OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has explored the possibility of acquiring or collaborating to establish a rocket company to directly compete with Musk's SpaceX. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Altman reached out to at least one rocket manufacturer, Stoke Space, in the summer to discuss accelerating progress in the fall. The proposals include allowing OpenAI to make a series of equity investments in the company and eventually gain a controlling stake, with the total investment amounting to several billion dollars. However, people close to OpenAI said that the relevant negotiations are no longer active. For a long time, Altman has shown interest in the possibility of building data centers in space, believing that the huge demand for computing resources from artificial intelligence systems might eventually require such a vast amount of electricity that space becomes a better choice. This move will further escalate the competition between him and Musk in rocket launches and AI fields. This move comes at a time when OpenAI is facing headwinds in the market. The company has signed computing deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars but has not publicly stated how it will foot the bill for these projects, while ChatGPT is losing market share. Details of the Rocket company's negotiations have come to light According to The Wall Street Journal, Altman approached Stoke Space last summer. The company was founded by former employees of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and is developing fully reusable rockets, which is also the goal that SpaceX is striving to achieve. One of the negotiation proposals is that OpenAI makes a series of equity investments in Stoke and eventually acquires the controlling stake. This investment will amount to several billion dollars over time. Insiders said that the discussions heated up in the autumn, but people close to OpenAI said that the relevant negotiations are no longer active at present. Reaching a deal with Stoke will give Altman the right to participate in the Nova rocket that the company is developing. But creating a new rocket is full of technical challenges and regulatory issues, usually taking ten years, which makes it difficult to start a new company from scratch. At present, several launch companies including Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and Stoke are attempting to challenge SpaceX's position. The grand vision of the space data center Altman has publicly discussed on multiple occasions the possibility of establishing a rocket company and developing data centers in space. He believes that the computing resources required to power artificial intelligence systems are huge and may eventually need so much electricity that environmental impacts will make space a better choice. Supporters of orbital data centers say that this will enable enterprises to power them with solar energy. "I do guess that over time, many places around the world will be filled with data centers," Altman said recently in a podcast with Theo Von. Perhaps we would build a huge Dyson sphere around the solar system and say, "Hey, putting these things on Earth actually makes no sense." '" This concept has not yet been confirmed, but Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, and satellite operator Planet Labs have reached an agreement to launch two prototype satellites equipped with Google's AI chips in 2027. Tech ceos including Bezos, Musk and Google's Sundar Pichai have all praised the possibility of building AI computing clusters in space. OpenAI is facing payment pressure These discussions about potential rocket investments began to take shape at a time when market enthusiasm for AI was at its peak. Altman announced a series of chip and data center deals in September and October last year, with partners including Oracle, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and other companies. Investors initially responded positively to these announcements, and the share prices of Oracle and Nvidia rose rapidly within weeks after the announcements. But the market then turned pessimistic about the expansionist AI ambitions. Oracle's share price has dropped by approximately 19% over the past month, and Nvidia's has fallen by about 13%. Nvidia's chief financial officer said this week that the $100 billion deal between the company and OpenAI has not yet been finalized. OpenAI has signed nearly $600 billion in new computing commitments in just the past few months, raising questions about how it will pay for these development projects. This start-up company is expected to achieve $13 billion in revenue this year, while also facing pressure from Anthropic, whose sales among programmers and enterprise customers are growing rapidly. On Monday, OpenAI announced a "red alert" status to improve ChatGPT, after the product began losing market share to Google's Gemini chatbot. Therefore, OpenAI is postponing the launch of other products, including the advertising business, and encouraging employees to temporarily change positions to focus on chatbots. Engage in a "full-scale competition" with Musk The proposed collaboration with Stoke will make the competition between Altman and Musk more direct. SpaceX dominates the rocket launch field, while Musk also runs the rival AI startup xAI. Altman recently founded the brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs to compete with Musk's Neuralink, and OpenAI is also building a social network that might compete with X. Altman is a seasoned venture capitalist who once managed the startup incubator Y Combinator, which previously invested in Stoke. According to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, he oversees an opaque and large investment portfolio involving over 400 companies. His personal investments are not as frequent as before, but he is not ashamed to use OpenAI's balance sheet to fund ambitious projects. For instance, earlier this year, he promised that OpenAI and SoftBank would jointly invest 18 billion US dollars in a new data center company named Stargate. In a podcast with his brother last June, Altman asked in return, "Should I start a rocket company?" I hope that the energy ultimately consumed by humanity will far exceed the energy we might generate on Earth. