China tech in the crosshairs

China tech in the crosshairs 

The Pentagon has added several major Chinese tech companies to its list of firms with alleged military links, including Alibaba [BABA], BYD [BYDDF] and Baidu [BIDU]; inclusion in the list bars them from receiving US defence contracts. The move broadens the Pentagon’s focus beyond state-owned defence groups. The Chinese Embassy said the US was “overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies.”

“Chat is dead”: OpenAI overhaul

OpenAI is preparing its most significant overhaul of ChatGPT since launch, transforming the chatbot into a broader artificial intelligence (AI) “superapp” that combines coding tools, agents and task automation as it seeks new growth avenues ahead of a planned IPO. The strategy will give greater prominence to Codex and reflects a growing belief that the future of AI lies in agents that perform actions rather than simply answer questions, the Financial Times reported. In short, as one executive put it, “Chat is dead.”

Anthropic locks in $35bn

Apollo Global Management [APO] and Blackstone [BX] have completed a $35bn private credit financing package for Anthropic, one of the largest deals of its kind, to fund the AI firm’s acquisition of custom chips from Alphabet [GOOGL]. The “Big Sky” transaction is backed by long-term chip lease agreements and structured across multiple debt tranches. Broadcom [AVGO], which manufactures Google’s TPU chips, agreed to support interest payments on the senior debt if Anthropic misses an obligation.

Is Cerebras really a threat to Nvidia?

Famous for its dinner-plate-sized Wafer-Scale Engines tailored for high-speed AI computing tasks, Cerebras [CBRS] has generated significant interest as a potential challenger to Nvidia’s [NVDA] market dominance, but remains a small player in a competitive space. Following a red-hot IPO and a wave of bullish coverage from no fewer than nine Wall Street brokerages, Aureon investigates if this pre-revenue custom ASIC maker can meet soaring investor expectations.

Waymo buys AV facility from Apple

Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle wing has acquired a 5,500-acre testing facility in Wittmann, Arizona for $220m, TechCrunch reported. The site, which had previously been owned by Apple-linked [AAPL] Route 14 Investment Partners, features a 115-acre urban driving course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area and a four-mile high-speed oval track, as well as a freeway course. Apple bought it in 2021 for its now-aborted Project Titan. 

Pharma giant acquires cancer biotech 

GSK [GSK] has agreed to acquire US oncology biotech Nuvalent [NUVL] for $10.6bn in cash, its largest deal in more than a decade, marking a strategic push into cancer treatments under new CEO Luke Miels. The transaction values Nuvalent at $124 per share, a 40% premium to its prior close, and includes late-stage lung cancer assets zidesamtinib (NVL-520) and neladalkib (NVL-655), which GSK says could reach market approval soon. 

Three space stocks to watch ahead of the SpaceX IPO 

The IPO has put the space economy in the spotlight and sent space stocks into orbit in recent weeks. The Tema Space Innovators ETF [NASA] launched on 31 March and has gained 35.44% since inception through 5 June, despite the Nasdaq and S&P 500 having their worst day of 2026 last Friday. The VanEck Space ETF [WARP], which launched on 7 May, is up 11.76%. In this light, Aureon looks at three stocks that may be major players in the future of the space economy: AST SpaceMobile [ASTS], Planet Labs [PL] and Rocket Lab [RKLB].