News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Federal agencies skirt Trump's Anthropic ban to test its advanced AI model, Politico reports
April 14 (Reuters) - Federal agencies and government officials are quietly sidestepping U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on working with Anthropic, Politico reported on Tuesday. The Commerce Department's Center for AI Standards and Innovation is actively testing Anthropic's frontier AI model Mythos' hacking prowess, the report said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Anthropic, the White House and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Staff on at least three congressional committees held or requested briefings from the company to learn about Mythos' cyber scanning capabilities over the past week, the report added. Anthropic's co-founder Jack Clark said at the Semafor World Economy event on Monday that the company is discussing Mythos with the Trump administration even after the Pentagon cut off business with the U.S. AI company following a contract dispute. The nature and details of Anthropic's talks with the U.S. government, including which agencies are involved, were not immediately clear. Mythos, announced on April 7, is Anthropic's "most capable yet for coding and agentic tasks," the company said in a blog post, referring to the model's ability to act autonomously. (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Forget Coding - Anthropic Co-Founder Reckons Your Kids Should Study Philosophy
Who would have thought a few years ago that studying liberal arts would be a safer bet than programming or coding. Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark studied literature at the University of East Anglia. Not computer science or mathematics. And he now helps run one of the most influential artificial intelligence companies in the world. His path to success is either reassuring or a sign of a significant shift in how we view education for the next generation. Speaking to an audience of parents, educators, and professionals quietly panicking about what the AI revolution means for the next generation, Clark made the case that few in Silicon Valley have been willing to state openly: That the liberal arts like history, philosophy, and literature may just turn out to be exactly the right subjects to study for a world reshaped by AI. It's rather ironic that the subjects we've spent decades telling our kids were dead ends might just be the most in-demand in ten years' time. "What turned out to be useful is that I got to learn a lot about history and a lot about the kind of stories that we tell ourselves about the future," Clark said on Monday during Semafor's World Economy Summit. "That's turned out to be like, extremely relevant for AI in a way that I think people wouldn't have predicted." Clark said that the best areas of study are those that have a lot of overlap. "I think that majors which are going to become more important are ones which involve like synthesis across a whole variety of subjects and analytical thinking about that." Clark says learning how to ask the right questions is crucial, and "rote programming" is something he would avoid. His Anthropic colleagues, including Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code, seem to agree with him after recently saying the title of software engineer will start to be phased out this year. This doesn't mean coding will be worthless. "Some people need to know the fundamentals, but we do see that technology move up the stack." Clark said that majors that may seem mismatched to the age of AI will actually be fairly worthwhile. He pointed out that Anthropic employs philosophers. "When was the last time you heard that a philosophy degree was like a great job prospect?" he said. Who would have thought a few years ago that studying literature, philosophy, or history would be a safer bet than programming or coding? Instead of asking which skills will be needed, the better question seems to be What kind of thinker does my child need to become? The future seems to, at this point, favour someone who can learn, adapt, and ask better questions than the machine in front of them. The problem is finding that particular course in a university prospectus.
Mercor's 23-Year-Old Billionaire Founders Grapple With Employee Fraud And North Korean Infiltration
Founded in 2023 by 20-somethings, data labeling startup Mercor exploded to $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate in September. Now it's confronting a wave of challenges, including an employee stealing money, security blunders and cultural growing pains. uring an all-hands meeting earlier this year at data labeling startup Mercor, its then 22-year-old billionaire CEO Brendan Foody pulled up a slide with a single word: fraud. An employee had embezzled company funds, he told his staff of more than 200. The person had since been fired. There would be no tolerance for this behavior, Foody said, according to four people familiar with the meeting. Foody didn't identify the employee or disclose the amount stolen at the meeting. But Forbes has learned that the culprit was an early hire and lead manager on the Anthropic account, one of the company's most important, where Mercor's contractors create training data to help build Claude. Multiple former Mercor employees said the manager had recruited his brother and father as "experts" and sent them hundreds of thousands of dollars in so-called bonus payments. He was reported in late December after it was discovered that contractors were paid more than the amount billed to Anthropic for multiple data generation projects, two sources said. Anthropic was not aware of the incident, they added. Mercor eventually recovered the fraudulent bonus payments and it did not end up costing customers any money, Mercor spokesperson Heidi Hagberg told Forbes. The former Anthropic account lead, whom Forbes is not identifying, declined to comment for this story. Anthropic declined to comment. It's just one episode in what more than a dozen former employees describe as a series of operational mishaps at Mercor, a fast-growing startup that has recruited 50,000 highly-skilled experts -- PhDs, lawyers, bankers, scientists and programmers -- to create training data for big AI labs like OpenAI. It's been hugely successful so far: In September 2025, Mercor's annualized revenue run rate crossed $1 billion, or $83.3 million in monthly revenue, according to a person familiar with the company. Founded in 2023 by three longtime friends who met on the high school debate team, Mercor has become a poster child for booming Silicon Valley AI startups run by unusually young, unusually wealthy founders. The three cofounders -- Foody, CTO Adarsh Hiremath, and board chairman Surya Midha -- were 22 years old when they became the world's youngest self-made billionaires in October, after raising $350 million from storied VCs like Felicis, Benchmark and General Catalyst at a $10 billion valuation, Forbes reported. Mercor employees suspected that North Korean operatives had worked for the company by using stolen credentials to skirt identity checks, multiple sources told Forbes. Beyond the fraud incident, Mercor has suffered from a number of security problems in recent months, according to interviews with five former staffers. One example: As early as November 2024, and continuing until recently, Mercor employees suspected that North Korean operatives had worked for the company by using stolen credentials to skirt identity checks, multiple sources told Forbes. In a number of instances, the suspected operatives produced data for American AI labs such as Anthropic, the sources said. Internally, they were referred to as "NKs," one former employee said, and were known to be among the best at the code-writing tasks contractors were asked to do. "They would work 80 hours a week and produce the cleanest code," this person told Forbes. One of the first people employees suspected was a project lead who "everybody trusted a lot and was given a lot of responsibility," another former Mercor employee said. Employees used fraud detection systems to confirm their suspicions. He was later fired. One former Mercor employee described looking at one of the video interviews that experts record when they are onboarded onto the platform, expecting to find a person working from a home office, as many experts did. But instead, the person was working in a drab office, with many other people visible in the background who were wearing the same black, over-the-ear headphones. When he looked at another interview for another contractor, he saw the same scene from a different vantage point. Got a tip? Contact Rashi Shrivastava at [email protected] or rashis.17 on Signal or Anna Tong at [email protected] or (650)468-3913 on Signal. Former employees said Mercor tried to address the issue by testing a trio of different screening companies and establishing a three-person fraud team. Employees also created and circulated an internal guide on how to identify the so-called "NKs," one of the sources said. The company now works with identity verification software firm Persona to conduct these checks. "Multiple frontier labs have said we have industry leading fraud detection. That is because we have invested heavily in our fraud-detection processes and team, including around-the-clock monitoring and IP-blocking, to prevent and detect any misuse of our platform," Hagberg said. The North Korean issue is industry-wide: For years North Koreans have tried to infiltrate American companies via remote jobs, sending millions of dollars back home to fund illegal weapons programs, CNN reported in August. That has trickled into the data labeling industry too. At Mercor, former employees expressed concern that the