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for its initial public offering, which could become one of the largest ipos ever. The company is in a race to go public with OpenAI and may complete its listing as early as 2026. According to media reports on Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter disclosed that the developer of the Claude chatbot has recently selected a law firm on the West Coast of the United States. Anthropic is currently in talks for a round of private equity financing, which will value it at more than 300 billion US dollars. According to multiple people familiar with the matter, Anthropic has also held discussions with major investment banks regarding a potential IPO. However, these discussions are still at an initial and informal stage, indicating that the company is not yet close to selecting an IPO underwriter. Despite this, these measures mark an important step forward for Anthropic in its IPO preparations. This listing will test the public market's willingness to invest in large research laboratories that are at the core of the AI boom but are still suffering heavy losses. A professional IPO team is in place Wilson Sonsini has been providing legal counsel services to Anthropic since 2022, including offering advice on Amazon's multibillion-dollar investment. This law firm has been involved in the IPO projects of well-known technology companies such as Google, LinkedIn and Lyft. According to a person familiar with its plans, Anthropic may be ready for an IPO in 2026. But another person close to the company warned that the possibility of such a rapid listing is not high. A spokesperson for Anthropic said, "For a company of our size and revenue level, operating like a publicly traded company is a rather standard practice." We have not made any decision on when or even whether to go public. At present, there is no information to share. Anthropic, headquartered in San Francisco, hired Krishna Rao as its chief Financial officer last year. Rao worked at Airbnb for six years and played a key role in the company's IPO process. According to a person familiar with the relevant process, the company has been dealing with the internal list of changes required for going public. OpenAI is simultaneously advancing its listing According to media reports citing informed sources, OpenAI is also making initial preparations for its listing, but they have warned that it is too early to set a timetable for the listing. Anthropic's investors are enthusiastic about the IPO, believing that the company can seize the initiative from its larger rival OpenAI by going public first. Both companies will attempt to go public at valuations unprecedented for US tech startups. OpenAI was valued at 500 billion US dollars in October last year. Anthropic received a $15 billion funding commitment from Microsoft and NVIDIA last month, which will be part of a financing round expected to value the group between $300 billion and $350 billion. But the two companies may also face challenges. Their rapid growth and the astronomical cost of training AI models make their financial performance hard to predict. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

On Tuesday, according to Nick Timiraos, a Wall Street Journal reporter known as the "New Fedpress", although the interview for the Fed chair candidate is still ongoing, President Trump seems inclined to choose long-term advisor Kevin Hassett for the position. This appointment may become the most important personnel decision in Trump's second term. Timiraos said that Trump told reporters on Sunday, "I know who I'm going to choose," and when asked if it was Hassett, he just smiled without saying a word. The director of the White House National Economic Council, Hassett, met two key criteria of the president: loyalty and credibility in the market. Last week, when the news broke that Hassett was a hot candidate, long-term interest rates dropped, which was seen as evidence that he could gain market trust. Hassett himself said on a CBS program on Sunday that this market reaction proved that he could achieve the interest rate cut target set by Trump without sacrificing the credibility of inflation. Loyalty becomes the decisive factor Timiraos said that Hassett has an advantage due to his close relationship with the president, which is unmatched by other competitors. He served as the chairperson of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he briefly returned to serve as a senior advisor. In January this year, when Trump returned to the White House, he became the director of the National Economic Council. According to informed sources, Hassett has expressed to the White House and other government officials his desire to secure the position and believes he is the best candidate. Since Labor Day, US Treasury Secretary Bessent has been conducting a well-organized selection process, reducing the initial 11 