Cheap Foreign Small-Caps Offer Big Gains in a Trade War
Cheap Foreign Small-Caps Offer Big Gains in a Trade War
SpaceX’s Starship blows up ahead of 10th test flight
One of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicles exploded on a test stand in Texas late on Wednesday night, as the company prepared for the tenth test flight of the heavy-lift rocket system.
SpaceX said “all personnel are safe and accounted for” in a post on X, and claimed there are “no hazards to residents in surrounding communities.” The company did not provide an explanation for the explosion.
It’s not immediately clear what impact this will have on SpaceX’s development of the Starship rocket system. A recent advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suggested the tenth test flight could have happened as soon as June 29.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a post seemingly related to the explosion that he considers it to be: “Just a scratch.”
SpaceX has spent the last few years aggressively developing the 171-foot Starship and the massive 232-foot Super Heavy booster that powers it into space. The company started 2025 saying this year would be a “transformational” one for the program, and the FAA recently increased its limit on Starship launches in Texas from 5 to 25.
But Starship, in particular, has had a number of problems this year. The rocket unexpectedly exploded during its seventh test flight in January, and then again in March. It failed again during its ninth test in May.
While the rocket made it further into its most recent flight in May than during the previous two tests, it still failed to deploy the dummy Starlink satellites it was carrying onboard — a crucial step in the company’s plan to use the mega-rocket to grow its space-based internet service.
Musk has maintained that SpaceX is on track to try to send a Starship to Mars in 2026, giving it a “50/50” chance in a company update in May. The company is also developing a larger “Version 3” of Starship that, Musk claimed, could fly as early as this year.
WNBA rookie Paige Bueckers still finding footing for Wings
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Alexa Philippou
Paige Bueckers clapped her hands and threw her head back as the Golden State Valkyries took a timeout. Bueckers had just converted a pair of free throws to put the Dallas Wings up seven with 19.4 seconds remaining Tuesday. She was up to 20 points on the night, but more importantly to Bueckers, she could sense it: Dallas was within reach of its first home win of the 2025 WNBA season and of breaking a seven-game losing streak.
Between the Wings’ slow start and her four-game absence because of a concussion then illness, Bueckers’ first month in the WNBA featured its share of ups and downs. But as she approaches her 10th career game, the rookie star has looked increasingly confident and comfortable as a pro, positioning herself for her first All-Star bid and becoming the latest No. 1 draft pick to win rookie of the year.
Bueckers was a highly touted prospect out of UConn in part because of her ability to be a willing passer and efficient three-level scorer. She’s still working on striking the right balance between facilitating and calling her own number, Bueckers told ESPN this week, but she has nonetheless shined so far in both categories.
Her 17.7 points per game are a team high, while her 5.7 assists per contest rank sixth in the league. Bueckers’ 282 points scored or assisted on are the third most through a player’s first nine career games, trailing only Sabrina Ionescu (302) and Caitlin Clark (289).
Bueckers admitted the pace and physicality of the WNBA has been an adjustment. “You kind of know that it’s different coming in, but you don’t really know how much it is until you actually live it,” she said. And yet she’s still one of just six players in the WNBA averaging at least 17 points and 5 assists, joining Ionescu, Clark, Rhyne Howard, Kelsey Plum and Skylar Diggins. Bueckers’ 47.2% shooting is the best of the group.
Bueckers has continued to separate herself as a midrange sharpshooter: Her 6.8 points per game from that distance leads the league, according to Genius IQ, with only Courtney Williams also averaging more than 4.0 points from there. Bueckers, who is hitting 50% of her midrange shots, has made an impact defensively, too. She and three-time MVP A’ja Wilson are the only players in the league averaging 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
Bueckers has been tasked with conducting the Wings’ offense, a tough assignment for a first-year player on a team with a brand-new coaching staff and just three returners from last year. It also doesn’t help that Dallas is currently short four players, with Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsoder competing in EuroBasket, Maddy Siegrist (knee) out indefinitely and Tyasha Harris undergoing season-ending knee surgery earlier this month.
