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Nebius Group gains after launching Token Factory platform to offer access to inference compute using open-source models

An attempt to add more breadth to the AI boom.

Shares of Nebius are trading well in the green on Wednesday after the neocloud launched the Nebius Token Factory, a platform that offers access to inference compute and supports over 60 open-source AI models. It’s an attempt to muscle in on turf held by the likes of Amazon and Microsoft by providing computing power that companies can use to run the applications they’ve developed.

If there’s a “problem” with the AI boom, so to speak, it’s that demand could be described as more mile-deep and inch-wide than vice versa. There isn’t yet a ton of breadth in terms of how much AI has permeated the corporate world.

Nebius is clearly positioning for that to change, and for it to get a slice of that expanding pie. Cofounder and Chief Business Officer Roman Chernin told Bloomberg that the Token Factory is mostly about boosting Nebius’ customer base, rather than attempting to boost margins. The value proposition is: make it as easy as possible for companies to dip their toes into the AI waters by combining the no-cost appeal of open-source models with an all-in-one bundle for execution where they pay per token.

“Early adopters of Nebius Token Factory are leveraging the platform to power a wide range of AI solutions from intelligent chatbots and coding copilots to high-performance search, retrieval-augment generation (RAG), document intelligence and automated customer support,” per the press release.

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US airlines climb as President Trump shifts his tone about the urgency of ending the shutdown

Shares of US airlines are climbing as the government shutdown stretches into a record 36th day.

Stocks of several carriers, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, rose significantly following an apparent change of tune from President Trump, who on Wednesday told Senate Republicans that they “must get the government back open soon, and really immediately.”

It’s a shift from the president, who’s traveled frequently during the shutdown and stuck firmly to the idea that the administration wouldn’t negotiate with Democrats before the government reopened.

Airlines had tumbled on Tuesday, following comments from Transportation Secretary Duffy that the US could close parts of its airspace amid an air traffic controller shortage that’s been escalated by the shutdown.

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Top Trump trade hit by Trump tariffs

In the early days of Trump 2.0, Axon, the maker of Taser, body cameras, and other gear for police and security forces, was a top Trump trade.

That is, it was one of the group of companies whose share prices soared on expectations of big changes — in this case a surge of spending on police and immigration enforcement — under the new administration.

And sales of the company’s security products, under its Connected Products division, did rise. But in the just-reported third quarter, costs rose more. And one of those rising costs was the Trump administration’s tariffs.

In its post-earnings conference call, Axon officials blamed tariffs for a large part of the earnings miss that sent the stock plummeting by roughly 20% in the after-hours session Tuesday.

“The impact from tariffs is obviously hitting the Connected Devices business overall. This was the first quarter that we had a full quarter of impact from tariffs,” Axon CFO and COO Brittany Bagley told analysts on the call. “So as we look at the year-over-year step down, that really is attributable to tariffs.”

She continued, “As long as tariffs stay in place, I view that as sort of a onetime adjustment. So now that’s baked into the gross margins.”

Clearly the market didn’t like the sound of that. But perhaps those tariffs may not stay in place.

Late in the morning, Axon sharply cuts its losses on the day — it had been down as much as 20% — as oral arguments in the Supreme Court case to determine the legality of President Trump’s tariff regime got underway. On balance, its seems the administration’s arguments were getting a chilly reception from the justices.

And sales of the company’s security products, under its Connected Products division, did rise. But in the just-reported third quarter, costs rose more. And one of those rising costs was the Trump administration’s tariffs.

In its post-earnings conference call, Axon officials blamed tariffs for a large part of the earnings miss that sent the stock plummeting by roughly 20% in the after-hours session Tuesday.

“The impact from tariffs is obviously hitting the Connected Devices business overall. This was the first quarter that we had a full quarter of impact from tariffs,” Axon CFO and COO Brittany Bagley told analysts on the call. “So as we look at the year-over-year step down, that really is attributable to tariffs.”

She continued, “As long as tariffs stay in place, I view that as sort of a onetime adjustment. So now that’s baked into the gross margins.”

Clearly the market didn’t like the sound of that. But perhaps those tariffs may not stay in place.

Late in the morning, Axon sharply cuts its losses on the day — it had been down as much as 20% — as oral arguments in the Supreme Court case to determine the legality of President Trump’s tariff regime got underway. On balance, its seems the administration’s arguments were getting a chilly reception from the justices.

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