candidates to 5, but it seems that Trump has internally determined the candidates. The five final candidates include Hassett, former Federal Reserve Governor Warsh, current Federal Reserve governors Waller and Bowman, as well as BlackRock executive Rieder. Warsh was once seen as a frontrunner on par with Hassett this summer, but people who have recently spoken to him believe he no longer sees himself that way. The selection process is drawing to a close Timiraos said that Finance Minister Besente has been leading this months-long open selection, with candidates competing through cable TV and multiple interviews. The final candidate has met with Besant and will start meeting with Vice President JD Vance and other White House staff this week, after which he will meet with Trump. Bessent said that Trump might announce the nominee before Christmas. White House spokesman Kush Desai said, "Before President Trump officially announces it, all the discussions about the Fed's nomination are speculation." Despite all signs pointing to Hassett, according to people familiar with the situation, Trump may still change his mind. According to people familiar with the matter directly, Trump was still discussing with his Allies last week about who should be the next chairperson of the Federal Reserve and asked them to provide reasons for Hassett or Warsh. Someone told Trump that if he chose Hassett, he would lose the director of the National Economic Council. Another person who has discussed the matter with Trump said that Bessant is currently the only candidate who might change Hassett's victory. Although Bessent has privately and publicly ruled out the possibility of running for the position, according to people familiar with the matter directly, Trump told his Allies last week that he highly admires Bessent and is still willing to consider him a potential candidate for the chair of the Federal Reserve. Professional qualifications coexist with disputes Timiraos said that apart from loyalty, Hassett's advantage also lies in the fact that he is an economics doctor with published papers and has served as an economist at the Federal Reserve. He has a solid conservative background. In 2017, the Senate confirmed him as the chairperson of the Economic Advisory Committee by a bipartisan majority vote. However, his candidacy has also raised doubts among some former colleagues, who question whether he has the temperament for the position and the determination to confront Trump if necessary. Some people who had helped him gain congressional support were disturbed by his public criticism of the Federal Reserve. During Trump's first term, Hassett firmly defended the importance of the central bank's independence, but this year he joined Trump in sharply criticizing the Federal Reserve and Powell. He accused the Federal Reserve of being partisan for not cutting interest rates more aggressively in the summer and last month. This accusation was almost opposed by all central bank policymakers. Powell will step down in May. This successor selection is becoming a rare open competition, in sharp contrast to the practice of the past few decades. Since Greenspan succeeded Volcker in 1987, every new Federal Reserve chair has promised to maintain policy continuity to promote market stability, but this time the candidate must distance himself from Powell. The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates at its last two meetings, but some officials are cautious about further rate cuts, including at next week's meeting, where they need to balance the dual concerns of a weak labor market and sticky inflation. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

The two major cloud computing giants, Amazon and Google, are rarely coming together to establish faster and more reliable connections for enterprise customers between each other's cloud platforms through a jointly developed new service. This move aims to meet the market's growing demand for highly stable connections and reduce the risk of significant business losses that may result from network disruptions. According to a joint statement released by the two companies on Sunday, this new initiative will enable customers to establish a private high-speed link between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud within minutes, significantly reducing the deployment time that might have taken weeks in the past. This move aims to enhance network interoperability and provide convenience for enterprises adopting multi-cloud strategies. On October 20th, AWS experienced a large-scale service outage, causing thousands of websites worldwide and popular applications including Snapchat and Reddit to go offline. The disruption alone could have cost US companies as much as $500 million to $650 million, according to Reuters citing analysis firm Parametrix, highlighting the crucial role of cloud service stability. Robert Kennedy, vice president of AWS Network Services, referred to this event as "a fundamental shift in multi-cloud connectivity." Rob Enns, vice president and general manager of Google Cloud Network, said that the goal of the United Network is "to make it easier for customers to migrate data and applications between clouds." Enhance interoperability and address the risk of disruptions According to the announcements of the two cloud service providers, this new product combines AWS's InterConnect-MultiCloud and Google Cloud's Cross-Cloud Interconnect service. Its core objective is to enhance network interoperability among different cloud platforms to address the market's urgent demand for reliable connections, especially