News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Idaho National Laboratory, Nvidia, AWS, X-energy launch Prometheus project under Genesis Mission
The Idaho National Laboratory, Nvidia, AWS, and Amazon-backed small modular reactor X-energy have launched the Prometheus project, an initiative that seeks to expedite advanced nuclear deployment through the use of AI. 29 Jan 2026 Atoms for Data A small nuclear revolution is coming to a data center near you The three-year initiative was awarded $60 million under the US Department of Energy's Genesis Mission, founded to support cooperation between DOE National Labs, industry, academia, and more to harness AI for breakthroughs across science. The initiative received the largest grant out of all the selected projects. X-energy will provide $10m in private funding to the initiative, as well as its proprietary SMR design and fuel fabrication data. X-energy's Xe-100 SMR and TRISO-X fuel will serve as a technical platform for a three-year research campaign. X-energy was founded in 2009 and is developing a pebble-bed, high-temperature gas-cooled SMR. Amazon has directly invested in the company and secured the option to deploy more than 5GW of Xe-100 projects in the US by 2039, starting with the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington State. When constructed, the facility is expected to comprise three 320MW sections to make up the complete 960MW plant. The first 320MW block will comprise four of X-energy's 80MWe (electric) and 200MWt (thermal) Xe-100 SMRs. Following the initial phase, the partners will have the option to expand to 12 units, reaching 960MW of capacity. Construction at the site is expected to commence by the end of the decade, with operations to start sometime in the 2030s. Amazon struck the initial deal with Energy Northwest and X-energy to develop the site last year. X-energy also plans to deploy 6GW in the UK with Centrica. The initiative was one of 278 selected under the Genesis Mission Request for Applications (RFA). Other notable projects to receive funding include Dispatchable Data Centers: AI-Driven Workload Flexibility for Grid-Aware Load Shaping, to be undertaken by the University of Utah, and From Chip to Chiller: Verifiable Edge AI Agents for Data Center Thermal Management, to be undertaken by The Johns Hopkins University. Projects also included several others focused on nuclear power. Of the 278 projects, 87 will be led by the DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Laboratories, 168 are led by universities, 19 by companies, and four by nonprofits. More in North America More in The Energy & Sustainability Channel
Cathie Wood Accelerates SpaceX Stock Buying Spree As Tesla-SpaceX Merger Odds Hit 90%
Sponsored This page may contain affiliate links. If you sign up through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This does not influence our editorial reviews or rankings. Cathie Wood's ARK Invest added to its SpaceX holdings on Wednesday, July 22, when SPCX dropped 6.70% to close at $115.26. The new acquisitions came as Wood defended ARK's choice of buying Elon Musk-backed SpaceX shares. Cathie Wood Ramps Up SpaceX Stock Purchase Based on trade disclosure, ARKK purchased 76,261 shares of SpaceX stock. The purchase was worth about $8.79 million at Wednesday's closing price. ARKQ purchased 24,884 shares for about $2.87 million. ARKW bought 10,072 shares valued at almost $1.16 million. Another 10,167 shares worth approximately $1.17 million were purchased by ARKX. Altogether, ARK Invest bought a total of 121,384 SPCX shares that cost an estimated $13.99 million, based on the company's stock price at the time of its purchase. The most recent investment comes after ARK recently chose to invest approximately $20 million in SpaceX earlier this week. In an interview with Mornings with Maria, Cathie Wood praised the stock in spite of the recent weakness and a looming $116 billion share unlock. "[Down] from its peak, it is," Wood agreed. However, she elucidated: "but of course not from the IPO price. We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history." Cathie Wood added: "We're talking about not only really exploring a new world -- the universe -- in terms of its launch capabilities and helping others to do so as well, but also a global communications network. Really, think telecom, that's been a very local business. In fact, the way to break into countries historically was to buy the [telecommunications companies], no longer." Her comments cement a bullish narrative ahead of SpaceX's first-ever public earnings call on August 4, 2026. Tesla-SpaceX Merger Hopes Continue to Grow After Tesla's second-quarter earnings call, Deepwater Management's Gene Munster also stoked hopes of Tesla and SpaceX announcing a merger. While Cathie Wood has supported both Tesla and SpaceX in the recent past, she is yet to comment on the merger speculations. Meanwhile, Munster wrote in a post on X: "Going into the call, I thought there was an 80% chance the two companies come together in the next few years. I'm raising that to 90%." Munster said he was surprised the merger question was "even entertained" during the earnings call. Responding to the question, Elon Musk said, "as you can tell from all the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap, especially with Terafab." However, he kept the answer open ended. Musk concluded, "Obviously, we can't talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call. It's got to be done with the appropriate process."
Brown & Brown enlists Anthropic, McKinsey and Accenture to help responsibly rewire the ...
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brown & Brown, Inc. (the "Company") today announced the next phase of its enterprise technology transformation: becoming an AI-first enterprise. This evolution is designed to responsibly leverage artificial intelligence (AI), rewire key business processes to accelerate growth, enhance customer experience, improve teammate productivity and strengthen business performance. The Company is building AI as a foundational enterprise capability, designed to quickly scale across the business while empowering local teams to address customer and operational needs.