suspected North Koreans would have been able to see what kinds of training data frontier AI labs prioritize -- information the labs guard as proprietary trade secrets. A senior executive patrols the office at 9 p.m. taking notes of who's not at their desks, two former employees told Forbes. Mercor has also faced a more severe security breach that could cost it at least one major client. In early April, the company said it was among the thousands of companies targeted in a massive hack linked to open source project LiteLLM. Meta told Forbes that its work with Mercor is "paused" while the social media giant investigates the breach. Now, other frontier labs, including OpenAI, are evaluating their work with the startup as they investigate whether their proprietary training data was exposed, multiple sources told Forbes. OpenAI declined to comment. "Nearly every customer has been business-as-usual and has continued to start new projects with us throughout our third-party investigations," Mercor spokesperson Hagberg said. She said Mercor's security team is conducting an investigation with external parties and has moved to remedy the breach. The startup has also been hit with at least six lawsuits from contractors alleging Mercor's negligence led to the exposure of private data like Social Security numbers, full names and other customer data, according to federal court filings. Mercor declined to comment on ongoing litigation. The stakes are high for Mercor: AI labs have a slew of options for data labelers, and can switch quickly to new providers. There's Scale, whose former CEO, Alexandr Wang, previously held the title of the world's youngest self-made billionaire; Invisible Technologies, valued at more than $2 billion in September 2025; Surge, whose founder Edwin Chen is the youngest billionaire on the Forbes 400 list; Turing AI, which raised $110 million in July at a $2.2 billion valuation. Even newer entrants like micro1, which crossed $300 million in annualized revenue this month, and Handshake, which has more than $850 million in annualized revenue per a source familiar, are quickly gobbling up market share. 'The intensity might not be for everybody' As Mercor scaled from less than 40 employees a year ago to almost 300 today, former employees said the company's culture dramatically shifted. Employees describe an intense "996" work culture, where it's common to work at least 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. Priorities and project scopes shift quickly. Timelines are often compressed and unrealistic. A senior executive patrols the office at 9 p.m. taking notes of who's not at their desks, two former employees told Forbes. And after an abrupt change in pay structure for some project leaders, the company suffered a wave of departures, multiple sources said. "We don't mandate hours, we expect people to work hard and match the pace of our customers who are the most consequential companies in the world," Mercor spokesperson Hagberg said. "The intensity might not be for everybody and that's okay." The shift appears to have begun in May 2025, when Mercor hired Sundeep Jain, Uber's former product chief, as its first president to build out the business. Jain was responsible for overseeing new hires and management processes as well as finding better ways to track and report data to clients, the cofounders told Forbes in September. In a recent internal talent survey seen by Forbes, Mercor leadership asked employees to anonymously rat out colleagues, asking "Who on the team do you think lowers the bar?" When Jain took over, internal structures and processes changed. In October, he altered the compensation structure for Mercor's strategic project leads (SPLs), who manage budgets and recruit experts for data labeling projects. Four sources said that of Mercor's 30+% profit margin on its data labeling projects, SPLs had been rewarded with 5% in cash and 10% in equity. Instead of commissions tied to revenue, SPLs would now be paid bonuses based on performance reviews, according to multiple former employees. Under the new system, high performers made more money while low-performers made less, a standard way to incentivize employees at many fast-growing startups, Mercor spokesperson Hagberg said. But several SPLs viewed the new performance-review system as arbitrary and unfair. Some said they received less commission than they were promised, according to multiple sources. "Mercor's compensation is in the 99th percentile, according to a leading compensation consulting company. It has always been consistent with compensation shared on offer letters," Hagberg said. Several months after Jain arrived, cofounder and chief operating officer Midha stepped away from day-to-day operations, transitioning to the role of chairman of the board in October 2025. Recently, Mercor cofounder and CTO Hiremath was promoted to Co-CEO. The company has said that he will be leading a newly established enterprise offering that helps companies build agents for their internal workflows. Two former employees told Forbes that Foody and Hiremath have had many disagreements, are rarely seen speaking to each other and work from offices on different floors. "Brendan and Adarsh are best friends and have been since high school. They talk every day. They have a shared vision and a shared purpose," Hagberg said. Executives also encouraged a cutthroat culture: In a recent internal talent survey, Mercor leadership asked employees to anonymously rat out colleagues, asking "Who on the team do you think lowers the bar?", noting that only "ABS," an acronym referring to the first initials of Hiremath, Foody and Jain, would see the answers, according to a copy of the survey viewed by Forbes. They also asked which employees raised the bar, a source said. At least one former employee landed a cushy exit. Two sources told Forbes the former employee accused of siphoning money has already received investment from BoxGroup for a new venture that would create a fully autonomous company in the marketing realm. Just on the idea alone, BoxGroup invested $1.5 million, one source said. The firm did not respond to a request for comment.
easyJet alert to passengers at risk of missing flights due to airport chaos
Passengers are fearing missing their flights due to long passport control queues at airports(Image: PA) EasyJet has released a new warning to travellers heading to a sought-after European destination following concerns raised by customers across social media platforms. One traveller sought the carrier's advice after finding herself trapped in an extensive passport control queue at the terminal, with only moments remaining before her flight's boarding gate was due to shut. Numerous individuals journeying throughout Europe have encountered hold-ups owing to lengthy queues at immigration checkpoints. This follows the European Union's (EU) new Entry/Exit System (EES) being formally implemented across the Schengen Zone last week. The innovative automated IT framework took effect on April 10. It replaces traditional passport stamping for non-EU citizens (including Brits) with an electronic log of their arrivals and departures. During your initial visit following the introduction, you must provide your fingerprints and a facial photograph at the frontier. The framework monitors the duration of your stay to guarantee you don't surpass the 90-day threshold within 180 days. Once you've registered, your biometric data remains active for three years. Registration for EES carries no charge. Since the framework became fully operational, it has triggered substantial disruption. Travellers have documented waits stretching between two and three hours at principal airports, while certain carriers have encountered turmoil, with passengers failing to catch their departures owing to the sluggish processing of initial biometric enrolments, which can require up to four minutes per individual, reports the Mirror. On X, traveller Deborah Benady, posting under the handle @Demube, expressed her anxiety about potentially missing her departure following an extended wait in the passport control queue at Lisbon Airport in Portugal, with merely 14 minutes remaining before take-off. She wrote: "@EasyJet, here I am at Lisbon airport waiting for passport control, and my flight leaves in 14 minutes." An EasyJet representative replied to her message with a fresh update, providing guidance should she fail to make her scheduled departure. They stated: "Hi Deborah, I'm sorry to hear that you were delayed on the passport control queue at Lisbon airport. "All airline passengers departing from Lisbon are currently experiencing longer than usual wait times at passport control. We are advising all customers travelling from Lisbon today to factor extra time for travelling through the airport on arrival and when making onward travel plans, and are working closely with the airport and border authorities to understand when this will be improved for our customers." They added: "While this is outside of our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused by delays at the border. Please note the boarding gate closes 30 minutes before departure. If you miss your flight please reach out to the bag drop staff to enquire about the rescue fee. -Zama." A notice published on Lisbon Airport's official website as of April 15 states: "Due to possible constraints on departures border control, longer waiting times are to be expected. Passengers to international (Non Schengen) flights please arrive early at the airport." In a recent Facebook announcement, the airport additionally advised: "Due to possible border control constraints, we recommend that passengers on international flights (extra EU) arrive at the airport in greater advance. Plan your trip well and avoid unforeseen things."
