In 1997, @nvidia had 30 days of cash left. Today it's worth around $4.5 trillion, about twice as much as all 40 companies in Germany's DAX index combined. Now it's moving into cars. The new Mercedes CLA is a good example. Mercedes built its self-driving software together with NVIDIA, and it runs on NVIDIA chips. Last month the car drove me through Berlin for 45 minutes, and nobody had to take over. It's Level 2++, so the driver still has to pay attention. Otherwise it pretty much drives itself. Tesla does all of this on its own, with its own chips, software and AI. I don't think most carmakers can do the same, because training the AI costs a fortune and Tesla has been collecting fleet data for over 10 years. So I think self-driving will end up a bit like smartphones. Tesla is like Apple, and most other carmakers will build on someone else's platform. NVIDIA wants to be the Android of cars.

Mercedes promised that the new S-Class will drive autonomously in Germany by year-end. NVIDIA is helping make that possible. I tested their AI in the new CLA: 45 minutes through Berlin, nobody had to step in. The driver stays responsible, but it drives almost like a robotaxi. Thanks to NVIDIA, Mercedes suddenly feels on par with Tesla.

Europe has 5 of the 10 most valuable companies in the old car industry. In the new one, it has 1: Wayve in London. The new industry runs on batteries, software and AI, and it's replacing the old one. To survive, carmakers have to make the jump to it. So far, almost none have.

BMW offered its staff money to leave. Thousands said yes, and BMW hit its target in less than 3 weeks. Insiders told me the sign-up portal crashed within minutes. A BMW job used to be for life. Not anymore. This year, the mood in Germany's car industry has completely changed.

Audi's CEO on stage at a Trump rally, announcing a $4B plant in Georgia. Back home in Germany, jobs are being cut, unions are upset and it feels like the end of the world. So this one hurts. Germany is losing its car industry in 2 directions: to China and to the US.

Brutal numbers on Germany's car trade with China (IW): - 2019: $25bn surplus - 2026: almost zero - Exports to China: down more than half - Imports from China: +475% All of that in just 7 years. Honestly, I didn't expect it to go this fast.

Volkswagen's CEO Oliver Blume did his PhD in Shanghai under Wan Gang. Wan is the man who later planned China's switch to EVs. They first worked together in Audi's paint shop in Ingolstadt. Wan spent 11 years at Audi and saw how far ahead the West was on combustion engines. He was convinced China would never catch up. So at the end of 2000 he went home and set up an EV research center at his old university. Blume followed him there. In 2007 Wan became China's research minister. In 2020, 1 of 20 new cars sold in China was electric. In 2025 it was almost 1 of 2. German brands lost half their market share in China over the same period. Blume himself now says that in Germany, VW lived off its past success for too long.

VW's deliveries in China fell almost 40% last quarter. China's plan for EVs was written by a man who spent 11 years as an engineer at Audi. His name is Wan Gang. At Audi he saw how far ahead the West was on combustion engines. He was sure China would never catch up there. So in 2000 he proposed that China skip combustion engines and go straight to a new powertrain. In 2007 he became China's research minister and could run that plan himself. I've written about China's rise in cars many times. He was always the piece I was missing.