Category: Semafor

OpenAI’s annualized revenue is set to top $40 billion, Bloomberg reported, one of the quickest growth stories in history, though rivals are fast gaining ground. The figures bolster the ChatGPT maker’s plans for a blockbuster market debut as early as this year. However, cost-conscious customers are increasingly turning to Chinese ...

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to a sixth province as the overall death toll surpassed 2,100 and cases topped 4,500. Experts say the virus may have been transmitted undetected for months, while health workers have struggled to contain the outbreak with poor medical supplies and ...

The US heightened its trade pressure on allies and lashed out at China, raising tensions ahead of a summit of the superpowers’ leaders next month. Washington said Beijing was running a “Great Transshipment Scam,” accusing some of its closest partners of enabling China’s efforts to ferry goods via third countries ...

Washington signaled it will ramp up economic and military pressure on Tehran, dashing hopes of any imminent respite to the conflict. The US Treasury secretary said he would soon unveil restrictions “that have never been seen,” while the country’s defense chief insisted a naval blockade could be maintained “indefinitely.” Yet ...

Iran’s recent reshuffle, as well as its shifting battlefield tactics, suggest it is adapting for a lengthening conflict with the US. Tehran has reordered its leadership in part because of repeated assassinations of its top brass by American and Israeli strikes. But recent moves point to how Iran is “preparing ...

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed new attacks on a Saudi Arabian oil refinery Thursday, as the US-Iran war threatened to expand further. The strikes could impact the kingdom’s efforts to maintain shipping volumes amid ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported. Riyadh is weighing support for a new ground ...

The US has lost upwards of 25% of its Reaper drones during the Iran war, The Washington Post reported Thursday, as the conflict taxes diminishing American stockpiles. Costing up to $50 million each, the slow, low-flying drones present easy pickings, and represent something of a bygone era. The Pentagon is ...

Chinese chipmaker CXMT overtook Tencent on Thursday to become the country’s most valuable company, as memory makers surf a tidal wave of AI-fueled demand. The changeover occurred after Tencent, itself a CXMT customer, reported it had doubled its quarterly AI spending, worrying investors; Tencent has invested heavily in AI but ...

China’s AI ecosystem is trying to intensify its push to meet and surpass leading US models. ByteDance is reportedly developing an AI model rivaling Anthropic’s most advanced Mythos system, and DeepSeek is touting its efforts to build a challenger to Claude Code. Meanwhile, as Beijing attempts to erect a firewall ...

A small British seaside town voted Thursday in a special election between a hard-right populist and a man who wears a trash can on his head. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigned to call the by-election after being accused of accepting an unlawful gift, but no major parties ran against ...