Ex-SpaceX Engineer Bets On Solar Power To Revolutionise Space Travel
The company is developing a technology called solar thermal propulsion. A former engineer behind SpaceX's powerful rocket engines is now leading a new effort to transform space travel using solar energy, according to TechCrunch. Jeff Thornburg, who helped develop the Raptor engine used in the company's Starship rocket, is now the chief executive of Portal Space Systems. The startup, founded in 2021, has raised 50 million dollars in a Series A funding round, valuing it at 250 million dollars. The investment was led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33, with participation from several major firms, according to TechCrunch. Portal is working on a concept known as solar thermal propulsion. Unlike traditional engines that burn fuel or rely on solar-generated electricity, this system uses concentrated sunlight to heat propellant and push spacecraft at high speed. The idea was first explored by NASA decades ago but was never used in orbit due to limited demand at the time. With thousands of satellites now being launched every year, demand for faster and more efficient movement in space has grown. Thornburg argues that modern spacecraft must be able to move quickly between orbits, especially as global competition in space intensifies. The company has already secured significant backing from the United States military and private investors. It plans to test its technology in orbit within the next two years. A prototype spacecraft is expected to launch later this year, with a full demonstration mission planned for 2027. If successful, Portal's technology could provide a cheaper and faster way to manoeuvre satellites and may even pave the way for future nuclear-powered propulsion systems. Show full article Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world Jeff Thornburg, Portal Space Systems, Solar Thermal Propulsion, SpaceX, NASA, Satellite Technology, Space Innovation
Anthropic is raising again at $800B valuation, according to reports -- TFN
Earlier this month, Anthropic introduced its most advanced AI model so far, but said it would not be available to the public. Within a week, several venture capital firms offered to invest at valuations of around $800 billion, according to a Business Insider report. This is more than double the $380 billion post-money valuation from its $30 billion Series G round two months ago. Bloomberg reports that Anthropic has not yet taken new funding but may raise more money later. At $800 billion, Anthropic would be valued just below OpenAI's $852 billion valuation from March. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by Dario and Daniela Amodei and other former OpenAI colleagues who were concerned about how quickly AI was being commercialised. The company has grown faster than investors expected. Its annualised revenue is now over $30 billion, up from about $9 billion at the end of 2025. Anthropic is also having early talks with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley about possibly going public as soon as October 2026. Bankers think the IPO could raise over $60 billion, making it the second-largest in history after SpaceX's expected $75 billion debut.
Anthropic Draws Investor Offers at Over $800 Billion Value
You're reading the Morning Briefing Americas newsletter. You're reading the Morning Briefing Americas newsletter. You're reading the Morning Briefing Americas newsletter. Catch up on everything you need to know, from overnight news to the big stories that will shape your day. Catch up on everything you need to know, from overnight news to the big stories that will shape your day. Catch up on everything you need to know, from overnight news to the big stories that will shape your day. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By continuing, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Good morning. AI is back in focus. Trump hints the war may be nearing an end -- and markets are listening. And it may be time to chip in if you own a pricey second home in the Big Apple. Listen to the day's top stories. -- Marc Perrier Market Snapshot S&P 500 Futures6,994.00-0.2%Nasdaq 100 Futures25,948.75-0.2%Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index1,194.81+0.1% Market data as of 06:40 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays. Drawing interest. AI optimism returned as Anthropic received several offers for a new round of funding that would more than double its pre-money valuation to about $800 billion or higher, people familiar said. In another sign the party isn't over, ASML -- the only company in the world that makes the advanced machines needed to produce cutting-edge chips -- lifted its full-year sales outlook as demand surged. Bessent Calls Anthropic's Mythos a Breakthrough in China AI Race Markets' positive mood kept US stocks on track to hold near an all-time high. Donald Trump added to the upbeat tone, telling Fox Business that the war is "very close to over." Remember tariffs? Trump's levies, which unsettled everything from global markets to wine prices, may be restored by July to the levels in place before the Supreme Court struck down many of them, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The president is seeking to restore his protectionist wall of tariffs using different authorities. We have visitors. US prosecutors made a surprise visit to the Federal Reserve's offices in Washington yesterday amid the Justice Department's investigation into Chair Jerome Powell and a renovation project at the central bank, a person familiar said. Three officials attempted to enter the construction site but were denied entry on the basis of safety and other clearance protocols. Vice President JD Vance pushed back on Pope Leo's criticism of the Iran war, saying the pontiff's remarks were not based in theological truth and that he should be "careful" with his words. Italy's prime minister also weighed in, calling Trump's weekend tirade against the pope "unacceptable." Deep Dive: Where's My Refund? Americans rushing to meet Wednesday's tax filing deadline are receiving larger refunds on average under Trump's tax law, but the gains fall short of his promises -- and many say they haven't noticed a difference. * Trump's centerpiece legislative achievement has lifted the average refund by almost $350, well below the $1,000 boost he pledged. * The added savings aren't resonating with many Americans, who are grappling with higher gasoline prices and broader economic uncertainty. * That poses a political risk for Republicans, who have leaned heavily on the boost in tax refunds for their economic pitch to voters. * Also on people's minds: retirement. Here's a year-by-year guide to help you retire rich. The Big Take China's export controls on battery and EV technology are thwarting India's manufacturing ambitions -- highlighting how critical up-and-coming sectors are even more dependent on China now, despite billions of dollars in investment under the Make in India initiative. Opinion Anthropic's Mythos is a wake-up call for everyone, Parmy Olson writes. Wall Street is acting but the bigger threat will be for small and medium-sized companies that look most vulnerable to hackers and bad actors using the tools. More Opinions Play Alphadots! Our daily word puzzle with a plot twist. Today's clue is: Paperwork from folders? Play now! Before You Go Time to chip in. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is backing a new tax on second homes in the Big Apple worth at least $5 million as a way to raise cash for the city's struggling budget. "If you can afford a multi-million dollar second home in New York City, you can afford to join its residents in supporting the greatest city in the world," Hochul said in a social media post. A Couple More Bloomberg Tech returns to San Francisco June 3-4, convening leading CEOs, investors and innovators shaping the future. Drawing on Bloomberg's global newsroom and Terminal data, we'll explore the capital, connectivity and ideas driving the industry forward. Register here. More From Bloomberg Enjoying Morning Briefing Americas? Get more news and analysis with our regional editions for Asia and Europe. Check out these newsletters, too: * Markets Daily for what's moving in stocks, bonds, FX and commodities * Breaking News Alerts for the biggest stories from around the world, delivered to your inbox as they happen * Supply Lines for daily insights into supply chains and global trade * FOIA Files for Jason Leopold's weekly newsletter uncovering government documents never seen before Explore all newsletters at Bloomberg.com.
