All major U.S. banks successfully passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress test, which evaluates their resilience to financial shocks. In contrast to previous years, this year's results will not alter capital requirements, as the Fed is adjusting the tests to be more favorable toward the banking industry. Consequently, banks are now positioned to increase their buybacks and dividends. Following the announcement of the results on Wednesday, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley raised their dividends.
Qualcomm is broadening its focus from mobile phone chips to artificial intelligence data centers, projecting over $15 billion in revenue from data center components by 2029, Bloomberg reports. The chipmaker's stock surged 15% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after Qualcomm nearly doubled its non-handset revenue outlook, from $22 billion to $40 billion by 2029. The boost came after Qualcomm announced it had acquired the AI startup Modular and revealed that Meta will utilize its latest data center processor, Dragonfly C1000, in data centers starting in 2028.
Brent crude dropped below $75 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since the Iran war began, as shipowners grow more optimistic that a potential peace deal will reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports. The International Maritime Organization, shipping's global regulator, said it had received safety guarantees for hundreds of ships to exit the Persian Gulf. Oil prices have fallen about 40% from their highs during the conflict, and U.S. diesel prices dropped below $5 a gallon for the first time since March.
The Washington Wizards made Brigham Young forward AJ Dybantsa the first pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday, tasking college basketball's reigning scoring champ with reviving a moribund franchise. The Wizards won a league-worst 17 games last year and haven't made the playoffs since 2021. Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 25.5 points a game in his only season at BYU, leading the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson went second to the Utah Jazz in what is widely considered the deepest draft in years.
Agility Robotics, which supplies humanoid robots to Amazon and Toyota, is planning to go public at a valuation of about $2.5 billion. The deal, announced Wednesday, will see Agility combine with special-purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp. XI, resulting in expected gross proceeds of about $600 million. Agility's main offering, a robot named Digit, is used to automate warehouse and factory tasks, like stacking containers. NVIDIA and SoftBank number among its big-name backers.
Wendy's shares on Wednesday closed more than 25% higher — at its peak, surging 42% — a day after Steve Cirulis assumed the role of CFO. "While management changes can influence investor sentiment, the magnitude of the move suggests other forces may be at play," writes CNBC. An elevated incidence of mentions across Reddit trading forums over the past 24 hours suggests investors see Wendy's as a turnaround play, as has been the case with previous meme stocks. Over the past year, the company's stock lost about half of its value.
- Fei-Fei Li ("Godmother of AI") — started World Labs
- Yann LeCun (Meta's former chief AI scientist) — launched his own lab in Paris
- Researchers leaving top PhD programs to build startups like Overworld
🏠 Housing relief on hold! A major bipartisan bill to lower housing costs just hit a roadblock at the White House. 🏛️
Here is what you need to know about the stalled housing bill and what it means for your wallet:
📜 **The Bill:** Congress just passed the "21st Century ROAD to Housing Act" with massive bipartisan support. It was designed to cut red tape, speed up home construction, expand rental assistance, and limit corporate landlords from buying up single-family homes.
🛑 **The Roadblock:** President Trump canceled the signing ceremony, stating he won't sign the measure into law until Congress passes separate legislation requiring proof of citizenship for all voters.
📉 **What it means for you:** Experts say this delays much-needed relief for renters and aspiring homebuyers. While the bill wouldn't have fixed the housing crisis overnight, it would have helped increase the supply of affordable starter homes and apartments, eventually helping to relieve pressure on skyrocketing prices.
⚖️ **What happens next?** Congress passed the bill with veto-proof majorities (358-32 in the House, 85-5 in the Senate). If Trump officially vetoes it, Congress could override him. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson says he is confident the President will eventually sign the bill once they go through the details.
While the federal government doesn't control local zoning, a delay means new construction projects that could have brought down costs will be pushed back.
We want to hear from you: How is the current housing market affecting you? Are you feeling the squeeze as a renter, or are you waiting to buy a home?
🚖 The global robotaxi wars are officially hitting the streets of London, and it’s shaping up to be an epic three-way battle! 🇬🇧
For the first time ever, autonomous vehicle giants from the US, China, and the UK are going head-to-head in the same city. London’s notoriously complex, warren-like roads—packed with double-decker buses, cyclists, and unpredictable pedestrians—will be the ultimate proving ground for driverless tech.
