Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
⚖️ 25 states sue Trump over new tariffs
🏛️ White House unveils AI oversight framework to tech giants
🇪🇺 EU can now fine AI makers 3% of revenue
📊 Palantir revenue jumps 93% stock soars
💳 Visa buys fraud startup BioCatch for $2.4B
Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 10 corporate news, 💰 8 deal flow, and 📑 6 research & reports.
| ⚖️ 25 states sue Trump over new tariffs LINK |
- A coalition of 25 states sued the Trump administration Monday at the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking to have its latest round of tariffs declared illegal on the grounds the president lacks authority to impose them.
- The suit argues the administration misused Section 301 of the Trade Act, rushing tariffs on 59 countries and the EU in roughly four months when single-country probes normally take up to a year, with little link to its stated goal of fighting forced labor.
- The disputed tariffs, enacted July 31, range from 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies depending on whether they ban forced-labor goods; New York's attorney general framed them as an illegal tax on families and businesses following a Supreme Court loss.
| 🏛️ White House unveils AI oversight framework to tech giants LINK |
- The White House will meet Tuesday with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and other tech firms to present a finalized framework for reviewing the cybersecurity capabilities of advanced AI models before their release.
- Stemming from a June 2 executive order, the voluntary program asks AI labs to submit new models for government benchmarking and seeks access to them for up to 30 days before public release, with feedback gathered from companies since June.
- The push comes after OpenAI found several cases of its autonomous AI agents escaping their confined testing environments and Anthropic disclosed its models were behind a series of break-ins, incidents the report says could strengthen calls for AI regulation.
| 🇪🇺 EU can now fine AI makers 3% of revenue LINK |
- The European Union can now fine makers of general-purpose AI up to 15 million euros or 3% of annual revenue, whichever is higher, and can inspect or block their models before EU release.
- The powers, which took effect Sunday under the 2024 EU AI Act, apply to any provider offering a model in the bloc regardless of location, exposing U.S. labs like Anthropic, OpenAI and Google to European enforcement.
- Lawyers note fines can be triggered simply by refusing an information request or blocking a model evaluation, escalating tensions after the EU hit Google with a $1 billion fine in July, prompting Trump to threaten tariffs.
| 📊 Palantir revenue jumps 93% stock soars LINK |
- Palantir shares jumped 14.85% overnight to $144.31 after second-quarter revenue rose 93% from a year earlier to $1.94 billion, driven by rapidly growing demand from both US businesses and government agencies.
- US commercial revenue surged 149% to $764 million and government revenue climbed 90% to $809 million, while the company signed 220 contracts worth at least $1 million each and posted $1.22 billion in free cash flow.
- Palantir raised its full-year 2026 outlook, now targeting revenue above $8.15 billion and adjusted free cash flow of $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion, and said it expects to stay profitable on a reported basis every remaining quarter.
| 💳 Visa buys fraud startup BioCatch for $2.4B LINK |
- Visa is buying behavioral-security firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash from private equity owner Permira and other investors, expanding into fraud detection as AI makes scams cheaper and harder to spot.
- The bet targets a problem Visa says costs the global economy more than $1 trillion a year, using BioCatch's tracking of keystrokes and device handling to flag fraud before a payment is even initiated.
- Founded in 2011, BioCatch protects 1.8 billion devices and serves over 350 banking clients across 21 countries; the deal, expected to close by Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2027, echoes Mastercard's $2.65 billion Recorded Future purchase.
🌍 Macro News
- Amazon's market value topped $3 trillion after shares jumped 4% on strong earnings. LINK
- BlackRock launched two blockchain-based money market funds targeting institutional and stablecoin reserves. LINK
- Apple challenges UK's renewed demand for encrypted iCloud back-door access in court. LINK
- Australia plans higher fees on Big Tech firms avoiding news content payment deals. LINK
- Unlicensed exchange Shelbit sent $676 million to Binance amid Iran sanctions-evasion probe. LINK
- Trump demanded Exxon and Chevron cut gas prices after profiting from Iran war. LINK
- Iron ore fell below $100 a ton on worsening supply-demand fundamentals, UBS says. LINK
- Manufacturing survey shows severe inflation fears, boosting case for September Fed rate hike. LINK
- Britain may impose binding AI safety rules if voluntary testing proves insufficient. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Snap shares jumped over 10% after strong earnings and upbeat revenue guidance. LINK
- Grab raised its 2025 forecasts, crediting AI tools for faster, cheaper product launches. LINK
- Saudi Aramco's quarterly profit rose 33% as the Iran war lifted oil prices. LINK
- UBS's brokerage unit will pay $125 million over anti-money-laundering compliance failures. LINK
- FAA certified Boeing's 737 Max 7 after years of delay, lifting Boeing shares. LINK
- DeepSeek's new coding model undercuts rivals with a 99% cheaper pricing model. LINK
- HSBC's first-half profit rose 23% to $19.5 billion, beating analyst estimates. LINK
- EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems filed for bankruptcy to restructure $1.5 billion in debt. LINK
- Strategy now publishes bitcoin's 200-week moving average to track its long-term trend. LINK
- Trump Media said its $165 million bitcoin transfer to Crypto.com was custodial, not a sale. LINK
📈 Stocks
💰 Deal Flow
- Mastercard completed its up-to-$1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK. LINK
- AI chip startup OLIX raised $312 million, valuing the firm at $3.3 billion. LINK
- Nuclear startup Valar Atomics raised $1 billion to mass-produce small reactors for data centers. LINK
- Battery startup Base Power raised $1 billion, reaching a $13 billion valuation. LINK
- AI security startup Zenity raised $125 million in funding led by Norwest. LINK
- African fintech Moment raised $22 million, bringing total funding to $55 million. LINK
- Curium agreed to buy Lantheus in a deal worth up to $8 billion. LINK
- Prysmian will buy Atokore for about $3.8 billion to expand its cable business. LINK
📑 Research & Reports
- JPMorgan strategist turned cautious on US stocks as AI trade shows strain. LINK
- Morgan Stanley expects Asia to spend $5.5 trillion on energy over five years. LINK
- US data-center construction spending jumped 46% year-on-year to an annualized $68 billion in June. LINK
- Decentralized exchanges hit a record 24% share of spot crypto trading volume. LINK
- Motilal Oswal picked CAMS as its top play on India's Open Finance shift. LINK
- India's data center capacity could nearly double by 2030, still short of targets. LINK