Elon Musk's xAI Sued by NAACP Over Memphis Data Center
Elon Musk's xAI Sued by NAACP Over Memphis Data Center Unpermitted gas turbines pose health risks to local residents, suit alleges By Georgia Wells April 14, 2026 7:43 pm ET Elon Musk Kent Nishimura/Reuters The NAACP sued Elon Musk's xAI Tuesday, alleging the company's efforts to power its data centers in Tennessee and Mississippi are creating a health risk for local residents. Musk's artificial intelligence company and its subsidiary MZX Tech are illegally operating gas turbines without an air permit at a data center in Southaven, Miss., in violation of the Clean Air Act, the lawsuit said. {snip} Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Deutsche Börse Takes a $200M Minority Stake from Payward Inc, Kraken's Parent Company - Tekedia
Deutsche Börse, the operator of Germany's main stock exchange, including Frankfurt has taken a $200 million minority stake in Kraken's parent company, Payward Inc. This is a secondary market transaction giving Deutsche Börse a 1.5% fully diluted stake in Payward. It implies a valuation of roughly $13.3 billion for Kraken down from a reported ~$20 billion in late 2025. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. This investment builds on a strategic partnership announced in December 2025 between the two firms. The goal is to deepen ties in regulated crypto trading, tokenized assets and markets, derivatives, and improving liquidity for institutional clients across regions. Deutsche Börse aims to bridge traditional finance and crypto and blockchain infrastructure. It signals continued institutional and traditional finance interest in established crypto platforms, even amid market volatility. Kraken has been preparing for a potential U.S. IPO though plans were reportedly paused or adjusted earlier in 2026 due to market conditions. Kraken disclosed on April 13, 2026 that it is facing an extortion attempt by a criminal group. Two isolated insider-related incidents involving support staff who improperly accessed or viewed limited client data. This affected ~2,000 accounts ~0.02% of Kraken's global user base. No systemic breach of Kraken's core systems occurred. No client funds were at risk or compromised at any point. The criminals obtained or recorded videos of internal support systems showing client data during these incidents. After Kraken identified the issues, terminated the involved individuals' access, and notified affected users, the group began demanding payment (amount not publicly specified) and threatened to leak the videos and materials to media and social platforms. Kraken's public stance: "We will not pay these criminals; we will not ever negotiate with bad actors." They are working with law enforcement and have tightened internal controls. The extortion appears tied to the insider access rather than a broad hack. The $200M investment is a positive signal for Kraken's legitimacy and growth in bridging TradFi and crypto, coming from a major regulated exchange operator. The extortion matter is a separate security and incident response issue involving limited insider misuse of support tools -- not a traditional exchange hack, and Kraken emphasizes no funds or broad data exposure. Such events highlight ongoing risks in crypto, but Kraken's transparent disclosure and refusal to pay align with standard practices for not incentivizing attackers. Validates Kraken's maturity and regulatory alignment. Deepens the existing partnership from Dec 2025 focused on regulated crypto trading, tokenized assets like xStocks integration with 360X, derivatives, custody, and institutional liquidity and FX access via tools like Kraken Embed and Deutsche Börse subsidiaries. Accelerates TradFi-crypto integration in Europe and beyond, potentially increasing institutional adoption, liquidity, and white-label solutions for banks and fintechs. Signals growing confidence from major traditional finance players. Implies ~$13.3B valuation for Kraken; down ~33% or $6.7B from late 2025 levels but the deal provides capital and strategic credibility amid IPO considerations. Generally bullish for Kraken and broader crypto legitimacy; seen as Europe strengthening its position against U.S. dominance in digital assets. No major immediate price shocks reported for crypto markets. Affected ~2,000 accounts. Involved two isolated insider misuse cases by support staff (one in 2025, one recent) where limited client data was viewed via internal support tools. No core systems breached, no funds at risk or compromised, and no widespread data leak occurred. Kraken identified the issues quickly, revoked access, notified affected users, tightened controls, and is cooperating with law enforcement. Extortion involves threats to release videos of internal screens. Raises short-term questions about insider risks and data handling in crypto exchanges. May cause minor unease among users concerned with privacy, but the tiny percentage affected and transparent disclosure limit broader damage. Reinforces the human factor as a key vulnerability in the industry. Minimal direct hit to trading or funds. Could prompt other exchanges to review internal controls. No evidence of connection to the Deutsche Börse deal; timing overlap is coincidental. The investment is a long-term positive for Kraken's growth and institutional ties, while the extortion is a contained security/PR issue with low systemic risk.
Anthropic Claude Mythos Cybersecurity Shock Rocks Crypto Titans
Anthropic Claude Mythos cybersecurity fears are rippling through the digital asset world as major crypto exchanges scramble for access to the company's most advanced AI model. Anthropic's unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model is being tested only with a small group of partners under Project Glasswing, including large tech and security firms such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Nvidia. In internal materials, Anthropic has warned that Mythos is "currently far ahead of any other AI model in cyber capabilities," and could exploit software vulnerabilities at a scale that defenders struggle to match. The company says Mythos has already identified thousands of zero‑day vulnerabilities, some buried in widely used codebases for one to two decades. According to reporting based on sources at The Information, major cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase and Binance have opened discussions with Anthropic in a bid to gain access to Mythos. Both firms sit on billions of dollars in customer assets and have been frequent targets of hacking and data breaches, pushing them to adopt more aggressive cybersecurity testing. Binance and custodian Fireblocks already use Anthropic's publicly available Claude Opus models for penetration testing, with Fireblocks reporting that the AI has spotted critical flaws missed by human testers. Earlier evaluations of Opus 4.6 alone surfaced more than 500 previously unknown high‑severity bugs in open‑source libraries, underlining why crypto platforms see Mythos as both a powerful shield and a potential new weapon for attackers. Rival OpenAI is also limiting access to a new cybersecurity‑focused model, offering it only to select partners through a controlled programme after warning of its advanced capability to find and exploit vulnerabilities. Both Anthropic Claude Mythos cybersecurity controls and OpenAI's restricted rollout point to a new norm in frontier AI: powerful systems will be tested behind closed doors before wider deployment, as regulators and industry weigh the risks of unleashing tools that can break as much as they protect. Crypto firms' push to tap Anthropic Claude Mythos cybersecurity power captures a broader tension: the same AI models that might finally lock down fragile financial infrastructure could also hand sophisticated attackers their most potent toolkit yet.
OpenAI unveils a rival to Anthropic's Mythos
OpenAI unveiled a "Cyber" model to rival Anthropic's Mythos. The new Anthropic model sparked consternation, especially in the banking sector, with its apparent ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities in almost any website or browser; it was only released to key organizations to let them patch any such vulnerabilities. OpenAI's GPT-5.4-Cyber is similarly being only partially released, reinforcing an Anthropic co-founder's warning at Semafor World Economy that other powerful hacking AIs were coming soon. Cybersecurity is "becoming an AI-driven domain," FirstPost reported, with models competing to find, and exploit or fix, security flaws; not unrelatedly, after Mythos' unveiling, investors are offering to back Anthropic at an $800 billion valuation, more than double its level just two months ago.
Perplexity AI Chief Communications Officer Jesse Dwyer may have a 'message' for Google: Web search is 'primitive technology' and has not seen any innovation for 24 years
The next battle in search may not be about ads or user behaviour, but about rewriting the technology itself. That's the message from Perplexity AI, which is now positioning its platform as a fundamental rethink of how information is retrieved online. According to a report by Benzinga, Jesse Dwyer, Chief Communications Officer at Perplexity, said: "Search, as most people know it, is a primitive technology that didn't experience any real innovation for 24 years." He added that the arrival of AI-native tools made the disruption "obvious."While most of the industry debate is centred around user behaviour and monetisation, but Perplexity believes that the real breakthrough lies in technology itself. The company frames that the web as the world's largest hard drive, where the "write" function has long been solved, but the "read" function has lagged. AI, it says, finally makes that read function possible.Perplexity sees AI as more than just an upgrade to queries. The traditional systems take instructions, whereas the AI systems take objectives. Instead of returning links, they aim to deliver direct answers, reshaping what users expect from computing. "As the computer is now evolving, what users ask and do with it also evolves," Dwyer explained.Unlike its rivals like Google, OpenAI and Meta, which are also exploring ad-driven models, Perplexity it is focusing on serving the "curious decision-makers whose choices can be "GDP-altering or history-making." Dwyer noted: "It seems reasonable to assume we should have no problem making money with those people as our most passionate users."Early hype branded Perplexity as a "Google killer," but the company is distancing itself from that narrative. Instead, it highlights its edge in accurate AI and "massively multi-model orchestration," which it claims go beyond simply being AI-native.