Brown & Brown enlists Anthropic, McKinsey and Accenture to help responsibly rewire the business for AI-first transformation | Taiwan News | Jul. 23, 2026 18:30
Early Claude Code projects returned up to 8x productivity gains, 80-90% faster troubleshooting and strong teammate confidence DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brown & Brown, Inc. (the "Company") today announced the next phase of its enterprise technology transformation: becoming an AI-first enterprise. This evolution is designed to responsibly leverage artificial intelligence (AI), rewire key business processes to accelerate growth, enhance customer experience, improve teammate productivity and strengthen business performance. The Company is building AI as a foundational enterprise capability, designed to quickly scale across the business while empowering local teams to address customer and operational needs. Encouraged by gains realized in initial pilot projects, Brown & Brown is entering the next phase of its AI journey. This phase will focus on thoughtfully expanding AI capabilities using Brown & Brown's agile, entrepreneurial operating model to incubate AI solutions close to the business and customer, while quickly proving value and deploying capabilities at scale. This enhanced model empowers local development to address business needs, while creating an operating platform that supports companywide adoption. To do this, the Company has selected Anthropic, McKinsey & Company and Accenture as partners, combining expertise in "frontier" AI, business transformation and governance to establish the guardrails, operating discipline and execution model needed to scale AI responsibly across the enterprise. "Our teammates are Brown & Brown's greatest differentiator, and we view AI as an enabler of their experience, specialization and judgment -- not a replacement for it," said Powell Brown, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown. "By responsibly implementing AI across our business, we can help teammates spend more time advising customers, building relationships and delivering the specialized solutions that set Brown & Brown apart. To do this well, we are bringing together the right mix of internal leadership and external partners who are leaders in this space." Becoming AI-first is more than just deploying technology. It means building a culture of continuous improvement and arming every teammate with the ability to work smarter, unlock creativity, move faster and deliver even greater value to customers. The Company will ultimately deploy Anthropic's Claude across its 23,000 teammates and integrate AI into end-to-end workflows supporting customer service, operations, technology and corporate functions. Jim Bramblet, senior managing director leading Accenture's U.S. Insurance business, said, "Brown & Brown is taking a forward-looking approach to using AI to help drive growth, improve efficiency and create value across the business. By combining Anthropic's advanced AI capabilities with Accenture's experience designing technology architectures, developing implementation roadmaps and supporting business transformation, this collaboration is focused on accelerating innovation, modernizing how work gets done and turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes." Brown & Brown is also establishing a value management office (VMO) to support disciplined execution and ongoing, outcomes-based evaluation of its AI initiatives. The office will monitor adoption, measure business impact and return on investment, and maintain controls as AI capabilities scale across the enterprise. "We are excited to partner with Brown & Brown on this next chapter of its AI transformation. Brown & Brown has demonstrated a clear commitment to using AI to create meaningful value for its customers, teammates and shareholders. We look forward to helping the company redesign how work gets done and capture the full potential of AI at enterprise scale," said Ari Libarikian, global co-lead of McKinsey's Insurance Practice. As part of its broader technology transformation, Brown & Brown will also deploy Claude Code across its entire software engineering organization to reimagine and implement an AI-enabled software development lifecycle, expected to improve developer productivity, strengthen software quality and accelerate delivery. "Brown & Brown's engineers are using Claude Code to develop in hours what used to take days, cutting troubleshooting time dramatically and catching vulnerabilities that other tools missed -- and the company is now expanding Claude from a handful of pilot teams to the entire enterprise," said Michael Hartman, head of Americas enterprise, Anthropic. "That's what becoming an AI-first enterprise looks like -- proving the value first, then giving every teammate the same capability." Early Claude Code usage across select pilot teams at Brown & Brown shows promising results: * Improved developer productivity: participating teams have reported productivity gains of approximately 2x to 8x, with certain work that previously took days completed in hours. * Enhanced security and code quality: AI-enabled workflows have reduced analysis and troubleshooting time by an estimated 80-90% in certain use cases and helped identify software vulnerabilities not detected by other tools. * Strong teammate adoption: participating teams reported high confidence in Claude Code, with 80% rating its value 5 out of 5 during the rollout. Together, these efforts position Brown & Brown to scale responsible AI across its business while keeping teammates, customers, security and measurable outcomes at the center of its transformation. About Brown & Brown Inc. Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) is a leading insurance brokerage firm delivering comprehensive and customized insurance solutions and specialization since 1939. With a global presence spanning 700+ locations and a team of more than 23,000 professionals, we are dedicated to delivering scalable, innovative strategies for our customers at every step of their growth journey. Learn more at BBrown.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Brown & Brown's plans and expectations regarding AI, the next phase of its transformation, estimated efficiency improvements, teammate adoption metrics and statements regarding its early results and expected benefits. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Brown & Brown's current belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Brown & Brown's control. It is possible that Brown & Brown's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning Brown & Brown and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect Brown & Brown's financial results and condition, as well as its other achievements, is contained in Brown & Brown's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include the requirement for additional resources and time to adequately respond to dynamics resulting from rapid technological change, including the increasing use of artificial intelligence and robotic processing automation; a cybersecurity attack or any other interruption in formation technology and/or data security that may impact our operations or the operations of third parties that support us; our reliance on vendors and other third parties to perform key functions of our business operations and provide services to our customers; improper disclosure of confidential information; and changes in data privacy and protection laws and regulations or any failure to comply with such laws and regulations. All forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release, and Brown & Brown does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which Brown & Brown hereafter becomes aware. For more information: Jenny Goco Vice President of Public Relations & Communications
Harry Potter publisher to receive Anthropic payout
Bloomsbury Publishing said on Wednesday that it will receive a multimillion-dollar payout as a major beneficiary of a $1.5 billion settlement approved by a US court over Anthropic's alleged use of pirated books to train its AI models, marking the first major resolution in copyright disputes against AI companies. Bloomsbury Publishing, the British publisher of the Harry Potter series, is set to receive a multimillion-dollar payout under a record $1.5 billion copyright settlement approved this week by a US federal court involving artificial intelligence firm Anthropic. The US District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval to the agreement on July 20, resolving claims that Anthropic obtained millions of pirated books to develop its Claude AI models. Anthropic has denied wrongdoing and maintained that using copyrighted works to train its systems was protected by the fair-use doctrine, though the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability. The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who accused Anthropic of downloading large numbers of copyrighted books from unauthorized online repositories to train its AI models. In a statement on Wednesday, Bloomsbury confirmed its status as a major beneficiary under the class-action agreement, with court documents listing 14,087 of the company's titles eligible for compensation. Each qualifying work is expected to receive approximately $3,000 before legal fees and other costs, with the payout generally divided equally between the publisher and the author, according to the court filings. Payments to rights holders, including Bloomsbury, are expected to be made in installments, with the first likely to arrive in the second half of the company's financial year.
