The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

According to a report by U.S. broadcaster CBS, Iran appears to be growing increasingly skeptical of former President Donald Trump’s “carrot and stick” diplomatic strategy. In April this year, Trump warned Tehran it must agree to a ceasefire or “the entire civilization will perish,” but later extended the deadline. He repeated similar tactics in May and June. Internal Iranian sources stated this approach has instead reinforced the country’s leadership’s view that Trump is not seeking to escalate the conflict, but rather bargaining chips in negotiations. They believe Iran can withstand pressure and raise the costs for the U.S. via proxies such as Yemen’s Houthi movement and threats to global shipping, until Washington concludes there is no military solution to the conflict. Tehran’s current assessment is that time is on its side.

US President Donald Trump said that U.S.-Iran talks are advancing rapidly, with both sides discussing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which "could reopen by tomorrow at the latest." Trump noted that the first phase of the talks aims to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while the second phase will focus on Iran's "denuclearization" issue. He stated that if anyone tries to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz, "the U.S. will collect the fees," emphasizing that Iran will not be allowed to charge fees in the waterway. Trump also said this is Iran's "last chance," adding that the talks are being held at Iran's request, and relevant results could be announced today or tomorrow. Prior to this, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have remained high, and markets are closely monitoring its impact on global energy supplies and oil price trends.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted a statement clarifying that his earlier "Never Sell Your Bitcoin" stance was shared with other Bitcoin holders in his capacity as an individual investor. Saylor said he has never sold any Bitcoin, "not even a single satoshi". He emphasized that Strategy is a public company, not a personal wallet, and has publicly disclosed since 2020 that it may buy or sell BTC for capital management purposes. Saylor noted that Strategy and its investors’ long-term conviction in Bitcoin remains unchanged, adding that the company’s related operations are part of its corporate financial strategy, while his personal stance on holding Bitcoin stays consistent. Previously, the market had been monitoring whether Strategy would adjust its Bitcoin holding strategy; Saylor’s latest remarks aim to clearly distinguish between personal Bitcoin holding behavior and public company asset management decisions.

Amazon (AMZN.O)’s cloud unit head said clients are shifting from using its services to train AI models to integrating these models into their own business processes, a trend driving surging demand for inference computing. Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon’s Cloud Computing Division, said on Monday: “We still see some companies using large training clusters, but as these models grow more popular and powerful, more firms are integrating this inference capability into their own workloads.” He noted that the potential of the AI business is “extremely huge,” adding that the company will continue to increase capital expenditure to meet growing demand. As the world’s largest provider of computing power and data rental services, Amazon said last week it projects capital expenditure will reach $220 billion in 2026, up from its prior forecast of $200 billion. The spending hike reflects rising prices of storage chips and other components required for data centers.

US Central Command stated local time on August 3 that the U.S. military remains strictly enforcing the maritime blockade against Iran. As of that day, the U.S. military has altered the routes of 44 commercial vessels, disabled two vessels, and boarded and inspected two others.

According to U.S. network CBS, citing a U.S. official, despite Trump’s earlier announcement that negotiations with Iran would begin Monday afternoon (local time), no new talks are currently scheduled. Instead, ongoing discussions are underway between U.S. Middle East envoy Witkoff, Kushner, and the U.S. negotiating team and Iran via intermediaries.