Deutsche Börse Drops $200M On Kraken In Deeper Crypto Push
Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure Market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse has deepened its push into digital assets with a $200 million investment in crypto exchange Kraken. According to a press release, Deutsche Börse Group has acquired a $200 million stake in Payward, the parent company behind crypto exchange Kraken. Founded back in 2011, Kraken is a US-headquartered digital asset platform that offers both spot and derivatives trading. The exchange first partnered up with Deutsche Börse Group back in December 2025. Now, it seems this investment will deepen the bridge between the two companies. Deutsche Börse Group is one of the largest financial market infrastructure providers in the world. The aim behind its partnership with Kraken has been to bring institutional clients access to regulated digital asset services. The company is making the investment in the crypto platform through the acquisition of shares in a secondary transaction, providing it with a 1.5% fully diluted stake in Payward. The press release noted: This investment highlights Deutsche Börse Group's commitment to its digital asset strategy, which involves the development of a comprehensive, hybrid market infrastructure. The transaction hasn't yet gone through, with its completion hinging on customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Deutsche Börse Group expects to close it within Q2 2026. The Deutsche Börse investment isn't the only reason Kraken has been in news recently. As reported by Bitcoinist, the exchange is being extorted by a criminal group, according to Nick Percoco, the exchange's chief security officer. The group is threatening to release videos of Kraken's internal systems with client data shown if their demands aren't met. Percoco stressed, however, that the platform won't negotiate with these bad actors. "Kraken identified and shut down two instances of inappropriate access to limited client support data," said the security chief. Across these incidents, about 2,000 client accounts were potentially viewed, corresponding to 0.02% of the exchange's userbase. Of note, no user funds have been at risk. "We are actively working with federal law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions to pursue all individuals involved and bring them to justice," noted Percoco. The crypto sector as a whole has enjoyed a rally during the last 24 hours, with many coins observing profits of more than 5%. Bitcoin has returned back to the $75,600 mark, as the below chart shows. The run has followed a dip down to $70,500 on Monday. During this return of bullish momentum, Ethereum, the crypto second largest by market cap, has seen an even sharper surge than Bitcoin, climbing above $2,380 after a rally of 9%.
Kalshi and Polymarket vie for Washington influence as Congress contemplates regulation
A Kalshi advertisement seen in Washington D.C. on March 27, 2026.Paul Lester | CNBC Sports are the most popular event contract type by volume -- as of February, almost 90% of bets made on Kalshi in the last year were on sports, according to the Congressional Research Service -- though users in some cases are able to place bets on more controversial issues, which has led to increased scrutiny. One user on Polymarket raked in $400,000 in January by correctly predicting the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, raising insider trading concerns. Subsequent bets placed on the Iran war and other government actions have heightened the alarm of lawmakers, who are scrambling to legislate tougher restrictions on the platforms. "By offering bets on wars, elections, and U.S. government actions, prediction markets are a real danger to our democracy and ripe for exploitation by public officials with insider information," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement to CNBC. Merkley has introduced multiple bills seeking to more strictly regulate prediction markets. Prediction markets are quickly finding opponents. Casinos and sportsbooks argue they operate as unlicensed sites for gambling. And several states have issued cease and desist orders to halt their operation. Kalshi won a key case last week when a federal appeals court slapped down an attempt by New Jersey to curb the platform. In Washington, lawmakers are just waking up to how the industry works. Kalshi spent $615,000 and Polymarket spent $360,000 on lobbying in 2025, according to OpenSecrets, an organization that tracks U.S. political spending. That pales in comparison with the double-digit millions spent by top trade associations. Kalshi opened a Washington office in January and tapped Biden administration alum John Bivona as its first head of government relations. In April, Kalshi added Stephanie Cutter, a former top aide to Democrats including President Barack Obama, as policy advisor. Kalshi is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and does not allow users to place bets anonymously, a contentious feature of some platforms that operate outside the U.S. Kalshi has a robust surveillance and enforcement team, Diana said, and made news earlier this year when the company suspended and referred to federal officials an editor for the YouTube influencer Mr. Beast who allegedly engaged in insider trading. As insider trading concerns on the platforms heightened last month, Kalshi announced voluntary guardrails to protect against illegal activity. The same day, Polymarket announced it was tightening its own rules against insider trading. Kalshi has not been without controversy. The company allowed bets in late February on whether the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be out of power. Khamenei was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, and bettors were left expecting a payout. Kalshi ended up refunding bettors all fees and net losses related to those bets, citing federal regulations that bar wagers on death. The CFTC regulates prediction markets as "designated contract markets" offering event contracts under the Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC treats the contracts the companies offer as "swaps," a type of financial exchange it regulates. "These are derivatives markets, and they come with a comprehensive set of regulations and protections for the integrity of the markets and the safety of the consumer," said Sean Patrick Maloney, a former U.S. House Democrat from New York who runs the new lobbying group the Coalition for Prediction Markets, which includes Kalshi. Other coalition members include crypto.com, Coinbase, Robinhood and Underdog -- all entities based in the U.S. and regulated by the CFTC. It does not represent Polymarket. Blockchain-based Polymarket is headquartered in New York and run by an entity licensed in Panama. Its limited U.S. platform is regulated by the CFTC, but its international side is not overseen by American regulators. Lawmakers' concerns rest largely on companies such as Polymarket that operate outside the U.S. and technically bar U.S. users, some of whom find their way in through work-arounds such as virtual private networks, or VPNs, which can be used to hide their locations. Asked about these concerns, Polymarket's Chalos touted what she said was the company's internal abilities to identify bad actors. "I think there's a bit of a misconception around this idea of anonymous trading. Blockchains afford the ability to gather an enormous amount of information about a person's trading activity. In many instances, individuals are able to be identified," Chalos said, though she would not comment on whether anyone was identified for bets placed related to Máduro or the Iran war. While Polymarket has generally been less public-facing than Kalshi, it has started developing a ground game in the nation's capital. It unveiled a pop-up bar in downtown Washington in March, where revelers could access Bloomberg terminals and place bets alongside libations, though power issues led to a botched opening. "We have a number of key hires in the pipeline, which will broaden our D.C. presence," Chalos said. "We have third-party people we work with down in D.C., and then members of the company have been spending time down there as well." These efforts to win hearts and minds have left Congress somewhat split. "Sometimes it can seem like Washington is the last place to wake up to something millions of Americans have embraced and enjoy, and it feels like there's a lot for people to do," Maloney said. Congressional leadership has been mostly quiet on the issue. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not respond to requests for comment for this story. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., offered tepid support for congressional oversight of the industry during a press conference in March. "I do think it's reasonable for us to take a look at what can be done in this space and try to find a bipartisan path forward, working with all of the stakeholders in this area," Jeffries said.
