Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
💰 Nvidia teams with Wall Street on $500B AI fund
🏭 TSMC's sales surge 45% on AI demand
📌 OpenAI buys back $7B in staff shares
💵 Intel raises $15B for AI chip push
⚖️ Senate sets Sept 15 vote on crypto bill
🤖 Walling off China hurts US robotics
Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 7 corporate news, 💰 7 deal flow, and 📑 6 research & reports.
| 💰 Nvidia teams with Wall Street on $500B AI fund LINK |
- Nvidia has partnered with six Wall Street firms, Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR, to raise more than $500bn for AI infrastructure, with the chipmaker able to backstop up to $125bn, or 25%.
- The platforms let outside investors treat AI "compute", the processing power that runs AI, as a new asset class, channeling institutional money into datacentres as demand outpaces available capacity.
- The push comes as big tech's combined AI spending is set to top $730bn this year, though analysts flag concerns over the tie between lofty tech valuations, including Nvidia's own $5.3tn worth, and the vast investment needed to sustain them.
| 🏭 TSMC's sales surge 45% on AI demand LINK |
- TSMC, the world's largest chip manufacturer, posted July revenue of NT$467.58 billion ($14.5 billion), up 44.7% from a year earlier, as spending on AI-related semiconductors kept climbing.
- The result runs ahead of TSMC's own guidance for full-year 2026 revenue growth of slightly above 40%, an important read on tech demand given it makes chips for customers including Nvidia and Google.
- European chip stocks rose on the news, with ASML up more than 2%, though the PHLX Semiconductor index sits about 15% below its June high on AI-spending jitters, still up roughly 72% this year.
| 📌 OpenAI buys back $7B in staff shares LINK |
- OpenAI bought back $7 billion in shares from current and former staff at an $852 billion valuation, giving employees a rare cash exit as the company weighs a public listing it confidentially filed for in June.
- The tender lets workers, who are paid largely in hard-to-sell shares averaging $1.5 million each, cash out without IPO restrictions, and its size signals a listing is not imminent despite the June SEC filing.
- The $852 billion price matches OpenAI's March round led by SoftBank's $122 billion investment, but the company remains unprofitable at $2 billion in monthly revenue, missing internal targets as rival Anthropic turned a profit.
| 💵 Intel raises $15B for AI chip push LINK |
- Intel is raising $15 billion through a new share sale to fund its expansion into AI computing, tapping equity markets to bankroll rising capital spending as customers scramble for more processing power.
- The chipmaker said proceeds will cover capital expenditures and day-to-day operating costs, with growth targeted at areas like custom-built silicon and advanced chip packaging to meet what it called surging AI demand.
- The raise lands as Big Tech pours money into AI infrastructure, with Goldman Sachs estimating industry capital spending will reach $765 billion this year and $1.2 trillion in 2027, and Amazon flagging a memory shortage in its guidance.
| ⚖️ Senate sets Sept 15 vote on crypto bill LINK |
- The US Senate left for its August recess without voting on the Clarity Act, the bill that would set rules for the crypto industry, pushing any decision to a three-week September session and hurting its chances before the midterms.
- The central holdup is an ethics provision: Democrats want to bar officials like President Trump and his family from profiting off crypto, and a Tillis-Gallego counteroffer would reportedly force officials to divest some assets, though Trump's acceptance remains unclear.
- Republican support is also shaky, as Senators Hawley, Rounds and Moran seek changes over fears the bill would drain deposits from community banks and cut local lending for farmers, leaving leadership short of the votes for an effective floor vote.
| 🤖 Walling off China hurts US robotics LINK |
- A new US order restricting Chinese humanoid robots is likely to hobble rather than help America's fledgling robotics sector, which faces Chinese manufacturers controlling roughly 85% of the global humanoid market.
- The measure, framed as protection against espionage from camera- and microphone-equipped machines, exempts the federal government itself from the restrictions, undercutting the security rationale and functioning more as a trade barrier.
- The article draws a parallel to solar panels, where US anti-dumping duties starting in 2012 failed to stop China from taking over 80% of every stage of global manufacturing, suggesting walls decide buyers, not industry winners.
🌍 Macro News
- UK's FCA is drafting rules for using tokenized gold as collateral. LINK
- US Strategic Petroleum Reserve hits lowest level since January 1983. LINK
- Oil and gold rise after Trump demands Iran pay compensation. LINK
- Yen slides back to 159 per dollar despite joint intervention. LINK
- UK lawmakers press banks to explain crypto firms' account struggles. LINK
- Tech giants build off-grid gas plants to power AI data centers. LINK
- Australia's central bank holds rates, warns of possible future hike. LINK
- South Korea scraps minimum threshold for crypto Travel Rule reporting. LINK
- Sunrise Energy Metals surges after securing $400 million US loan. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Meta to open source top AI model, challenging OpenAI, Anthropic. LINK
- Revolut wins French banking licence to expand across Europe. LINK
- Jefferies downgrades Apple to Underperform, cuts price target sharply. LINK
- Microsoft seeks TSMC capacity to expand in-house AI chip output. LINK
- OCC rejects Bunq's US national bank charter application. LINK
- Monday.com shares jump on strong second-quarter earnings beat. LINK
- Keel shuts US Bitcoin mining sites to build AI data centers. LINK
📈 Stocks
💰 Deal Flow
- Sony, TSMC discuss $6.4 billion image-sensor plant in Japan. LINK
- Cloudflare shares rise after announcing $2.175 billion convertible notes offering. LINK
- Barrick settles Newmont dispute, clearing path for North American spinoff. LINK
- Startup bank Erebor nears $1.5 billion funding at $8 billion valuation. LINK
- Sila wins $1.4 billion Pentagon loan for battery material production. LINK
- InKind raises $414 million to finance independent restaurants. LINK
- Cambridge Aerospace hits $3.4 billion valuation after Series C round. LINK
📑 Research & Reports
- Standard Chartered starts Chainlink coverage with bullish $200 price target. LINK
- Analysts say memory-chip profit boom is nearing its peak. LINK
- Dollar-backed stablecoins now dominate crypto card spending settlement. LINK
- Singapore doubles 2026 growth forecast on AI-driven export demand. LINK
- Hartnett warns cheap Chinese AI computing could pressure Magnificent Seven. LINK
- AI becoming core intelligence layer across India's fintech sector. LINK