Bueckers continues to work with the coaching staff to better understand how teams are covering her in ball screens and to learn ways to counter the physicality that’s allowed off the ball. But her ability to read in the pick-and-roll, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon said last week, is already at a “doctorate level.”
“She’s got incredible poise and maturity. She looks like she’s been playing this game for like, ever,” Hammon said. “She plays the right way is what jumps out to me, every time. … When you play the right way, everybody can still eat. She gets 35 [points] and she’s still passing the ball like crazy. … She’s beyond her years.”
Six games into the season, Bueckers suffered a concussion, which combined with an illness cost her four games. But she said the time off the court helped her get her mind and body right, especially on the heels of going from UConn’s NCAA championship run to training camp. Watching from the sideline also helped her identify some of the self-inflicted wounds she thought were getting in the Wings’ way of winning close games.
That all helped Bueckers shine on June 11 in her first game back. Against the Phoenix Mercury, who boast the league’s fourth-best defensive rating, Bueckers tallied a career-high 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting. She is one of five players to score 35 points this season but achieved it more efficiently than anyone, with her 68% shooting accuracy also the most efficient 35-point game by any rookie since Breanna Stewart in 2016.
“She just controls the game so well,” Mercury star Alyssa Thomas said afterward. “The sky’s the limit for her.”
“We should have done better [guarding her] for sure,” fellow standout Satou Sabally said, “but she’s elite.”
Still, the Wings didn’t get the win. And after Tuesday’s victory, they are 2-11 (2-7 with Bueckers in the lineup). When Bueckers was on the court at UConn, the Huskies lost 13 times.
Bueckers gained a reputation at UConn for downplaying individual accomplishments. That attitude has carried over to Dallas, where the “only individual goal I have is to make Dallas a free agency destination in terms of the culture we want to build.
“Everybody who plays here this year, I want them to enjoy playing with me. I want them to enjoy playing in this environment, with this culture,” she said. “Just to be able to set that foundation is really the only goal.”
That also entails, she said, holding herself and others to a high standard as the team looks to build a winning culture: The Wings have just one winning season since the franchise relocated from Tulsa heading into 2016.
PAIGE BUCKETS HAS RETURNED 👑
Bueckers hit a career-high upon her return from concussion protocol in Wings-Mercury. pic.twitter.com/FDODcgp6ik
— espnW (@espnW) June 12, 2025
Dallas’ vision on turning that around, even if it’s a few years down the line, involves the ball being in Bueckers’ hands — a lot.
“Just to continue to lead on and off the floor and to manage the game,” coach Chris Koclanes said on what growth he’s looking for from Bueckers. “So as her and I continue to grow with our relationship, her just getting more and more confident and comfortable taking command out there on the floor and getting the ball where it needs to go. Getting us into the actions we need to get into, and then, as well, holding each other accountable to all these little things.”
Bueckers said she and UConn coach Geno Auriemma remain in “constant communication” and that he encourages her “to keep doing things the right way and continue to keep leading by voice and example.” Aside from teammates Arike Ogunbowale and Myisha Hines-Allen, who have helped her find her voice, Bueckers has also leaned on Las Vegas Aces star Jewell Loyd for veteran wisdom, and intends to reach out soon to UConn and WNBA legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
Loyd, Bird and Taurasi are No. 1 picks, perennial All-Stars and Olympians. And all are WNBA champions — the path Bueckers hopes to emulate.
“There’s a lot of people that have been in my shoes before, and as a rookie, you kind of know, especially if you’re one of the top picks, that you’re going to a team that was at the bottom of the league before,” Bueckers said. “You’re trying to make it be better, and you’re not going to do it by yourself, but how can you best make your imprint and leave your impact on that?”
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Be ready to be shocked and offended at university, students told
Getty ImagesStudents should be ready to be shocked and offended at university, according to the man in charge of ensuring free speech on campuses.
Arif Ahmed, from the Office for Students (OfS), which regulates universities, told the BBC that exposure to views which students might find offensive was “part of the process of education”.
