CNBC Daily Open: 'America First' doesn't mean 'America alone'

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.

At the United Nations, an undoubtedly international institution, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered an message that embodied his America First slogan.

He demanded that other countries isolate Iran, assailed Cuba's government and rejected international oversight of artificial intelligence.

But Washington cannot go it alone in any of this. Oil flows in the Strait of Hormuz need to be facilitated by Iran, and AI is a global phenomenon.

America may be putting itself first, but it also needs partners if it wants to meet its goals.

"While others have talked, I have acted," said U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly.

The catch is that much of what he wants still requires someone else to act, too.

In his speech, the U.S. President defended the almost seven month long war with Iran, slammed Cuba's government and rejected international oversight of artificial intelligence.

Reports from Reuters and Japan's Kyodo news agency, which both cited an unnamed senior Iranian government official, said Tehran had laid out the necessary conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. 

In other words, America First still needs other parties, such as in the Arctic.

After many threats from Trump to take over Greenland, the U.S., Denmark and Greenland signed a security agreement that allows Washington to expand its existing Pituffik Space Base and establish additional military sites at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig.

More importantly, the agreement affirms Greenland's sovereignty and right to self-determination while preventing non-NATO countries from establishing a military presence without the parties' approval.

It has no expiration date and would remain in force if Greenland eventually becomes independent.

The Trump administration is also considering a more inward-looking response to elevated fuel prices.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said officials are examining whether restrictions on diesel exports would be feasible as prices for the fuel hit record highs.

Trump is also expected to press Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an energy truce, after calling for Kyiv to stop targeting Russian oil refineries with drone strikes, which he says are "hurting the world"

Kyiv, for its part, says it is prepared to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow reciprocates.

Following the UNGA, the focus will now shift to the upcoming summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday stateside.

The two leaders are expected to seek ways to strengthen their fragile trade truce when they meet in Washington for their second face-to-face summit this year.

Investors will also be looking at the guest list. On the U.S. side, it currently reads more like a markets leaderboard: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Apple executive chairman Tim Cook.

— Lim Hui Jie

Qualcomm releases Android chip built for AI as memory shortage weighs on smartphone market

Qualcomm unveiled its newest Android phone chipsets, which will be tuned for on-device artificial intelligence and will compete with Apple's A20 Pro in iPhones.

The new chips will be included in premium smartphones from companies including Motorola, Xiaomi and ZTE, Qualcomm said in a press release on Tuesday. Qualcomm is introducing two versions of the chip, one with extra capabilities and "extreme" branding.

The launch comes as the broader smartphone industry is reeling from a worldwide contraction due to skyrocketing memory costs that have driven up the price of finished devices.

— Kif Leswing