Australia's Stricter Visa Regulations Spark Chaos for Indian Students as Forty Percent of Applications Are Rejected for the First Time in Two Decades Leaving Thousands of Aspirants in Limbo and Facing Uncertainty About Their Future Educational Plans
Published on April 13, 2026 Indian students aspiring to study in Australia are facing a significant setback as the country's student visa rejection rate skyrockets to 40%. This sharp rise follows Australia's recent decision to tighten visa regulations by moving India to a higher evidence level, demanding more extensive documentation such as bank statements, tax returns, and proof of genuine temporary intent. These unexpected changes have left many students in uncertainty, with tight deadlines and increased financial burdens complicating the visa application process. The new rules, introduced without prior notice, have disrupted plans for thousands of prospective students, particularly those hoping to enroll for the July semester. Australia's Student Visa Refusal Rate Soars Amid Stricter Policies, Leaving Indian Students in Uncertainty In a significant policy shift, Indian students aspiring to study in Australia have been hit with a massive setback. On April 11, 2026, the Australian Department of Home Affairs announced the highest refusal rate for foreign student visa applications in two decades. According to official data shared with The Times of India, 32.5% of all international student visa applications were denied in February 2026. However, Indian nationals saw an even higher refusal rate of 40%. This sudden surge in refusals follows Australia's recent decision to move India from Evidence Level 2 to Evidence Level 3 under the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF). This change means that Indian students must now meet much stricter requirements when applying for student visas. Previously, applicants from India faced less stringent documentation demands, but the new regulations require detailed bank statements, income tax returns, and evidence of genuine intent to stay temporarily in Australia. For many, these additional requirements were imposed without prior warning, leading to confusion and frustration among students and educational agents alike. As a result, thousands of students holding offer letters are now uncertain about their enrolment for the upcoming July semester. The shift in visa requirements has prompted concerns among universities and education agents. The move, which was implemented with almost no notice, has created a sense of unease for both students and institutions. In particular, universities worry that the new rules may discourage potential students from applying to study in Australia, especially in postgraduate programs where Indian students make up a large portion of the student body. Currently, more than 130,000 Indian students are studying in Australia, contributing a staggering AUD 6 billion to the country's economy each year through tuition fees and related expenses. In the face of these tightening rules, platforms such as VisaHQ offer vital assistance to Indian students navigating this challenging process. Through their India-specific portal, students can upload their visa application documents for pre-screening. This service provides personalised checklists and direct access to visa specialists, allowing students to streamline their application process. VisaHQ also ensures that applicants are aware of the evolving rules and requirements, helping them avoid common errors that could delay their visa approval. Despite these efforts to ease the process, Australian officials maintain that the changes were necessary to combat the issue of "ghost colleges" and the perceived misuse of the student visa route as a pathway to working in Australia. According to Assistant Minister for International Education, Julian Hill, the move aims to strengthen Australia's visa system, ensuring that only those with legitimate educational intentions are granted visas. Hill further emphasized that "strong integrity measures" would remain in place to safeguard the quality of Australia's international education sector. However, representatives from higher education bodies have voiced their concerns about the long-term effects of these policy changes. Australia's postgraduate education market is heavily reliant on Indian students, who make up a significant portion of enrolments. The higher refusal rates and increased documentation demands could discourage potential applicants, ultimately damaging Australia's reputation as a leading destination for higher education. For many Indian families, the financial burden is a major concern. The new rules require students to submit bank statements showing a balance for the previous six months, along with compulsory advance tuition fees. This has caused the cost of securing a student visa to skyrocket, with some students facing upfront expenses exceeding INR 18 lakh (approximately AUD 30,000). These additional financial requirements may push studying in Australia out of reach for many families, who already face the challenge of funding international education. Corporate mobility managers have also expressed frustration with the new policy. For multinational companies that sponsor employees for master's programs in Australia, the added lead-time and documentation requirements are expected to cause significant delays. In some cases, companies may be forced to consider alternative study destinations such as Canada, where student visa procedures are perceived to be more straightforward. Immigration lawyers have advised Indian applicants to prepare their applications meticulously in light of the new regulations. They recommend that students submit all required documentation upfront, including proof of a clear study-to-career pathway. In addition, applicants are advised to consider staggered fee payments to mitigate the financial risks associated with a potential visa refusal. By front-loading their documentation and planning for the possibility of a refusal, students can reduce the financial burden if their application is rejected. The situation has left many students feeling anxious and uncertain about their future plans. With Australia traditionally being one of the top destinations for Indian students, these recent changes have raised questions about the country's commitment to maintaining its position as a leader in international education. As the situation continues to evolve, students and educational institutions will need to adapt to the new rules and requirements in order to navigate the increasingly complex student visa landscape. For now, Indian students hoping to study in Australia must be extra vigilant in preparing their visa applications, ensuring they meet all of the updated documentation requirements. While platforms like VisaHQ provide some relief, the uncertainty surrounding the future of Australia's student visa policies has left many students wondering whether their dreams of studying abroad will be realized. As the landscape shifts, it is crucial for prospective students to stay informed and seek guidance from experts to ensure they can successfully secure their place in Australia's educational system.
INSTITUTIONAL | World's Leading Exchange Organizations Acquires 1.5% Into Kraken Crypto Exchange Parent Company
Deutsche Borse's market capitalization stood at ~$50 billion and an asset base of ~$260 billion as of mid-April 2026 with over 16,000 employees from over 125 nations. Deutsche Börse has invested $200 million in Kraken parent, Payward Inc., taking a 1.5% fully diluted stake through a secondary share purchase, the company said on Tuesday. Deutsche Börse basically runs the infrastructure where stocks, derivatives, and other financial assets are traded. The deal deepens an existing partnership between the two firms, first announced in December 2025, aimed at linking traditional financial markets with digital asset infrastructure, including trading, custody, settlement and tokenized assets. The investment is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. Deutsche Börse said the partnership will focus on expanding regulated crypto services, derivatives and institutional liquidity across markets, as it pushes forward with its strategy to build a hybrid market infrastructure combining traditional securities and blockchain-based assets. As of April 2026, Deutsche Börse Group is one of the world's leading exchange organizations, having achieved record-breaking financial results in its most recent fiscal year of ~$2.6 billion in net profit. The company's market capitalization stood at ~$50 billion and an asset base of ~$260 billion as of mid-April 2026 with over 16,000 employees from over 125 nations. The move highlights growing interest from traditional financial institutions in the crypto sector, as exchanges and market operators increasingly seek exposure to digital assets.
Robotaxis: Chaos or coordination ?