It comes as the OfS published guidance for universities in England on how a new law, designed to protect free speech, will work when it comes into force from August.
Universities had requested clarity from the OfS on how to best uphold freedom of speech, after the University of Sussex was fined £585,000 for failing to do so in March.
The university was issued with the fine earlier this year under existing powers, after the OfS said its policy on trans and non-binary equality had a “chilling effect” on freedom of speech.
Kathleen Stock had previously resigned from her post as philosophy professor at the university, following protests by students against her gender-critical views.
The university has begun a legal challenge against the fine, arguing that the investigation was flawed.
Universities UK, which represents 141 institutions, said at the time of the fine that it would write to the OfS to clarify what would represent a breach of freedom of speech rules.
They now say they are “pleased” the OfS has taken on feedback, and would “make sure universities are appropriately supported to comply” with the new rules.
From this summer, the new law will place a stronger responsibility on universities in England to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom.
The OfS can sanction universities, with the potential for fines to run into millions of pounds, if they are found to have failed to do so.
Almost every aspect of university life – from protests to debates, training and teaching – is covered by the new guidelines on how the law will be applied.
For returning students, or those starting university this year, there may be not be a noticeable immediate change, but Dr Ahmed says the law is about the freedom for anything to be discussed or taught.
Speaking directly to students, the director for free speech said: “You should expect to face views you might find shocking or offensive, and you should be aware that’s part of the process of education.”
He added that students should be able to express any view, no matter how offensive it is to others, as long as it is not outside what is generally allowed by law, such as harassment or unlawful discrimination.
‘Be respectful of everyone’s opinions’
Hope Rhodes / BBCParis and Marie-Louise, who both study mental health nursing at the University of Salford, said they felt that being respectful of others’ opinions is key.
Paris said she thought it was important to be able to “express your emotions and feelings without being disrespectful”, and allow others to do so too.
“I think it’s important to be able to allow other people to express themselves, because at the end of the day everyone’s gone through different situations that may lead to them having different opinions,” she said.
Similarly, Marie-Louise said freedom of speech “doesn’t mean you have to be nasty” or “act out of manner”, but rather “just stay true to yourself”.
In the OfS guidelines, 54 detailed scenarios are used to explore how the new law might be interpreted, with some likely to provoke debate and even controversy.
One looks at “simulated military checkpoints” as part of student protests about Palestine – something that has happened in the United States, but not on campuses in the UK.
The right for peaceful student protests is balanced with universities being able to limit the time and place they happen, in order to ensure no students are intimidated or prevented from attending lectures.
The guidelines also make it clear that any agreements with foreign states that enable censorship on campus must be changed or scrapped.
‘Offensive, shocking, controversial or disturbing’
But not everyone accepts there are serious issues around freedom of expression at universities.
When challenged on the scale of the issue, Dr Ahmed pointed to polling carried out for the OfS, which he said suggests a fifth of academics do not feel free to discuss controversial topics in their teaching.
The issues most frequently highlighted by those expressing concern were race and racism, as well as sex and gender, with women more likely to feel unable to speak out.
The guidelines also make clear that the OfS expects universities to support and protect academics whose views might provoke protest from students, and not to delay speaking up in their defence.
Dr Ahmed told the BBC universities could not sack a lecturer “simply because that person expresses views students find offensive, shocking, controversial or disturbing – and that’s essential to academic freedom.”
Edward Skidelsky, philosophy lecturer at the University of Exeter and director of the Committee for Academic Freedom, said the OfS guidance was “reassuringly robust” and “makes clear that academics and students may not be penalised for speaking their mind”.
What is less clear is what happens when an academic leaves a job because they feel the situation is untenable.
Prof Jo Phoenix won a case for constructive dismissal with the Open University, and a tribunal found she had faced harassment for her gender-critical views.
Another employment tribunal, due to take place next year, will look at an allegation by a different academic that he was constructively dismissed after students boycotted his teaching over his opinion that racial diversity programmes had gone too far.
In the meantime, the law will come into effect, with a complaints system to follow.
