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Adam Willems / Wired:
US banking groups warn a GENIUS Act loophole, which allows crypto exchanges reward stablecoin holdings, could drive users to pull money from traditional banks  —  The GENIUS Act barred stablecoin issuers from paying interest.  But in allowing cryptocurrency exchanges to offer rewards …

Drop in benchmark CSI index comes after Xi Jinping’s landmark military parade in Beijing

Patrick Tiernan ditches predecessor’s stance and says corporation defers to the energy mix chosen by governments

Patrick Tiernan ditches predecessor’s stance and says corporation defers to the energy mix chosen by governments

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
At IFA 2025, tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Samsung and startups like Doma are expected to showcase how AI could make smart homes more intuitive  —  At IFA 2025, tech giants and startups alike will show us their visions for how AI could make connected homes more intuitive, context-aware, and truly ambient.

Plus more on jobs and growth

Pranav Mukul / The Economic Times:
Uber is tapping Indian drivers for its data-labeling arm, Uber AI Solutions, offering extra income for completing micro tasks like tagging objects in photos  —  Uber is leveraging its Indian driver network for AI data labeling, offering them extra income through micro-tasks within the Uber app.

Financial Times:
Despite setback in the DOJ's Google case, the Trump administration continues to pursue antitrust cases against Big Tech while defending US tech companies abroad  —  Tough enforcement continues even as tech bosses court the president  —  Donald Trump has slapped down European tech rules and promised to slash regulation at home.

Technology-heavy exchange has grappled with rise in volatile trading related to US-listed Chinese companies

Also in this newsletter: The European Commission’s stop-gap solutions for its competition problems

The Hill:
CEOs of Apple, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and others are expected to attend an AI event hosted by Melania Trump and dinner at the White House Rose Garden on Thursday  —  President Trump on Thursday will host two dozen high-profile tech and business leaders for the first event …

Also in today’s newsletter, Lloyds jobs at risk and Brad Pitt’s studio expands into UK

Marina Temkin / TechCrunch:
Orchard Robotics, which uses cameras and AI to help fruit growers manage crops more precisely, raised a $22M Series A led by Quiet Capital and Shine Capital  —  Inspired by his grandparents, who were apple farmers in China, Charlie Wu got the idea to apply technology to agriculture …

President’s levies now seen as a way to offset president’s tax cuts and keep a lid on government borrowing

Oil company ponders future of UK and Belgian factories amid prolonged industry downturn

Successive British prime ministers have destroyed trust with a millefeuille of falsehood about asylum seekers

Executives also warn Brussels that sticking to 2035 petrol engine ban would severely harm bloc’s largest sector

Minouche Shafik’s study of UK development spending has never been published

Oil company ponders future of UK and Belgian factories amid prolonged industry downturn

Kyiv’s allies are under pressure to contribute to a planned multinational force

The government needs more fiscal headroom but must ensure it does no harm

Tales of revenge dazzle, from Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ to Gus Van Sant’s ‘Dead Man’s Wire’. Plus White House thriller ‘A House of Dynamite’ and ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’

Plus, insurance exchange sheds value and the most profitable company you’ve never heard of

Shares have plunged on reports of an FCA probe into the power generator’s already controversial biomass pellets

Sunday’s election in Buenos Aires province presents the biggest challenge yet to right-wing president’s libertarian project

Tariffs, aid cuts and high borrowing costs have left many of the world’s fastest-growing economies at risk

Tech group Jenoptik’s stance in the face of rising populism in Germany highlights the risks of taking a stand on politics

Companies wary of sending top bosses to party’s gathering — but public affairs representatives will be out in force

Producer of F1 blockbuster will use new outpost to make films and shows for broadcasters in the UK and Europe

Champions of artificial intelligence claim it could fuel genuine economic growth

Botswana, one of Africa’s richest countries, tries to shake off dependence on the company and precious stones

Politicians have long blamed a housing shortage for soaring prices, but it is tax reform that can make the market less dysfunctional

Big tech group’s dealmaking spans investments in projects that burn or bury waste

Verbier’s pandemic-era growth triggered an elite schooling boom — and a merger that could reshape private education in the Swiss Alps

FT analysis finds all ethnic minorities have lower probability of being granted home loans than white counterparts

Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Switzerland launches Apertus, an open-source AI model trained only on publicly available data across more than 1,000 languages, in 8B and 70B parameter sizes  —  Apertus was trained only on publicly available data, it said.  —  There's a new player in the AI race, and it's a whole country.

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Bengaluru-based FirstClub, a grocery delivery startup prioritizing quality over speed, raised a $23M Series A led by Accel and RTP Global at a $120M valuation  —  While quick commerce in India has become synonymous with 10-minute deliveries — and the hottest play for startups and investors …

Officials try to strike balance between cracking down on price wars and encouraging innovation

The Information:
Sources: Lambda, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia chips, has hired banks to prepare for a US IPO as soon as H1 2026; it was valued at $2.5B in February  —  Lambda, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia graphics chips for artificial intelligence, has hired investment banks to prepare …

Bloomberg:
Anthropic named the Qatar Investment Authority as a “significant” investor in its $13B round; QIA expects to do up to 25 tech deals through 2026  —  When Anthropic went looking for more money to support its pursuit of building artificial intelligence models, the startup turned to a familiar network of venture capitalists.

Reuters:
American Bitcoin closed up 16.5% in its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday, valuing Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.'s stake in the bitcoin mining company at $1.5B  —  A bitcoin company tied to President Donald Trump's two oldest sons more than doubled in value in its stock market debut on Wednesday …

Margaret Attridge / Courthouse News Service:
A US jury orders Google to pay $425M+ to plaintiffs in a 2020 class action lawsuit for collecting data even after they turned off Web & App Activity tracking  —  A class of nearly 100 million Google users claimed the tech giant secretly collected data even after they disabled data collection …

Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Projects available to all free users, and allows more files to be added to projects; Projects was previously exclusive to paid subscribers  —  The formerly paid feature acts as a folder system for organizing AI chats.  —  OpenAI has announced that it's making …

France 24:
France's CNIL fines Google €325M for placing tracking cookies and ads in Gmail without users' consent; Google says it is reviewing the decision  —  France's data protection authority on Wednesday issued record fines against search giant Google and fast-fashion platform Shein for failing to respect the law on internet cookies.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Roblox will expand age checks to all users of its communication tools by the end of 2025 using facial age estimation tech, ID verification, and parental consent  —  Amid lawsuits alleging child safety concerns, online gaming service Roblox announced on Wednesday that it's expanding …

Job losses at US major are latest affecting the sector hit by mounting costs and Opec’s higher output

CO₂ stored underground will be at risk of leaking back into the atmosphere, study finds

Demand for rare earths is greatest in the clean energy sector that the US president is intent on dismantling

Also in this newsletter: Mercosur endgame, and Poland and Hungary’s cleantech surprise

Country has seen a return to a more unapologetic stance of producing energy to help wean Europe off its dependence on Russia

Move by competition authority further complicates the UK-listed mining group’s restructuring efforts

Slump in cost of industrial metal bodes ill for efforts to diversify global supply

Commodity house is among world’s most profitable companies and has returned $20bn to senior staff over past three years

Chevron on path to rebuilding after winning access to $1tn-Stabroek oilfield

Bondholders also intend to inject more equity into the utility as it seeks to avert nationalisation

Agreement gives Moscow much-needed export route and signals closer relationship with Beijing

Brussels is hoping three-way contracts will bring the benefits of cheap, clean energy to industry

Ohio steel mill scrapped plans for a hydrogen-fuelled furnace because of White House’s assault on green incentives