Shares of New York-listed cryptocurrency companies surged on Monday following Donald Trump’s endorsement of bitcoin and his promise of more favourable regulations if elected.
Coinbase shares climbed 3.7%, while Bitfarms, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark saw gains ranging from 3.4% to 4.5%. Analysts at Bernstein noted that the crypto market is optimistic about a potential Trump victory, especially compared to the current Biden administration’s stricter regulatory stance.
Crypto executives have frequently criticised the Biden administration’s oversight, although SEC Chair Gary Gensler defends it due to bitcoin’s volatility and speculative nature. Despite these regulatory hurdles, cryptocurrency has gained mainstream acceptance, with support from institutional investors and ETFs linked to bitcoin and ether prices.
Why does it matter?
A Trump victory could provide a further boost to the industry. He recently suggested creating a national bitcoin stockpile and expressed interest in mining all remaining bitcoin in the US. Bitcoin rose by up to 2.4%, hitting its highest level since mid-June.
The State of Michigan Retirement System’s recent $6.6 million investment in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB.Z) marks a significant step in the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency assets. Managing approximately $143.9 million in total assets for state employees, Michigan’s decision reflects a growing acceptance of digital assets among institutional investors.
The move aligns with a broader trend of diversification within pension fund portfolios, highlighting a shift towards incorporating digital assets into traditional investment strategies. Similarly, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board recently disclosed significant cryptocurrency holdings, including investments in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
The influx of institutional capital into Bitcoin ETFs could help stabilise the often volatile cryptocurrency market. Analysts, including Todd Sohn from Strategas, suggest that institutions’ longer investment horizons can mitigate extreme price fluctuations that Bitcoin has historically experienced. As more institutional investors, including public pension funds, allocate capital to Bitcoin ETFs, the overall market dynamics could evolve, fostering a more stable environment for cryptocurrencies. These investments signify a significant shift towards cryptocurrency among public pension funds, traditionally driven by retail investors.
Additionally, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, has indicated plans to allocate a portion of the city’s pension fund to Bitcoin ETFs. Although specific timelines have yet to be announced, this further underscores the trend of public pension funds considering cryptocurrency as a viable investment option. These actions signal the growing legitimacy and acceptance of cryptocurrencies in mainstream finance. As institutional interest grows, stakeholders will closely monitor these developments, potentially paving the way for increased stability and broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has re-released Dioptra, a tool designed to measure AI model risks, particularly from data poisoning attacks. The modular, open-source web-based tool, originally launched in 2022, aims to help companies and individuals assess and analyse AI risks. It can be used for benchmarking, researching models, and exposing them to simulated threats, offering a common platform for these activities.
NIST has positioned Dioptra to support government agencies and businesses in evaluating AI system performance claims. The tool’s release coincides with new documents from NIST and the AI Safety Institute that outline ways to mitigate AI-related dangers, including the generation of non-consensual pornography. This effort is part of a broader US-UK partnership to advance AI model testing, which was announced at the UK’s AI Safety Summit last year.
The development of Dioptra aligns with President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI, which mandates comprehensive AI system testing and the establishment of safety and security standards. Companies developing AI models, such as Apple, are required to notify the federal government and share safety test results before public deployment.
Despite its capabilities, Dioptra has limitations. It only works with models that can be downloaded and used locally, such as Meta’s expanding Llama family. Models that are accessible only via an API, like OpenAI’s GPT-4, are currently not compatible. Nonetheless, NIST proposes that Dioptra can highlight which types of attacks might degrade an AI system’s performance and quantify their impact.
Bechtle has secured a significant framework agreement with the German government to provide up to 300,000 iPhones and iPads, all equipped with approved Apple security software. The contract, valued at €770 million ($835.22 million), will run until the end of 2027, according to an announcement on Thursday.
This deal aligns with Germany’s recent IT security law aimed at restricting untrustworthy suppliers and ensuring robust security measures for government officials. Bechtle’s partnership with Apple underscores the importance of reliable technology and security in government operations.
The agreement comes some time after Apple’s legal challenges in Germany, including an injunction from a German court over a patent case back in 2018. Despite these hurdles, the collaboration with Bechtle demonstrates Apple’s continued commitment to providing secure and trusted devices for essential functions within the public sector.
The negotiations at WTO will continue pending endorsement by several countries, including the United States.
The current text of the Agreement underscores the critical role of global electronic commerce in fostering inclusive trade and development, highlighting the WTO’s essential function in promoting open, transparent, and non-discriminatory regulatory environments.
The Agreement on Electronic Commerce promises substantial benefits for consumers and businesses engaged in digital trade, particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
A key aspect of the agreement is its support for developing and least-developed country members, addressing their specific needs through implementation periods, technical assistance, and capacity-building support.
Recognising the evolving nature of digital technology, the statement acknowledges that certain issues remain unaddressed and will be considered in future negotiations.
The co-convenors encouraged all WTO members to support and join the initiative, committing to sustained engagement and outreach to expand participation and ensure shared benefits in the global digital economy.