in the current context where even a brief disruption to Internet services can have a significant impact. This initiative aimed at simplifying the multi-cloud architecture has already attracted early users. Google Cloud mentioned in a statement that enterprise software giant Salesforce is one of the first adopters of the new solution. This collaboration also reflects a broader trend in the technology industry. With the accelerated development of artificial intelligence and the sharp increase in Internet traffic, the demand for computing power is growing at an unprecedented rate. To address this challenge, tech giants including Alphabet (Google's parent company), Microsoft and Amazon are investing billions of dollars in building a new generation of infrastructure capable of handling massive amounts of data and traffic. The cloud market landscape and performance In the current global cloud computing market, AWS is the largest provider, followed closely by Microsoft's Azure and Google Cloud. The collaboration between the two major competitors to offer interconnection services is of great significance to enterprise customers who rely on multiple cloud service providers to diversify risks. In terms of financial performance, Amazon's cloud business achieved strong growth in the third quarter. According to Reuters, AWS generated $33 billion in revenue this quarter, more than twice Google Cloud's $15.16 billion revenue during the same period, further consolidating its market leading position. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

As the activity level of the capital market increases, its supporting function for the real economy is being restored. According to Wind data, based on the listing date, the amount of funds raised through A-share ipos within 2025 (January to November) will reach 100.359 billion yuan. This is the second time that the amount of funds raised through A-share ipos has returned to the 100-billion-yuan mark since it fell below the 100-billion-yuan mark in 2024. However, compared with the historical highs of over 500 billion yuan in 2021 and 2022, the fundraising amount of A-share ipos this year has not been particularly outstanding. Looking at it by sector, more than half of the IPO financing amount was mainly contributed by the main board, reaching 52.375 billion yuan, which has already exceeded the total IPO scale of the main board in 2024. This is mainly driven by the main board company, Huadian New Energy (600930.SH). As the sole creator of a 10-billion-yuan deal within the year, its IPO fundraising amount reached 18.171 billion yuan. The amount of funds raised through ipos on the STAR Market and the Growth Enterprise Market during the same period was 17.962 billion yuan and 23.273 billion yuan respectively, which was almost the same as that in 2024. The growth in IPO financing has, to a certain extent, increased the returns of investment banks. A total of five investment banks have seen their IPO sponsorship amounts exceed 10 billion yuan within the year. From high to low, they are Guotai Haitong, Huatai Securities, CITIC Securities, CICC and CITIC Construction Investment. As a core tool for direct financing in the capital market, the significance of ipos in supporting the real economy spans multiple dimensions such as enterprise growth, industrial upgrading, and economic structure optimization. Its value is not only reflected in the supply of funds but also in promoting the high-quality development of the real economy through multiple mechanisms such as capital empowerment, institutional constraints, and resource integration. In the future, as the multi-level capital market system is improved, ipos are expected to provide stronger capital impetus for the development of new quality productive forces and industrial upgrading. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

As the cryptocurrency market once again enters a cold spell, unlike previous cyclical fluctuations, this decline, due to the deep interweaving of digital assets with the mainstream financial system, is posing an unprecedented threat to the broader financial system. The core of this risk does not lie in simple price speculation, but in those institutional changes that not only aim to build alternative financial systems but also begin to permeate traditional markets. Bitcoin has dropped by 30% in less than two months, erasing all its gains for the year. The declines of other crypto assets have been even more severe. It is alarming that this sharp drop occurred in a regulatory environment regarded as the friendliest in history. The market has not used loose policies to build a stable system. Instead, it has given rise to memecoins in the stock market, nearly unlimited leverage in exchanges, and a feverish prediction market around political events such as government shutdowns. Even this week, an ETF tracking Dogecoin was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The most notable and perhaps the most risky area in this crisis lies in the rise of stablecoins. With the new bill, known as the "Genius Act", providing a credibility endorsement for the industry, stablecoins are expanding rapidly and being adopted by enterprises not limited to the crypto field. However, if a trust crisis occurs in this seemingly "stable" asset class, the resulting sell-off will directly impact US Treasury bonds and the money market, repeating systemic risks similar to those of the 2008 financial crisis or the banking turmoil in 2023. Lee Reiners, a researcher at Duke University's Center for Finance and Economics and a former Federal Reserve official, has