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

According to CCTV reports, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi stated in a media interview on local time August 14 that mediators Qatar and Pakistan are currently exchanging information and maintaining contact with Iran, but this does not mean negotiations are underway. Iran has not yet decided whether to resume talks with the United States. Araghchi also added that ongoing talks between Iran and Oman focus on determining shipping routes for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which is a completely separate issue from the Strait of Hormuz's openness. He emphasized that Iran will only restore transit through the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. meets certain conditions.

According to Politico, Trump’s demands on the U.S. Navy have reached a peak this month, putting the service branch—already under massive financial and logistical strain—at further risk of being weakened. Trump’s deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has set a record: the vessel has been at sea for nine consecutive months, with sailors’ families warning that the crew is nearing their breaking point. A government report notes that the cost of Trump’s proposed "Golden Fleet" new battleships will be billions of dollars more than expected. Meanwhile, experts have criticized the president for ordering the revival of outdated technology, a move that could completely disrupt shipbuilding schedules. These issues are now piling up, amplifying pressure on the U.S. Navy. The service has long been plagued by construction delays, cost overruns, and a shrinking fleet size, all of which could jeopardize its ability to defend the country. A U.S. official said: "Our warships are running ragged in the Middle East and Caribbean, with no end in sight. The Navy is really being put through the wringer right now." (Jinshi)

According to a Financial Times report, OpenAI has been making ongoing organizational adjustments in preparation for a potential initial public offering (IPO), undergoing nearly five restructurings this year. The exits of multiple senior executives have sparked internal unrest. This week, Denise Dresser, chief revenue officer in charge of enterprise client expansion, announced her resignation. Earlier, other senior leaders including former chief financial officer and chief operating officer Brad Lightcap, and ethics head Chloé Bakalar, have also stepped down one after another. Some employees view the frequent personnel shifts as a sign of management pressure during the company’s push to go public. Separately, OpenAI recently disbanded its Preparedness Team, which was previously tasked with evaluating major security risks from AI models and developing response measures. Those responsibilities have been split across other teams. OpenAI said the company is growing at an extremely rapid pace, and organizational changes are designed to boost efficiency, focus on its ChatGPT business, and compete with Anthropic in the enterprise market. OpenAI is currently gearing up for a possible IPO, with market expectations valuing the firm at up to $1 trillion. However, rival Anthropic has posted strong growth this year, with revenue surging significantly, creating pressure on OpenAI. Data shows OpenAI’s annualized revenue has risen from roughly $24 billion at the end of last year to around $40 billion now, though Anthropic’s revenue has grown faster over the same period. Additionally, OpenAI recently completed an approximately $7 billion employee stock repurchase, with some employees cashing out by selling their shares. Investors have raised concerns about OpenAI’s management stability and organizational efficiency, but some investors argue that optimizing the management structure ahead of an IPO is a normal adjustment that helps clarify the future core team.

Justin Sun posted on social media that he has communicated with Binance, stating the matter only involves Binance UK and EU users. HTX itself does not operate in the UK and EU, and its settlement negotiations with UK and EU regulators are already underway. Any users affected by these settlement negotiations can reach out to HTX customer service at any time, and the platform will coordinate to resolve their issues.

According to Farside's monitoring, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a net outflow of $56.2 million yesterday, marking the third consecutive day of net outflows. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded no net inflows or outflows yesterday.

After SanDisk’s investor day, multiple Wall Street firms have repositioned the company as a key player in AI infrastructure, citing that demand for KV Cache, enterprise SSDs, and high-bandwidth flash memory from large language model (LLM) inference will shift NAND flash from a mere cyclical commodity tied to consumer electronics. JPMorgan Chase resumed coverage on SanDisk, assigning an "Overweight" rating with a $2,250 price target. The bank noted that SanDisk’s multi-year, new business model agreements with key clients will boost demand visibility and support margins amid persistently tight NAND supply. Citigroup maintained a "Buy" rating with a $2,100 price target, also highlighting revenue stability from long-term contracts and the structural demand pull for flash memory from AI data centers. Morgan Stanley took a more cautious stance, arguing that SanDisk’s proposed high-margin targets face execution challenges, but acknowledged that amid supply shortages and AI demand tailwinds, the company has the potential to sustain above-cyclical profit levels in coming years. This re-rating has already been directly priced in: SanDisk rose roughly 6.5% on Friday, notching a nearly 35% weekly rebound and over 60% gain in the past two weeks; storage sector peers including Micron, Western Digital, and Seagate also rallied.