How will cities manage the burgeoning proliferation of robotaxis? What are the priorities? Who gets the kerb? How is the 'mobility revolution' actually going to work? Kevin Borras quizzes Bern Grush The announcement that Waymo is to begin its driverless taxi service in London, UK, was met with, it has to be said, a mixed response. Excitement and intrigue in some quarters, while in others there was concern for not only the livelihoods of the capital's taxi drivers, but also consternation about how the autonomous vehicles (AVs) will behave on the city's notoriously congested road network. The answer to the behaviour question is already being addressed by a Canadian start-up, co-founded by a man whose name (and thinking) is very familiar to the ITS community. "The robotaxi revolution is transforming urban mobility, but without proper coordination driverless vehicles are creating new problems," says Bern Grush, at least half of the brains behind Pudocity, purveyors of what is, in other words, 'orchestration as a service'. To address this, ISO draft standard 25614, which has been in process for a few years, appears to be nearing completion. Ontario-based Pudocity has established a team and an architecture to deploy a system based on this communication and data standard. The mission: to create an orchestration platform to solve the challenge of where AVs pick up and drop off passengers or goods. Pick-up/drop-off: PUDO. The premise: unlike human drivers who are able to make dynamic, opportunistic decisions about where to stop, automated vehicles require consistent, reliable, reserved spaces. Without proper coordination, pick-up and drop-off threaten worse chaos than cities have experienced in 125 years of kerb management. It's a future problem that needs solving now. "The safety implications of uncoordinated robotaxi operations are already visible in cities where AVs operate," says Grush. Multiple AV parking violations, for example - including citations for blocking street cleaning zones - aren't just nuisance infractions; they represent genuine safety hazards. "Something interesting I have just learned is that in as many cities as not, the effective authority will be the parking authority because that is who is currently monetising the kerb," says Grush. "Since PUDO requires kerb space, this will decrease the available space for parking, and therefore parking revenue. Because our system provides for monetisation, those cities that charge for parking - which is most cities - it's their parking authority that will often be the appropriate decision maker." Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, has emphasised that when robotaxis obstruct traffic flow, they force other drivers to brake suddenly or swerve unexpectedly, increasing crash risk throughout surrounding areas. Robotaxis have also stopped and blocked roadways, and there have been incidents where AVs impeded police and fire response, including running through emergency tape and blocking firehouse driveways. Grush explains: "Without human judgment to navigate ambiguous situations, these vehicles need explicit PUDO coordination to avoid creating congestion problems that can cascade across an urban transportation network." Effective orchestration requires integrating multiple data sources within a comprehensive management system. The platform has to maintain digital inventories of reservable spots with multi-dimensional spatial and feature specifications, operational parameters such as maximum vehicle dimensions and weight limits, and temporal availability schedules. Dynamic PUDO spot availability changes constantly based on construction activities, maintenance requirements, emergency situations, special events and temporary restrictions. "Real-time traffic condition data helps predict optimal arrival times and buffer periods between sequential reservations," Grush points out. "Historical usage patterns reveal demand fluctuations across different times of day, weather conditions, and seasonal variations. Machine learning models trained on accumulated data can predict dwell times, identify potential conflicts before they occur, and continuously refine assignment algorithms. Priority information ensures emergency vehicles, public transit, and utility services receive preferential access when needed. By synthesising these diverse data streams, the orchestration system can make intelligent decisions that optimise system-wide efficiency rather than simply matching vehicles to the nearest available spot." Pudocity's orchestration system promises to move beyond conventional proximity-based parking solutions that have proven inadequate at scale. Traditional closest-match approaches fail to account for spatial conflicts when multiple vehicles converge on adjacent spots, temporal issues when sequential reservations are scheduled too closely together, or the broader system impacts of concentrated demand in high-traffic areas. The Pudocity platform evaluates potential assignments based on current spatial density, temporal conflicts with existing reservations, historical usage patterns, and the impact on system-wide efficiency, Grush explains: "The system can designate a spot slightly farther from the requested location if doing so reduces bottlenecks, maintains uniform density, or keeps high-demand spots available for priority vehicles. This intelligent allocation prevents the natural clustering that inevitably occurs when each vehicle independently seeks the closest available space." Two critical dimensions of Pudocity's orchestration promise involve managing conflicts in both space and time. When robotaxis are scheduled to arrive at adjacent spots near-simultaneously, the vehicle manoeuvring required to settle can slow or block traffic and create congestion that ripples through the local area. The system identifies these potential conflicts and proactively assigns vehicles in ways that minimise these effects to dramatically improve neighbourhood traffic flow. For temporal management, the platform uses predictive models to determine optimal buffer periods between sequential reservations at the same spot, accounting for vehicle size, cargo type, passenger needs, time of day, and even seasonal factors like snow accumulation that can slow parking manoeuvres. This prevents situations where delayed departures and early arrivals force incoming vehicles to wait or double-park in travel lanes, blocking through traffic. "The point here is that not all vehicles have equal claims to limited kerb space, and effective orchestration must reflect such legitimate hierarchies," adds Grush, who is also the founder of the Urban Robotics Foundation and, in the early 2000s, was the public face of satellite tolling solutions provider Skymeter. "The Pudocity system implements priority schemes that ensure emergency vehicles receive immediate access during crises, public transit buses maintain reliable access to designated stops, and construction or utility vehicles can park near work sites," he continues. "When an ambulance or a fire truck needs immediate kerb access, the system identifies lower-priority reservations nearby and reassigns them to alternative locations - enabling emergency vehicles to arrive at required locations even before they reach the scene." For public transport, the system maintains buffer zones around bus stops, preventing robotaxis from encroaching on transit infrastructure during scheduled arrival windows. This coordinated approach addresses one of the most significant current problems: AVs do not reliably respond to gestured instructions from emergency personnel or transit operators. Grush insists that economic implications extend far beyond avoided parking tickets. For robotaxi operators, eliminating time spent circling for available spots translates directly to increased vehicle utilisation and revenue - a robotaxi that spends five minutes less per trip searching for locations can complete significantly more trips per day. "Cities stand to benefit even more dramatically through increased utilisation of existing kerb space, dynamic pricing mechanisms that discourage inefficient behaviours, and the recovery of monetary value from historically under-priced public space," he maintains. "Environmental benefits accompany these economic gains. We know that reduced circling means lower emissions, less congestion means improved air quality, and more efficient operations mean better energy utilisation across the entire fleet. Pudocity's orchestration system promises to capture value that currently goes unrealised while simultaneously improving transportation efficiency and environmental outcomes." Perhaps the most powerful promise of the Pudocity platform is its ability to learn and improve over time. Machine learning models trained on historical usage data identify patterns invisible to human planners: which locations experience highest demand during different times, how weather affects dwell times, what buffer periods are optimal for different vehicle types. The system detects when particular spots consistently generate delays and adjusts assignment decisions accordingly, identifies underutilised locations and load balances within local regions - and even learns inter-fleet operator differences to improve reliability. As AV deployments scale from dozens to thousands of vehicles across metropolitan regions with multiple competing operators, regional orchestration becomes not merely beneficial but essential. Grush simplifies it like this: "No individual operator can solve system-wide coordination problems, and only a neutral third-party manager with visibility across participating fleets can optimise for collective benefit rather than individual advantage." The AV industry stands at a critical juncture, where technical capability has already outpaced operational coordination. "Pudocity's orchestration system, built on the emerging ISO 25614 standard, represents the missing infrastructure layer to unlock the full potential of autonomous mobility," states Grush. "Just as traffic signals coordinate vehicle movements and air traffic control manages aircraft landings on shared runways, this platform promises to coordinate access to limited urban infrastructure before uncoordinated growth creates unmanageable problems. The technology exists, the economic case is compelling, and the safety benefits are substantial. The question isn't whether robotaxis will transform our cities, but whether that transformation will be chaotic or coordinated."
Kraken's Secret IPO Filing Resurfaces -- Can It Go Public in a Weak Crypto Market?