warned that, just like money market funds and repo markets, stablecoins inevitably face the risk of a run. Once investors panic sell, issuers will be forced to liquidate traditional financial assets held as reserves, thereby transmitting the chill in the crypto market to the entire global financial system. Leverage reduction and discount cycle The current sell-off began with excessive leverage and the bursting of the valuation bubble. The center of this round of sharp decline is Hyperliquid, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Singapore. This exchange has only 11 employees, yet it handles an average daily trading volume of 13 billion US dollars and offers astonishingly high leverage services. In October this year, the platform witnessed a liquidation event worth up to 10 billion US dollars, and its shockwaves quickly spread throughout the entire market. In the traditional stock market, listed companies holding large amounts of cryptocurrency assets (" crypto Treasury stocks ") are becoming the biggest losers. Previously, market frenzy led to the trading prices of these companies' stocks enjoying a premium over the crypto assets they held. Investors once believed that it was reasonable to pay $2 for every $1 worth of cryptocurrency. This prompted companies to issue stocks or borrow to purchase more cryptocurrencies, thereby pushing up prices. Nowadays, this trading logic is painfully reversing. The trading prices of these companies have dropped below the value of the crypto assets they hold, showing a discount. For these enterprises, the logical operation becomes selling cryptocurrencies to repurchase their own stocks. This selling behavior further depressed the prices of crypto assets, forming a self-reinforcing downward cycle. Stablecoin expansion and the entry of traditional giants While the market is in turmoil, the stablecoin sector is showing an expansionary trend, which instead intensifies potential risk exposure. As the crypto asset closest to the alternative financial system, stablecoins promise zero volatility by pegging to the US dollar and have gained a halo of legitimacy thanks to the new regulatory framework, the "Genius Act". This background has attracted the participation of traditional business giants. Swedish "buy now, pay later" service provider Klarna announced this week that it will launch a stablecoin named KlarnaUSD next year. Previously, payment company Western Union and cloud service provider Cloudflare have also ventured into this field. Although the current market is still dominated by Circle and Tether - with a combined market capitalization of approximately 250 billion US dollars - the connection between stablecoins and global business activities is becoming increasingly close with the entry of new players like Klarna, especially as their applications in overseas markets increase. In countries like Argentina and Turkey where currencies are unstable or capital controls are in place, stablecoins have become the simplest way to obtain and transfer US dollars. However, this wide application also means that once a crisis occurs, the channels through which it spreads will be more diverse and global. Redemption crisis and systemic risk Stablecoins typically maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar by holding safe assets such as short-term government bonds, bank deposits, and money market funds. Ironically, these crypto assets rely on the traditional financial tools they despise to maintain stability. History shows that committing to stability is much easier than achieving it. This month, a small stablecoin operated by Stream Finance, which promised a yield of about 18%, crashed. The company went bankrupt after losing 93 million US dollars, resulting in a market value evaporation of approximately 200 million US dollars. This case reveals the dark side behind the promise of stablecoins: bank runs. For investors, losing venture capital is one thing, but losing savings is another. The latter is highly likely to trigger panic withdrawals. Even industry giants are not spared. Looking back at the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in 2023, Circle, a major stablecoin issuer in the United States, faced a run on the bank due to its $3.3 billion in assets at SVB, and the price of its stablecoin once dropped to 88 cents. Although Circle was eventually rescued by the regulatory authorities' commitment to fully redeem SVB deposits, this exposed the fragile connection between stablecoins and the banking system. Lee Reiners pointed out that the failure of SVB originated from the depreciation of the ultra-safe Treasury bonds it held in an environment of interest rate hikes. This transmission mechanism is precisely the hidden concern of the current market. If investors sell stablecoins on a large scale, issuers will be forced to sell off the reserve assets such as government bonds behind them. Given that the fluctuations in the Treasury bond market have triggered multiple crises, stablecoins may become a new and unpredictable source of risk in the financial system. Just as the tiny cracks in money market funds in 2008 led to the darkest hour, people often only realize that risks have long existed after a crisis has occurred. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