Brown & Brown enlists Anthropic, McKinsey and Accenture to help responsibly rewire the business for AI-first transformation
All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brown & Brown, Inc. (the "Company") today announced the next phase of its enterprise technology transformation: becoming an AI-first enterprise. This evolution is designed to responsibly leverage artificial intelligence (AI), rewire key business processes to accelerate growth, enhance customer experience, improve teammate productivity and strengthen business performance. The Company is building AI as a foundational enterprise capability, designed to quickly scale across the business while empowering local teams to address customer and operational needs. Encouraged by gains realized in initial pilot projects, Brown & Brown is entering the next phase of its AI journey. This phase will focus on thoughtfully expanding AI capabilities using Brown & Brown's agile, entrepreneurial operating model to incubate AI solutions close to the business and customer, while quickly proving value and deploying capabilities at scale. This enhanced model empowers local development to address business needs, while creating an operating platform that supports companywide adoption. To do this, the Company has selected Anthropic, McKinsey & Company and Accenture as partners, combining expertise in "frontier" AI, business transformation and governance to establish the guardrails, operating discipline and execution model needed to scale AI responsibly across the enterprise. "Our teammates are Brown & Brown's greatest differentiator, and we view AI as an enabler of their experience, specialization and judgment -- not a replacement for it," said Powell Brown, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown. "By responsibly implementing AI across our business, we can help teammates spend more time advising customers, building relationships and delivering the specialized solutions that set Brown & Brown apart. To do this well, we are bringing together the right mix of internal leadership and external partners who are leaders in this space." Becoming AI-first is more than just deploying technology. It means building a culture of continuous improvement and arming every teammate with the ability to work smarter, unlock creativity, move faster and deliver even greater value to customers. The Company will ultimately deploy Anthropic's Claude across its 23,000 teammates and integrate AI into end-to-end workflows supporting customer service, operations, technology and corporate functions. Jim Bramblet, senior managing director leading Accenture's U.S. Insurance business, said, "Brown & Brown is taking a forward-looking approach to using AI to help drive growth, improve efficiency and create value across the business. By combining Anthropic's advanced AI capabilities with Accenture's experience designing technology architectures, developing implementation roadmaps and supporting business transformation, this collaboration is focused on accelerating innovation, modernizing how work gets done and turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes." Brown & Brown is also establishing a value management office (VMO) to support disciplined execution and ongoing, outcomes-based evaluation of its AI initiatives. The office will monitor adoption, measure business impact and return on investment, and maintain controls as AI capabilities scale across the enterprise. "We are excited to partner with Brown & Brown on this next chapter of its AI transformation. Brown & Brown has demonstrated a clear commitment to using AI to create meaningful value for its customers, teammates and shareholders. We look forward to helping the company redesign how work gets done and capture the full potential of AI at enterprise scale," said Ari Libarikian, global co-lead of McKinsey's Insurance Practice. As part of its broader technology transformation, Brown & Brown will also deploy Claude Code across its entire software engineering organization to reimagine and implement an AI-enabled software development lifecycle, expected to improve developer productivity, strengthen software quality and accelerate delivery. "Brown & Brown's engineers are using Claude Code to develop in hours what used to take days, cutting troubleshooting time dramatically and catching vulnerabilities that other tools missed -- and the company is now expanding Claude from a handful of pilot teams to the entire enterprise," said Michael Hartman, head of Americas enterprise, Anthropic. "That's what becoming an AI-first enterprise looks like -- proving the value first, then giving every teammate the same capability." Early Claude Code usage across select pilot teams at Brown & Brown shows promising results: * Improved developer productivity: participating teams have reported productivity gains of approximately 2x to 8x, with certain work that previously took days completed in hours. * Enhanced security and code quality: AI-enabled workflows have reduced analysis and troubleshooting time by an estimated 80-90% in certain use cases and helped identify software vulnerabilities not detected by other tools. * Strong teammate adoption: participating teams reported high confidence in Claude Code, with 80% rating its value 5 out of 5 during the rollout. Together, these efforts position Brown & Brown to scale responsible AI across its business while keeping teammates, customers, security and measurable outcomes at the center of its transformation. About Brown & Brown Inc. Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) is a leading insurance brokerage firm delivering comprehensive and customized insurance solutions and specialization since 1939. With a global presence spanning 700+ locations and a team of more than 23,000 professionals, we are dedicated to delivering scalable, innovative strategies for our customers at every step of their growth journey. Learn more at BBrown.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Brown & Brown's plans and expectations regarding AI, the next phase of its transformation, estimated efficiency improvements, teammate adoption metrics and statements regarding its early results and expected benefits. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Brown & Brown's current belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Brown & Brown's control. It is possible that Brown & Brown's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning Brown & Brown and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect Brown & Brown's financial results and condition, as well as its other achievements, is contained in Brown & Brown's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include the requirement for additional resources and time to adequately respond to dynamics resulting from rapid technological change, including the increasing use of artificial intelligence and robotic processing automation; a cybersecurity attack or any other interruption in formation technology and/or data security that may impact our operations or the operations of third parties that support us; our reliance on vendors and other third parties to perform key functions of our business operations and provide services to our customers; improper disclosure of confidential information; and changes in data privacy and protection laws and regulations or any failure to comply with such laws and regulations. All forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release, and Brown & Brown does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which Brown & Brown hereafter becomes aware. For more information: Jenny Goco Vice President of Public Relations & Communications (386) 333-6066 [email protected]
Brown & Brown enlists Anthropic, McKinsey and Accenture to help responsibly rewire the business for AI-first transformation
Early Claude Code projects returned up to 8x productivity gains, 80-90% faster troubleshooting and strong teammate confidence DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brown & Brown, Inc. (the "Company") today announced the next phase of its enterprise technology transformation: becoming an AI-first enterprise. This evolution is designed to responsibly leverage artificial intelligence (AI), rewire key business processes to accelerate growth, enhance customer experience, improve teammate productivity and strengthen business performance. The Company is building AI as a foundational enterprise capability, designed to quickly scale across the business while empowering local teams to address customer and operational needs. Encouraged by gains realized in initial pilot projects, Brown & Brown is entering the next phase of its AI journey. This phase will focus on thoughtfully expanding AI capabilities using Brown & Brown's agile, entrepreneurial operating model to incubate AI solutions close to the business and customer, while quickly proving value and deploying capabilities at scale. This enhanced model empowers local development to address business needs, while creating an operating platform that supports companywide adoption. To do this, the Company has selected Anthropic, McKinsey & Company and Accenture as partners, combining expertise in "frontier" AI, business transformation and governance to establish the guardrails, operating discipline and execution model needed to scale AI responsibly across the enterprise. Get the latest news delivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "Our teammates are Brown & Brown's greatest differentiator, and we view AI as an enabler of their experience, specialization and judgment - not a replacement for it," said Powell Brown, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown. "By responsibly implementing AI across our business, we can help teammates spend more time advising customers, building relationships and delivering the specialized solutions that set Brown & Brown apart. To do this well, we are bringing together the right mix of internal leadership and external partners who are leaders in this space." Becoming AI-first is more than just deploying technology. It means building a culture of continuous improvement and arming every teammate with the ability to work smarter, unlock creativity, move faster and deliver even greater value to customers. The Company will ultimately deploy Anthropic's Claude across its 23,000 teammates and integrate AI into end-to-end workflows supporting customer service, operations, technology and corporate functions. Advertisement Jim Bramblet, senior managing director leading Accenture's U.S. Insurance business, said, "Brown & Brown is taking a forward-looking approach to using AI to help drive growth, improve efficiency and create value across the business. By combining Anthropic's advanced AI capabilities with Accenture's experience designing technology architectures, developing implementation roadmaps and supporting business transformation, this collaboration is focused on accelerating innovation, modernizing how work gets done and turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes." Brown & Brown is also establishing a value management office (VMO) to support disciplined execution and ongoing, outcomes-based evaluation of its AI initiatives. The office will monitor adoption, measure