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On August 28th, sources revealed that Anthropic had discussed acquiring AI chip startup MatX for approximately $7 billion, aiming to accelerate the development of custom hardware for its rapidly growing AI business. One source indicated that the merger negotiations later evolved into discussions about a partnership. Previously, one source revealed that MatX was currently seeking a new round of funding, valued at approximately $4 billion. Discussions with MatX also suggest that Anthropic may be interested in developing chips for model training, while other chip startups and competitor OpenAI are developing processors better suited for generating chatbot responses—a process known as "inference." However, sources indicated that Anthropic might also choose to develop inference chips.On August 28th, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, Nvidia (NVDA.O) has suspended part of an agreement to provide credit support to AI cloud service providers in exchange for revenue sharing, less than two months after the plan was announced in July. Some Nvidia employees are concerned that the plan could trigger antitrust scrutiny, particularly regarding the extent to which the company can determine how its clients conduct business. The plan, called the "AI Computing Partner Program," promised that if cloud service providers couldnt find other customers, Nvidia would lease its GPU computing power, thus providing them with guaranteed revenue and helping them secure financing. Nvidia disclosed this week that such agreements, typically six years long, involve $36 billion in commitments. Under the proposed agreement, once a cloud service providers revenue exceeds a basic threshold covering costs such as chip depreciation, data center expenses, and personnel, Nvidia would receive 50% of the excess. Nvidia may adjust the plan or merge it into other projects in the future.Sources say the U.S. government is close to reaching an agreement to secure long-term access to Venezuela’s oil reserves.On August 28, local time, US President Trump announced via social media that Ben Moss will assume the position of Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary, effective September 2, succeeding Will Schaaf, who has become White House Counsel. Trump stated that Moss previously served as Deputy White House Staff Secretary and, more recently, as Vice Presidential Policy Director.On August 28th, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf posted a sarcastic remark on social media, criticizing US Treasury Secretary John Bessenter and citing a New York Times report that Irans creditworthiness in the bond market is under pressure. The post stemmed from Bessenters previous criticism of the Iranian government on social media. He stated that while Iranians struggle to afford even basic necessities, the "corrupt Iranian regime is squandering huge sums of money overseas," and that it should spend those billions on its own people instead of channeling them to so-called "terrorist proxies." Ghalibaf responded with almost identical statements: instead of investing heavily in Israel, a "terrorist proxy," and the approximately 750 US military bases worldwide, this "declining empire" could certainly use its money on its own people. "But wait, that might be too reasonable for this regime," he added. He then directly addressed Bessenter: "Scott, man, your credibility is in jeopardy. Do something worthwhile." The post also included a link to the New York Times report. According to the report, Bessenter attempted to lower yields through measures such as expanding long-term US Treasury bond repurchase agreements, but the market response was lukewarm. With US debt already reaching $40 trillion and the situation in Iran exacerbating inflationary pressures, its ability to "tame" the bond market and its personal credit are facing increasing challenges.

Ukraine Will Block A Crucial Russian Gas Transit to Europe, Blaming Russia

Charlie Brooks

May 11, 2022 09:46

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Ukraine said on Tuesday that it will cease the flow of gas via a transit point that, according to Kiev, sends over one-third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. Kiev blamed Moscow for the action and said it would redirect the flows elsewhere.


Even after Moscow's invasion, Ukraine has remained a significant transit route for Russian gas to Europe.


The operator of Ukraine's gas infrastructure, GTSOU, has declared "force majeure" and will cease shipments through the Sokhranivka route as of Wednesday. "Force majeure" is a provision triggered when a firm is affected by circumstances beyond its control.


However, Gazprom (MCX:GAZP), which has a monopoly on Russian gas pipeline exports, said that it was "technologically impossible" to move all volumes to the Sudzha connecting point farther to the west, as GTSOU requested.


GTSOU CEO Sergiy Makogon told Reuters that Russian occupation troops have begun transporting gas flowing through Ukraine to two rebel territories supported by Russia in the country's east. He failed to provide proof.


The company stated that it was unable to operate at the Novopskov gas compressor station due to "the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes," adding that it could temporarily redirect the affected flow to the Sudzha physical interconnection point, which is located on Ukrainian territory.


Ukraine's suspension of Russian natural gas shipments via the Sokhranivka route should have no effect on the local Ukrainian market, according to Yuriy Vitrenko, the president of the state-owned energy business Naftogaz.


The national gas company of Moldova, a tiny country on Ukraine's western border, said that neither GTSOU nor Gazprom had notified them of a supply interruption.


Russian army and separatist militants have controlled the Novopskov compressor station in the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow launched a "special military operation" in February.


GTSOU said that it is the first compressor in the Ukraine gas transit system in the Luhansk area, the transit route for about 32,6 million cubic metres of gas per day, or a third of the Russian gas transported to Europe through Ukraine.


To fulfill its "transit responsibilities to European partners in full," GTSOU said that it will "temporarily move unavailable capacity" to the Sudzha interconnection point.


Gazprom said it had received information from Ukraine that the nation will cease gas transit to Europe through the Sokhranivka interconnector at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday local time.


The Russian corporation said that it observed no evidence of force majeure or impediments to business as usual. Gazprom emphasized that it was fulfilling its commitments to European gas purchasers.


As punishment for the invasion of Ukraine, the United States has pushed other nations to reduce their reliance on Russian energy and has prohibited Russian oil and other energy imports.


Ned Price, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said that Tuesday's declaration does not alter the "as soon as feasible" schedule for reducing global dependency on Russian oil.