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Iran War Updates: Trump Meets With Cabinet Over Whether to Intensify Iran Strikes - The New York Times

Iran War Updates: Trump Meets With Cabinet Over Whether to Intensify Iran Strikes The recent escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran has sparked a heated debate about the potential consequences of military action. With the Trump administration considering intensifying strikes against Iranian targets, the international community is holding its breath, waiting to see how the situation will unfold. The meeting between President Trump and his cabinet members is a critical step in determining the course of action, and the outcome could have far-reaching implications for global stability and security. Introduction to the Conflict The conflict between the United States and Iran has been simmering for decades, with periods of heightened tensions and relative calm. However, the recent drone strike that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani marked a significant turning point in the relationship between the two nations. The attack sparked outrage in Iran, wit...

Steel and aluminum tariffs on appliances, railcars, EV parts raised by US.

On  Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department raised steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products, including wind turbines, mobile cranes, appliances, bulldozers, railcars, motorcycles, marine engines, furniture, and hundreds more. The department added 407 product categories to the list of “derivative” steel and aluminum products covered by sectoral tariffs, which apply a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum content and the country rate on non-steel and non-aluminum content. In a research note, Evercore ISI estimated the move will raise the effective tariff rate by 1 percentage point for more than 400 product codes representing over $200 billion in imports last year. The department is also adding imported parts for automotive exhaust systems and electrical steel for electric vehicles, buses, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, and dryers to the new tariffs. The department was advised not to add the parts by foreign automakers, who said the U.S. cannot meet demand. Tesla crea...

Tesla authorizes Elon Musk, its CEO, to receive a $29 billion share award.

In   an effort to retain the billionaire entrepreneur at the helm during a pivotal shift from its faltering core auto business to robotaxis and humanoid robots, Tesla (TSLA.O) has awarded CEO Elon Musk shares worth approximately $29 billion. The "interim award" of the 96 million new shares was characterized by the company as a first-step, "good faith" payment to honor Musk's 2018 compensation package, which was over $50 billion and overturned by a Delaware court last year. If Musk stays in a high-level executive position for two more years and the court does not reinstate the 2018 package that is currently being appealed, he is eligible to receive the new award. He can purchase the shares for $23.34 each, which is the same as the 2018 award's exercise price, and he must hold them for five years. At its annual investor meeting on November 6, Tesla will also vote on a longer-term CEO compensation plan. The goal of the move is to keep Musk, who is the public fa...

Supported by Peter Thiel, Bullish hopes for a US IPO valuation of up to $4.2 billion.

Exchange of cryptocurrency The company launched its roadshow to take advantage of the momentum created by digital assets in the face of regulatory clarity, and Bullish stated in a filing on Monday that it is aiming for a valuation of up to $4.23 billion in its US listing. Businesses that use cryptocurrency and associated technologies have embraced the Donald Trump administration's pro-crypto policies, like the GENIUS Act, which was recently passed and offers a preliminary stablecoin regulatory framework. With the help of one or more issuers of such tokens, Bullish, which is supported by billionaire Peter Thiel, intends to convert a sizeable amount of the IPO proceeds to stablecoins denominated in US dollars, the filing stated. Circle Internet, a significant stablecoin issuer, made a spectacular NYSE debut in June and is now trading at over 400% of its initial public offering price. Bullish is making its second attempt to go public in four years, offering 20.3 million shares at pric...

Meta will sell $2 billion worth of assets to split the cost of AI infrastructure.

In a filing on Thursday, Meta Platforms (META.O) revealed plans to sell $2 billion worth of data center assets as part of its ongoing efforts to find outside partners to help finance the enormous infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence.  As they struggle with the skyrocketing cost of constructing and powering data centers to support generative AI, tech giants, who have historically been known for self-funding growth, are adopting a different approach. In order to help fund its significant capital expenditure for the upcoming year, the social media behemoth announced earlier this week that it was looking into ways to collaborate with financial partners to co-develop data centers. On a conference call following Wednesday's earnings, Meta Chief Finance Officer Susan Li stated, "We're looking into ways to collaborate with financial partners to co-develop data centers." According to Li, the company still anticipates funding a large portion of its capital ...

A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $243 million for the fatal Autopilot crash.