business impact and return on investment, and maintain controls as AI capabilities scale across the enterprise. "We are excited to partner with Brown & Brown on this next chapter of its AI transformation. Brown & Brown has demonstrated a clear commitment to using AI to create meaningful value for its customers, teammates and shareholders. We look forward to helping the company redesign how work gets done and capture the full potential of AI at enterprise scale," said Ari Libarikian, global co-lead of McKinsey's Insurance Practice. As part of its broader technology transformation, Brown & Brown will also deploy Claude Code across its entire software engineering organization to reimagine and implement an AI-enabled software development lifecycle, expected to improve developer productivity, strengthen software quality and accelerate delivery. Advertisement "Brown & Brown's engineers are using Claude Code to develop in hours what used to take days, cutting troubleshooting time dramatically and catching vulnerabilities that other tools missed - and the company is now expanding Claude from a handful of pilot teams to the entire enterprise," said Michael Hartman, head of Americas enterprise, Anthropic. "That's what becoming an AI-first enterprise looks like - proving the value first, then giving every teammate the same capability." Early Claude Code usage across select pilot teams at Brown & Brown shows promising results: * Improved developer productivity: participating teams have reported productivity gains of approximately 2x to 8x, with certain work that previously took days completed in hours. * Enhanced security and code quality: AI-enabled workflows have reduced analysis and troubleshooting time by an estimated 80-90% in certain use cases and helped identify software vulnerabilities not detected by other tools. * Strong teammate adoption: participating teams reported high confidence in Claude Code, with 80% rating its value 5 out of 5 during the rollout. Together, these efforts position Brown & Brown to scale responsible AI across its business while keeping teammates, customers, security and measurable outcomes at the center of its transformation. About Brown & Brown Inc. Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) is a leading insurance brokerage firm delivering comprehensive and customized insurance solutions and specialization since 1939. With a global presence spanning 700+ locations and a team of more than 23,000 professionals, we are dedicated to delivering scalable, innovative strategies for our customers at every step of their growth journey. Learn more at BBrown.com. Forward-Looking Statements Advertisement This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Brown & Brown's plans and expectations regarding AI, the next phase of its transformation, estimated efficiency improvements, teammate adoption metrics and statements regarding its early results and expected benefits. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Brown & Brown's current belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Brown & Brown's control. It is possible that Brown & Brown's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning Brown & Brown and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect Brown & Brown's financial results and condition, as well as its other achievements, is contained in Brown & Brown's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include the requirement for additional resources and time to adequately respond to dynamics resulting from rapid technological change, including the increasing use of artificial intelligence and robotic processing automation; a cybersecurity attack or any other interruption in formation technology and/or data security that may impact our operations or the operations of third parties that support us; our reliance on vendors and other third parties to perform key functions of our business operations and provide services to our customers; improper disclosure of confidential information; and changes in data privacy and protection laws and regulations or any failure to comply with such laws and regulations. All forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release, and Brown & Brown does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which Brown & Brown hereafter becomes aware. For more information: Jenny Goco Vice President of Public Relations & Communications
Polymarket: Le Pen holds 30% in 2027 France race as reversal signal hits tape
Polymarket Pricing Signals for France 2027 Despite a U.S. Generic-Ballot Poll Headline Polymarket's "Next French Presidential Election" market still shows Marine Le Pen as the top-priced outcome at 30.35% implied odds on $115.6M volume. A fresh generic-ballot poll headline in the U.S. is the backdrop, but the actionable lens here is how this multi-outcome contract's odds, recent reversal signal, and 24h/7d drift map to trader conviction. Key Takeaways * Polymarket's leading implied winner is Marine Le Pen at 30.35% (No 69.65%), ahead of Edouard Philippe at 26.5% (No 73.5%). * Despite an unrelated U.S. polling headline in the news feed, this market's pricing is best read through its own tape: weakening consensus with moderate volatility and a detected reversal. * This contract resolves on 2027-04-30; the market's summary shows -4.0pp over both the last 24h and 7d, signaling softening near-term confidence. A polling headline reported Democrats holding an 11-point lead over Republicans on the U.S. generic congressional ballot. The item is a U.S.-focused polling snapshot rather than France-specific information, so it functions here mainly as a reminder that prediction markets often co-mingle political attention signals across countries. Market Tape Breakdown: $115.6M Volume, Le Pen 30.35% vs Philippe 26.5%, and -4.0pp 24h/7d Drift This is a multi-outcome Polymarket contract, so each candidate line is its own binary-style price: "Marine Le Pen" trades at 30.35% Yes / 69.65% No, while "Edouard Philippe" sits close behind at 26.5% Yes / 73.5% No -- tight enough to indicate an unsettled front-runner rather than a dominant favorite. The market-level tape points to fading conviction: the historical summary flags consensus "weakening," moderate volatility, and a reversal_detected=true signal, alongside a -4.0pp move over both 24 hours and 7 days. Volume is large at $115,617,477, which generally makes small-to-mid probability shifts more meaningful as an aggregate view of disagreement rather than a single headline reaction. Read the 30.35% as the market's current implied chance that Le Pen wins by the resolution criteria, not as a forecasted vote share; the close second pricing implies traders are still paying up for optionality across top contenders. Watch whether the spread between the top two outcomes (Le Pen vs Philippe) widens or compresses, since that is the cleanest signal of strengthening vs weakening consensus in a multi-candidate book ahead of the 2027-04-30 resolution. What Traders Watch Next on Polymarket: Cross-Market Political Attention Signals and High-Liquidity Macro/Crypto Contract Zooming out from this contract's tape, Polymarket traders often triangulate sentiment by comparing how other big political books are moving at the same time. Two that routinely draw cross-market attention are Brazil Presidential Election, where Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads at 60.5% on $114,890,302 volume, and Democratic Presidential Nominee 2028, which has Gavin Newsom on top at 19.75% with $1,245,615,388 traded. Watching whether those higher-liquidity markets are drifting in the same direction (or diverging) can help contextualize whether today's pricing is a local re-rate or part of a broader risk-on/risk-off shift across the platform. Odds Trend By the Numbers * Platform: Polymarket * Market: Next French Presidential Election * Contract type: Price strike ladder: each rung has separate Yes/No; Yes means the spot price is above that USD strike at settlement. * Resolution window: Apr 30, 2027 (UTC) * Status: Active (open for trading) * Volume: ~$115,617,477 Top strike rungs +37 more strikes not shown
Musk keeps Tesla-SpaceX merger speculation alive, cites growing overlap
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday left the door open to the EV maker merging with his other trillion-dollar-plus-valued firm SpaceX, declining to dismiss the possibility and citing growing overlap between the companies. "As you can tell from the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap," Musk said on Tesla's earnings call. "We can't talk about, you know, combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call," he added. "It's got to be done with the appropriate process." Investors and analysts have long speculated about the possibility of combining Musk's electric vehicle and space firms, with the discussion intensifying during SpaceX's record $75 billion initial public offering process. After Musk's comments, he called on Tesla General Counsel Brandon Ehrhart, who stuck to boilerplate language calling SpaceX a "great partner" that provides "numerous beneficial transactions." Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said the call left him more convinced the companies were destined to be joined over the next few years. "I would put the odds that these two will combine at 90% today," he said in a video posted on social media. "If you were going to ask me yesterday I would have said it's 80%." Tesla already supplies batteries and manufacturing technologies for some SpaceX projects, while the companies are jointly developing Terafab, a semiconductor manufacturing facility designed to produce AI chips. Proponents argue that combining the companies could simplify Musk's corporate empire and create a more integrated company spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, manufacturing, energy and space infrastructure. JPMorgan analysts said this month that "operational integration between the two entities is already deep," citing shared engineering talent, AI infrastructure, Terafab and Musk's leadership as factors that "would facilitate an eventual combination." Stifel analysts struck an even more bullish note, writing that "many investors consider it inevitable that Musk will move to combine SpaceX with Tesla - for them the question is not if but when." SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell has also acknowledged potential benefits, telling CNBC in June that folding the companies together "might make Elon's life a little easier" by streamlining management across his businesses. Others, however, caution that any transaction could face formidable hurdles. In the same research note, JPMorgan pointed to the "practical bottleneck" of getting regulatory approvals for both companies, particularly in China, where national security concerns over SpaceX's U.S. government ties could pose problems. Analysts also note that Musk controls a much larger voting stake in SpaceX than in Tesla, complicating governance considerations for Tesla's public shareholders. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Mike Colias and Jamie Freed) Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect This story was originally published July 23, 2026 at 3:16 AM.
