EU Defies Trump on AI

EU Defies Trump on AI

Brussels is poised to move ahead with its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, the world’s most comprehensive AI regulation, despite US President Donald Trump’s threats over fines imposed on US tech companies. A key ban on web scraping for facial recognition took effect Sunday, the Financial Times reported, with further rules on high-risk AI rolling out by 2027. The European Commission recently decided to “reassess” ongoing probes into Apple [AAPL], Meta [META] and Alphabet’s [GOOGL] Google. 

Anthropic Action on AI Abuse

On the subject of AI safeguards, Microsoft-backed [MSFT] Anthropic has unveiled a system of “constitutional classifiers”, which add a protective layer to large language models such as the one behind its Claude chatbot, monitoring inputs and outputs for harmful content. This forms part of efforts to tackle the growing threat of “jailbreaking” AI to produce illegal or dangerous material. 

Palantir Soars on Storming Q4 

Palantir [PLTR] surged 18% post-market after vastly surpassing Q4 estimates. Adjusted EPS hit $0.14 vs. $0.11 expected, while revenue soared 36% year-on-year to $827.52m, nearly $50m above forecasts. Q1 guidance of $858m–862m exceeds the $802.9m estimate, and full-year 2025 revenue is projected at $3.74bn–3.76bn, well above the $3.54bn forecast, Seeking Alpha detailed. 

A US Sovereign Wealth Fund?

Earlier this week, US President Trump took the first step toward creating a US sovereign wealth fund, signing an executive order Monday and hinting it could buy TikTok. He claimed it would become “one of the biggest”, the BBC reported, but gave no details on funding. The US, which runs a budget deficit, lacks the surplus typically used in such funds. Previously, Trump suggested tariffs could finance it, but specifics remain unclear. 

Is GRAB Going to Grab GOTO?

Talks have recently intensified around Grab’s [GRAB] long-mooted takeover of rival GoTo [GOTO:JK], Bloomberg reported. Currently on the table is an all-stock purchase that would value GoTo shares at a 20% premium. GoTo shares surged 9.9% in Jakarta, while Grab climbed 5% pre-market, bringing their combined market value to $25bn. The fusion of southeast Asia’s two biggest ride-hailing providers would reduce costs and competition. 

Wafer Maker’s Weak Forecast

Germany’s Siltronic [SSLLF] shares tumbled 12%, their worst drop in nearly two years, after slashing its dividend to €0.20 per share from €1.20 and delaying 2028 targets due to weak chip industry demand. The silicon wafer maker pushed back its €2.2bn sales goal and high-30s EBITDA margin target. Key customers like NXP [NXPI], Texas Instruments [TXN] and STMicroelectronics [STM] recently issued weak forecasts, although Infineon [IFNNY] raised its revenue guidance. 

MSTR Earnings Preview: Has MicroStrategy’s Macro Strategy Paid Off?

MicroStrategy [MSTR], a business intelligence software firm, has gained recognition for becoming the first company in the world to adopt bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. Popular as a bitcoin proxy, MSTR’s share price pushed to record highs in the last three months of 2024. Set to announce Q4 financial results on Wednesday, February 5, investors will no doubt be keen to see if the success of the share price has been reflected in the company’s financial performance for the same period.