Tom Matsuda / Financial Times: The iTunes Store is re-emerging as a venue for big pop stars, including Taylor Swift, to hawk collectibles to superfans and bolster their chart positions — Record labels and artists including Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande are using the throwback music store to bolster their chart position and cash in on their fandom
Financial Times: Sources: OpenAI has cut its valuation target to $1.25T, down from the $1.4T valuation it pitched earlier this month, after facing resistance from some investors — AI lab floated $1.4tn price tag earlier this month, according to documents seen by the FT — OpenAI has cut its valuation target …
Financial Times: RegLayer: 47+ large US data center projects were delayed, withdrawn, or blocked in 2026; Bernstein says ~35% of the planned US data center pipeline is credible — A vast bet on the future of the technology is running into the unforgiving economics of the physical world
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times: Sources: Anthropic is consulting law firms on deal negotiation tactics as it develops AI agents to negotiate on humans' behalf and interact with AI counterparts — Tech companies are being forced to confront the rules of negotiation when machines act on humans' behalf
Rafe Rosner-Uddin / Financial Times: A profile of Alexandr Wang, who sources say is “an operator”, had “all” of Zuckerberg's support during Meta's AI revamp, and is being touted as his successor — The 29-year-old in charge of the company's Superintelligence Labs is being touted as a potential successor to Mark Zuckerberg
Michael Acton / Financial Times: Apple says demand for iPhone Duo has been “nothing short of extraordinary”; deliveries slipped to late January within hours of preorders opening — Deliveries of the $2,000 Duo slip to 2027 within hours of going on sale — Apple on Friday said its foldable iPhone Duo had seen …
Financial Times: Sources: Anthropic told investors that its revenue jumped to $16.8B in Q3, up from $11.5B in Q2, and that the company was profitable on an adjusted basis in Q3 — Rapid growth is slower than some anticipated as fears about the AI trade rattle markets — Anthropic told investors …
Financial Times: Sources: Nvidia is in early-stage talks with insurance companies to structure risk-mitigation products to protect lenders against loan defaults by neoclouds — World's largest listed company looks for new ways to draw Wall Street deeper into the financing of the AI boom — Unlock the Editor's Digest for free
Michael Acton / Financial Times: Pope Leo XIV rebukes Jensen Huang for downplaying AI risks, saying “the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously” — Rare intervention from head of Catholic Church comes as top executives are due to meet at White House on Tuesday
Stefania Palma / Financial Times: Litigation funder Burford Capital says it stands to gain up to $1.4B after a US jury ruled against Apple in a patent case, awarding $5.7B in damages to Taction — Litigation funder's share price jumps 9% after US jury's decision — Litigation funder Burford Capital said it stands to gain …
Patrick Jenkins / Financial Times: An interview with ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet on the company's 42-year history, its complex supply chain across 2,000 companies, US export bans, AI, and more — Christophe Fouquet has built Europe's biggest business through a total monopoly over the most advanced chipmaking equipment
Tom Wilson / Financial Times: Google Threat Intelligence Group finds dark web marketplaces selling access to AI models, including from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, at up to 97% discounts — Security researchers warn of surge in ‘LLM-jacking’ attacks targeting companies' costly AI resources
Gregory Meyer / Financial Times: Walmart CEO John Furner says the company won't use its AI shopping assistant or electronic shelf labels to change product prices based on a shopper's identity — Largest US retailer issues open letter saying it will not use electronic shelf labels to change costs based on shopper identity
Financial Times: PitchBook: VCs have invested $4B+ in quantum computing companies YTD, almost as much as in all of 2025, which nearly matched the previous four years combined — The dawn of a new computing era may finally be here. Now the race is on to find a path to profit.
Christopher Miller / Financial Times: Russia has increased targeted strikes on Ukrainian data centers, disrupting internet access for ~100K Kyiv residents on Wednesday and Thursday — Kyiv residents experience two days of internet disruptions, raising fears over access to banking and other online services
Louise Lucas / Financial Times: Radical Ventures: AI neolabs, many lacking products, markets, or revenue, raised $24B in the past two quarters, nearly 5x OpenAI and Anthropic pre-ChatGPT — It is true that these numbers can hide some sleight of hand — It would be a brave or foolhardy investor who set out today to build a new Walmart, Uber or Amazon.
