ALL-TIME SOLO
ALL-TIME SOLO
Dinner and a show — for one. More Americans are doing things solo.
Training dayta
Training dayta
AI models are crying out for video footage. GoPro has thousands of hours' worth
Broken token?
Broken token?
More than 58% of ethereum’s supply is unprofitable
Report: Boeing could unveil 500-jet order from China during Trump’s visit later this month
OpenAI reportedly delaying erotica feature to focus on “gains in intelligence”
Why software shares are withstanding the war jitters
The slow-motion private credit crunch continues
Anthropic will sue the Pentagon over supply chain risk designation, Amodei says
OpenAI releases GPT-5.4 with more “professional work” skills
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Deep Dives
- The power play behind Hyperion, Mark Zuckerberg’s colossal data center being built in rural Louisiana
- Clean energy investment hit a new record last quarter, mostly driven by EVs
- The cruise industry is booming thanks to younger consumers looking to “seacation”
- Reading an article online? It’s now a coin flip whether it was authored by a human or AI
Latest Stories
Report: Boeing could unveil 500-jet order from China during Trump’s visit later this month
Shares of Boeing are up nearly 4% on Friday afternoon, following a Bloomberg report that the company could be close to finalizing a deal to sell 500 planes to China.
The deal was first reported in August and would be one of Boeing’s largest ever.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the deal could be officially unveiled when President Trump travels to China at the end of the month. That trip could be delayed given the war in Iran. The deal, sources say, could still fall apart — similar language to when it was first reported on more than six months ago.
Boeing has been on the outside of the Chinese market, in terms of new orders, since 2019 amid escalating US-China trade tensions.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the deal could be officially unveiled when President Trump travels to China at the end of the month. That trip could be delayed given the war in Iran. The deal, sources say, could still fall apart — similar language to when it was first reported on more than six months ago.
Boeing has been on the outside of the Chinese market, in terms of new orders, since 2019 amid escalating US-China trade tensions.
OpenAI reportedly delaying erotica feature to focus on “gains in intelligence”
OpenAI is delaying its planned “adult mode,” as it seeks to shore up ChatGPT’s core capabilities before the chatbot can generate erotic content.
A source within OpenAI told tech news site Sources that the company will miss its Q1 target for launching the feature:
“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”
The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.
“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”
The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.
Why software shares are withstanding the war jitters
The outbreak of the war in Iran has clearly rattled investors and created a few clear winners — mostly energy stocks — and losers — consumer staples, airlines, and, well, more or else everything else.
But there is one interesting outlier to that Manichaean market dynamic.
Software shares — often the same companies that the market was giving up for dead just a few weeks ago due to overexpectations of an AI-driven disruption — have been holding up remarkably well.
These companies, including Intuit, ServiceNow, Datadog, Snowflake, IBM, Workday, and Oracle, have actually had a pretty decent run since the war started with a combined US-Israeli attack on Iran last weekend.
A new note from RBC Capital’s Rishi Jaluria suggests this isn’t just a fluke. Looking at the performance of software stocks during periods of geopolitical stress and market volatility over the last 10 and 25 years, his team found that software shares appear fairly well insulated when these broader shocks hit. RBC wrote:
“The defensive nature of SaaS models and the mission-critical nature of many core software systems at the enterprise level (e.g., in the absence of mass layoffs that may create seat-based headwinds, geopolitical uncertainty and/or market volatility typically will not cause an enterprise CIO to consider ripping out their ERP, CRM, Cyber systems, etc.”
I briefly got Jaluria on the phone yesterday, and he explained a bit more about why he thinks investors might see software as a decent place to hide out from the current chaos.
“With everything in the Middle East, you have to think about not just oil and gas input prices but also supply chains,” he said. “With software, you’re not really thinking about that.”
In other words, there is no equivalent of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz that software investors have to worry about.
Others suggested that the near-term profitability of these giant software companies — aside from concerns about potential long-term disruption from AI — may look different in the face of the economic uncertainty that seems to be growing with the war, especially after a sell-off that has left them relatively attractively valued.
Mark Moerdler, who covers software stocks for Bernstein Research, says that while the AI worries are clearly real, software companies continue to be highly productive cash cows.
