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Earth Intelligence

16 Sep 2025 — 6 min read

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On September 15, 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a framework agreement between the United States and China to shift ownership of TikTok's U.S. operations to entities under American control. This follows a 2024 congressional law mandating that ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, divest its U.S. assets by January 19, 2025, or face a ban, citing national security risks related to data privacy and foreign influence. President Donald Trump extended the deadline through several executive orders, including a 75-day extension on January 20 and additional ones in June and August, moving the final date to September 17. The agreement resulted from two days of negotiations in Madrid between Bessent and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng, aimed at meeting U.S. legal requirements while considering China's technology export regulations.
The deal outlines reducing ByteDance's stake in TikTok's U.S. operations to below 20% to ensure non-Chinese majority control, with U.S. investors like Oracle and Walmart expected to take over the majority share, potentially alongside others. It includes measures for storing data in the U.S. and providing transparency on algorithms to address security concerns. The White House stated the agreement supports economic cooperation, Chinese officials noted it aids in easing trade tensions, and ByteDance indicated support for the direction without detailing specifics. Final approval is pending from both governments, with possible congressional oversight, and a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is planned to confirm details in the coming weeks.

Economics & Markets:

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Geopolitics & Military Activity:

On September 15, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that American military forces carried out a second kinetic strike, under his orders, against a vessel in international waters in the U.S. Southern Command area. The operation targeted three individuals identified by U.S. officials as Venezuelan narcoterrorists transporting illegal narcotics toward the United States, resulting in their deaths with no U.S. casualties. Trump stated the action addressed threats from drug cartels to national security, foreign policy, and U.S. interests, noting the narcotics as a weapon poisoning Americans. This followed a similar strike on September 2 against another vessel, part of ongoing U.S. efforts to intercept drug shipments amid regional military deployments.

The Pentagon confirmed intelligence identifying the vessel as carrying fentanyl precursors. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro described it as an infringement on sovereignty and a risk for regional escalation. Human rights organizations have raised questions about proportionality and target verification under international law. The operation aligns with counter-narcotics rules in international waters, and it occurs amid tensions in U.S.-Venezuela relations.

Environment & Weather:

Space:

On September 15, 2025, a video shared on X from the Active Compliant Technology Lab at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, demonstrated the Unitree G1 humanoid robot recovering balance in under a second after pushes, kicks, and falls, utilizing reinforcement learning algorithms and dynamic control systems for real-time stability adjustments. The footage, originally posted by lab-affiliated accounts earlier in the month, shows the 1.3-meter-tall robot—equipped with 23 to 43 degrees of freedom in its joints—maintaining posture through force-position hybrid control and environmental perception via integrated lidar and depth cameras, highlighting advancements in agile mobility for complex scenarios.
Click image below to watch:

The video's virality underscores China's progress in robotics, with users on X praising the G1's human-like agility and potential for applications in disaster relief, logistics, military applications, and household assistance, while some questioned its authenticity amid concerns over edited footage or simulated conditions. Ethical discussions emerged regarding militarization risks, given the technology's dual-use potential in defense alongside civilian sectors. This showcase aligns with Unitree's July 2025 launch of the more affordable R1 model, priced at $5,900—over $10,000 less than the G1—to broaden market access, amid the sector's rapid growth through industrial contracts, price reductions, and an anticipated IPO valuing the company at up to $7 billion by late 2025.

Statistic:

Largest public automakers by market capitalization:

🇺🇸 Tesla: $1.322T
🇯🇵 Toyota: $257.12B
🇨🇳 Xiaomi: $187.67B
🇨🇳 BYD: $130.28B
🇮🇹 Ferrari: $85.39B
🇩🇪 Volkswagen: $60.46B
🇩🇪 BMW: $59.98B
🇩🇪 Mercedes-Benz: $58.61B
🇺🇸 General Motors: $56.12B
🇮🇳 Maruti Suzuki India: $54.48B
🇮🇳 Mahindra & Mahindra: $48.77B
🇩🇪 Porsche: $47.19B
🇺🇸 Ford: $46.48B
🇯🇵 Honda: $44.02B
🇰🇷 Hyundai: $38.40B
🇨🇳 Seres Group: $32.69B
🇨🇳 SAIC Motor: $30.29B
🇮🇳 Tata Motors: $29.79B
🇰🇷 Kia: $28.61B
🇳🇱 Stellantis: $28.45B
🇯🇵 Suzuki Motor: $27.29B
🇨🇳 Great Wall Motors: $27.20B
🇨🇳 Li Auto: $24.27B
🇨🇳 Geely: $24.01B
🇮🇳 Hyundai Motor India: $23.51B

History:

The history of clocks begins with humanity’s earliest attempts to measure time, long before mechanical devices existed. Ancient civilizations relied on celestial movements to divide time, using the positions of the sun, moon, and stars to organize their daily and seasonal activities. One of the earliest timekeeping instruments, the sundial, was developed by the Egyptians around 1500 BC. It used a vertical stick or gnomon to cast a shadow on a marked surface, dividing the day into hours. Around the same period, water clocks (or clepsydras) were also in use in Babylon and Egypt, measuring time based on the regulated flow of water. These technologies evolved over time, particularly in Greece, India, and China. During the Islamic Golden Age, engineers like Al-Jazari designed elaborate water clocks with moving figures and gears, blending artistry with function and laying foundations for mechanical automation.
Mechanical clocks began to appear in medieval Europe during the 13th century, marking a significant shift from natural to engineered timekeeping. Early examples were large, weight-driven devices often housed in towers and monasteries, lacking dials but striking bells to indicate the hour. The invention of the verge escapement mechanism allowed for more controlled energy release, leading to more consistent timekeeping. In 1656, Christiaan Huygens revolutionized clock design with the invention of the pendulum clock, dramatically increasing accuracy and making reliable timekeeping available for navigation, science, and daily life. This remained the gold standard until the 20th century, when quartz crystal clocks replaced mechanical oscillations with electrical ones, further enhancing precision. The development of atomic clocks in the mid-1900s brought timekeeping to the quantum level, using the vibration of atoms (like cesium-133) to measure seconds with extraordinary accuracy—supporting everything from GPS to internet infrastructure. The history of clocks reflects a continuous human pursuit to measure and master time with increasing precision.

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