☕️ Xi proposes open-source AI zone for BRICS

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.

In today's newsletter:

🇨🇳 Xi proposes open-source AI zone for BRICS

🚫 Altman says OpenAI won't IPO this year

📈 Anthropic picks Nasdaq for $2T IPO

🏦 SoftBank borrows $11.9B for OpenAI bet

🛢️ Houthi strike shuts Saudi pipeline lifting oil past $100

Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 9 corporate news, and 📑 6 research & reports.

📊 Before The Bell

• Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an open-source AI zone for BRICS nations, pledging cooperation on large language models and shared research as part of what he called an "initiative on open-source and inclusive AI."
• The plan leans on a divide China aims to exploit: its developers release AI models whose underlying code can be freely adapted, while US rivals have largely kept their systems closed, giving Beijing an opening to court emerging economies.
• The pitch, aimed at the bloc formed in 2009 to counter Western-dominated institutions and now including Russia and India, lands as Xi is expected to meet President Trump in the US this month, with AI governance likely on the agenda.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company will not pursue a stock-market listing this year despite having confidentially filed for an IPO, citing safety concerns and a business he says isn't yet ready to go public.
• Altman told Fortune it would be an "ill-advised moment" to go public now given issues around AI safety, including fallout from the OpenAI-HuggingFace hack, ruling out 2026 with the comment "We've got a lot of stuff to do."
• The delay tracks a June New York Times report that OpenAI, despite hiring bankers and lawyers targeting a late-2026 listing, was leaning toward 2027 amid volatile tech stocks and its own financial challenges.

• Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, has chosen Nasdaq for an initial public offering that could raise as much as or more than SpaceX, potentially valuing the company at $2 trillion and coming as soon as October.
• A listing would extend Nasdaq's run as home to four of the largest US IPOs this year, including SpaceX's record $86.3 billion June debut and SK Hynix's $26.5 billion July offering, amid $160.6 billion raised on US markets, the most since 2021.
• Anthropic is on track for annualized revenue above $65 billion, more than seven times its pace at the end of last year, though the plans come as CEO Dario Amodei, alongside Sam Altman and Elon Musk, called for slowing AI development over safety risks.

• SoftBank has secured an $11.87 billion loan to fund its investment in OpenAI, exceeding an earlier $10 billion target, with roughly 20 banks committing to the two-year facility sealed last week, people familiar with the matter said.
• The borrowing adds to a debt pile built around SoftBank's OpenAI bet, including a $10 billion loan against its stake and a planned junk-bond sale of up to $20 billion, even as concerns grow about credit risks in the AI sector.
• SoftBank shares fell as much as 13% Monday, the steepest drop since July 17, after OpenAI chief Sam Altman said the company won't pursue a public offering this year while it addresses safety concerns; SoftBank is set to invest close to $65 billion in OpenAI by October.

• Oil rose more than 2% after Houthi drone strikes forced Saudi Arabia to shut its East-West pipeline, with Brent reaching $106.72 a barrel and US benchmark WTI at $102.15, breaching $100 for the first time since July.
• The pipeline is Saudi Arabia's route for shipping crude while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, and its closure puts roughly 4% of global oil supply at risk, with Yanbu port holding only five to seven days of reserves, according to sources.
• Crude benchmarks have jumped more than 8% over the past week as Houthi forces seized Perim island near the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Iran-Gulf security talks on Hormuz were postponed indefinitely, keeping supply fears elevated.

🌍 Macro News

• FCA weighs tailored rules and exemptions for tokenized gold in wholesale markets. LINK
• Fed faces rate hike or hold amid Trump's cut pressure. LINK
• 10-year yield nears 5%, with investors focused on what drives move. LINK
• Copper falls as US inflation boosts bets on Fed rate hike. LINK
• US finalizes steep solar tariffs on India, Indonesia and Laos. LINK
• Senate Republicans release final Clarity Act draft as ethics dispute eases. LINK
• Dollar rises to strongest since September as oil and AI jitters support. LINK
• BRICS endorses payments system reducing reliance on dollar and Western finance. LINK
• Oman urges LNG routes bypassing Hormuz as Gulf shipments collapse. LINK

🏢 Corporate News

• Z.ai shares drop after unveiling $5 billion fundraising plan. LINK
• Ellison scraps planned $7.5 billion Oracle stock sale without explanation. LINK
• Tata affiliates may rise after RBI rejects Tata Sons listing exemption. LINK
• Revolut admits sensitive customer data went to impersonating third party. LINK
• SpaceX reaffirms $100 billion revenue target after $1.11 billion monthly AI contract. LINK
• Nu Holdings launches US banking push in $1.2 trillion market. LINK
• Bitcoin Suisse plans moving half Zug jobs abroad during global expansion. LINK
• Tesla confirms European Semi deliveries begin in 2027, lifting shares. LINK
• Cohere nears $2 billion-$3 billion funding at $20 billion valuation. LINK

📈 Stocks

📑 Research & Reports

• Aleph's budgeting benchmark report: shows how finance teams actually budget, with benchmarks you can hold your own process against. Download the free report
• Nvidia has $530 billion guarantees supporting AI customers, creating downside risk. LINK
• Four-high HBM stacks may lower inference costs by maximizing scarce wafer bandwidth. LINK
• AI agents generate just 0.6%-7.5% of Coinbase x402 commerce. LINK
• Payment friction increasingly determines whether merchants retain business software platforms. LINK
• Morgan Stanley says white-collar workers could benefit from AI despite job losses. LINK
• Philadelphia Fed paper tracks 6,645 Bitcoin and 5,075 Ethereum whale transactions. LINK

📅 Market Calendar

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