Musk keeps Tesla-SpaceX merger speculation alive, cites growing overlap
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday left the door open to the EV maker merging with his other trillion-dollar-plus-valued firm SpaceX, declining to dismiss the possibility and citing growing overlap between the companies. "As you can tell from the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap," Musk said on Tesla's earnings call. "We can't talk about, you know, combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call," he added. "It's got to be done with the appropriate process." Investors and analysts have long speculated about the possibility of combining Musk's electric vehicle and space firms, with the discussion intensifying during SpaceX's record $75 billion initial public offering process. After Musk's comments, he called on Tesla General Counsel Brandon Ehrhart, who stuck to boilerplate language calling SpaceX a "great partner" that provides "numerous beneficial transactions." Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said the call left him more convinced the companies were destined to be joined over the next few years. "I would put the odds that these two will combine at 90% today," he said in a video posted on social media. "If you were going to ask me yesterday I would have said it's 80%." Tesla already supplies batteries and manufacturing technologies for some SpaceX projects, while the companies are jointly developing Terafab, a semiconductor manufacturing facility designed to produce AI chips. Proponents argue that combining the companies could simplify Musk's corporate empire and create a more integrated company spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, manufacturing, energy and space infrastructure. JPMorgan analysts said this month that "operational integration between the two entities is already deep," citing shared engineering talent, AI infrastructure, Terafab and Musk's leadership as factors that "would facilitate an eventual combination." Stifel analysts struck an even more bullish note, writing that "many investors consider it inevitable that Musk will move to combine SpaceX with Tesla - for them the question is not if but when." SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell has also acknowledged potential benefits, telling CNBC in June that folding the companies together "might make Elon's life a little easier" by streamlining management across his businesses. Others, however, caution that any transaction could face formidable hurdles. In the same research note, JPMorgan pointed to the "practical bottleneck" of getting regulatory approvals for both companies, particularly in China, where national security concerns over SpaceX's U.S. government ties could pose problems. Analysts also note that Musk controls a much larger voting stake in SpaceX than in Tesla, complicating governance considerations for Tesla's public shareholders. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Mike Colias and Jamie Freed) Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect This story was originally published July 23, 2026 at 5:16 AM.
Polymarket puts Sept Fed hike at 50.5% on $4M volume amid oil, yields
predict.info -- Premium Domain For Sale Domain only: USD 200,000. Prediction platform technology priced separately. predict.info Polymarket Nudges Toward a September 2026 Fed Hike After Yields Spike and Oil-Inflation Fears Polymarket traders are split on the September Fed decision, with the leading ladder outcome "25 bps increase" at 50.5% (up 1.0 pp) on $4.04M matched volume. The move follows a macro catalyst focused on rising yields and oil-linked inflation fears, and shows up as a tight price gap between hike and hold outcomes. Key Takeaways * Polymarket's top pricing is a 25 bps increase at 50.5% (No 49.5%), narrowly ahead of "No change" at 44.5% (No 55.5%). * After the yields-and-oil inflation catalyst, pricing nudged toward a hike, but the ladder remains competitive rather than one-sided. * The market resolves on 2026-09-16, so odds will keep updating into the September meeting window. A report highlighted a jump in global bond yields alongside a surge in oil prices, framing the move as stoking renewed inflation concerns. That macro backdrop is the type of headline traders often map into expectations for how restrictive the Federal Reserve may need to be by the September meeting. September Fed Ladder Pricing: 25 bps Hike at 50.5% on $4.04M Volume vs "No Change" at 44.5% (Tails Under 3.1%) This is a price-ladder market: each outcome is its own Yes/No contract on a specific September 2026 rate result, not a single "settlement price." At the front of the book, "25 bps increase" is priced at Yes 50.5% / No 49.5%, while "No change" sits at Yes 44.5% / No 55.5%, leaving only a 6.0 pp spread between the two most plausible paths. The tails are priced as low-probability: "25 bps decrease" Yes 3.05% / No 96.95%, "50+ bps decrease" Yes 2.0% / No 98.0%, and "50+ bps increase" Yes 0.85% / No 99.15%. Even with $4.04M in matched volume, the historical summary flags high volatility and weakening consensus, with odds down 16.0 pp over both 24h and 7d and the latest odds (49.5) below the last-5 average (55.1), suggesting recent selling pressure against the prior "hike" lean rather than a stable march toward one outcome. Watch whether the 25 bps increase contract can hold above the 50% line while "No change" stays in the mid-40s; in a ladder, sustained repricing usually shows up as the hike/hold gap widening and the low-probability tails staying pinned near their current single-digit Yes odds ahead of the 2026-09-16 resolution. Other Polymarket Rate & Macro Contracts Traders Watch Next: CPI Prints, Treasury Yield Direction, and Recession Odds If you're tracking the broader rates complex beyond September, Polymarket's macro board has several adjacent contracts pulling meaningful attention. "Fed Decision in July?" is currently led by No change at 77.75% on $86.01M matched volume (+6.25 pp), while longer-horizon views show up in "Fed rate hike in 2026?" at 68.5% Yes on $4.48M and timing-focused flow in "Fed rate hike by...?" with October Meeting leading at 64.5% (+16.5 pp) on $1.47M. For traders who prefer bundling scenarios rather than single-meeting granularity, "Fed decisions (Jun-Sep)" has Other out front at 60.5% on $534.35K. Odds Trend By the Numbers * Platform: Polymarket * Market: Fed Decision in September? * Contract type: Price strike ladder: each rung has separate Yes/No; Yes means the spot price is above that USD strike at settlement. * Resolution window: Sep 16, 2026 (UTC) * Status: Active (open for trading) * Volume: ~$4,043,208 Top strike rungs +1 more strikes not shown
Brown & Brown enlists Anthropic, McKinsey and Accenture to help responsibly rewire the business for AI-first transformation
Den Basisprospekt sowie die Endgültigen Bedingungen und die Basisinformationsblätter erhalten Sie bei Klick auf das Disclaimer Dokument. Beachten Sie auch die weiteren Hinweise zu dieser Werbung. The Company is building AI as a foundational enterprise capability, designed to quickly scale across the business while empowering local teams to address customer and operational needs. Encouraged by gains realized in initial pilot projects, Brown & Brown is entering the next phase of its AI journey. This phase will focus on thoughtfully expanding AI capabilities using Brown & Brown's agile, entrepreneurial operating model to incubate AI solutions close to the business and customer, while quickly proving value and deploying capabilities at scale. This enhanced model empowers local development to address business needs, while creating an operating platform that supports companywide adoption. To do this, the Company has selected Anthropic, McKinsey & Company and Accenture as partners, combining expertise in "frontier" AI, business transformation and governance to establish the guardrails, operating discipline and execution model needed to scale AI responsibly across the enterprise. "Our teammates are Brown & Brown's greatest differentiator, and we view AI as an enabler of their experience, specialization and judgment -- not a replacement for it," said Powell Brown, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown. "By responsibly implementing AI across our business, we can help teammates spend more time advising customers, building relationships and delivering the specialized solutions that set Brown & Brown apart. To do this well, we are bringing together the right mix of internal leadership and external partners who are leaders in this space." Becoming AI-first is more than just deploying technology. It means building a culture of continuous improvement and arming every teammate with the ability to work smarter, unlock creativity, move faster and deliver even greater value to customers. The Company will ultimately deploy Anthropic's Claude across its 23,000 teammates and integrate AI into end-to-end workflows supporting customer service, operations, technology and corporate functions.
