CBS: U.S. Treasury Secretary and Trump Once Had Heated Debate on Tariff Policy

According to Politico, federal campaign finance filings released Tuesday show that the leading Super PAC aligned with the cryptocurrency industry held more than $95 million in funds as of the end of September. This sum provides robust funding for the Super PAC network, allowing it to continue backing crypto-friendly allies in the final stretch ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. The group, called Fairshake, counts crypto firms Coinbase, Ripple, and venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz among its key funding sources. It remains unclear whether the group will deploy all of its remaining funds or set some aside for the 2028 election cycle. The Fairshake network comprises three affiliated Super PACs: Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress, all focused on backing crypto-friendly candidates from both major U.S. political parties. The group’s single largest political expenditure this election cycle came from the Republican-aligned Defend American Jobs, which poured $45 million into supporting Republican Senator Jon Husted while targeting former Senator Sherrod Brown. Brown, who previously served as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was a vocal critic of the crypto industry during his tenure. Additionally, the group has made smaller expenditures to back 32 incumbent U.S. House members who are crypto-friendly.

SpaceX (SPCX.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O) have established special committees to explore potential merger transactions. Elon Musk disclosed during SpaceX's earnings call that both companies have set up committees composed of independent directors to examine the possibility of a potential deal. Musk stated: "As a party with a conflict of interest, I cannot actually participate in relevant discussions." However, he added: "I believe this would be a good idea." Musk noted that deeper cooperation between the two firms in technical areas including artificial intelligence, chips, robotics, and communication connectivity would yield substantial potential benefits. But he stressed that a merger is not a done deal. Musk said: "It would be an overstatement to claim this is already confirmed." He also pointed out that the transaction requires approval from 50% of Tesla's shareholders, calling this a fairly high threshold.

Elon Musk stated that SpaceX (SPCX.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O) have each established special committees to discuss a merger. He noted that a merger with Tesla (TSLA.O) is a sound move.

SpaceX (SPCX.O)’s financial results show that driven by growth in its artificial intelligence (AI) and Starlink businesses, its third-quarter revenue more than doubled, beating market expectations. Meanwhile, capital expenditure nearly tripled due to investments in computing infrastructure, and its stock price rose around 3% in after-hours trading at one point. However, SpaceX’s in-house AI software—including Grok from its subsidiary xAI—has so far lagged behind rivals OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. SpaceX’s third-quarter revenue hit $14.58 billion, above analysts’ forecast of $12.72 billion, and it posted a net profit of $4.4 billion in the three months ended September 30, versus analysts’ prior expectation of $1.57 billion. AI revenue surged more than ninefold to $7.6 billion, mainly from computing power leasing. Of the company’s $19.6 billion in total capital expenditure, AI-related costs accounted for $16.4 billion, and SpaceX expects this level to stay unchanged in the near term. In the third quarter, Starlink’s user count reached 13.6 million, exceeding analysts’ forecast of 12.19 million, but this growth came with a tradeoff: as the company expands overseas by rolling out cheaper plans, its average revenue per user (ARPU) fell from $99 in 2023 to $69 in the third quarter.

According to IPO documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic’s revenue hit $16.3 billion in the first half of this year, up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year. Its net loss for the first half reached $80.7 billion, compared to $13 billion a year earlier. Roughly $72 billion of that loss stemmed from accounting expenses related to fair value changes in financing instruments such as convertible notes. Anthropic’s computing power and infrastructure spending in the first half neared $9 billion, while its total such outlays for all of 2025 came to $7.3 billion. The company has committed around $450 billion in cloud computing agreement spending over the next 7 to 10 years; additionally, it has pledged to pay more than $160 billion for leased Google chips. Anthropic’s future infrastructure expenditure commitments exceed $600 billion, and could rise by up to an additional $150 billion if pending negotiated agreements are included. About 20% of its first-half revenue came from two clients, and the company expects its future revenue will remain heavily reliant on a small number of customers. On the risk front, Anthropic warned that its AI models could cause real-world harm, with losses from catastrophic incidents potentially exceeding insurance coverage. It also faces growing organized political resistance to data center construction.

Netflix (NFLX.O) reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but the company projected its revenue growth will slow for the fourth consecutive quarter—a outlook that may further amplify market concerns about the performance of the world’s leading streaming platform. Netflix’s third-quarter revenue came in at $12.9 billion, matching analyst forecasts. It now projects fourth-quarter revenue will hit $13.4 billion, below consensus estimates. The company’s revenue growth has cooled from 17.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, and is expected to fall further to 11.5% in this year’s fourth quarter. Netflix attributed the revenue shortfall to its advertising business, noting that ad revenue will be $300 million lower than previously projected. Following the earnings release, Netflix’s stock fell as much as 7%.