Elon Musk's electric vehicle company may face additional legal action after a Florida jury on Friday found Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, liable to pay $243 million to victims of a fatal crash in 2019 involving a Model S equipped with Autopilot.  For victims of Autopilot-related accidents, the verdict is an uncommon victory. Based on a more sophisticated version of its driver assistance software, Musk has been pushing for a quick expansion of Tesla's recently launched robotaxi business.  Tesla's stock is down 25% so far this year after dropping 1.8% on Friday.  According to a verdict sheet, jurors in a federal court in Miami granted the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon and her ex-boyfriend Dillon Angulo $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages .  33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, were attributed to Tesla.  Although George McGee, the driver, was not a defendant and will not be required to pay his share, jurors fou...

Following strong performance, Microsoft is valued at $4 trillion.

Following a stellar earnings report that demonstrated its enormous bets on AI are paying off, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, became the second publicly traded company after Nvidia (NVDA.O) to surpass the $4 trillion milestone in stock market value on Thursday. The market value of the four major AI companies increased by more than half a trillion dollars as a result of strong results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META.O), which opened a new tab late on Thursday and fueled gains in Amazon (AMZN.O). Additionally, the chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) reached a record high. According to LSEG data, the major AI players on Wall Street, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), open a new tab, and Meta Platforms, now hold a quarter of the S&P 500. In order to meet the growing demand for AI, Microsoft projected a record $30 billion in capital expenditures for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. It claimed that its Copilot AI tools had more than 100 million monthl...

Adidas warns that tariffs could hurt US consumers and may raise prices.

Adidas (ADSGn.DE), a sportswear company, opened a new tab on Wednesday and warned that it might have to raise prices in the US after revealing that US tariffs would increase costs by about $200 million ($231 million) in the second half. Adidas' stock fell 11% on the worst day since U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs in April, increasing the stock's losses since the year's beginning to 26%. Adidas claimed that trade uncertainty was preventing it from raising its yearly guidance and that it had not yet made a decision regarding potential price hikes in the US to lessen the impact. CEO Bjorn Gulden stressed during a call with analysts that the ultimate tariff levels were still unknown, but he expressed concern about how higher prices would affect U.S. consumer demand. "To be honest, I'm more concerned about how consumers will react to the price increases that I believe will occur not only in our industry but also in the United States as a whole than ...

Uber to Invest $300m in Lucid EVs in Robotaxi Deal.

Under their rob taxi agreement, Uber will invest $300 million into electric-car manufacturer Lucid, with plans to launch rob taxi services late next year in at least one big US city. The new partnership was just announced on Thursday.  From 2026 and for over six years, Uber will buy and deploy a fleet of more than 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs fitted with AV technology from startup Nuro, according to a statement from the three companies. This renewed agreement puts the revival of plans and fundraising for driverless cabs into perspective. The first wave of autonomous driving investment ultimately yielded only a handful of vehicles, whereas Tesla has launched its rob taxi pilot in Austin, and Waymo, the driverless taxi arm of Alphabet, is now expanding its operations. Under the announced deal, Uber will invest hundreds of millions of dollars into Lucid and Nuro, which provide self-driving technology to car manufacturers, the joint statement said. Of that sum, $300 million will go to Luc...

Linda Yaccarino Announces Resignation From Elon Musk's X.

In a surprising move, the CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation just a few months after the social media platform became the property of the billionaire's AI startup xAI.  In a statement on the platform Wednesday, the former NBCUniversal advertising chief said she had "decided to step down as CEO of X" after what she characterized as "two incredible years" at the help of one major transformation. Yaccarino's resignation from the social media company will only add to the turbulence in Musk's sprawling business including plummeting sales at his electric car company, Tesla, and AI-related controversies. Musk is also engaged in a war of words with United States President Donald Trump. She gave no details as to why. X and Yaccarino did not respond to requests for comment. The resignation came a day after Grok, the AI chatbot created by xAI, made posts on the platform mentioning Adolf Hitler. Posts were deleted after the worsening public backlas...

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has started providing advice as a senior adviser to Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs, with its senior department already crowded with a multitude of policymaking luminaries, now has the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom added as a senior advisor, a move that combines uncertainty regarding geopolitical and regulatory matters. Named on Tuesday was the appointment of Sunak by the investment bank. Sunak, who remains a member of Parliament, representing a seat in northern England under the Conservative Party, was a Goldman analyst in the early 2000s before transitioning to work for several hedge funds. In his former career in financial service and the wealth of his wife, at a time when her father was a co-founder of Indian IT services company Infosys, Sunak became the richest-ever British prime minister, thus rendering him susceptible to criticism that he "cannot understand" most voters in the UK. He has stayed out of the limelight since resigning as leader of the Conservative Party following its worst electoral defeat in over a century in...