As investors' concerns over the overvaluation of artificial intelligence intensify and new uncertainties emerge in the industry's competitive landscape, the share price of SoftBank Group has become a key indicator of market confidence in the non-listed company OpenAI. This close interaction effect is making this Japanese investment giant pay the price for its huge bet in the AI field. Since the end of October, SoftBank's share price has plunged by approximately 40% from its peak, with its market value evaporating by more than 16 trillion yen (about 102 billion US dollars). The core catalyst for this round of selling is the market's unease over the competitive pressure faced by its main investment target, OpenAI, especially after Alphabet released the highly praised Gemini 3.0 model. However, it was precisely this deep exposure to the AI industry that brought huge benefits to SoftBank not long ago. With an unrealized gain of $14.6 billion from its investment in OpenAI, SoftBank unexpectedly achieved a net profit of 2.5 trillion yen in the second fiscal quarter and was once on the verge of setting one of the highest annual profits in the company's history. But nowadays, the same exposure also makes it extremely vulnerable when there are any changes in the AI industry. This round of sharp decline has put Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, in the spotlight for his aggressive strategy. He is preparing to double down on OpenAI and its supporting infrastructure, attempting to position SoftBank as a core player in the AI ecosystem led by OpenAI. However, the market's sharp reaction indicates that investors are reassessing the risks and returns of this risky gamble. Xiao He: Deep Integration with OpenAI SoftBank's fate has become inseparably linked to OpenAI's valuation and market position. Analysis suggests that the recent sharp decline in SoftBank's stock price more reflects its sensitivity to OpenAI rather than the general weakness of the entire AI market. Since Google's Gemini 3.0 was released last week, SoftBank's share price has dropped by 24%, highlighting market concerns that intensified competition could impact OpenAI's ambitious growth targets. This correlation stems from SoftBank's huge financial commitment. The company still needs to pay OpenAI $22.5 billion in December, which is part of its committed total investment of $32 billion. Analysts Kirk Boodry and Chris Muckensturm pointed out that assuming this investment is completed and OpenAI's valuation reaches $500 billion, SoftBank's stake will account for more than 20% of its net asset value. This expectation, which had driven SoftBank's share price to soar between August and October, has now become the main reason for its share price reversal. Market concerns over the overvaluation of AI-related companies continue to escalate. Earlier this month, when asked whether there was an AI bubble in the industry, SoftBank's chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto admitted that he couldn't make a judgment. This manager, who has experienced many boom and bust cycles along with Masayoshi Son, said: This is something that can only be known for sure after the fact. Gemini 3.0, launched by Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is regarded as OpenAI's most powerful competitor to date. Its positive reviews have directly raised investors' doubts about whether OpenAI can maintain its leading position. Masayoshi Son's bold bet: Betting on AI chips and infrastructure Masayoshi Son's goal is far more than just becoming a financial investor in OpenAI. He is building a complete AI ecosystem through a series of mergers and acquisitions and investments. For this reason, he has sold SoftBank's shares in NVIDIA and Oracle to raise funds. Masayoshi Son firmly believes that future devices will require highly energy-efficient AI chips, and thus he is making large-scale purchases of AI chip design companies. Currently, SoftBank holds nearly 90% of the shares in the chip architecture giant Arm. Recently, SoftBank also completed the acquisition of Ampere Computing LLC, an American server processor manufacturer, worth 6.5 billion US dollars. The latter is one of Arm's customers. In addition, SoftBank also plans to acquire ABB Ltd. 's robotics division for 5.4 billion US dollars. However, this chip strategy is not without challenges. Amir Anvarzadeh, a Japanese equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors, pointed out that the market has overlooked the growing penetration of the open-source architecture RISC-V in the core design of AI chips, and even NVIDIA is adopting it. Market Divergence: Is the "general rise" era of AI concept stocks over? The fluctuations in SoftBank's stock price also reflect the shift in its investment logic in AI. Kazunori Tatebe, the chief strategist of Daiwa Asset Management, said: The stage of buying AI-related stocks without selection has come to an end, and future screening will become more rigorous. The market has begun to show obvious differentiation. It was reported that Meta Platforms Inc. plans to use Google's Gemini AI chips. This news has raised concerns about Nvidia's business and also put pressure on the share prices of its Japanese suppliers. For instance, Ibiden Co., a major supplier of substrates for NVIDIA chips, saw its share price drop by approximately 4% this week. Meanwhile, some other companies have benefited from it. Toppan Holdings Inc. 's share price rose by approximately 11% this week, partly because the market believes that the company, as a major business partner of Broadcom Corp., which collaborates with Google to design AI chips, will benefit. Maito Yamamoto, the chief analyst of Nissay Asset Management, believes that Advantest Corp. Such Japanese chip equipment manufacturers may also benefit. This indicates that investors are shifting from chasing a single AI leader to more precisely assessing the winners and losers across the entire industrial chain. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

