Daily Tech & GNSS News Digest - January 28, 2026

The semiconductor industry delivers a stark portrait of AI’s economic duality: ASML posts record profits while cutting jobs to streamline for growth. China’s BYD officially claims Tesla’s EV crown after Musk’s political activities drove away buyers. And as Big Tech reports earnings this week, investors demand proof that $470 billion in AI infrastructure spending will pay off. In positioning, Trimble expands into premium automotive with Lucid, while new GNSS modules bring centimeter accuracy to industrial applications.

Tech News

ASML Posts Record $11.5 Billion Profit, Cuts 1,700 Jobs

Dutch chip equipment maker ASML reported record net profit of €9.6 billion ($11.5 billion) for 2025, a 16% increase over the prior year, driven by insatiable AI-related demand for its advanced lithography systems. Fourth-quarter bookings surged to €13.2 billion—more than double analyst expectations—as customers locked in capacity for years ahead.

Yet alongside the blowout results, ASML announced it will cut approximately 1,700 jobs, primarily in the Netherlands and United States. CEO Christophe Fouquet called it “probably the most difficult decision the management team ever had to make,” but emphasized the cuts aren’t about financial pressure. Instead, the company aims to streamline management layers and restore agility as it prepares for continued growth. ASML expects 2026 revenue between €34 billion and €39 billion.

The restructuring illustrates a broader pattern across Big Tech: record profits coexisting with workforce optimization. ASML’s dominance in extreme ultraviolet lithography makes it the ultimate chokepoint in AI infrastructure—every advanced chip powering data centers depends on its machines.

BYD Officially Overtakes Tesla as World’s Top EV Maker

China’s BYD has dethroned Tesla as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, ending 2025 with 2.25 million all-electric vehicles sold—a 27.9% year-over-year increase. Tesla, by contrast, delivered 1.64 million EVs, an 8.6% decline marking its second consecutive annual sales drop.

The shift reflects both BYD’s aggressive expansion and Tesla’s self-inflicted wounds. Elon Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency triggered protests at Tesla showrooms across Europe and the United States, alienating potential buyers. The elimination of US federal EV tax credits in Trump’s 2026 budget further pressured demand.

BYD’s overseas sales surpassed 1 million units for the first time, up 150% year-over-year, and the company is targeting 1.5 to 1.6 million international sales in 2026. Its first European factory in Hungary begins EV production this year, producing 150,000 vehicles annually. Meanwhile, analysts project Tesla will sell just 1.8 million vehicles in 2026—far below Musk’s claim of reaching 4 million by 2027.

Big Tech Earnings Week Tests AI Spending Thesis

The most consequential earnings week of the quarter begins today, with Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla reporting Wednesday, followed by Apple Thursday. Investors aren’t just watching revenue—they’re scrutinizing whether the AI spending bonanza is translating into returns.

The four major hyperscalers—Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon—are expected to boost combined capital expenditures to over $470 billion in 2026, up from $350 billion in 2025. Goldman Sachs projects hyperscaler capex could reach $527 billion this year. Meanwhile, Gartner estimates global AI spending will pass $2.5 trillion, a 44% year-over-year increase.

Analysts are calling this “a prove-it year” for AI monetization. Microsoft closed at $480.58, up more than 2%, while the S&P 500 hit a fresh record of 6,978.60. But the market’s patience for AI infrastructure spending without proportional revenue growth is wearing thin.

Additional Headlines

China’s “Four Dragons” AI chipmakers go public: Moore Threads, MetaX, Biren, and Enflame—startups building Nvidia alternatives—have all IPO’d or filed in the past two months, advancing Beijing’s strategy to reduce US chip dependence.
DeepSeek holds 4% global chatbot share: One year after its breakthrough, the Chinese AI lab is expected to release its next model within weeks, while ChatGPT dominates at 68% and Gemini captures 18%.
European tech outperforms US in January: The Stoxx Europe 600 tech sector is up 10% this month, while the S&P 500 tech index is flat—a sharp reversal of typical patterns.
Eric Schmidt warns Europe on AI: At Davos, the former Google CEO said Europe must invest in open-source AI or end up dependent on Chinese models.

GNSS News

Trimble Powers Lucid Gravity with Centimeter-Level Positioning

Trimble announced its RTX and ProPoint Go positioning technologies will power the navigation and driver-assistance systems in Lucid’s new Gravity SUV, delivering centimeter-level accuracy even in GPS-challenged environments. The system combines satellite correction data with six-axis inertial sensors to maintain precise positioning in tunnels, parking garages, and dense urban canyons where traditional GNSS struggles.

The partnership marks a significant expansion of high-precision GNSS into the premium automotive market. Trimble’s solution enables lane-level positioning that supports advanced driver-assistance features without requiring dedicated infrastructure. The positioning capabilities come standard on new Lucid Gravity vehicles starting late January 2026, with existing vehicles receiving the technology via over-the-air software update.

The automotive GNSS market is accelerating rapidly, with global spending on autonomous vehicle technology expected to reach $557 billion by 2026. Trimble’s automotive push complements its ongoing collaboration with Xona Space Systems on LEO-based navigation, with the first PULSAR satellites expected to launch late 2026 and service beginning in 2027.

u-blox Launches All-Band High-Precision GNSS Module

Mouser Electronics began shipping the u-blox ZED-X20P module, the first product based on u-blox’s new X20 GNSS platform targeting industrial, agricultural, UAV, and robotics applications. The module delivers centimeter-level accuracy using both real-time kinematics (RTK) and precise point positioning with RTK (PPP-RTK) technologies.

The ZED-X20P processes signals from GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, and NavIC across all GNSS bands including L-band, providing consistent positioning even in challenging multipath environments. Critically for industrial applications, the module includes multi-layered security defenses: jamming and spoofing detection, plus cryptographic authentication via Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA).

The launch comes as the high-precision GNSS receiver market grows from $1.66 billion in 2026 to a projected $2.52 billion by 2034. Precision agriculture remains the largest driver, with farmers achieving 10-15% input savings through GNSS-guided automation—a compelling ROI that continues to accelerate adoption.

Key Takeaways

AI infrastructure’s dual reality: ASML’s record profits paired with layoffs shows that even the biggest AI winners are optimizing for efficiency—a warning sign for less dominant players.
Tesla’s political costs materialize: BYD’s victory over Tesla demonstrates that CEO political activism carries tangible business consequences, particularly in Europe where anti-Musk sentiment runs high.
Positioning enters premium automotive: Trimble’s Lucid partnership signals that centimeter-level GNSS is transitioning from industrial niche to consumer feature, with autonomous driving applications leading the way.