Students will be able to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator if they feel free speech or academic freedom is not upheld, while academics or visiting speakers will go direct to the OfS.
Universities have expressed unease about the new system, pointing out they already have a legal obligation to uphold free speech.
A Universities UK spokesperson said: “We strongly agree that universities must be places where free speech is protected and promoted.”
It added that issues were complex, and said it was pleased the regulator had taken on board feedback on its previous draft guidelines.
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For Team Trump, winning World War III begins in Iran and ends in Ukraine
Team Trump may be on the verge of understanding that the U.S., NATO and their Pacific allies are being engulfed in a growing global war being waged against them by Russia and China.
Initially, Ukraine was the most logical country in this multiregional war for the West to put its first win on the board against the Axis of Evil.
But now it has become Iran.
For 46 years, Tehran has been waging its own war against the U.S. and its allies, directly and indirectly.
President Trump’s call on Tuesday for Iran’s unconditional surrender was welcome. So too was his brushing off Russian President Vladimir Putin in a brief conversation they held Tuesday. Putin had made an unserious offer to mediate between the U.S., Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear weapons program.
Trump’s response? “I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own’” conflict.
Team Moscow clearly was not pleased. Twenty-four hours later, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement “call[ing] on Israel to stop targeting Tehran’s nuclear sites, arguing the ongoing bombardment could lead to global “nuclear catastrophe.”
Once again, when the Kremlin gets faced with a geo-strategic setback, it resorts to nuclear bluster and fearmongering. The Biden administration — and namely former national security advisor Jake Sullivan — fell for it again and again. Team Trump must not.
Trump’s stern pushback on Putin was well-timed and much-needed. For although Israel’s war plan against Iran is succeeding spectacularly and running ahead of schedule, Israeli civilians are still being intentionally targeted by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Urgency is needed at the White House. Waves of Iranian ballistic barrages are rapidly depleting Israel’s supply of Arrow interceptor missiles. The Arrows play a key role in Israel’s multitiered air-defense.
To date, Iran has launched more than 400 ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 drones at Israel. Civilian casualties are mounting, with 24 killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.
Likewise, U.S. allies in the Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are exposed and vulnerable — especially their port facilities and oil export infrastructure.
Approximately 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption — roughly 20 million barrels per day — transits the strategic Straits of Hormuz. On Wednesday, Iran threatened the U.S. that any involvement in its conflict with Israel would trigger an “all-out war.”
U.S. military facilities, remote bases and interests are also exposed in Jordan, Iraq, and throughout the region. As a result, the Pentagon is being forced to move naval assets out of Bahrain. According to a report in Newsweek, “all forward-deployed U.S. Navy vessels” have departed the “key port” in the Gulf.
The repositioning of military assets is likely an indicator that the President has come to a decision concerning military support for Israel.
That the U.S. is being forced to scramble military assets is, at least temporarily, a win for Moscow at Beijing. Yet, Trump is increasingly likely to change that question by ordering offensive operations against Iran.
If Team Trump is to ensure that the West begins winning World War III, it is not an option to let Fordo — Iran’s key underground nuclear facility, buried deep inside a mountain southwest of Tehran — remain operational.
And it appears that Trump will not. The Pentagon has been assembling a vast array of offensive weapons and capabilities in the region. Fighters and air-tankers have been repositioned to Europe and the Middle East over the last several days. Fordo, clearly, is on the White House’s radar screen.
Likewise, USS Gerald Ford and the USS Nimitz are steaming toward the Mideast to join the USS Carl Vinson already on station. When they arrive, the U.S. will have three powerful carrier groups to take the fight to Iran and defend against any possible retaliation — and, by extension to demonstrate to Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping that red lines will be enforced.
Iran likely knows what is coming. Team Trump has largely gone silent. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pointedly refused to divulge to the Senate the exact nature of the options he has presented to the White House. Trump himself has remained coy, warning on Wednesday that , “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Radio silence is never a good thing, and Khamenei appears to know it. His official government X account repeatedly posted warnings on Wednesday aimed at Trump, “Zionists” and Israel. In one of his early posts, Khamenei defiantly exclaimed, “It isn’t wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender.”
