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Politics
Republicans scramble to remake their stance on data centers
The industry “could use a little public relations help,” President Donald Trump acknowledged. But his party is moving with the tide.
White House mix-up delayed SEC crypto rule
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will host crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday.
White House mix-up delayed SEC crypto rule
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will host crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday.
View / Tech faces its Big Tobacco moment, but teens have already moved on
View / Wall Street may have found its party pooper
The World at a Glance
Updated 1:14pm EDT
1
Markets climbed on news the US Treasury said it would double purchases of long-term bonds, after yields reached multi-year highs.
2The US delayed 50% tariffs on Canadian exports that were due to come into effect overnight, signaling the countries were nearing a trade deal.
3OpenAI said its sales growth slowed, unnerving investors as the company prepares for what is set to be one of the biggest IPOs ever.
4Robotics giant Unitree’s shares surged more than 600% in its Shanghai debut, highlighting a domestic frenzy for tech firms.
5US-South Korea military drills will be cut short at President Donald Trump’s request, deepening unease among American allies in Asia.
6Separate moves by Middle East powers cemented a growing belief the Iran war is unlikely to end anytime soon
Trump delays Canada tariffs, saying trade deal is near
Washington separately said the new deal would include “economic security commitments” and digital trade “alignment.”
Warren sends Democrats $600K for midterms
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also raised more than $1.1 million for the DNC, making her one of the committee’s highest-grossing surrogates.
US-South Korea military exercises end early
President Donald Trump linked the scale back of the drills to his plans to revive talks with North Korea, a move that has shaken confidence among the US’ allies in Asia.
MS NOW to launch membership program for ‘super fans’
The cable news network will roll out the program next month in an effort to grow its digital business and reach new audiences.
Dangote Refinery secures $1 billion underwriting ahead of IPO
The underwriting program comes from two firms, and forms part of a push towards an initial public offering this year.
Saudi firms Aramco and Maaden form a mining joint venture
Maaden and Aramco will work to survey the kingdom for copper, zinc, and other minerals.
Zambia’s pro-business president wins second term in controversial election
Hichilema has overseen a massive influx in foreign direct investment since taking office in 2021.
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Politics
Republicans scramble to remake their stance on data centers
The industry “could use a little public relations help,” President Donald Trump acknowledged. But his party is moving with the tide.
Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
Trump delays Canada tariffs, saying trade deal is near
Washington separately said the new deal would include “economic security commitments” and digital trade “alignment.”
Carlos Osoria/Reuters
White House mix-up delayed SEC crypto rule
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will host crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Warren sends Democrats $600K for midterms
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also raised more than $1.1 million for the DNC, making her one of the committee’s highest-grossing surrogates.
Another House Republican loser, and three other primary takeaways
Rep. Cory Mills became the fourth House Republican to lose his primary this year.
US, Canada hold last-minute trade talks
Ottawa is scrambling to avert new US tariffs that take effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Trump nixes Iran talks as stalemate persists
On Truth Social, the president wrote that there “are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Iran.
White House weighs how to achieve Iran’s ‘economic isolation’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated announcements would come this week.
Nine primary races to watch
Florida is the star of the night, but Alaska, Wyoming, and California host contests too.
Why the White House torched Jon Ossoff
The senator made a comment about Trump aide Natalie Harp over the weekend.
US consumption shows signs of strain
Consumer sentiment fell in August for the first time in months, data showed, as the intensifying US-Iran conflict stoked cost-of-living concerns for Americans.
Business
US Treasury to double long-term bond purchases
Yields on the longest US bond pulled back from their highest levels since 2007 after the announcement.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
OpenAI sales growth slows, unnerving investors ahead of planned IPO
Rival Anthropic’s annualized revenue, meanwhile, topped $65 billion— up more than sevenfold from the end of last year.
Wall Street may have found its party pooper
Mark Walter is selling assets quickly to unwind a dragon’s nest of interlocking loans and resolve a Justice Department investigation.
US housing starts fell in July
High mortgage rates and a dire supply shortage have sidelined potential buyers.
Nvidia to provide up to $105 billion backstop for OpenAI data center
Nvidia reached a deal on Monday to provide up to $105 billion to backstop a new OpenAI data center in Ohio, as Big Tech ramped up its debt-fueled AI splurge.
Technology
AI startup produces fully AI-generated feature-length film
Higgsfield AI produced ‘The Cully Hill Boys’ with a $2 million budget, half of which went to AI tokens.
Courtesy of Higgsfield AI
Gen AI outputs are unattributable, study finds
Researchers discovered a phenomenon they call “attribution decay,” where the more data a generative model is trained on, the harder it becomes to trace a generated image to a single image from the training data.