Fed officials have been making frequent statements recently to boost expectations of interest rate cuts. Bank of America believes that in the face of serious internal differences, a "dovish pause" is wiser. Following the dovish signal sent by New York Fed President Williams, Federal Reserve Governor Waller and San Francisco Fed President Daly explicitly expressed their support for a rate cut in December. These statements greatly boosted market sentiment, and the probability of a rate cut in December soared from a low to 80%. The S&P 500 index closed up nearly 1.6%, marking its biggest gain in six weeks, while the Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 2.7%, Posting its best single-day performance since May. However, according to the Chase Wind Trading Desk, Bank of America has warned that there is a serious division within the Federal Reserve over the December decision. Bank of America economists Aditya Bhave and Matthew Yep warned in a report on November 24 that these dovish voices are far from representing the committee's consensus. Fed Governor Barr said "caution is needed", Chicago Fed President Goolsbee focused on the upside risks of inflation, and Dallas Fed President Logan explicitly opposed a rate cut in December. Bank of America believes that forcing a "hawkish rate cut" (that is, cutting rates this time but strongly suggesting a pause next time) may backfire. Waiting for more employment and inflation data to be released, a "dovish pause" in December might be a better choice. Contradictory data exacerbated the differences within the committee The September employment data failed to quell the controversy; instead, it only added fuel to the fire. A report by Bank of America indicates that the unemployment rate is approaching 4.5%, which is a clear sign of easing in the labor market. On the other hand, however, new employment, income growth and the labor force participation rate all performed strongly. This contradiction has led the hawks and doves on the committee to hold their own views. This divergence was fully exposed in the officials' statements after the meeting. Although the market caught dovish signals from Williams and Waller's speeches, they are far from representing a consensus. Other FOMC members are not enthusiastic about interest rate cuts. After the release of the employment report, Barr said the Fed needed to "act with caution", Gulsby focused on the upward risks of inflation, Logan explicitly opposed a rate cut in December, and even the dovish Paulson expressed a cautious attitude. "Dovish pause" might be a better choice Facing what might be the most controversial decision in recent years, Bank of America believes that for Powell, choosing a "dovish pause" is easier to operate than pushing for a "hawkish rate cut". The former implies holding back in December but strongly suggests the possibility of future interest rate cuts, thus reserving the greatest flexibility for action in January next year. Bank of America's report states: Powell can point out that between the December and January meetings, we will obtain a large amount of data - three employment reports, two unemployment rate readings and two CPI reports - and if necessary, the Federal Reserve is always ready to cut interest rates again in January. In contrast, forcing a "hawkish rate cut" (that is, cutting interest rates this time but strongly suggesting a pause next time) might backfire. Bank of America doubts whether the market will believe such a commitment, as the hawks will be reluctant to make concessions in December if they cannot obtain a reliable guarantee of a January pause. Ultimately, even if Powell can secure enough votes, he may still face a situation where nearly half of the regional Fed presidents explicitly or implicitly oppose him.

Following the listing of autonomous driving enterprises Pony.ai (2026.HK) and weride (0800.HK) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, another company has embarked on the road to an IPO. Tiantong Vision is positioned as a technology service provider, mainly offering autonomous driving technology solutions, covering L2-L2+ and L4 levels of automation. In 2024, Tiantong Vision's revenue was 483 million yuan, while it suffered a net loss of 463 million yuan during the same period. Tiantong Vision itself is also seeking more opportunities. Whether Tiantong Vision can thereby secure a place in the L4-level market is drawing attention. The autonomous driving solution provided by Tiantong Vision adopts a dual-track approach of L2-L2+ and L4 levels. In the first half of 2025, L2-L2+ level solutions generated revenue of 58 million yuan, accounting for 36.8%, a year-on-year decline of over 40%. At present, the autonomous driving industry is mainly divided into two types of participants: automakers and third parties. The former includes automakers such as BYD and Li Auto that insist on independent research and development; The latter includes Horizon Robotics (9660.HK), Tiantong Vision, Furitek, Momenta, etc., which need to cooperate with car manufacturers or their suppliers to obtain orders. Cao Xudong, CEO of Momenta, said in an interview that by 2026, there might only be two or three enterprises left in the domestic urban assisted driving field. "Mainly because we strategically shifted from L2-L2+ level aftermarket solutions with lower technical barriers to front-market solutions, in order to allocate more resources to solutions that require more advanced technologies." " Tiantong Vision pointed out. Due to