Google’s parent company stocks fell by over 3% on Wednesday amid concerns that rising investments in AI infrastructure could squeeze margins and that YouTube is facing stiff competition for ad dollars. The Google parent company saw its capital expenditure rise to $13.2 billion in the second quarter, exceeding expectations as it invests heavily in the infrastructure needed to support generative AI services and compete with Microsoft.
While Alphabet has been cutting costs through layoffs to protect profitability, analysts noted that seasonal hiring of fresh graduates and the earlier-than-usual Pixel launch would impact margins in the third quarter. Additionally, YouTube’s ad sales growth slowed to 13% in the second quarter from nearly 21% in the first quarter, as it grapples with tough year-on-year comparisons and competition from Amazon in the online video ad market.
Despite these challenges, many analysts remain positive about Alphabet, citing its AI efforts driving up cloud revenue and minimal disruption to Search revenue from its AI overviews. Cloud computing services revenue rose by 28.8%, outpacing expectations and signalling robust enterprise spending. Analysts believe Alphabet’s AI advancements position it as a market leader, and 25 brokerages have raised their price targets for the stock. Their failed Wiz acquisition echoes the company’s ambitions to expand their market share and reclaim their place at the top.
Alphabet’s stock, which has gained about 30% this year due to the AI stock rally, is set to lose around $60 billion in market value. However, its 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 22.2 remains competitive compared to Nvidia’s 38.6, indicating continued confidence in Alphabet’s long-term growth prospects.
Apple’s market share in China declined by two percentage points in the second quarter of 2024, dropping from 16% to 14%, according to data from market research firm Canalys. The drop highlights the challenges Apple faces in its third-largest market as it battles intensifying competition from rivals like Huawei.
Huawei saw a 41% year-on-year increase in smartphone shipments during the quarter, driven by the launch of its Pura 70 series. This surge has propelled Huawei back into the high-end smartphone segment, despite facing US sanctions that have restricted its access to global chip supplies. Huawei’s market share in China is projected to reach 19% in 2024, making it the top vendor.
Overall, China’s smartphone shipments rose by 10% in the quarter, with Vivo leading at 19% market share, followed by Oppo, Honor, and Huawei. Apple’s market share drop resulted in its ranking falling from third to sixth place. To combat the decline, Apple has ramped up its discounting efforts, offering significant price cuts on select iPhone models.
Despite being deemed a national security threat by American officials, Huawei’s sales have rebounded, demonstrating resilience in the face of U.S. restrictions. Analysts predict Huawei’s strong performance will continue, challenging Apple’s position in the Chinese market.
Google Cloud announced Wednesday that their AI service (Vertex) will use Mistral AI’s Codestral AI model, as the Google Cloud team explained.
“Today, we’re announcing that Google Cloud is the first hyper scaler to introduce Codestral – Mistral AI’s first open-weight generative AI model explicitly designed for code generation tasks — as a fully managed service.”, the company emphasised.
Mistral AI is a Paris-based startup firm founded in 2023 by former Google Deep Mind and Meta AI scientists. The partnership shows the quick growth of Mistral AI, considered the European alternative to Microsoft-backed OpenAI by many analysts.
Microsoft previewed Bing’s generative search, which is the answer to Google’s AI-powered search experiences. It is currently only available for a small percentage of users. It aggregates information from around the web and generates a summary in response to search queries.
Bing generative search will show information about the search and provide top examples, links, and sources showing where those details came from. As with Google’s similar AI Overviews feature, there’s an option to dismiss AI-generated summaries for traditional search from the same results page.
These AI-generated overview features have already generated concern, especially among publishers, as they threaten to cannibalise traffic to the sites from which they source their information. A study found that AI Overviews could negatively affect about 25% of publisher traffic due to the de-emphasis on article links.
Microsoft insists that it’s ‘maintaining the number of clicks to websites’ and ‘look[ing] closely at how generative search impacts traffic to publishers.’ According to Kyle Wiggers, senior reporter at TechCrunch, the company had no stats to back this commitment, alluding only to ‘early data’ that it’s choosing to keep private for the time being.
Microsoft has announced a partnership with Lumen Technologies to expand its capacity for AI workloads using LT’s network equipment. The tech giant, which has faced challenges due to data center infrastructure shortages, aims to meet the growing demand for AI services at its data centers.
In April, Microsoft revealed that the shortage of necessary infrastructure was limiting its ability to fully leverage the boom in AI technology. The company, which has invested heavily in OpenAI and its ChatGPT technology, continues to pour billions into cloud infrastructure to stay ahead of competitors like Google and Amazon.
As part of the deal, Lumen Technologies will switch to Microsoft’s Azure cloud services to reduce costs. The transition is expected to improve Lumen’s cash flow by over $20 million in the next year, aiding the company’s efforts to restructure its debt and achieve financial stability.
Why does this matter?
The collaboration comes as Microsoft also makes strides in AI development with projects like Vall-E-2, which achieves human-like speech, and its commitment to expanding AI in education in Hong Kong. These initiatives highlight Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to maintain its leadership in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