Beijing finally weighed in, too. On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi “warned that escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran could spiral out of control, urging all sides to prioritize a ceasefire to prevent the region from sliding into an “abyss.”
But it’s a bit late for that — regime change and loss of China’s investment in Iran may now be on the horizon.
Yang hypocritically condemned “Israel’s acts of disregarding international law and international rules.” Of course, he ignored — as Beijing has done since February 2022 — Russia’s actual violations of international law in Ukraine, including intentional war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Chances are that Trump understands Iran must be defeated, its nuclear program destroyed. Team Trump likely also understands that it cannot stop there in countering Russia’s and China’s global war against the collective West and its allies in the Pacific.
What remains to be seen after Iran’s nuclear threat is eliminated is where Team Trump pivots to next. If it leaves Russia to Europe and focuses exclusively on China — as Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby prefers — that would be a colossal strategic error.
As it is, the commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Michael Kurilla has reportedly been fending off Colby in order to position U.S. assets in the Middle East, to defend Israel and eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat if so ordered. Colby has already repeatedly lobbied to end military aid to Ukraine and focus on the Indo-Pacific — the new “priority theater.”
What Colby fails to understand is the connective tissue of it all. The fights in Ukraine, Iran and potentially Taiwan, and other U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific, are all strategically connected.
Defeating Khamenei in Iran and ensuring Putin’s defeat in Ukraine are the best way two things Trump can do now to confront a rapidly expanding Chinese threat.
This is World War III — not Hollywood’s dramatic version of it, but rather war by a thousand cuts. Winning it starts in Iran and ends by winning in Ukraine.
Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer.
Investors Are Wildly Bullish on Oil Prices. Follow the Skew.
Investors Are Wildly Bullish on Oil Prices. Follow the Skew.
Nvidia’s AI empire: A look at its top startup investments
No company has capitalized on the AI revolution more dramatically than Nvidia. Its revenue, profitability, and cash reserves have skyrocketed since the introduction of ChatGPT over two years ago — and the many competitive generative AI services that have launched since. And its stock price soared.
During that period, the world’s leading high-performance GPU maker has used its ballooning fortunes to significantly increase investments in all sorts of startups but particularly in AI startups.
The chip giant ramped up its venture capital activity in 2024, participating in 49 funding rounds for AI companies, a sharp increase from 34 in 2023, according to PitchBook data. It’s a dramatic surge in investment compared to the previous four years combined, during which Nvidia funded only 38 AI deals. Note that these investments exclude those made by its formal corporate VC fund, NVentures, which also significantly ramped up its investing in the last two years. (PitchBook says NVentures engaged in 24 deals in 2024, compared to just 2 in 2022.)
In 2025, Nvidia has already participated in seven rounds.
Nvidia has stated that the goal of its corporate investing is to expand the AI ecosystem by backing startups it considers to be “game changers and market makers.”
Below is a list of startups that raised rounds exceeding $100 million where Nvidia is a named participant since 2023, including new ones it has backed so far in 2025, organized from the highest amount to lowest raised in the round.
The billion-dollar-round club
OpenAI: Nvidia backed the ChatGPT maker for the first time in October, reportedly writing a $100 million check toward a colossal $6.6 billion round that valued the company at $157 billion. The chipmaker’s investment was dwarfed by OpenAI’s other backers, notably Thrive, which according to the New York Times invested $1.3 billion.
xAI: Nvidia participated in the $6 billion round of Elon Musk’s xAI. The deal revealed that not all of OpenAI’s investors followed its request to refrain from backing any of its direct competitors. After investing in the ChatGPT maker in October, Nvidia joined xAI’s cap table a few months later.
Inflection: One of Nvidia’s first significant AI investments also had one of the most unusual outcomes. In June 2023, Nvidia was one of several lead investors in Inflection’s $1.3 billion round, a company founded by Mustafa Suleyman, who earlier founded DeepMind. Less than a year later, Microsoft hired Inflection AI’s founders, paying $620 million for a non-exclusive technology license, leaving the company with a significantly diminished workforce and a less defined future.
