Trump administration close to finalizing voluntary AI review framework

Citrini analyst Jukan said in a social media post that news of China’s progress in DUV (deep ultraviolet) lithography technology is not particularly surprising, as the market had already priced in relevant expectations. He noted that The Information’s related report only cited remarks made by a professor from a Chinese communications university at an internal meeting in June, without disclosing additional substantive details. Jukan argued that the sell-off of semiconductor equipment stocks, including those of Dutch giant ASML, triggered by the news is an overreaction. Earlier, The Information cited people familiar with the matter as saying that a company backed by Chinese state capital has begun mass-producing independently developed DUV lithography equipment, marking a key milestone in China’s semiconductor industry localization. The sources added that the company plans to produce around 5 domestic DUV lithography machines in 2026, and scale up to roughly 20 units in 2027. While this lags behind ASML’s delivery of 131 immersion DUV lithography systems last year, the mass production of domestic equipment is viewed by the market as a major breakthrough in China’s chip supply chain autonomy.

According to data from Bitget, South Korea's KOSPI index has extended its decline to 8%, with SK Hynix falling 11% and Samsung Electronics dropping over 9%.

According to Bloomberg, the $12.55 billion investment-grade bonds issued by BlackRock for Meta’s data center project in El Paso, Texas, rose in early Monday trading. The bonds were priced with a yield of 7.534%, 287.5 basis points higher than U.S. Treasuries—a yield level more typical of junk bonds. During the issuance phase, the deal drew around $20 billion in orders, equivalent to just 1.6 times the amount offered, well below the average subscription level of roughly 4 times for bond deals this year. Still, the high yield ultimately attracted investors, with the bonds’ secondary market yield spread narrowing to around 260 basis points above U.S. Treasuries at one point, down from the 287.5 basis points at issuance. Tech firms have been rushing to raise large sums via bond offerings recently, squeezing investors’ capacity to absorb new AI-related debt. Tech bonds have faced sell-offs lately, and companies like Alphabet continuing to expand capital expenditure and potentially issuing more debt have also weakened demand for new bond issues. The early performance of BlackRock’s bonds stands in contrast to recent issuances by firms like SpaceX. After SpaceX completed its first investment-grade bond offering in June, the bonds fell in the secondary market, with investors facing significant unrealized losses at one point.

Franklin Templeton issued a statement supporting the passage of the Clarity Act. The legislation would clarify the U.S. regulatory framework for the crypto industry, inform investors of applicable protections, and help businesses determine which regulatory authorities they fall under. Franklin Templeton noted that now is the time to provide the crypto sector with the regulatory clarity it needs.

According to Bitget data, the Nikkei 225 index plunged 4.00% intraday, while Kioxia Holdings' share price slumped 18%.

Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) bought another 3,298 $ETH($6.39M) 3 hours ago. Since July 15, Arthur Hayes has bought a total of 7,213 $ETH($13.87M) at an average price of $1,923 and is now down ~$301K.