“Everyone is afraid that AI is a massive disruptor, and all these articles you read talk about AI as massive disruptor or the world is ending or whatever,” he said. “You don’t see it in the fundamental numbers of the companies I cover. They are delivering GAAP profits, free cash flow, and they’re good investment ideas.”
The slow-motion private credit crunch continues
You may have missed it, what with the Iran war, the price of oil spiking, or the ongoing questions about the durability — and future profitability — of the AI capex boom.
But there are clear signs of malaise in private credit markets — the massive corporate bond and loan markets that typically burble away quietly in the background while the stock markets garner the headlines.
The Financial Times reported on Friday:
“BlackRock has limited withdrawals from one of its flagship private credit funds following a surge in redemption requests, as investors retreat from the asset class and questions about credit quality intensify...
The decision to cap withdrawals at 5 per cent will be closely scrutinised by the industry as outflows climb across semi-liquid private credit funds. The vehicles have drawn in hundreds of billions of dollars from retail investors and wealthy individuals who were enticed by the high returns on offer but have started to bolt at the first signs of stress.”
That news follows an unsettling recent pattern of private credit firms telling investors they cannot have their money back on demand, most notably Blue Owl last month, which also limited redemptions.
Normally the goings-on of the credit markets are of little interest to stock jockeys. But the concerns about credit have started to bleed into the stock market, too.
Of the S&P 500’s 11 industry groups — known as sectors — the financial sector (Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund) is by far the year’s worst performer, down more than 9% in 2026, with firms with links to private credit such as Ares Management, Blackstone, KKR & Co., and Apollo Global Management some of the worst performers. They’re all down more than 20% since the start of the year.
If investors were looking for another thing to worry about, this would likely be a good one to add to the list.
But there are clear signs of malaise in private credit markets — the massive corporate bond and loan markets that typically burble away quietly in the background while the stock markets garner the headlines.
The Financial Times reported on Friday:
“BlackRock has limited withdrawals from one of its flagship private credit funds following a surge in redemption requests, as investors retreat from the asset class and questions about credit quality intensify...
The decision to cap withdrawals at 5 per cent will be closely scrutinised by the industry as outflows climb across semi-liquid private credit funds. The vehicles have drawn in hundreds of billions of dollars from retail investors and wealthy individuals who were enticed by the high returns on offer but have started to bolt at the first signs of stress.”
That news follows an unsettling recent pattern of private credit firms telling investors they cannot have their money back on demand, most notably Blue Owl last month, which also limited redemptions.
Normally the goings-on of the credit markets are of little interest to stock jockeys. But the concerns about credit have started to bleed into the stock market, too.
Of the S&P 500’s 11 industry groups — known as sectors — the financial sector (Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund) is by far the year’s worst performer, down more than 9% in 2026, with firms with links to private credit such as Ares Management, Blackstone, KKR & Co., and Apollo Global Management some of the worst performers. They’re all down more than 20% since the start of the year.
If investors were looking for another thing to worry about, this would likely be a good one to add to the list.
Anthropic will sue the Pentagon over supply chain risk designation, Amodei says
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a public post that the company will sue the Pentagon after receiving a letter from the Department of Defense officially designating Anthropic as “a supply chain risk to America’s national security.”
Amodei says that the effect of the unprecedented designation for an American company is more narrow than originally described, and that most of its customers would not be affected.
“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”
Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”
The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.
“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”
Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”
The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.
AI models are crying out for new video footage and GoPro has thousands of hours’ worth — can it save the company?
So far, no. The action camera company reported another slump in revenue, to $652 million.
Qatar energy minister warns of potential oil spike to $150 within weeks
“Most of the folks who appreciate just how bullish the US-Israel-Iran war is for oil markets think it’s SO WILDLY BULLISH that they can’t imagine this lasting much longer,” wrote Rory Johnston, founder of Commodity Context.
SoftBank is going to great lengths to double down on OpenAI — including taking on significant debt. After completing a $40 billion investment to become one of the ChatGPT maker’s largest backers, the Japanese conglomerate is now seeking a roughly $40 billion loan with a 12-month term, Bloomberg reports.
The financing would be SoftBank’s largest-ever dollar-denominated deal. The AI investment has helped lift profits, but it is also pressuring SoftBank’s credit profile.
