☕️ China forces Meta to unwind $2B Manus deal

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Before The Bell

Change over the last 24 hours · as of Aug 12, 2026, 6:43 AM ET

🇨🇳 China forces Meta to unwind $2B Manus deal LINK

• Chinese regulators have forced Meta to unwind its $2 billion purchase of AI-agent startup Manus, which said it will "soon resume operating as an independent company" after Beijing ordered the deal reversed in April.
• Meta announced the acquisition last December of Manus, founded in China in 2022 before moving to Singapore, but the deal drew scrutiny in Beijing and Washington over foreign-investment rules amid the US-China race for AI talent, hardware and data.
• The reversal strips Meta of technology it had planned to embed in consumer and enterprise products as it builds an AI subscription business against Google, Anthropic and OpenAI; users must now back up data created on or after December 29, 2025.

Anthropic signs $9.1B compute deal with Riot LINK

• Anthropic has signed a $9.1 billion, 20-year deal with bitcoin miner Riot Platforms to lease AI data center capacity at Riot's Rockdale, Texas, campus, with extension options that could lift the total to $16.1 billion.
• The lease covers 191 megawatts of computing capacity through June 2048, built in stages to 96 megawatts by December 2027 and full capacity by June 2028, funded initially by a $573 million interim credit facility from Morgan Stanley.
• Riot's shares jumped more than 25% in after-hours trading after closing down 5.46%; the deal, alongside an earlier AMD agreement, gives Riot 241 megawatts of signed capacity and roughly $9.8 billion in contracted revenue in six months.

Meta launches $1B data center fund LINK

• Meta is setting up a $1 billion fund to invest in communities that host its data centers, part of a push by US tech firms to counter growing bipartisan opposition to the sprawling AI facilities.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the fund in a 6,500-word essay on Monday, while OpenAI issued an open letter to Texas' governor on Friday promising to be a partner in "responsible AI infrastructure development."
• The outreach follows a fast-rising local backlash: New York banned data-center construction outright, and local bans nationwide climbed from 300 in late June to over 500 in July, signaling political risk for the industry's expansion.

Super Micro guides for up to $72B in sales LINK

• Super Micro Computer reports fiscal Q4 results after Tuesday's close, with Wall Street expecting revenue of $11.2 billion, a 91% jump from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share, up from $0.41.
• Shares rose 1.1% to $31.46 on volume 26% above normal, buoyed by more than $60 billion in fresh AI-server bookings and a raised gross-margin forecast of 15%-17%, well above earlier guidance of roughly 8%.
• Despite the demand story, the stock is down 30% over the past year versus gains of 230% for Dell and 160% for HPE, as investors weigh negative operating cash flow of -$7.56 billion and swelling inventories.

CoreWeave revenue doubles backlog hits $104B LINK

• CoreWeave's second-quarter revenue more than doubled to $2.58 billion, beating estimates, while its backlog of unbilled deals jumped 246% year-over-year to $104.2 billion, sending shares up more than 14% in after-hours trading Tuesday.
• Demand for the AI data center provider's services left near-term capacity "effectively sold out," CEO Michael Intrator said, with prices for access to Nvidia's Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips "setting new highs" and older chips also renting higher.
• Despite the surge, CoreWeave lost $626 million in the quarter, driven by $640 million in net interest costs, as some investors worry the $46.7 billion of chips and equipment on its balance sheet could quickly lose value.

Macro News

• FinCEN permanently exempts companies from Corporate Transparency Act ownership-disclosure rules. LINK
• Russia's central bank approves Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT for retail trading. LINK
• BRICS nations explore linking central bank digital currencies and payment systems. LINK
• Cleveland Fed's Hammack still favors rate hikes despite weak jobs data. LINK
• Russia imports gasoline from India for the first time ever. LINK
• Nearly 300 French newspapers file complaint against Google's AI search summaries. LINK
• CFTC uses emergency powers to keep Kalshi operating in New York. LINK
• Oil nears $90 a barrel as Trump adds new demands on Iran. LINK
• Trump administration argues tariff refunds should only go to plaintiffs, not all companies. LINK
• French power prices jump 21.8% as heatwave curbs nuclear output. LINK
• SEC schedules meeting to propose new crypto capital-raising rule, Reg Crypto. LINK
• Norway's wealth fund posts record $184 billion half-year profit. LINK

Corporate News

• OpenAI operating chief Brad Lightcap departs to start new venture. LINK
• Uber sells its entire stake in delivery robot company Serve Robotics. LINK
• Google names Koray Kavukcuoglu to lead DeepMind, replacing Demis Hassabis. LINK
• Appeals court allows thousands of youth-addiction lawsuits against social media firms. LINK
• Ryanair partners with Google Cloud to deploy Gemini AI tools. LINK
• Trump Media posts $238 million quarterly loss on crypto holdings. LINK
• Adit Ventures settles SEC fraud case as founder disputes allegations. LINK
• OpenAI splits Daybreak cybersecurity program into two access tiers. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

Everpure rose 12% after the company announced it completed its acquisition of 1touch and provided strong guidance for the future. LINK

GlobalFoundries rose 2% after Q2 revenue of $1.79B beat $1.76B estimate. LINK

Coherent rose 1% after BofA Securities raised its price target to $400. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Figma fell 2% after Q3 revenue guidance implied growth deceleration to 36% from 48%. LINK

Datadog fell 5% after third-quarter revenue guidance implied growth slowing to 29% from 36%. LINK

Deal Flow

• River AI raises $1.1 billion funding round led by General Catalyst, AMP. LINK
• Fermi shares jump 16% after landing first data-center tenant deal. LINK
• Accel closes $800 million fund for European and Israeli startups. LINK
• David Sacks' Craft Ventures seeks $1 billion for new fund. LINK
• RBC and BMO sell payments processor Moneris to Francisco Partners. LINK
• Joby Aviation buys defense startup Resonant Sciences for about $500 million. LINK
• IBM and Together AI ink $240 million deal for AI inference cluster. LINK
• eToro to acquire brokerage TradeZero in deal worth up to $231 million. LINK
• Ari Emanuel's Mari to buy West End theatre owner ATG Entertainment. LINK

Research & Reports

• Bank of America finds no evidence AI is eliminating US jobs broadly. LINK
• JPMorgan raises 2026 S&P 500 target to 8,000 from 7,800. LINK
• US companies raised record $252 billion in stock during Q2 2026. LINK
• Swiss Re warns Europe faces chronic heat risk from fast warming. LINK
• New York Fed says rising credit card delinquencies overstate household stress. LINK

Market Calendar

Earnings  ·  Economic events