Author: GT

Investors should not ignore the risk that Iran could disrupt Middle East oil supplies and trigger a substantial price spike, energy analysts warned Monday, even as the market largely dismissed the threat. Surprisingly, oil prices are little changed Monday after the U.S. bombed Iran’s key nuclear sites over the weekend. The market seems to believe Tehran will not target regional energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf because it would likely provoke a major U.S. military response that could imperil the regime. But Barclays analysts warned that the worst-case scenario, in which Iran attempts to block the Strait of Hormuz, is…

Early-stage founders, listen up! You will want a front row seat at the Builders Stage on October 27 at 1:00 p.m. PT. This session at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 brings together Nina Achadjian, partner, Index Ventures; Jerry Chen, general partner, Greylock; and Viviana Faga, general partner, Felicis, all of whom will share their 2026 investment priorities across AI, data, cloud, robotics, and more. This seasoned group of VCs gives you their take on emerging sectors and innovations capturing their attention. Want to find out where smart money is headed next? Attend.  Disrupt 2025 is happening October 27-29 at Moscone West in…

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A budding partnership between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to develop a new artificial intelligence hardware product has hit a legal snag after a federal judge ruled they must temporarily stop marketing the new venture.OpenAI last month announced it was buying io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion.But it quickly faced a trademark complaint from a startup with a similarly sounding name, IYO, which is also developing AI hardware that it had pitched to Altman’s personal investment firm and Ive’s…

Wall Street’s positive reaction to Saturday’s U.S. bombings in Iran suggests the oil-rich Mideast state is “not as relevant” to the stock market as it used to be, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday. Indeed, U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate and global standard Brent were modestly lower early Monday, and the S & P 500 pushed higher. Both crude contracts came off their multi-month highs seen overnight following several sessions of volatile trading since Israel first attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13. On Monday afternoon, both WTI and Brent moved further to the downside — off more than 5% around…

A woman walks past a logo of WhatsApp, during a Meta event in Mumbai, India, 20 September, 2023. Niharika Kulkarni | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesMeta is pushing back against a ban on WhatsApp from government devices.The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the U.S. House of Representatives told staffers on Monday that they are not allowed to use Meta’s popular messaging app. The CAO cited a lack of transparency about WhatsApp’s data privacy and security practices as the reason for the ban, according to a report by Axios that cited an internal email from the government office.The CAO told House staff members…

Aflac, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, says hackers stole an unknown quantity of its customers’ personal information from its network during a cyberattack earlier this month.  The insurance giant confirmed Friday in a legally required filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company identified hackers in its system on June 12 and contained the incident. Aflac, which provides supplemental insurance to individuals whose expenses are not covered by their primary providers, said it was not yet known how many customers are affected by the data breach but that the personal data includes…

Two U.S. senators have requested that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate Spotify due to allegations that the company bundled its music streaming and audiobook services into a more expensive subscription without obtaining user consent, while also reducing royalty payments to creators in the process. On Friday, June 20, U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján wrote a letter to the FTC, claiming that Spotify converted standard premium subscriptions into higher-cost bundled subscriptions without informing consumers. They also highlighted that existing U.S. regulations permit digital music providers to pay a reduced music royalty rate if the subscription is bundled…

The race to create publicly traded bitcoin treasuries is accelerating — and so is the capital pouring in.ProCap Financial, the latest entrant, has raised more than $750 million and is going public through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, with Columbus Circle Capital Corp. I, according to an announcement Monday.Led by investor and podcast host Anthony Pompliano, ProCap raised more than $750 million in its funding round, including $235 million in convertible debt, with equity making up the rest. The new firm aims to hold up to $1 billion in bitcoin on its balance sheet and generate revenue through…

View looking north showing the Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf, with the Zagros Mountains and Qeshm Island of Iran in the background, and areas of Oman, Muscat and the United Arab Emirates in the foreground, as seen from the Space Shuttle Columbia during shuttle mission STS-52, 22nd October to 1st November 1992.Space Frontiers | Archive Photos | Getty ImagesMore tankers are reversing course away from the Strait of Hormuz as concerns rise on the possible closure of the vital chokepoint of trade.Yui Torikata, senior liquid market analyst at industry data firm Kpler, said the…

An Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 23, 2025. Gregg Newton | Afp | Getty ImagesAmazon’s second batch of Kuiper internet satellites reached low Earth orbit on Monday, adding to its plans for a massive constellation and ramping up competition with SpaceX’s Starlink.A United Launch Alliance rocket carrying 27 Kuiper satellites lifted off from a launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:54 a.m. ET, according to a livestream.”We have ignition and lift off of United…