Another Massive Chip Pledge

Another Massive Chip Pledge

Following Micron’s [MU] recent $200bn US expansion announcement, Texas Instruments [TXN] is to invest over $60bn in the US, building or expanding seven facilities across Texas and Utah. The company calls it the largest foundational chipmaking investment in US history. “Our partnership with TI will support US chip manufacturing for decades to come”, said US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a statement on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Stablecoin: Big Step Towards the Mainstream

Shares of Circle [CRCL] surged 33.8%, Coinbase [COIN] 16% and Robinhood [HOOD] 4.5% after the US Senate passed a landmark stablecoin bill, Bloomberg detailed. The bipartisan measure could pave the way for mainstream adoption. “Once passed into a law (likely by the end of summer), we expect stablecoins to evolve from the money rail of crypto to the money rail of the internet,” analysts at brokerage Bernstein said.

Nuclear Firms Surge on Big Tech Backing

TerraPower, the Bill Gates-founded nuclear start-up, has raised $650m in new funding, including backing from Nvidia’s venture arm. The round adds to its over $2bn in private capital and a $2bn US government grant to co-fund a sodium-cooled reactor in Wyoming. This follows the $460m equity raise closed this week by Oklo [OKLO], which is backed by Sam Altman, the Financial Times outlined.

More Terrible News for SpaceX

A massive explosion rocked SpaceX’s Massey’s Testing Center near Starbase, Texas, on Wednesday, just before a planned static fire test of Ship 36 ahead of its 10th Starship flight. The blast sparked a fire that continued burning hours later. The cause of the explosion remains unclear. Read OPTO’s recent interview with the founder of Rocket Lab [RKLB], one of SpaceX’s leading competitors in the sector.

Top AI Start-ups in 2025

According to a report from TechCrunch, 24 US-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups have raised at least $100m so far this year. Notable examples include: Anysphere, creator of the AI coding tool Cursor, which raised a $900m Series C at a $10bn valuation; SandboxAQ, which secured $450m in Series E funding at a $5.7bn valuation, with investors including Nvidia [NVDA] and Alphabet’s [GOOGL] Google; and Runway, focused on AI for media production, which raised $308m in Series D at a $3bn valuation.

Are SPACS Back? The FT Thinks So 

After collapsing post-2021, the SPAC market is showing signs of life again, the Financial Times has reported, with $11bn raised year-to-date compared to just $2bn at this point in 2024, although still far from the $172bn frenzy of 2021. Deals are smaller and investor sentiment remains cautious, but elevated interest rates have made SPACs appealing to hedge funds, as they offer a more controlled route to public listings.

A Gaming Renaissance in 2025?

The gaming sector has been thrust back into the spotlight following the resounding success of Nintendo’s [NTDOY] Switch 2. In June, the firm announced that the Switch 2 had become the fastest-selling console in the company’s history: 3.5 million units flew off the shelves within the first four days of launch. OPTO unpacks the bear and bull case for the stock, alongside two of its biggest competitors in the gaming console market.