Wayve: In May, Nvidia participated in a $1.05 billion round for the U.K.-based startup, which is developing a self-learning system for autonomous driving. The company is testing its vehicles in the U.K. and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Scale AI: In May 2024, Nvidia joined Accel and other tech giants Amazon and Meta to invest $1 billion in Scale AI, which provides data-labeling services to companies for training AI models. The round valued the San Francisco-based company at nearly $14 billion.
The many-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars club
Crusoe: A startup building data centers reportedly to be leased to Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI raised $686 million in late November, according to an SEC filing. The investment was led by Founders Fund, and the long list of other investors included Nvidia.
Figure AI: In February 2024, AI robotics startup Figure raised a $675 million Series B from Nvidia, OpenAI Startup Fund, Microsoft, and others. The round valued the company at $2.6 billion.
Mistral AI: Nvidia invested in Mistral for the second time when the French-based large language model developer raised a $640 million Series B at a $6 billion valuation in June.
Lambda: AI cloud provider Lambda, which provides services for model training, raised a $480 million Series D at a reported $2.5 billion valuation in February. The round was co-led by SGW and Andra Capital Lambda, and joined by Nvidia, ARK Invest, and others. A significant part of Lambda’s business involves renting servers powered by Nvidia’s GPUs.
Cohere: In June, Nvidia invested in Cohere’s $500 million round, a large language model provider serving enterprises. The chipmaker first backed the Toronto-based startup in 2023.
Perplexity: Nvidia first invested in Perplexity in November of 2023 and has participated in every subsequent round of the AI search engine startup, including the $500 million round in December, which values the company at $9 billion, according to PitchBook data.
Poolside: In October, the AI coding assistant startup Poolside announced it raised $500 million led by Bain Capital Ventures. Nvidia participated in the round, which valued the AI startup at $3 billion.
CoreWeave: Nvidia invested in the AI cloud computing provider in April 2023, when CoreWeave raised $221 million in funding. Since then, CoreWeave’s valuation has jumped from about $2 billion to $19 billion, and the company has filed for an IPO. CoreWeave allows its customers to rent Nvidia GPUs on an hourly basis.
Together AI: In February, Nvidia participated in the $305 million Series B of this company, which offers cloud-based infrastructure for building AI models. The round valued Together AI at $3.3 billion and was co-led by Prosperity7, a Saudi Arabian venture firm, and General Catalyst. Nvidia backed the company for the first time in 2023.
Sakana AI: In September, Nvidia invested in the Japan-based startup, which trains low-cost generative AI models using small datasets. The startup raised a massive Series A round of about $214 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
Imbue: The AI research lab that claims to be developing AI systems that can reason and code raised a $200 million round in September 2023 from investors, including Nvidia, Astera Institute, and former Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt.
Waabi: In June, the autonomous trucking startup raised a $200 million Series B round co-led by existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures. Other investors included Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
Deals of over a $100 million
Ayar Labs: In December, Nvidia invested in the $155 million round of Ayar Labs, a company developing optical interconnects to improve AI compute and power efficiency. This was the third time Nvidia backed the startup.
Kore.ai: The startup developing enterprise-focused AI chatbots raised $150 million in December of 2023. In addition to Nvidia, investors participating in the funding included FTV Capital, Vistara Growth, and Sweetwater Private Equity.
Sandbox AQ: In April, Nvidia, alongside Google, BNP Paribas and others, invested $150 million in Sandbox AQ, a startup developing large quantitative models (LQMs) for handling complex numerical analysis and statistical calculations. The investment increased Sandbox AQ’s Series E round to $450 million and the company’s valuation to $5.75 billion.
Hippocratic AI: This startup, which is developing large language models for healthcare, announced in January that it raised a $141 million Series B at a valuation of $1.64 billion led by Kleiner Perkins. Nvidia participated in the round, along with returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and others. The company claims that its AI solutions can handle non-diagnostic patient-facing tasks such as pre-operating procedures, remote patient monitoring, and appointment preparation.