Musk keeps Tesla-SpaceX merger speculation alive, cites growing overlap
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday left the door open to the EV maker merging with his other trillion-dollar-plus-valued firm SpaceX, declining to dismiss the possibility and citing growing overlap between the companies. "As you can tell from the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap," Musk said on Tesla's earnings call. "We can't talk about, you know, combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call," he added. "It's got to be done with the appropriate process." Investors and analysts have long speculated about the possibility of combining Musk's electric vehicle and space firms, with the discussion intensifying during SpaceX's record $75 billion initial public offering process. After Musk's comments, he called on Tesla General Counsel Brandon Ehrhart, who stuck to boilerplate language calling SpaceX a "great partner" that provides "numerous beneficial transactions." Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said the call left him more convinced the companies were destined to be joined over the next few years. "I would put the odds that these two will combine at 90% today," he said in a video posted on social media. "If you were going to ask me yesterday I would have said it's 80%." Tesla already supplies batteries and manufacturing technologies for some SpaceX projects, while the companies are jointly developing Terafab, a semiconductor manufacturing facility designed to produce AI chips. Proponents argue that combining the companies could simplify Musk's corporate empire and create a more integrated company spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, manufacturing, energy and space infrastructure. JPMorgan analysts said this month that "operational integration between the two entities is already deep," citing shared engineering talent, AI infrastructure, Terafab and Musk's leadership as factors that "would facilitate an eventual combination." Stifel analysts struck an even more bullish note, writing that "many investors consider it inevitable that Musk will move to combine SpaceX with Tesla - for them the question is not if but when." SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell has also acknowledged potential benefits, telling CNBC in June that folding the companies together "might make Elon's life a little easier" by streamlining management across his businesses. Others, however, caution that any transaction could face formidable hurdles. In the same research note, JPMorgan pointed to the "practical bottleneck" of getting regulatory approvals for both companies, particularly in China, where national security concerns over SpaceX's U.S. government ties could pose problems. Analysts also note that Musk controls a much larger voting stake in SpaceX than in Tesla, complicating governance considerations for Tesla's public shareholders. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Mike Colias and Jamie Freed) Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect This story was originally published July 23, 2026 at 6:16 AM.
Olivia Wilde Slams Elon Musk as a 'Creature' and Says 'I Deeply Resent Him Now,' Years After Meeting at SpaceX Headquarters
Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Olivia Wilde recently appeared on "The Louis Theroux Podcast" and slammed Elon Musk while also speaking out against misogynistic incel culture at large. "The Invite" director and star revealed she once toured Musk's SpaceX headquarters and met the business tycoon long "before he turned into a creature." "I really resent him now. I really deeply resent him," Wilde said. "I met him many, many years ago. I think SpaceX had just built their headquarters in L.A. and I got to go on a tour because I wanted to see the rocket ships. He was interested in donating money to an organization that I was a part of in Haiti that was building hospitals and schools. I believe he did donate a little bit of money, and that's appreciated. I was confused by him. I would never have predicted he would go down the path he has gone down. He did seem really smart." More from Variety Wilde noted how Musk has perpetuated some of incel culture's more disturbing ideology, particularly the belief that men are more powerful than nature. The filmmaker noted how Musk connects to this mentality by "talking about how we don't have enough people and the world is underpopulated and we could handle another billion people." Musk often expresses his belief that humanity is facing an impending "underpopulation crisis," arguing it's a bigger threat than global warming. During the press tour for "Don't Worry Darling" in fall 2022, Wilde garnered the attention of incel culture when she said she based Chris Pine's villain character off author and commentator Jordan Peterson, who Wilde referred to as "this pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community." Peterson then broke down in tears during an interview with Piers Morgan in reaction to Wilde's statement. Wilde defined incels at the time as "disenfranchised, mostly white men, who believe they are entitled to sex from women. And they believe that society has now robbed them -- that the idea of feminism is working against nature, and that we must be put back into the correct place." Speaking now on Theroux's podcast, Wilde admitted that it "might have ben unfair for me to call [Peterson] a pseudo-intellectual" because "he obviously thinks about things deeply, but I just feel that he operates in a way that is a buttoned-up version of the type of thinkers that lead to the Andrew Tate's of the world. There are different layers to that community, some of whom speak more clearly the points they are all actually filtering through." "My issue with Peterson is a lot of people who are not in any way misogynist have adopted this sanitized version of the same philosophy that's rooted in deep misogyny and weaponized by the incel community," Wilde continued. "The basic point of it is entitlement to power. That is something that many men are struggling with... I was disturbed by what I saw as this misogyny that was being weaponized and leading us to elect Donald Trump twice and beyond that just empower these groups of people who I think are dangerous." When asked in 2022 about why Wilde's comment made him so emotional, Peterson fought back tears and said, "It's really something to see -- constantly how many people are dying for lack of an encouraging word and how easy it is to provide that if you're careful." Wilde told Theroux she was more or less dumbfounded by this comment, explaining: "'Lack of an encouraging word' is so absurd. There is a large, booming word of encouragement happening at all time for these men, which is: 'This world is yours and you are entitled to it.' That's deeply engrained in our society. This idea they need a reminder of encouragement deserve more is ludicrous." Listen to Wilde's full interview on "The Louis Theroux Podcast" here. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
SpaceX launches satellite servicing mission to extend spacecraft lifespan The Mainstream
