Stores open at midnight as fans rush to buy Nintendo Switch 2, Tesla faces $3bn hit from Trump bill

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been released worldwide, with stores opening at midnight so fans could get their hands on the long-awaited console the moment it became available. Some shops have the devices available to buy off the shelf – but in most cases customers have been picking up consoles they had ordered in advance, with UK retailer Currys calling it its “biggest gaming pre-order ever.” Despite the excitement there have been some setbacks, with one supplier, Game, cancelling some pre-orders. In the US, Nintendo briefly pulled Switch 2 pre-orders in April over concerns around tariffs before starting again a few weeks later. BBC

Tesla is facing a $3bn (£2.2bn) hit from Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, highlighting a potential reason why Elon Musk has vowed to “kill” the legislation. Buried in the US president’s 1,000-page bill are plans to eliminate a $7,500 tax incentive for electric vehicle (EV) buyers and ban a similar scheme in California. Wall Street analysts said axing the tax break for drivers would cost Tesla about $1.2bn, while the Californian ban threatens a further $2bn profit hit. Telegraph

Sales of new Tesla cars slumped by more than a third in the UK last month as the electric carmaker lost ground to China’s BYD and other rivals, amid a political backlash against Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk. Tesla sold 2,016 vehicles in the UK in May, down from 3,125 in May 2024 – a 36% drop, according to the monthly snapshot from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The Chinese carmaker BYD’s car sales in the UK jumped by 407%, from 596 in May last year to 3,025 this May. It sells hybrids as well as pure electric cars. BYD first overtook Tesla in January. Guardian

Honda will launch a wave of new hybrid models powered by what it calls “the world’s most efficient” combustion powertrain in response to lagging EV sales. At least 13 new Hondas will arrive between 2027 and 2030 in a revised range of hybrids that could kick off with replacements for today’s Civic and Jazz. The new electrified combustion cars will help the company to navigate the “transition period” until electric cars are suitable for mass-adoption. The move is a response to the speed of changeover to EVs, which has so far been slower than Honda expected. Autocar

Meta and search engine company Yandex have been “covertly tracking” Android users in the background of their devices, according to experts. Academics at the Radboud University in the Netherlands and IMDEA Networks said they discovered Meta and Yandex have been tracking Android users’ browser activity without their consent and then using the data in their apps. Meta said it was looking into the issue, while Yandex denied collecting any sensitive data. Sky News

UK tech vacancies are up by 21 percent to hit their highest levels since before the pandemic, according to research from Accenture. The global consultancy found a surge in demand for AI skills, which increased nearly 200 percent in a year. London accounted for 80 percent of AI-related job postings across the UK, while nearly two-thirds of technology vacancies as a whole were in London. The Register