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Finance

Curated AI news · 24 stories

Business & Enterprise

CoreWeave looks to Wall Street to hedge memory chips, an asset with no market

CoreWeave, an AI cloud company, is considering financial derivatives to hedge against potential future declines in memory and storage chip prices, which have recently surged significantly. The company faces exposure due to long-term supply agreements with chip manufacturers that include price floors, protecting suppliers but potentially leading to overpayment if prices drop. This situation arises amid a volatile memory chip market where prices have nearly doubled this year, impacting data center

Finance

Stripe and Advent offer $60.50 a share for PayPal, valuing it above $53bn

Stripe and Advent International have jointly offered to acquire PayPal at $60.50 per share, valuing the company at over $53 billion, with financing commitments of about $50 billion from banks. The bid, which would see the buyers hold equal stakes and maintain PayPal as a whole, comes amid PayPal's recent leadership changes and strategic restructuring to improve performance. PayPal's market value has declined significantly from its 2021 peak, and the new offer represents a premium over its recent

Machine Learning

Kalshi Wants to Predict the Future of Compute Availability

Kalshi has developed a tool that predicts the future price of computing power, addressing the growing demand and limited supply in the AI industry. This prediction model analyzes contracts to forecast compute costs up to a year ahead, potentially helping companies manage price volatility amid rising GPU rental prices. The initiative may lead to markets or futures contracts based on compute pricing, reflecting broader interest in trading compute availability.

Finance

Kalshi builds a forward curve for computing power as exchanges race to turn GPUs into a tradable commodity

Kalshi has developed a forward curve for GPU computing costs by using prediction market contracts, joining other exchanges like CME and ICE in creating financial instruments tied to AI infrastructure pricing. This forward curve aggregates weekly and monthly contracts to provide market insights into future GPU rental prices, aiding in hedging and risk management amid a fragmented and volatile compute market. The move reflects the growing commodification of GPU compute power as AI-related spending

Business & Enterprise

IBM loses quarter of its value as tech giant’s shares plunge and profits falter

IBM's shares dropped over 25% following a profit warning and preliminary second-quarter results that showed only a 1% revenue increase year-over-year, missing analyst expectations. The company attributed the underperformance to shifts in corporate spending towards datacentre infrastructure and cybersecurity, which impacted its higher-margin mainframe and software sales. This shift also affected the broader software sector, leading to declines in shares of other tech companies.

Business & Enterprise

India’s Udaan secures $160 million in new funding as it races to fix its balance sheet before an IPO

Indian B2B ecommerce company Udaan has raised $160 million through a mix of new equity, debt, and bond conversions to improve its financial position ahead of a planned IPO within two years. The funding round involves new and existing investors and addresses a recent default on convertible notes. Founded in 2016, Udaan connects manufacturers and wholesalers with small retailers across India and holds a significant share of the country's B2B ecommerce market.

Finance

Pasqal’s SPAC filings reveal a $2bn French quantum bet, and a French kill switch

French quantum computing firm Pasqal is going public on Nasdaq via a SPAC merger, valuing the company at $2 billion, about 100 times its projected 2025 revenue. The filings highlight the high-risk nature of quantum computing's commercial viability and reveal that the French government retains veto power over significant foreign ownership stakes, reflecting Europe's strategic control over critical technologies. Pasqal's US listing aims to access deeper capital markets despite these political and,

Finance

Flex raises $70m from Ryan Smith’s Halo fund to take its AI private bank global

Flex, a company offering an AI-driven private banking platform for high-net-worth middle-market business owners, has raised $70 million in a Series B1 funding round led by Ryan Smith's Halo fund. The new capital will support Flex's expansion of its global services, including multi-currency accounts and stablecoin payment rails across numerous countries, aiming to simplify cross-border payments and financial management for its clients. The company has raised a total of $180 million in equity and

Finance

Moneybox is Europe’s newest unicorn, and it’s testing London’s new private market to prove it

Moneybox, a British savings and investing app founded in 2016, has reached a valuation of approximately £800 million ($1.1 billion), becoming Europe's newest unicorn. This valuation was established not through a traditional funding round but via employee share sales on London's new Private Securities Market, which operates under the government-backed Pisces framework allowing private companies to trade shares intermittently. While the business shows strong financials and growth, the valuation's

Finance

ECB names 36 payment firms for the digital euro pilot

The European Central Bank has selected 36 payment service providers, including major banks and fintech firms, to participate in a 12-month pilot of the digital euro starting in the second half of 2027. The pilot will test a beta version of the digital euro without legal tender status, focusing on various payment use cases across multiple euro area countries. The trial aims to evaluate the digital euro's functionality through both distributing and acquiring providers in collaboration with central

Business & Enterprise

Ericsson revenue falls 6% as component costs bite and licensing income dries up

Ericsson's revenue declined by 6% in the second quarter to SEK 52.7 billion, primarily due to reduced patent licensing income and currency effects, despite growth in some regions. Adjusted operating profit slightly exceeded expectations at SEK 6.52 billion, with a 48% gross margin after excluding one-off settlements. The Networks segment saw an 8% revenue drop, while Cloud Software and Services grew by 3%, and the company anticipates continued cost pressures and potential price increases due to,

Hardware & Chips

China smartphone shipments fall for a fifth quarter as memory costs bite

Smartphone shipments in China have declined for the fifth consecutive quarter, dropping 4.3% in Q2 due to rising memory and component costs leading manufacturers to increase prices. Huawei and Apple were the only vendors to grow shipments by maintaining stable prices, while others like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo saw significant declines. The global smartphone market is also expected to contract sharply in 2026, influenced by similar cost pressures and reduced demand.