A major step towards in-orbit satellite servicing has been achieved as SpaceX successfully launched a mission aimed at extending the operational life of ageing satellites in geostationary orbit. The mission introduces advanced robotic technology that can install life-extension systems without replacing existing spacecraft. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on July 21 at 5:15 pm EDT (July 22 at 2:45 am IST), carrying Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) along with 3 Mission Extension Pods (MEPs). Operated by SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, the mission marks the first deployment of the company's new satellite life-extension pods. The MRV is travelling to geostationary orbit, around 35,786 km above Earth, where it will use its 2 robotic arms, each measuring 10 feet, to attach the 3 MEPs to separate satellites. The pods act as propulsion units, helping satellites maintain their orbit and manage momentum, extending their operational life by up to 8 years. Optus has reserved 1 pod, while Intelsat will use the remaining 2 for its satellites. Unlike previous satellite servicing missions, the MRV and MEPs will travel separately before meeting in orbit. The robotic vehicle will capture each pod, transport it to its assigned satellite, and install it. After completing all 3 installations, the MRV will remain in space to support future servicing missions. The spacecraft is also designed to inspect, relocate, repair and upgrade satellites. It carries a Passive Refueling Module, the first refuelling interface standard approved by the U.S. Space Force, allowing the vehicle to be refuelled in orbit for long-term operations. The mission builds on Northrop Grumman's earlier Mission Extension Vehicle programme launched in 2019 and 2020. This latest mission introduces reusable robotic servicing capable of supporting multiple satellites. The Falcon 9 upper stage deployed the MRV around 35.5 minutes after liftoff, followed by the release of the 3 MEPs at 10-minute intervals. Due to the mission's high-performance requirements, SpaceX did not attempt to recover the first-stage booster, which completed its 32nd and final flight. Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat Do Follow: The Mainstream LinkedIn | The Mainstream Facebook | The Mainstream Youtube | The Mainstream Twitter About us: The Mainstream is a premier platform delivering the latest updates and informed perspectives across the technology business and cyber landscape. Built on research-driven, thought leadership and original intellectual property, The Mainstream also curates summits & conferences that convene decision makers to explore how technology reshapes industries and leadership. With a growing presence in India and globally across the Middle East, Africa, ASEAN, the USA, the UK and Australia, The Mainstream carries a vision to bring the latest happenings and insights to 8.2 billion people and to place technology at the centre of conversation for leaders navigating the future.
Musk Refuses to Confirm It, But This SpaceX Rumor Should Terrify Every Tesla Investor
* Musk neither confirmed nor denied a Tesla-SpaceX merger while TSLA posted a 38% EPS miss and turned free cash flow negative in Q2. * Gene Munster raised TSLA-SPCX merger odds to 90%, but SpaceX's projected $30 billion cash burn this year would likely dilute existing Tesla shareholders. * Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks -- and Tesla didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. On Wednesday's earnings call, Elon Musk stopped short of confirming a Tesla-SpaceX merger and did something arguably worse for shareholders of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA): he refused to shut the door. Asked about synergies between his automaker and SpaceX, Musk told analysts, "Well, as you can tell from all the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap, especially with Terafab, that's really going to be a gigantic project." He then pulled back, adding, "But obviously, we can't talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call, it has got to be done with the appropriate process." Nothing was confirmed. Nothing was denied. The overlap Musk referenced is already visible. Starlink connectivity is built into Cybertruck and planned across Tesla's fleet, including Cybercab. The Grok chatbot is embedded in Tesla vehicles, Tesla is supplying batteries and manufacturing know-how to SpaceX, and Terafab is a jointly relevant AI chip facility. Q1 disclosures flagged a semiconductor fab under construction in Austin, and Tesla previously took a $2 billion equity stake in SpaceX. The integration is already operational. The Dilution Problem Here is the part that should worry Tesla holders. BNP Paribas notes SpaceX's cash flow is sharply negative. SpaceX is expected to burn roughly $30 billion this year and as much as $194 billion cumulatively through 2030. Folding that into Tesla would almost certainly require fresh equity raises, diluting existing shareholders. BNP Paribas has separately argued a merger "won't save investors." Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks -- and Tesla didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. That warning lands on top of a quarter that already rattled the base. Tesla posted Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24 billion, up 25.52% year over year and ahead of consensus, but non-GAAP EPS of $0.33 missed the $0.5367 estimate by 38.51%. Operating margin compressed to 1.4%. Gross margin slipped to 16.8% from 17.2% a year earlier. Free cash flow swung to a negative $1.092 billion as capex jumped 141.81% year over year to $5.789 billion. Shares fell nearly 3% in after-hours trading, and TSLA is now down 16.83% year to date.
Harry Potter publisher to receive payout under Anthropic's $1.5B copyright settlement
Harry Potter publisher to receive payout under Anthropic's $1.5B copyright settlementBloomsbury stands to gain from $1.5B deal after US court approves compensation for thousands of its titles used without permission The British publisher behind the globally popular Harry Potter series is set to receive a multimillion-dollar payout as one of the biggest beneficiaries of a record $1.5 billion settlement approved this week in a US copyright dispute involving artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic. The US District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval to the agreement on July 20, resolving claims that Anthropic obtained millions of pirated books to help develop its Claude AI models. In a statement Wednesday, Bloomsbury Publishing confirmed that it was among the beneficiaries of the class-action settlement. A court list includes 14,087 of the company's titles eligible for compensation. Each qualifying work is expected to receive about $3,000 before legal fees and other costs, with the payout generally divided equally between the publisher and the author. Payments to rights holders, including Bloomsbury, are expected to be made in installments, with the first likely to arrive in the second half of the company's financial year. Anthropic has denied wrongdoing and did not admit liability under the settlement. The company has maintained that the use of copyrighted works to train its AI models was protected by the fair-use doctrine. The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson. They accused Anthropic of downloading large numbers of copyrighted books from unauthorized online libraries, known as shadow libraries, to train its AI models. The case later developed into a class action covering hundreds of thousands of books. The agreement marks the first major settlement to emerge from dozens of copyright lawsuits filed in the US against AI companies on behalf of authors, publishers and news organizations.
