ChatGPT Business has launched a new $100 premium tier, with its price and usage quota both 5 times higher.

Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage on Nvidia’s credit profile and assigned a Neutral rating. The bank notes Nvidia still boasts a robust balance sheet and cash flow, but its credit exposure will grow more complex as the company participates in the over-$500 billion AI infrastructure financing platform. Morgan Stanley’s key focus is Nvidia’s evolution from a chip supplier to a broader AI ecosystem financing enabler. Beyond direct GPU sales, the company may help cloud providers and data center operators scale computing power investments via residual value guarantees, revenue sharing, credit support, and co-financing arrangements. The bank projects Nvidia’s broad credit exposure could reach nearly $200 billion by the end of 2028. This does not alter Nvidia’s core position in AI hardware, but will prompt the market to re-evaluate its risk pricing. Recent heightened volatility in AI stocks has led investors to focus on cloud providers’ capital expenditure returns, AI revenue realization, and data center financing pressures. If future depreciation of AI computing power assets outpaces expectations, or if some clients’ cash flow falls short of market assumptions, Nvidia’s ecosystem financing arrangements will emerge as a new valuation variable.

Beating AI Express: Short positions in two Chinese publicly listed large language model (LLM) companies, MiniMax and Zhipu AI, have hit all-time highs simultaneously. Data from S&P Global shows that shorted shares of MiniMax equal 20% of its freely tradable shares, while Zhipu’s short interest stands at around 6%. MiniMax will release its interim report after Hong Kong stock market closes on August 26, while Zhipu will report its results on August 31; short sellers are increasing their positions ahead of the earnings releases. Both firms were heavily hyped when they went public earlier this year. As of now, Zhipu’s stock remains over 800% above its IPO price, while MiniMax’s is roughly 80% above its IPO price, but both have fallen more than 50% from their peak levels. After Kimi K3 launched in July, Zhipu’s stock dropped around 24% at one point, while MiniMax’s fell approximately 18%. Zhipu later rolled out its GLM-5.3 model; Jefferies noted its performance is close to Kimi K3, with single-task costs around 19% lower, yet its stock price has not seen a meaningful rebound. Stock supply has also risen. The IPO lock-up periods expired in July, with 25.68 million shares of Zhipu and 150 million shares of MiniMax becoming tradable, totaling around $115 billion at the time’s prices. Meanwhile, southbound capital continues to buy the dips, with its holdings rising to roughly 12% of Zhipu and 8.1% of MiniMax, though this has failed to lift their share prices. Analysts hold different concerns about the two firms. Hedgeye says Zhipu is constrained by price wars, limiting its ability to raise prices and expand profit margins; MiniMax, meanwhile, is “neither the smartest nor the cheapest.” The two upcoming interim reports will answer one key question: Can pure-play LLM companies generate profits amid increasingly low-cost competition?

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Gary Babadi stated in an August 25 interview that Iran remains in a state of war, and the Strait of Hormuz is under the full control and surveillance of Iran’s armed forces. The strait will not be reopened unless it is consented, approved and arranged by Iran. Babadi also warned that to safeguard national security and interests, Iran can take “preemptive” actions against U.S. targets when conditions are appropriate, without waiting for the U.S. to initiate an attack before defending itself. (CCTV)

According to official announcements, Binance will conduct maintenance on its Ethereum (ETH) network wallets at 14:00 on August 27, 2026. To support this maintenance, ETH deposit and withdrawal functions will be suspended starting at 13:55 on August 27. The maintenance is expected to last approximately one hour, after which the relevant functions will be restored.

According to an official announcement, Bitget has listed DJT (Trump Media & Technology Group) on its stock contracts. The contract is settled in USDT, supports up to 20x leverage, and is available for 24/7 trading. As of now, Bitget offers a total of 291 stock perpetual contract underlyings.

According to data from Farside, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a combined net inflow of $314.3 million yesterday. The breakdown is as follows: BlackRock’s IBIT saw a net inflow of $284.4 million, Fidelity’s FBTC brought in $15.4 million, Bitwise’s BITB had $3 million, MSBT $4.5 million, and BTC $7 million. Separately, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs posted a total net inflow of $179.8 million, with BlackRock’s ETHA at $146.4 million, ETHB at $7.6 million, and Fidelity’s FETH at $25.8 million.