NOT Alright, Alright, Alright

Welcome to the Tech Brew ride home for Wednesday, 01/14/2026. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, NVIDIA can officially sell its chips in China, but not if China doesn't let anyone buy them. Tesla will stop selling FSD beginning next month. Matthew McConaughey says not alright, alright, alright to unauthorized AI use of him, and another story about how AI is disrupting the consultancy game. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Attackers don't need exploits when they can use your allowed tools against you. That's why ThreatLocker enforces default deny at execution, stopping unknown software scripts and ransomware the moment it tries to run. No signatures, no guesswork, just control. ThreatLocker takes zero trust from theory to practice by blocking any unauthorized application or behavior from ever running in the first place. Generative AI has lowered the barrier to malware creation, so ThreatLocker prevents AI generated polymorphic and file less attacks by shutting down unknown behavior automatically even if it's never been seen in the wild. ThreatLocker gives you tight control without the noise, meaning fewer alerts and a cleaner predictable operational posture. Learn more at threatlocker.com/techbrewridehome. That's threatlocker.com/techbrewridehome. So a case of conflicting headlines here. The US has finally officially given a formal green light to sales of Nvidia's h 200 chips to China with the stipulation that China cannot receive more than 50% of the total amount of chips sold to US customers. But at the same time, Reuters says Chinese officials have told customs agents in China that NVIDIA h 200 chips are barred from China and instructed local tech companies not to buy them unless necessary. Quote, the wording from the officials is so severe that it is basically a ban for now, though this might change in the future should things evolve, said one of the people. The h 200, NVIDIA's second most powerful AI chip, is one of the biggest flashpoints in current US Sino relations. Though there is strong demand from Chinese firms, it remains unclear whether Beijing wants to ban it outright so that domestic chip companies can flourish or is still chewing over restrictions or whether these measures could be used as a bargaining tactic in talks with Washington. The chip, formally approved by the Trump administration for export to China this week with some conditions, is also a hot button issue in The US with many China hawks concerned that the chips could supercharge the Chinese military and erode US advantages in AI. The sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter said authorities had not provided any reasons for their directives and had not given any indication whether this constitutes a formal ban or a temporary measure. Reuters was not immediately able to ascertain whether the directives applied to existing orders for h 200 chips or only to new orders. The information on Tuesday reported that the Chinese government this week told some tech companies that it would only approve their …