Kraken paused its early 2026 IPO plans in March due to weaker crypto markets and declining trading volumes. Kraken has been here before -- close to the public markets, only to be forced to wait. Now, after months of uncertainty, the exchange has confirmed that its confidential IPO filing is still active, quietly keeping one of crypto's most anticipated listings in play. The timing, however, is far from ideal. Markets have cooled, valuations have slipped, and trading activity has slowed across the industry. Still, Kraken isn't backing away -- but it isn't rushing in either. Kraken's Secret IPO Kraken, through its parent company Payward, submitted a confidential draft Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 19, 2025. That filing stayed under wraps until Co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirmed it publicly on April 14, 2026, during the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington, D.C. The structure is typical for companies testing the waters. Key details -- share count, pricing range, and listing timeline -- remain undisclosed while regulators review the filing. The exchange has not named a listing venue, though Nasdaq is widely viewed as the likely choice. Sethi framed the broader ambition in practical terms, pointing to a future where traditional financial tools become more accessible: "What they want at the end of the day is what Citadel and Jane Street have, or JPMorgan has, and they want it accessible to them," he said. Valuation Shifts Reflect a Changing Market Kraken's IPO story is also a story about shifting valuations. In late 2025, the company raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation, backed by major institutional players including Citadel Securities, Jane Street, and Apollo Global Management. More recently, a secondary transaction told a different story. Deutsche Börse acquired a $200 million stake, implying a valuation closer to $13.3 billion. The drop highlights how quickly sentiment has changed. As crypto prices cooled and trading volumes declined, investor expectations adjusted with them. Even so, the Deutsche Börse investment carries weight beyond valuation. It signals continued interest from traditional finance in crypto infrastructure -- and reinforces Kraken's positioning as a bridge between the two. Kraken's IPO Pitch Kraken's IPO pitch goes beyond its core exchange business. The company has aggressively expanded into derivatives and institutional products, including acquisitions such as NinjaTrader and Small Exchange. At the same time, it has strengthened its financial infrastructure. Securing a master account with the Federal Reserve's Kansas City branch allows for direct dollar settlement via Fedwire -- an important step toward operating more like a traditional financial institution. Earlier in 2026, Kraken also partnered with Nasdaq to develop infrastructure for tokenized stocks and ETFs, aimed at enabling 24/7 blockchain-based trading with full shareholder rights. Together, these moves position Kraken less as a crypto exchange alone and more as a broader financial platform. A Delayed -- but Not Abandoned -- Debut Kraken initially aimed for an early 2026 IPO. That plan changed quickly. By March, the company paused its listing efforts, citing difficult market conditions. Crypto prices had pulled back from late-2025 highs, trading volumes weakened, and investor appetite for new listings declined. Executives made it clear the IPO was not canceled -- just delayed. The strategy is straightforward: wait for more stable conditions rather than risk a weak debut or discounted valuation. Sethi's April confirmation suggests the plan is still very much in motion, even if the timeline remains flexible. A Broader Wave of Crypto Listings Kraken's IPO ambitions sit within a larger trend. The past two years have seen a surge in crypto firms heading to public markets. Stablecoin issuer Circle led the wave in 2025 with a high-profile NYSE debut, while platforms like Bullish, eToro, and Gemini followed with their own listings. Some performed strongly at launch before pulling back. Others struggled as trading activity cooled. Meanwhile, firms like ConsenSys and Ledger have signaled plans to follow, pointing to a pipeline of potential listings into 2026. The pattern reflects an industry maturing -- moving from private, venture-backed companies toward public market scrutiny. Kraken Is Waiting for the Right Moment For Kraken, the decision now comes down to timing. The company has the infrastructure, institutional backing, and regulatory positioning to go public. What it lacks, for now, is the kind of market environment that rewards new listings. That could change quickly. Crypto markets have historically moved in cycles, and renewed momentum could reopen the IPO window. Until then, Kraken's filing remains active, its plans intact, and its next move closely watched. In a market where timing often matters as much as strategy, Kraken appears willing to wait for both to align.
Anthropic Moves to Consumption-Based Pricing as Claude Demand Soars
Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the world leaders in on-line distribution of products to the general public. The group also operates a marketplace activity, allowing individuals and distribution companies to conduct their purchase and selling transactions for goods and services. The activity is organized around three families of products and services: - electronic and computer products: toys, cameras, computers, laptops and peripherals, TVs, stereo systems, readers, wireless communication products, etc. Amazon.com also offers kitchen and garden equipment, clothing, beauty products, etc.; - cultural products: books, musical products, video games and DVDs; - other: primarily Internet interface and application development services. Net sales break down by source of income between sales of services (58.7%) and sales of products (41.3%). Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (68.3%), Germany (6.4%), United Kingdom (6%), Japan (4.3%) and others (15%).
Saudi Energy and Kraken Technologies form joint venture
Through the Riyadh-based joint venture, Kraken's platform will be deployed across 11.5 million accounts across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Energy (SE) and Kraken have signed agreements to set up a joint venture that will reserve licensing rights to deploy Kraken across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under the agreements, say the partners in a release, SE and Kraken will accelerate digital transformation across the energy and utilities sectors in the Middle East and North Africa. The joint venture will serve as the exclusive reseller of the Kraken operating system across the MENA region, focusing on deploying the Kraken operating system to modernise utility operations and customer experience. According to Kraken, through the joint venture, the company will support SE's AI-driven digital innovation strategy. Kraken's platform is a cloud-based, and the AI-enabled operating system is designed specifically for utility companies. It enables digital operations, including customer experience, billing, service management, data analytics, and intelligent system optimisation. The platform currently supports more than 90 million customer accounts on behalf of global utilities and operates in over 15 countries. Commenting to Enlit media on what the joint venture means for Kraken's business model, a Kraken spokesperson said: "It's an important partnership for Kraken's growth and reflects the increasing global relevance of our technology. "The joint venture is creating a regional delivery and go-to-market presence to deploy Kraken across MENA. The move is consistent with our existing strategy: working with organisations around the world that can help accelerate the energy transition at scale." SE is the Kingdom's primary electricity provider for more than 11.5 million customers, operating an integrated business spanning generation and the transmission, and distribution network. Through SE Generation, the company oversees a power generation fleet comprising 38 power plants and total owned generation capacity that exceeds 56.7GW, with annual electricity production exceeding 237TWh, representing more than 57% of national electricity production. Through SE Transmission, the company is responsible for planning, operating, and expanding Saudi Arabia's electricity transmission network, which spans approximately 104,633 circuit kilometers and includes 1,315 substations. The company's transmission business plays a pivotal role in connecting generation sources to demand centres, enabling renewable energy integration, and supporting the Kingdom's economic growth and Vision 2030 ambitions. Finally, its Distribution and Customer Services division delivers power from transmission substations to more than 11.5 million customers across the Kingdom. Have you read? Octopus Energy and China's BYD release V2G bundle in the UK National Grid taps Kraken's AI-powered platform for 6.5m US customers As part of the agreements, SE will also acquire a minority strategic equity stake in Kraken, which it says will reinforce long-term alignment between the two companies. Details on the size and relative share of the investment have not been disclosed. The investment sees SE join existing investors in Kraken, including D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity International and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, all of which backed Kraken's spin-off from Octopus Energy at a valuation of nearly $9 billion, initially announced last year. Earlier this year, further paving the way for the demerger, the company announced an approximately £750 million ($1 billion) funding round, paving the way for its demerger from Octopus Energy Group. Amir Orad, CEO of Kraken, said at the time: "We'll keep pushing innovation in the cloud, advancing our utility-grade AI and harnessing vast amounts of energy and grid data, while ensuring structural clarity for customers, investors, and partners. "We are aiming to accelerate the energy transition and positively impact people around the world."