Chris Hughes / Financial Times: A Facebook co-founder proposes creating an “Office of AI Supervision” to embed teams inside frontier AI labs, with a three-year term to avoid regulatory capture — Both industries change rapidly and reach throughout the economy, requiring officials to weigh the benefits of innovation against risks
Delphine Strauss / Financial Times: Meta enters a voluntary access agreement granting the UK's Prospect trade union direct access to recruit its 5,000 UK employees, ahead of new UK employment laws — Greater worker representation expected in tech sector when new employment rights come into force next month
John Thornhill / Financial Times: An interview with Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton on the Raspberry Pi Foundation, his skepticism of AI evangelists, AI driving edge compute device demand, and more — The British tech leader on coding as the modern form of literacy, his scepticism of AI evangelists — and why ‘the p(doom) is probably Russia’
Sarah Neville / Financial Times: Clinicians raise concerns over medical AI adoption beyond diagnostics and imaging, citing limited clinical and performance data on its broader effectiveness — The technology's advances have not yet translated into big improvements in real-life care. Kayla Secrest was a newly fledged doctor beginning …
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times: Meta challenges Ofcom's OSA categorization of WhatsApp and Instagram imposing additional regulations; Roblox and Quora are also challenging their categorization — US tech giant's latest action against regulator Ofcom could slow down implementation of the far-reaching law
Financial Times: EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra rebuffs calls for an EU-wide digital services tax until “all possibilities” for taxation at the global level are exhausted — Global efforts towards tech levy must be exhausted first, says European commissioner Wopke Hoekstra
Financial Times: Sources: ~$18B of debt tied to an Oracle New Mexico data center slid into stressed territory, as investors grow wary of construction delays amid local pushback — Investors grow wary of permitting and construction delays as opposition mounts in New Mexico — About $18bn of loans tied …
Financial Times: Leaked presentation: OpenAI expects negative free cash flow of $278B from 2026 to 2030 and projects its revenue will grow from $36B this year to $350B in 2030 — AI start-up has projected deeply negative cash flows as it invests in infrastructure and faces price pressures
Financial Times: Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky says the fintech is exploring a dual stock market listing in New York and London, after previously dismissing listing in the UK — Fintech's chief executive says US market offers greater liquidity and more institutional investors — Revolut founder Nik Storonsky …
Financial Times: Lucid and Bolt sign an initial agreement to deploy a fleet of 25K+ robotaxis in Europe built on Lucid's affordable EV platform, set to launch as soon as 2028 — Rollout would be most ambitious plan yet for autonomous ride-hailing on the continent — Lucid is partnering with ride-hailing platform Bolt …
Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times: Huawei Chair Eric Xu says Chinese AI researchers need to “increase the speed of development” to “see the dangers” of AI, contrasting with US slowdown calls — Chinese tech executive's comments contrast with Silicon Valley calls for slowdown amid rising concerns about technology's existential risks
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times: Sources: OpenAI and Anthropic staff felt blindsided by Dario Amodei's and Sam Altman's calls to slow the frontier; some fear evaluators may compromise security — Staff at the Silicon Valley companies are grappling with how to turn AI slowdown rhetoric into reality
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times: The IFPI says music companies and distributors agreed on new rules to combat the use of AI-generated music to defraud streaming services and divert royalties — Scammers are flooding platforms with tracks then deploying bots to rack up plays and royalty payments
Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times: In its first statement on AI, China's Ministry of State Security warns AI poses risks to the nation's political and social security, including cyber defenses — Beijing signals growing concern over how rapid advances in technology could be used against the country
Ivan Levingston / Financial Times: Filing: Vy Capital owns a 3.4% SpaceX stake; Vy is also the largest outside investor in BoringCo and Neuralink and committed $700M to Musk's Twitter acquisition — Low-profile venture capital firm Vy Capital has emerged as one of the rocket maker's largest shareholders
Daniel Tudor / Financial Times: South Korea's espionage laws, broadened for the first time in over seven decades, take effect on Sept. 13 as foreign spies increasingly target its chip sector — Seoul broadens its espionage legislation for the first time in more than seven decades — South Korea is arming itself …
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times: The AI boom is fueling a resurgence in VC bets in “moonshot” sectors such as BCI; Dealroom says non-AI deeptech funding has topped $150B since the start of 2024 — Tech investors are rediscovering the kind of long-shot sci-fi bets that helped build Silicon Valley.