Here is how the main contenders stack up as they prepare to welcome paying passengers this year:
🇺🇸 The US Heavyweight: Alphabet's Waymo
The Flex: Valued at a staggering $126 billion, Waymo is already a seasoned pro, logging over 500,000 rides a week in the US.
The Strategy: They are taking a gamble by launching their own proprietary app, meaning users will have to download it specifically to catch a ride.
The Tech: Expensive retrofitted vehicles (costing up to $125,000) loaded with high-definition maps, lidar, radar, and cameras.
🇨🇳 The Chinese Titan: Baidu’s Apollo Go
The Flex: Clocking around 250,000 rides a week back home, this $38 billion tech giant is leaving China for the first time to face US rivals.
The Strategy: Partnering with Uber and Lyft to instantly access millions of existing riders.
The Tech: Similar to Waymo with heavy sensor loads, but using custom Chinese hardware to keep vehicle costs under $30,000.
🇬🇧 The Hometown Underdog: Wayve
The Flex: A nine-year-old London startup backed by big-name investors, ready to launch commercial services for the very first time.
The Strategy: Also teaming up with Uber, giving them a massive distribution advantage.
The Tech: The rule-breaker. Instead of relying on expensive HD mapping, Wayve uses an advanced AI model to "see" and react in real-time. Their sensor rig adds just a few hundred dollars to a standard car, allowing them to expand into new neighborhoods instantly.
💰 What does this mean for your wallet?
While driverless rides usually launch at prices similar to traditional cabs, a massive price war is brewing. Estimates suggest European autonomous fares could eventually drop below $1 per kilometer once fleets scale up. To put that in perspective, a standard London cab currently costs anywhere from $2.90 to $4.50 per kilometer.
⚠️ The Risks are Real
Navigating London won't be easy, and the tech isn't perfect. Just recently, a system glitch froze over 100 Baidu robotaxis in Wuhan, and a Waymo vehicle in San Antonio mistakenly drove straight into a flooded area. With London's fierce media and sharp financial scrutiny, any teething problems will be under an absolute microscope.
The global robotaxi market is projected to skyrocket from less than $1 billion to over $168 billion by 2035—and whoever conquers London will likely conquer the world.
Would you hop into a driverless cab on the streets of London? Let us know in the comments! 👇
After successfully operating under the radar for three years, Slate unveiled their brand-spanking-new electric truck last spring and today revealed the (not entirely surprising) base price of a hair under $25,000. Since its debut, some changes have happened…
🔹 Instead of a small battery and a large battery (180 miles or 240 miles range, respectively), there’s now a single US-built battery (now using lower-lithium iron phosphate technology) offering 205 miles of range. That number is perhaps a little more psychologically reassuring (but still too short for some), and the manufacturing team is likely thrilled that the number of build combinations coming out of the factory has been halved.
🔹 Mass is up about 400 pounds (likely due in part to the less power-dense battery), but towing capacity has doubled to 2,000 pounds, and payload is 150 pounds better at 1,550. Power is also down a bit, from 201hp to 181hp, so it’s still no rocket ship but quite adequate.
🔹 While we knew the SUV kit would cost an additional $5,000, we now know the slick fastback kit will add $7,000 to the base price
🔹 RepairPal was announced last fall as Slate’s service partner, with over 200 locations certified for EV repair
🔹 Power windows, which were mentioned initially as an option to replace the standard crank windows, are no longer available.
With plenty of talk about minimalism, screen overload, and digital detox, Slate has attracted a lot of attention (and even spawned an ICE competitor from the startup REO Trucks). There are still a few points to ponder…
🔹 It’s not quite clear who Slate’s logistics/delivery partners are. Carvana has been granted the option to invest in Slate—and would be a logical choice to help get trucks to customers—but that doesn’t appear to be official yet.
🔹 I’d tell you more about the Slate fastback that I built (shown here), but a number of the options listed on the website say, ‘Price coming soon’ and/or ‘Preview unavailable’, so one hopes those gaps will be filled in quickly
🔹 Slate’s plant can build 140,000 units a year, while Slate says they will have positive free cash flow and EBIT by the end of next year. They haven’t indicated what their breakeven volume is, and I suspect that, given the slowdown in EV demand, the forecasts today aren’t what they were two years ago
🔹 I still question the demand for a two-seat pickup (a rare configuration these days in any size truck), and so I hope they are planning significant numbers of SUV and fastback kits
🔹 Really? No power windows?