OpenlabX

OpenAI raised $11B at a $1.25T valuation : - This is the first close of a larger funding round that could reach $20B in the coming weeks. - Investors include Coatue, T. Rowe Price, SoftBank, Sequoia, Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz. - OpenAI initially aimed to raise up to $30B at a $1.4T valuation, before scaling back its target. - Its latest funding comes as it continues investing heavily in AI infrastructure and compute.

Jensen’s alleged ties to a suspected Chinese spy are under scrutiny : - US officials reportedly believe Alice Huang was recruited by China’s intelligence service while working at data-center firm Megaspeed. - FT reports she and Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship, beyond their previously reported business ties. - Nvidia says Jensen’s interactions with her were routine business dealings, with no sensitive information shared. - Three Republican House committee chairs have asked Jensen Huang to testify privately on November 18 about the relationship and Nvidia’s security protocols.

Democrats won Congress, now Trump faces investigations : - House Democrats are preparing probes into Trump’s family business dealings, alleged self-enrichment and potential conflicts involving companies and donors connected to his administration. - Investigators are also targeting Trump-linked crypto and real-estate deals, including projects involving his family and allies, as well as government contracts and the White House ballroom project. - Other major targets include ICE operations, the Epstein investigation, DOGE and Trump administration policies at DHS, with committees preparing subpoenas and document demands. - Senate Democrats are planning their own investigations into Trump-linked financial dealings, banks, pharmaceutical companies and administration policies.

Anthropic is pushing ahead with a massive IPO before Thanksgiving : - The Financial Times reports Anthropic is targeting a $1.25T–$1.75T valuation, with investors expecting around $1.5T. - The Claude maker could raise $80B–$100B, potentially making it one of the largest IPOs ever. - Anthropic generated roughly $17B in Q3 revenue, while its annualized revenue run rate reportedly reached about $81B. - The company is committing roughly $900B to computing and infrastructure, making the IPO a crucial source of capital as AI spending accelerates.

🇮🇷 Iran reportedly raises military alert to its highest level : - Initial reports circulating overnight claim Tehran has issued “Code 100”, described as its highest alert level, ordering Iranian forces in southern areas to disperse and evacuate vulnerable positions, has not yet been independently confirmed by Iranian state media. - The escalation follows fresh US strikes on Qeshm Island, where Trump said American forces destroyed an Iranian anti-aircraft system in a matter of minutes. - Iran says its air defenses also shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper over Qeshm, US has not publicly confirmed the loss of the drone.

🇺🇸🇮🇱 Trump says US could end its annual financial aid to Israel : - Trump claimed he reached an agreement with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to stop roughly $4B in annual US funding to Israel after December 31, 2026. - He said the move would not end US weapons sales to Israel, leaving the door open for continued military equipment purchases. - The announcement would mark a major shift from the current US-Israel military aid agreement, which provides $3.8B annually through September 2028.

Apple $AAPL reports a record $114.5B quarter under new CEO : - Revenue: $114.5B, up 12% YoY. - Net income reached $30.7B (+12%), while diluted EPS climbed 14% to $2.10, beating Wall Street estimates of $113.4B revenue and $1.99 EPS. - iPhone revenue hit $57.6B (+17%), Mac generated $10.8B (+24%), and Services reached an all-time high of $31.6B (+10%). - iPad fell 10% to $6.2B, while Wearables, Home and Accessories declined 8% to $8.3B. - Company generated $28.1B in operating cash flow and returned $28B to shareholders during the quarter. - Apple expects its December quarter to be its biggest ever, but warned gross margin could fall to 45–46% from 47.9% as memory costs rise.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met Abu Dhabi Crown prince for fundraising: - Sam Altman met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on November 2, as OpenAI pursues a $20B funding round co-led by UAE investors, according to CNBC. - ADNOC and G42 signed a deal to deploy OpenAI’s frontier models across energy operations, including production planning, logistics and commercial decisions. - Abu Dhabi’s government launched a Machine-Readable Government initiative with OpenAI, converting selected regulations into formats AI systems can process to assist with permits and compliance checks. - Mubadala also partnered with OpenAI and G42’s Inception42 on AI-powered investment analysis and risk assessment. A separate five-year agreement will expand AI adoption across government, businesses and education.

Asian markets experiencing major sell-offs : - South Korea's Kospi fell 3.59%, while Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 3.59%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lost over 4%, as investors continued dumping semiconductor stocks. - China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.82%, Shenzhen Composite dropped 1.21% and CSI 300 slipped 0.2%, the CSI 300 has already lost 8.5% in October, its worst monthly decline in over a decade. - US semiconductor index has fallen 12% over three sessions, while the Nasdaq 100 entered correction territory, down 10% from its peak. Investors are questioning the returns on massive AI infra investments. - Hong Kong bucked the trend, with the Hang Seng rising 0.57%.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 Trump warns US could strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site : - In an interview with Fox News, Trump said Washington “might have to go after Pickaxe” if Tehran fails to reach a deal. - He claimed the US could carry out the strike “in one hour” and said it could act “at any time.” - Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified underground facility near Iran’s Natanz nuclear complex, believed to be intended for sensitive nuclear-related activities. - Trump said he would prefer a diplomatic agreement to avoid further loss of life, but warned that renewed fighting remains possible.

