☕️ US bans new Chinese humanoid robots

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.

In today's newsletter:

🤖 US bans new Chinese humanoid robots

🛢️ Oil jumps as US-Iran strikes resume

📱 Zuckerberg says don't ban Chinese AI

💰 Core Scientific signs $14B AMD data deal

💳 Visa cuts 2,600 tech jobs

Plus: 🌍 10 macro news, 🏢 8 corporate news, 💰 7 deal flow, and 📑 4 research & reports.

📊 Before The Bell

• The US has banned imports of new Chinese-made humanoid and four-legged robots, along with connected power inverters used in data centers, batteries, and renewable systems, in a move to protect domestic AI supply chains.
• The FCC restrictions followed a White House interagency national security panel that issued two determinations, citing risks that remotely connected inverters could be switched off or used to extract data, and that advanced robots could surveil Americans or be commandeered.
• John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House Select Committee on China, backed the move and urged Congress to write it into federal law, warning against Chinese robots with "backdoors" that share sensitive data with Beijing.

• Oil prices climbed after Iran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East, reviving fears that renewed conflict could disrupt supply from the region.
• Brent crude for September delivery rose 3.42% to $86.97 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate gained 3.58% to $82.09, as the escalation played out during Asian trading hours.
• US Central Command described the missile launch as an attempted surprise attack, and said US and Saudi forces struck weapons and logistics sites in eastern Iraq in response to more than 30 drone attacks over three days.

• Meta's Mark Zuckerberg urged the US not to ban cutting-edge Chinese AI models, warning that leaving reviews to leading American labs risks "regulatory capture," as the Trump administration prepares a voluntary model-testing framework this week.
• Zuckerberg argued a ban "would not be an effective solution" and pressed US firms to identify what constrains their ability to compete, questioning whether dominant labs would want a rival open-source model to succeed.
• His stance sits awkwardly with Meta's own practice: on July 9 it released Muse Spark 1.1 as a closed model at $4.25 per million output tokens and $1.25 per million input tokens, citing safety after its open models lagged rivals.

• Core Scientific has signed a partnership with chipmaker AMD centered on 15-year leases for 529 megawatts of US AI data-center capacity, a deal the operator says could generate more than $14 billion in base contracted revenue.
• AMD directly leased 377 megawatts across sites in Texas and Oklahoma, with an unnamed cloud provider taking another 152 megawatts in Alabama and Georgia, supporting customer deployments that begin in 2027.
• The pact could expand to roughly 2.5 gigawatts if AMD exercises reservation rights through 2028, and it gave AMD warrants to buy up to 30 million Core Scientific shares at $23.47 each, 6.5 million of which have vested.

• Visa is cutting about 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, mostly from technology and product teams, redirecting the savings toward payments, cross-border and B2B services and its stablecoin push, according to a staff memo from CEO Ryan McInerney.
• The cuts were partly enabled by artificial intelligence, which McInerney said has reduced repetitive work and sped up product development, with the layoffs landing on the same day Visa reports third-quarter results after the market close.
• The move follows a similar streamlining in October 2024, when Visa cut 1,400 employees and contractors — including roughly 1,000 in technology — from a global headcount that then topped 30,000.

🌍 Macro News

• Ofgem proposes upfront fees for datacentres to secure UK grid access. LINK
• South Korea's Kospi plunged 11% after SK Hynix earnings disappointed investors. LINK
• Ten European banks launched RL1, a blockchain cooperative for tokenized assets. LINK
• Nasdaq 100 fell 1%, nearing correction amid semiconductor and AI worries. LINK
• IMF warns dollar-pegged stablecoins are fueling Brazil's fast-growing crypto flows. LINK
• Ondo Finance scraps public blockchain plan for private institutional trading network. LINK
• US Senate advances Russia and Iran sanctions bill by 86-12 vote. LINK
• OPEC+ set to freeze production increases after September, supporting oil prices. LINK
• ECB wage tracker shows euro-area pay growth holding steady at 2.7%. LINK
• US-Saudi group MERA Oil plans $5 billion refinery outside Strait of Hormuz. LINK

🏢 Corporate News

• PayPal open to takeover offers after Stripe's reported $53 billion bid. LINK
• UBS second-quarter profit rose 17% to $2.8 billion, beating forecasts. LINK
• Deutsche Bank trading revenue jumped 16%, outpacing Wall Street rivals. LINK
• eBay to pay $56 million settling harassment case against newsletter writers. LINK
• Ionic Digital shares jumped 25% in Nasdaq debut, valuing it $2.75 billion. LINK
• Morgan Stanley launched new ETPs tracking ether and solana. LINK
• Ramp expands into Canada, its first market outside the US. LINK
• Seagate shares rose 7% after strong quarterly earnings beat forecasts. LINK

📈 Stocks

📑 Research & Reports

• China's export rerouting is easing inflation across other wealthy economies. LINK
• Generative AI could reshape, not eliminate, India's non-agricultural workforce, Goldman says. LINK
• Chinese AI firms may start charging for commercial model licences, Goldman says. LINK
• US pension funds reach best funding level since 2009, risks remain. LINK

💰 Deal Flow

• Brookfield raises $2 billion for Middle East private equity fund. LINK
• UK proptech startup Dwelly raised $170 million to buy letting agencies. LINK
• Spend-management platform PEX raised $160 million to expand its card business. LINK
• Coursera invests $100 million in Andrew Ng's new AI education startup. LINK
• London lender Plend secures $50 million funding facility from Triple Point. LINK
• CMA CGM and Stonepeak form joint venture to expand port terminals. LINK
• Leonardo DRS to buy AI software firm Raft for $450 million. LINK

📅 Market Calendar

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