Weka: In May, Nvidia invested in a $140 million round for AI-native data management platform Weka. The round valued the Silicon Valley company at $1.6 billion.
Runway: In June of 2023, Runway, a startup building generative AI tools for multimedia content creators, raised a $141 million Series C extension from investors, including Nvidia, Google, and Salesforce.
Bright Machines: In June 2024, Nvidia participated in a $126 million Series C of Bright Machines, a smart robotics and AI-driven software startup.
Enfabrica: In September 2023, Nvidia invested in networking chips designer Enfabrica’s $125 million Series B. Although the startup raised another $115 million in November, Nvidia didn’t participate in the round.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Nvidia is a backer of Safe Superintelligence and an investor in Vast Data’s Series E round. Nvidia hasn’t invested in Vast Data since the company’s Series D.
Man United fans fume over ‘eye-watering’ ticket price increases
Manchester United fans have hit out at the club for what they say are “eye-watering” ticket price increases that are a “kick in the teeth” for supporters.
On the day the new Premier League fixture list was announced, United unveiled plans to introduce a new ticket categorization system for the first time.
It means prices will be higher for the most in-demand games, a move that the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) says will increase costs by more than 50%.
United say the move brings them in line with their Premier League rivals.
A spokesperson for the MUST said: “After how last season went, we might have hoped the club would reconsider their plans for this new ticketing model which will see eye-watering price increases for 20,000 supporters per game who buy tickets on a match-by-match basis. This really is a fresh kick in the teeth for Manchester United fans.
“When the club said they were introducing this new model for members’ tickets, we urged them to keep the majority of matches at current levels and only apply the highest price category for a small number of the biggest games, and reduced prices for lower demand games,” he added.
MUST have also accused the club of failing to consult supporters on the changes. United, however, insist they did engage with the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) and reduced ticket price increases following talks.
Sources have told ESPN that United feel price rises are vital to strengthen their delicate financial position and ensure the team is competitive on the pitch.
MUST’s spokesman said: “Once again, they have failed to consult any of the fans representative bodies on the details of the decision, and once again they’re making choices against the interests of fans and, we believe, the club as a whole.
“The club’s stated commitment to fan representation is fine in principle, but once again is not being delivered in practice. The structure is in place, and the Fans Forum and Fans Advisory Board [FAB] representatives are doing their job, but the Club are not adhering to their previous commitment to proper consultation and that needs to change and change fast.
“What Manchester United needs next season is a united fanbase and club, with the team on the pitch supported by loyal and vocal fans roaring it back after the disaster that was last year.
“These ticketing decisions only push those regular supporters away in favour of occasional visitors and risk pricing out the next generation of younger fans who are the very future of the club,” he said.
From next season, United’s Premier League games will be split into three categories: A, B and C.
Fixtures against Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle will all be classed as Category A games and tickets will be priced at between £59 ($79.4) and £97.
Ruben Amorim’s team start the 2025-26 campaign with Arsenal’s visit to Old Trafford on the opening weekend.
Amazon’s Early Prime Day 2025 Fashion Deals
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Did you hear the good news? Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner!
In just a few weeks you’ll be able to shop insane deals (like Black Friday insane) on all of your favorite items, including fashion and apparel.
The best part? You actually don’t have to wait for Prime Day to start to score savings. Amazon’s early Prime Day deals are live now.
We found the pieces worth adding to your cart ASAP. Think cute exercise dresses for hot girl walks or running errands, comfy sandals and sneakers you’ll never want to take off, and classic denim getting all the five-star love.
Oh, and the prices? Some of these picks are up to 52% off.
If your summer vibe includes soft fabrics, easy layers, and timeless pieces, this is your scroll-and-shop moment. These finds are cute, comfy, and already trending hard—so don’t be shocked if your TikTok FYP starts catching on after you.
Shop these early Prime Day 2025 deals below now!