SpaceX $SPCX exploring a move into the US mobile phone market : - Elon Musk’s company is in talks with EchoStar to acquire Boost Mobile or gain access to its wireless network, according to The Washington Post. - Boost Mobile has around 7.4M wireless subscribers and leases network capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile. - The deal could give SpaceX access to existing cellular infrastructure, allowing it to combine terrestrial coverage with Starlink’s satellite connectivity. - Musk reportedly met EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen in October to discuss the potential deal, Any network-access arrangement could require approval from AT&T and T-Mobile.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 US carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island : - The Wall Street Journal reported that US forces struck the strategically located island on Monday, citing American officials. - Officials described the attacks as defensive, following Iranian missile launches targeting a US fighter jet and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. - Washington has reportedly conducted several limited strikes against Iranian targets in recent weeks while keeping the operations largely undisclosed. - Qeshm Island sits near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and hosts Iranian military infrastructure, including an underground missile site and naval base.

Goldman Sachs is restricting AI coding tools for most employees : - The bank has limited access to Anthropic’s Claude Code and Microsoft’s GitHub coding tools to engineers, following internal guidance updated in October. - Traders and bankers had previously used them to monitor client trading flows, model market movements and positions, and generate written and visual content. - Bloomberg reports that Goldman reviewed the tools over productivity and risk-management concerns. The restrictions have frustrated some traders. - The rules reportedly exclude “strats”, employees whose roles combine trading, quantitative research and software engineering.

🇰🇵 North Korea denies involvement in the $6.3B Binance hack : - State news agency KCNA called allegations that Pyongyang was behind the heist “fabrication.” - The denial follows the FBI’s October 31 announcement that it had attributed the theft to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group. - The FBI said hackers stole more than $6B in crypto from Binance on October 29 and were converting the funds primarily into Ethereum. - Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis also attributed the attack to North Korea, citing their investigations.

Anthropic’s Q3 2026 results: - Revenue: $17.0B, up 1,127% year over year and 47% from Q2. - Operating loss: $567M, swinging from a $974M operating profit in Q2. - Adjusted operating income: $2.5B, with a 15% margin, down from 19% in Q2. - Net loss: $23.3B, compared with $66.3B in Q2, largely reflecting non-cash accounting adjustments. - Anthropic’s revenue is scaling rapidly, but the cost of securing compute is putting pressure on its operating margins.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 Tucker Carlson warns Trump could use nuclear weapons against Iran : - In a lengthy post on X, Carlson claimed the Trump administration could be days away from a nuclear strike on Iran, allegedly under pressure from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. - He identified Pickaxe Mountain, an underground facility in central Iran near Natanz, as the potential target. Carlson claims it is buried beneath around 300 feet of granite and cannot be destroyed by conventional US weapons. - Carlson alleged Netanyahu is lobbying Trump daily for an attack, while Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff are pushing for a diplomatic deal. He says Trump could make a decision by November 7. - He warned that a nuclear strike could contaminate the Persian Gulf, trigger wider nuclear escalation and risk a global conflict.

Hackers are remotely turning supermarket fridges into ovens across Europe : - Britain is on alert after cyberattacks targeted refrigerated display units at supermarkets across Europe. - Attackers reportedly accessed the systems remotely and raised temperatures as high as 80°C, potentially spoiling food and disrupting stores. - UK authorities are warning retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury’s to protect similar refrigeration systems.

Google has run its first AI inference in space : - Sundar Pichai says Project Suncatcher has completed its first end-to-end test from orbit. - Google sent a command to its prototype satellite, booted its onboard TPU, ran an AI prompt and received the model’s response back on Earth. - The first response was a haiku, marking a successful test of the satellite’s AI computing pipeline. - Project Suncatcher aims to explore solar-powered satellite constellations equipped with Google TPUs, potentially bringing AI compute infrastructure into orbit.

🇵🇱 Coup underway in Poland : - Police were deployed at the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw as judges moved to suspend its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and install new leadership. - The Tribunal has denounced the move as a “coup d'état,” insisting Święczkowski remains its legitimate president. - President Karol Nawrocki abruptly turned his plane around while travelling to Senegal, saying he needed to return to Poland. - Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the government is restoring the rule of law after years of disputed judicial appointments. Opposition figures accuse him of an unconstitutional power grab.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks your PC has too much RAM : - The OpenAI CEO argued that consumers keeping large amounts of DRAM in personal computers is inefficient from a global resource-allocation perspective. - He believes more of the world’s limited memory supply should go toward data centers, where it can serve AI workloads at scale. - The argument comes as AI infrastructure demand puts pressure on memory supply, with data centers competing for high-bandwidth memory and conventional DRAM.