Tesla-SpaceX Merger Probability Jumps to 90% Following Musk's Earnings Call Remarks
* Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management increased his merger probability forecast from 80% to 90% following Tesla's second-quarter earnings discussion * Elon Musk confirmed expanding integration between the companies while stating merger discussions require "appropriate process" * Kalshi prediction market participants assign 41% probability to merger completion by March 2027 * More than $402,000 in wagers placed on Kalshi's Tesla-SpaceX merger contract * Tesla stock declined approximately 4% after missing Q2 earnings expectations with negative free cash flow During Tesla's second-quarter earnings discussion on Wednesday, Elon Musk faced a direct inquiry regarding a possible merger with SpaceX. While confirming increased integration between both entities, Musk indicated that an earnings call wasn't the suitable forum for such discussions. "It's got to be done with the appropriate process," Musk said. Deepwater Analyst Increases Probability Forecast Gene Munster from Deepwater Asset Management expressed surprise that the merger inquiry received any consideration during the call, interpreting it as an encouraging development. "Going into the call, I thought there was an 80% chance the two companies come together in the next few years. I'm raising that to 90%," Munster posted on X. Munster emphasized that Musk personally pointed out the expanding convergence between both organizations, especially regarding Terafab, a semiconductor manufacturing initiative supported by both companies. Commercial partnerships already exist between the organizations. SpaceX utilizes Tesla's energy storage technology for its artificial intelligence computing facilities. Tesla has incorporated SpaceX's Grok AI technology into its vehicle lineup and completed direct vehicle sales to SpaceX. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX Musk has previously discussed his companies moving toward "convergence" in a social media post on X. Betting Markets Show 41% Merger Probability Kalshi, a federally regulated prediction platform, displays over $402,000 in total wagers on its "When will Tesla and SpaceX merge?" market. Market participants currently assign a 41% likelihood to a merger completing before March 1, 2027. The probability increases marginally to 45% for completion before May 1, 2027. Musk has demonstrated a history of consolidating his business ventures. He integrated xAI into SpaceX prior to its June public offering. Back in 2016, Tesla completed a Solar City acquisition, incorporating it into Tesla's energy segment. That transaction triggered a significant shareholder legal challenge, which concluded favorably for Musk in 2022. SpaceX completed its public market debut in June, temporarily achieving a $2.6 trillion market capitalization. Subsequently, the company experienced market value reductions approaching $1 trillion, accompanied by concerns regarding valuation metrics and anticipated insider selling activity. Tesla stock experienced a nearly 4% decline in extended trading Wednesday. The electric vehicle manufacturer fell short of second-quarter earnings projections and posted negative free cash flow figures. SpaceX shares similarly declined more than 6% during the trading session. Neither organization has issued a formal merger announcement or proposal.
SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy to launch tonight: What to expect at lift-off?
SpaceX is set to make another attempt to launch Starship Flight 13 tonight after a last-second abort delayed the mission last week. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 4:15 am IST on Friday, July 24, with a 90-minute launch window from the company's Starbase facility in Texas, US. The test flight is a crucial step in the development of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, which SpaceX hopes will eventually carry astronauts to the Moon under Nasa's Artemis programme and, later, transport humans to Mars. WHY IS SPACEX'S FLIGHT 13 IMPORTANT? This will be the 13th integrated test flight of the Starship-Super Heavy launch system and the second test of the upgraded Version 3 (V3) vehicle. One of the mission's biggest objectives is to deploy 20 simulated Starlink Version 3 satellites, marking the first payload demonstration for the new-generation Starship. The satellites are designed to re-enter Earth's atmosphere rather than remain in orbit. Engineers will also evaluate improvements to both the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship. After stage separation, the booster is expected to make a controlled descent and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, while Starship will continue on a suborbital trajectory before splashing down in the Indian Ocean after a flight lasting just over an hour. WHY WAS SPACEX'S FLIGHT 13 DELAYED? The mission was originally scheduled for July 16, but the countdown was halted less than a second before liftoff after several of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite properly. SpaceX's automated safety system immediately aborted the launch, preventing the rocket from leaving the pad. Soon after, CEO Elon Musk said two Raptor engines would be replaced before another attempt, while the company completed additional inspections. REACHING MOON AND MARS Although Flight 13 is an uncrewed test, it is an important milestone for SpaceX's long-term ambitions. Nasa has selected a modified version of Starship as the Human Landing System (HLS) for future Artemis missions, which aim to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972. Every Starship test helps engineers validate critical systems, including propulsion, stage separation, heat shielding and controlled re-entry. Success tonight would move SpaceX a step closer to routine heavy-lift launches, lunar landings and, eventually, crewed missions to Mars. SpaceX is expected to begin its official live webcast about 30 minutes before liftoff, with millions expected to tune in worldwide as the company attempts another milestone flight.
Musk Refuses to Confirm It, But This SpaceX Rumor Should Terrify Every Tesla Investor
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks -- and Tesla didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. On Wednesday's earnings call, Elon Musk stopped short of confirming a Tesla-SpaceX merger and did something arguably worse for shareholders of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction): he refused to shut the door. Asked about synergies between his automaker and SpaceX, Musk told analysts, "Well, as you can tell from all the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there's more and more overlap, especially with Terafab, that's really going to be a gigantic project." He then pulled back, adding, "But obviously, we can't talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call, it has got to be done with the appropriate process." Nothing was confirmed. Nothing was denied. The overlap Musk referenced is already visible. Starlink connectivity is built into Cybertruck and planned across Tesla's fleet, including Cybercab. The Grok chatbot is embedded in Tesla vehicles, Tesla is supplying batteries and manufacturing know-how to SpaceX, and Terafab is a jointly relevant AI chip facility. Q1 disclosures flagged a semiconductor fab under construction in Austin, and Tesla previously took a $2 billion equity stake in SpaceX. The integration is already operational. The Dilution Problem Here is the part that should worry Tesla holders. BNP Paribas notes SpaceX's cash flow is sharply negative. SpaceX is expected to burn roughly $30 billion this year and as much as $194 billion cumulatively through 2030. Folding that into Tesla would almost certainly require fresh equity raises, diluting existing shareholders. BNP Paribas has separately argued a merger "won't save investors." That warning lands on top of a quarter that already rattled the base. Tesla posted Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24 billion, up 25.52% year over year and ahead of consensus, but non-GAAP EPS of $0.33 missed the $0.5367 estimate by 38.51%. Operating margin compressed to 1.4%. Gross margin slipped to 16.8% from 17.2% a year earlier. Free cash flow swung to a negative $1.092 billion as capex jumped 141.81% year over year to $5.789 billion. Shares fell nearly 3% in after-hours trading, and TSLA is now down 16.83% year to date. Markets are pricing this ambiguity in real time. Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster raised his odds of a Tesla-SpaceX merger from 80% to 90% after the call. Kalshi shows 52% odds of a merger by roughly May 2027. On Polymarket, the year-end 2026 announcement contract sits at 22.5%, with the September deadline at 9.5%. No terms, structure, or timeline have been confirmed. That is the point. With operating income already down 56.88% year over year and a $25 billion capital budget in flight, Tesla investors now carry a second, unquantified risk: an equity-funded absorption of the most capital-hungry company in Musk's orbit. Until Musk says otherwise, that risk is priced in and rising. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