Top left: an image from a model trained on public-domain artwork by 744 artists. Beside it: the alternate versions produced if each artist, in turn, had been excluded from training. Dai, Z., Gifford, D.K. Outputs of generative diffusion models are often unattributable.
OpenAI needs to hit pause
One way to look at the AI giant slowing down its frontier model work because of safety concerns is that models are getting scarily powerful.
Momentum builds for Chinese models
Several American AI startups have recently said they have used Chinese AI models in their workflows.
Tech faces its Big Tobacco moment, but teens have already moved on
Tech companies and teens have already shifted their energies to AI.
Robotics giant Unitree’s shares surge in Shanghai debut
China has rapidly emerged as the global leader in humanoid robots manufacturing.
Energy
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
Stringer/Reuters
A safer bet for AI-hungry investors
While some data center investors finance giant “behind the meter” power plants, others are looking for steadier returns in regulated grids.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Global conflicts and climate change drive up shipping costs
The wars in the Gulf and Ukraine have essentially shut off some of the world’s key passageways for global commodities.
Caroline Brehman/Reuters
Gulf
Dubai’s DP World pushes ahead with $800 million Syria port
It’s the latest evidence of Syria attracting much-needed capital from the Gulf.
Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters
Saudi firms Aramco and Maaden form a mining joint venture
Maaden and Aramco will work to survey the kingdom for copper, zinc, and other minerals.
Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran
Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut amid stalled negotiations.
XRG enters Venezuela as it grows global gas platform
The stake in the concession adds to its portfolio of projects in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Mozambique, Turkmenistan, and the US.
PIF’s assets shrink by $10 billion
While little more than a rounding error in the big-spending world of sovereign wealth, it marked the first such drop this decade.
China
Robotics giant Unitree’s shares surge in Shanghai debut
China has rapidly emerged as the global leader in humanoid robots manufacturing.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
New Chinese shopper turns to prestige beauty and hamburgers
The shift reflects the tastes of a more price-sensitive and discerning consumer.
Casey Hall/Reuters
China’s ‘physical AI’ takes center stage
The World Robot Conference kicks off in Beijing on Wednesday coinciding with humanoid maker Unitree going public in Shanghai.
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Africa
Africa Finance Corporation raises $430 million digital bond
The deal is the first by an African institution to be listed, traded, and settled on a regulated digital exchange.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Namibia’s oil boom draws global energy giant Equinor
Norway’s Equinor was bought into Chevron’s deepwater block off the coast of Namibia.
Pilar Olivares/Reuters
Dangote Refinery secures $1 billion underwriting ahead of IPO
The underwriting program comes from two firms, and forms part of a push towards an initial public offering this year.
Zambia’s pro-business president wins second term in controversial election
Hichilema has overseen a massive influx in foreign direct investment since taking office in 2021.
Liberia to take 1,200 deportees from the US
Monrovia said the deal was “not a transaction with a quid pro quo.”
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo becomes deadliest in country’s history
The current outbreak is spreading five times faster than previous ones.
Security
Israel’s Lebanon attacks and threats over Gaza undercut US claims of peace progress
Israel carried out its deadliest attacks on Lebanon in weeks and a top Israeli minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza.
Stringer/Reuters
China furthers goals in Asia amid US focus on the Middle East
Washington withdrew an aircraft carrier from the Pacific and has criticized South Korea.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Hormuz reopening remains distant as US-Iran truce expires
Iran’s foreign minister said his country had “not yet made a decision” over restarting negotiations with the US.
Yalda Moaiery/Handout via Reuters
Media
Tennis’ greatest battles — on the court and off
‘The Cruelest Game,’ by Matthew Futterman, details the unique psychological toll that professional tennis can take — particularly on its greatest stars.
MS NOW to launch membership program for ‘super fans’
The cable news network will roll out the program next month in an effort to grow its digital business and reach new audiences.
‘The Daily Show’ faces uncertain future under Paramount
Jon Stewart’s deal is up at the end of the year, and while there is strong interest from Paramount to renew, the two sides have yet to ink an extension.
Daily Mail brings on exec as it plans video expansion
The US outpost of the UK tabloid told Semafor that it had hired Mike Rothman as the company’s new general manager.
CNN president pitches giving network an editorial board to shield it from Paramount
The editorial board is intended to assuage concerns about any future meddling by Paramount in the news network’s journalism.
CEO Signal
‘It’s an unbundling’: ADP’s Maria Black on how AI is changing the workforce
The payroll processor sees technology disrupting low-value tasks but making human judgment more valuable.
Courtesy of ADP/Graph Massara/Semafor
Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the coming ‘creative destruction’
The streaming pioneer says we’re underestimating how AI will change competition.
Why Max Levchin wants Affirm to act like your smarter older sister
The fintech founder sees AI threatening traditional lenders by alerting consumers to their hidden fees.
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