Cybersecurity

Canada’s banking regulator named Claude Mythos in a warning to banks

Canada's banking regulator, OSFI, explicitly named Anthropic's AI model Claude Mythos in a warning to banks about accelerated risks in software vulnerability exploitation. The regulator highlighted that such advanced AI shortens the time available for risk mitigation, prompting banks to enhance their risk identification and response practices. Similar concerns have been raised by financial authorities in the US, Europe, and Australia regarding this AI model.

Business & Enterprise

Decoupling from China would cost the West $23.6tn

A recent study estimates that the US, eurozone, and UK would need to invest an additional $23.6 trillion over 25 years to reduce their dependence on China in critical sectors like manufacturing and technology. The cost would be unevenly distributed, with the US facing the largest share, and would significantly impact industries involved in Europe's technological development. China's dominant position in supplying key materials such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earths underpins the high cost and难

Business & Enterprise

Shein is set for its Hong Kong listing hearing on Thursday

Shein is set to appear before the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee, marking a key step toward its planned public offering after regulatory approval from China. The company has faced valuation challenges, with estimates significantly lower than four years ago, influenced by new trade policies imposing tariffs on Chinese imports to the US and EU. Despite earlier plans to list in New York and London, Hong Kong remains the viable market for Shein's IPO, expected possibly in September or 

Business & Enterprise

South Korea flags a record $530bn budget, paid for by the AI chip boom

South Korea plans a record fiscal 2027 budget exceeding $530 billion, largely funded by increased tax revenues from its booming AI chip industry. The government aims to prioritize spending on chips, AI data centers, and physical AI projects, while restructuring existing programs to finance the plan. This marks a strategic shift to actively invest semiconductor windfall revenues rather than saving them.

AI Research

AI bosses say demand is ‘almost unlimited’. The market is no longer taking their word for it.

AI industry leaders claim demand for AI-related technology is extremely high, with some suppliers reporting multi-year sellouts. However, despite strong demand, stock prices in the chip and data-center sectors remain volatile because current valuations already reflect perfect execution and future growth, leading to investor skepticism. The main limiting factor identified is energy availability, which could constrain the AI market's expansion.

Finance

New ‘Ex-Elon’ ETFs let investors track the market while skipping Musk’s companies

Subversive ETFs has proposed two new funds, the Nasdaq-100 Ex-Elon Enterprises ETF and the S&P 500 Ex-Elon Enterprises ETF, which aim to track their respective indexes while excluding companies founded, controlled, or led by Elon Musk, such as Tesla and SpaceX. This move responds to SpaceX's rapid inclusion in the Nasdaq-100, which forced passive investors to hold the stock, prompting demand for alternatives without Musk's companies. The actively managed funds, expected to launch around late 202

Hardware & Chips

SK Hynix raises $26.5B in the biggest foreign IPO in US history, is urged to build new US fabs

SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip manufacturer, raised $26.5 billion in its U.S. IPO, marking the largest foreign IPO in U.S. history and surpassing Alibaba's 2014 record. The company plans to use the funds to expand production facilities in South Korea, while U.S. officials are encouraging chipmakers like SK Hynix and Samsung to build new manufacturing plants in the United States to bolster domestic chip production.

Finance

What makes the best stablecoin payment solution?

Stablecoin payment solutions enable businesses to accept, settle, and send payments using stablecoins, which are digital assets pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar. These solutions offer benefits such as faster blockchain settlement and reduced exposure to cryptocurrency volatility, making them suitable for ecommerce, SaaS, international trade, and payroll. Key factors in choosing a provider include settlement speed, asset support, API integration, compliance, and comprehensive payment,

Finance

Bank of England handed powers to regulate key tech firms including Amazon and Google

Starting next week, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will oversee major tech firms like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Microsoft, which provide critical cloud and tech services to UK banks. These firms must demonstrate resilience through stress testing and promptly report major incidents to mitigate risks to financial stability and consumer services. This regulatory move addresses concerns over the reliance on a few foreign tech providers and aims to reduce

Politics

The bulging in-tray of challenges Andy Burnham faces upon entering No 10

Andy Burnham is set to become the UK prime minister soon and faces numerous challenges inherited from his predecessor, including welfare reform, defence spending, and taxation policies. Key issues include managing disability benefit reforms amid rising costs, maintaining defence investment commitments, and potential adjustments to business rates while adhering to Labour's tax pledges. Balancing these complex matters will be critical as he sets his government's agenda.

Business & Enterprise

Big Tech’s AI debt just hit $350bn, and Europe is about to feel it

The largest US tech companies have significantly increased their debt to finance AI data centers, reaching about $350 billion, with interest costs still manageable due to strong cash flows. However, signs of financial strain are emerging, and these firms are increasingly borrowing in European markets, which could impact borrowing costs for European companies. This trend raises concerns about credit risk and the broader effects on Europe's financial environment.

Business & Enterprise

Anthropic is now worth $1.2 trillion on paper. Almost nobody can buy in

Anthropic's private shares are trading at an implied valuation of $1.2 trillion on secondary markets, surpassing OpenAI's valuation. This surge is driven primarily by scarcity, as very few shareholders are selling, leading to high demand and inflated prices without new revenue or products. The company discourages indirect investments through special-purpose vehicles, but buyers continue to pursue these routes despite risks and fees, resulting in uncertain valuations for minority stakes.