran in 1997.

“(But) who will suffer? The people… I don’t support anyone who harms kids and people. I’m really upset,” he said.

“We still have family and friends in Iran, Tehran,” said Paria, 32, another London restaurant worker.

“They are fleeing to the north. We are really worried for them.”

Israel on Friday launched a surprise aerial campaign targeting sites across Iran, saying the attacks aimed to prevent its enemy from acquiring atomic weapons.

Iran’s uranium enrichment has for decades caused tension with the West and Israel, which fear the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a charge denied by Tehran.

The Israeli strikes have so far killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists but also civilians, according to Iranian authorities.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel have so far killed 24 people, according to Israeli authorities.

‘Divided’

Hamidreza Javdan, a 71-year-old actor and director originally from Tehran and now living in Paris, said the Iranian diaspora was “divided” over the conflict.

“Some say ‘no one has the right to attack our country’, others think it’s a good thing,” he said.

Javdan said he was “hopeful” for a change of government, but also fears for his brother, who is disabled and unable to quickly leave Tehran.

“And there are more than 10 million people in Tehran, where are they going to go?” he said.

In Sweden, a 34-year-old lawyer who requested anonymity said she found the conflict “abominable”.

“I feel no loyalty to the Iranian regime… and want to see it overthrown. But this must come from the Iranian people themselves, not as a result of interference from foreign powers,” she said.

Baharan Kazemi, 42, a Swedish-Iranian children’s author, said Israel’s assault was “indirectly an attack on us too, on our families”.

“Like most diaspora Iranians I have spoken to, I feel so many things — fear, sadness, anger, powerlessness. To be separated from your loved ones during a crisis adds another layer to the pain,” she said.

In Berlin, an Iranian translator who wanted to remain anonymous said she felt “torn” over the conflict.

“I hope so much that this war will overthrow the mullah regime. I wish for that so much. Then all the deaths would not have been in vain,” she said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Blaise Metreweli, the first woman to head Britain’s MI6 spy service, is a self-confessed “geek” whose appointment comes as the intelligence world faces growing challenges from cyber plots and AI.

While actress Judi Dench has played the head of the MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the James Bond film franchise for years, in reality the 17 chiefs so far have all been men.

Metreweli will be the 18th head of Britain’s foreign intelligence outfit when she takes up the role in the autumn, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Sunday.

Like her predecessors she will be referred to as “C” — not “M” as Dench is called in the movies based on Ian Fleming’s daring fictional agent.

The head of MI6 is the only publicly named member of the organisation and reports directly to the foreign minister.

Little is known about the 47-year-old Metreweli, who will take over from outgoing MI6 head Richard Moore.

Currently, she is MI6’s director general — known as “Q” — with responsibility for technology and innovation at the service, Downing Street said in a statement.

Metreweli is described as a career intelligence officer who joined the service in 1999 having studied anthropology at Cambridge University.

“She is an incredibly experienced, credible, successful operational officer. She is widely respected,” former MI6 chief Alex Younger told the BBC.

“She has been thinking deeply for a long time about how we prosper in the nexus between man and machine.

“She’s got a plan. And I think that she knows how to enact it. That is the way MI6 remains at the cutting edge,” he added.

Born into a family with roots in Eastern Europe — Metreweli derives from the Georgian name Metreveli — the future spy boss was part of the Cambridge rowing team that defeated Oxford in 1997.

She joined MI6 in 1999 as a field officer and “has spent most of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe”, according to the UK government.

‘Historic’

Metreweli also spent time at MI5, the domestic intelligence service, as a director, the government said, without providing further details.

She speaks Arabic, according to UK media.

The Financial Times interviewed her in 2022 for an article on female spies, where she was initially quoted under a pseudonym to encourage other women to join the intelligence service.

She described herself as a “geek” and said she had always wanted to be a spy.

It was revealed that she grew up abroad, enjoyed learning encryption techniques at a young age, and had at least one child while stationed outside the UK.

Metreweli asserted that in the male-dominated world of intelligence, women had certain useful skills.

“In the moments where you’re deciding to become an agent, you’re having to make thousands of risk-based calculations, but you’re not quite sure how to respond emotionally,” she said.

“There’s no etiquette. Ironically, it becomes a bit of a no man’s land. In that space, women are really good at finding common ground. We are the liminal ones.”

Her appointment comes over three decades after MI5 appointed its first female chief.

Stella Rimington held the position from 1992-1996, followed by Eliza Manningham-Buller from 2002-2007.

The UK intelligence and security organisation GCHQ appointed its first woman chief, Anne Keast-Butler, in 2023.

Starmer called Metreweli’s appointment “historic”.

“The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale — be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots seek to disrupt our public services,” he said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Shares in Gucci owner Kering jumped Monday over reports that the outgoing boss of French automaker Renault would take over as chief executive of the struggling luxury group.

Renault shares, however, fell following its announcement Sunday that Luca de Meo, 58, would step down on July 15 “to take on new challenges outside the automobile sector” after five years at the helm of the company.

Le Figaro newspaper reported that de Meo would take over at Kering, the French luxury group that owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other premium brands.

Kering has struggled to turn things around at Gucci, the Italian fashion house famous for its handbags and which accounts for half of the group’s overall sales.

Previous reports have said the group’s chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault would stay on as chairman of the group in a management shake-up.

Kering shares rose more than six percent to 183 euros ($212) in morning deals at the Paris stock exchange.

Shares in Renault fell 6.7 percent to 40.10 euros.

Known as a skilled communicator and marketing expert, de Meo is credited with bringing stability to a company that was in turmoil when he took over in 2020.

The automaker was reeling from more than a year of crisis in the wake of the scandal involving Carlos Ghosn, the former head of the Nissan-Renault alliance who fled Japan to avoid trial.

De Meo accelerated the group’s shift to electric vehicles and pushed for an upmarket move in an effort to steer the company out of trouble. Renault also owns the Dacia, Alpine, and Lada brands.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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