Najmeh Bozorgmehr / Financial Times: Sources: Iran's central bank has quietly relaxed foreign currency controls and encouraged traders to repatriate funds via cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions — Authorities have quietly relaxed controls on foreign currency to encourage traders to repatriate much-needed funds
Financial Times: Sources: PE firm Silver Lake intends to merge French software companies Cegid and Silae in a €10B+ deal, allowing them to combine data and integrate software — Plan comes as buyout groups grapple with impact of AI on software companies bought at high valuations
Financial Times: Sources: Anthropic declined to submit Mythos 5.1 to the UK AISI for prerelease testing, prompting UK fears that US AI labs are aligning with US protectionism — Decision to exclude Aisi has prompted fears inside British government of protectionist shift among tech groups.
Financial Times: A look at the 2019 US criminal case against Huawei, with an upcoming trial over racketeering charges, including sanctions evasion and corporate espionage — Five years after finance chief Meng Wanzhou's release from detention in Canada, the company itself is going on trial
Rafe Rosner-Uddin / Financial Times: Sources: Travis Kalanick's Atoms is developing robotaxi tech and hired Anthony Levandowski after acquiring his company Pronto; Uber has invested $100M in Atoms — Atoms gears up for hiring spree and could link with Uber, the company he was ousted from almost a decade ago
Stephanie Findlay / Financial Times: The data center backlash is challenging Texas' pro-business approach; Wood Mackenzie: Texas has more data center capacity under construction than any US state — For 30 years the state has profited from going the extra mile for business. Data centres are putting that to the test.
Financial Times: Some European defense officials push back on efforts to cut reliance on US tech, warning it could leave Europe with inferior systems and greater cyber risks — Brussels' effort to reduce US technology dependence could create greater risks elsewhere, defence officials and contractors say
Valeriya Safronova / Financial Times: How some parents, mostly mothers, use AI to help them organize their families' schedules and automate mundane household tasks via apps like Ollie and Cozi Max — Parents are using AI to organise their families, from managing busy schedules to researching preschools, planning meals and grocery shopping.
Elaine Moore / Financial Times: A look at Pangram, the AI detector at the center of disputed accusations against writers, including a pulled novel and a Commonwealth Prize-winning short story — Detection software offers quick answers, but the risk of false positives and the stigma of being accused are leading to societal mistrust in the written word.
Financial Times: Big Tech reported Q2 “other income” rose significantly to $160B+, driven by investments in AI companies, raising concerns of paper gains overstating the AI boom — Analysts say large paper windfalls on investments in OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX have muddied the tech sector's earnings metrics
Kieran Smith / Financial Times: Grindr CEO George Arison plans premium services push, including a product costing up to $350 per month; Grindr averaged 1.4M paying users among 15M MAUs in Q2 — Dating app's chief executive plans premium service push to help boost growth — Grindr built its business by helping gay men find each other for free.
Financial Times: New AI-powered video tools have accelerated the surge in AI dramas in China; DataEye: 89 of the top 100 animated dramas on Douyin in May were AI productions — Online performers left jobless as new video-generation programmes sweep industry — Chinese actors and online influencers have a new rival …
Financial Times: An analysis of the 50 largest bitcoin treasury companies by BTC holdings finds their combined market cap has plunged from $150B in July 2025 to just $67B now — Crypto hoarders have been selling tokens and reverting to former activities — More than $80bn has been wiped off the value …
Financial Times: The UK Treasury gives the Bank of England a new legal objective to support payment systems and digital money innovation, seeking to keep London competitive — Treasury gives central bank a new legal objective as part of effort to promote UK as hub for stablecoins
Fabrice Deprez / Financial Times: Volodymyr Zelenskyy awards Elon Musk with Ukraine's Order of Freedom; sources say Zelenskyy asked Musk to authorize Starlink use up to 200km inside Russia — Tech billionaire reluctant to allow satellite system to be used for drone strikes deep inside Russia
Jude Webber / Financial Times: Irish lawmakers reconsider the country's 1999 ban on nuclear power as data centers' growing power demands account for ~25% of the country's electricity use — Banned by law since 1999, Dublin reconsiders atomic energy — Rising electricity consumption by Ireland's insatiable data centres …
Financial Times: The popularity of risky leveraged chip ETFs in South Korea prompted regulators to cap individual exposure and mandate a weeklong investor education course — Leveraged single-stock ETFs attracted billions of dollars of net inflows even as they plunged during market sell-off