the rapid growth of the global market, the advancement of L4-related technologies, and a favorable regulatory environment, the market demand for L4-level solutions subsequently rebounded in 2024. Tiantong Vision explained. At present, Tiantong Vision has received an intention order worth 1 billion yuan for L4-level solutions, covering over 2,500 Robobuses, Robotaxis and Robotrucks, which are expected to be delivered within the next three to five years. From our observation of the implementation of laws and regulations, driverless trucks will be slower than Robotaxis. Since Robotaxis mainly operate within urban areas, they do not need to cross provinces or cities. However, most unmanned trucks operate across provinces and cities, which means that they need to be supervised by laws and regulations at the central level. In this case, we estimate that driverless trucks will be at least two to three years behind Robotaxis. The head of an autonomous driving company in the south told Xinfeng. However, Tiantong Vision still plans to continue investing more resources in developing autonomous driving technology solutions suitable for unmanned trucks through this IPO. At present, Tiantong Vision mainly provides software development and licensing services for automakers or their first-tier suppliers. Overall, Tiantong Vision is more positioned as a technology service provider, which is quite different from Pony.ai and weride, which went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year. In response to this, Tiantong Vision adheres to a light-asset operation approach. The advantage of this is that as car manufacturers join the battle of Robotaxi, Tiantong Vision, as a third-party supplier, is expected to benefit from the high prosperity of the industry and gain more opportunities. At present, more players are joining the battle. In addition to Pony.ai and weride, which have long been deeply involved in Robotaxi, Hellobike, XPeng and others have also announced their plans to launch Robotaxis. However, if we examine the gross profit margin of Tiantong Vision from the perspective of an autonomous driving software service provider, we will find that its performance is not particularly outstanding. The core reason might still lie in the fact that Tiantong Vision has relatively weak bargaining power when dealing with downstream vehicle manufacturers. The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.

This Wednesday, Kraken, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges (whose parent company is Payward Inc.), has secretly filed an IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under the strong policy support for digital assets demonstrated by the Trump administration, Kraken is attempting to seize the last window of opportunity before the 2026 midterm elections and plans to go public as early as the first quarter of next year. Just before submitting its listing application, Kraken has just completed a new round of financing. The company disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that its latest round of financing totaled $800 million and its post-investment valuation rose to $20 billion. This figure has soared by 33% compared to the $15 billion valuation in the last round of financing two months ago. This round of financing attracted the participation of top Wall Street market makers and trading institutions including Citadel Securities and Jane Street. Among them, Citadel Securities injected approximately 200 million US dollars. According to previous media reports, Kraken has hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriters for its IPO. Jacob Zuller, an analyst at Third Bridge, pointed out: "Kraken's secret IPO application sends a clear signal: crypto assets will exist for a long time, and the exchange track is not a 'winner-takes-all' market." Recent financing and ipos will provide crucial financial support for Kraken's product innovation and overseas expansion. From a macro perspective, Kraken's rush to go public is closely related to the current political cycle. Since Trump returned to the White House and signed the Genius Act, the regulatory environment in the United States has significantly warmed up for the crypto industry. The president previously promised to build the United States into the "world Capital of Cryptocurrencies". This policy dividend has stimulated several leading institutions, including Gemini and Bullish, to list on the US stock market this year. However, as the 2026 midterm elections draw near, market concerns over a possible shift in regulatory winds are on the rise. To hedge against the uncertainties of the future, several crypto companies, including Grayscale and the hosting startup BitGo, are accelerating their IPO processes. At the business level, Kraken, founded in 2011, is attempting to shake off its single label as a "cryptocurrency exchange" and transform into a comprehensive financial services platform. The company has recently launched a commission-free stock trading service and begun to offer tokenized stock trading to customers in the EU region. Meanwhile, Kraken has also been actively expanding through acquisitions. In May this year, it spent 1.5 billion US dollars to acquire the retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader. Last month, it also acquired the futures Exchange Small Exchange from IG Group for 100 million US dollars. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks. Please invest with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and has not taken into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this is at your own risk.