Category: Semafor

At a reported $8 billion, Stripe is planning to pay a hefty price for OpenRouter. The aggregator and distributor of AI models raised money just a few months ago at a $1.3 billion valuation. With a deal, OpenRouter’s business could be destined for commoditization, and that’s actually kind of the ...

As the midterms get closer, the White House is confronting another topic instead: internal drama. From speculation about press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s replacement, to coverage of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife getting unusually involved at the Pentagon, to further talk about President Donald Trump’s executive assistant, Natalie Harp, this week ...

The News Liberia’s agreement to accept up to 1,200 deportees from the US remains shrouded in mystery a day after the first 20 arrivals landed in Monrovia, leaving many wondering what Liberia is getting in return. The Liberian government has insisted the deal is “not a transaction with a quid ...

The News A fight over drag has broken out in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Democratic Mayor Paige Cognetti is running for Congress against Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan. It began with a photo of the mayor and a drag queen at the city’s 2025 Pride flag raising. It escalated with the congressman’s ...

The News Nigeria is betting on a grant program to spur the discovery of new commercial mining and processing opportunities as part of a broader strategy to secure a larger share of African mining investment, a government official told Semafor. The Solid Minerals Development Fund, a government agency, will issue ...

The News South Africa’s Absa Group is seeking partnerships with fintechs in a strategy aimed at reaching new customers by embedding its services in apps they already use, a senior executive told Semafor. The strategy marks a pivot under group CEO Kenny Fihla. He hired Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the former M-Pesa ...

A new Bloomberg analysis quantified the US’ narrowing lead over China in the AI race, showing how Chinese companies are deploying advanced models at a faster pace. The top American AI systems still exceed the capabilities of their Chinese counterparts, according to benchmark testing, but Chinese labs are increasingly winning ...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to reveal on Monday “exactly what we’re going to do” to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran, he told CNBC Thursday morning. “If you insist on doing business with them — either transferring money, buying their oil, or doing seaborne ship transfers — then the ...

A media regulation proposal put forward by Mexico’s government has sparked fears of censorship in a country already grappling with bleak freedom of expression scores. Under the plan, officials would be able to determine whether news coverage was sufficiently true or balanced, with breaches potentially costing companies as much as ...

Israel sharply criticized the UK after London voiced opposition to the Jewish state’s support for settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of rows with once strong Western allies. The UK’s top diplomat called Israeli settlement expansion plans “unacceptable and destructive,” adding to a barrage of ...