VictoryShares Short-Term Bond ETF targets income and capital preservation through a diversified portfolio of short-term debt securities. On Feb. 2, 2026, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC disclosed a buy of VictoryShares Short-Term Bond ETF (USTB 0.03%), adding 245,676 shares in the fourth quarter. The estimated transaction value is $12.51 million based on average quarterly pricing. What happened According to a SEC filing dated Feb. 2, 2026, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holding in VictoryShares Short-Term Bond ETF by 245,676 shares during the fourth quarter of 2025. The estimated transaction value was $12.5 million, calculated using the average closing price for the quarter. The fund's quarter-end USTB position value rose by $12.51 million, reflecting both new purchases and pricing effects. Expand NASDAQ : USTB Victory Portfolios II - VictoryShares Short-Term Bond ETF Today's Change ( -0.03 %) $ -0.01 Current Price $ 50.98 Key Data Points Day's Range $ 50.96 - $ 50.99 52wk Range $ 50.10 - $ 51.12 Volume 177K What else to know The buy brings USTB to 1.95% of Cornerstone Planning Group LLC's 13F reportable assets under management. Top five holdings after the filing: NASDAQ: QQQM: $67.6 million (10.6% of AUM) NYSEMKT: FENI: $63.7 million (9.9% of AUM) NYSEMKT: FNDX: $44.2 million (6.9% of AUM) NYSEMKT: BIV: $41.3 million (6.4% of AUM) NYSEMKT: SMLF: $34.2 million (5.3% of AUM) As of Jan. 30, 2026, USTB shares were priced at $51.00, up 5.8% over the past year and trailing the S&P 500 by 9.9 percentage points. USTB posted an annualized dividend yield of 4.6% as of Feb. 2, 2026, with shares priced 0.3% below their 52-week high. ETF overview Metric Value AUM N/A Dividend Yield 4.59% Price (as of market close 1/30/26) $51.00 1-Year Total Return 5.83% ETF snapshot Investment strategy focuses on short-term debt securities with a portfolio maturity of three years or less, targeting income and capital preservation. The portfolio primarily consists of U.S. dollar-de...

Positron has raised $230 million in Series B funding, pushing its valuation past $1 billion as the AI chip startup takes aim at Nvidia. Positron CEO Mitesh Agrawal joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on “Bloomberg Tech.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Taiwan Semiconductor or Broadcom? You Should Only Own One of Them AOL.com

Taiwan Semiconductor or Broadcom? You Should Only Own One of Them aol.com

Leonid Sorokin/iStock via Getty Images A Major Move Coming The Nasdaq 100 ( QQQ ) is facing a major move, either a major breakdown or possibly a breakout and another leg higher. Since the highs reached in October 2025, the Nasdaq 100 ( NDX ) has been flat, developing a major technical resistance at the highs, and also a major technical uptrend support along the 100 DMA line (in red). This technical situation has to be resolved, and the resolution is likely imminent since the 100 DMA support is running into the resistance - the range is narrowing. Thus, the Nasdaq 100 is likely to 1) either break out through the resistance towards the top of the uptrend range, which would be a major leg higher, or 2) break down through support in a major correction, likely in excess of 20%. Barchart A Breakdown Appears to Be More Likely The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is all about the AI trade. The year started with the rotation out of tech into value and cyclicals, and specifically out of the tech mega-caps associated with the AI theme due to the AI bubble concerns. Thus, a breakout would require a rotation back into the AI trade, which could happen either due to 1) a positive development in the AI capex rate of return due to accelerated AI adoption and better AI monetization or 2) the macro environment supportive of reinflating the AI bubble due to speculation, which would require something like a signal of an unexpected Fed cut without further weakening of the labor market. It is very unlikely that we will get either a Fed cut or positive AI news. Thus, the breakout seems unlikely. On the other hand, the breakdown seems very likely. First, the macro situation is supportive of bubble bursts. The crypto bubble ( BTC-USD ) has been bursting, and cryptocurrencies have been correlated with the AI stocks on the upswing. In addition, the precious metals bubble possibly burst last week. The point is the speculative bubbles have been bursting, and it seems like market liquidity is drying out, wh...

格隆汇2月5日｜俄罗斯外交部就即将到期的新削减战略武器条约发表声明，俄罗斯尚未收到来自美国的正式答复。俄罗斯已准备好采取果断的军事技术反制措施，以应对可能对国家安全构成的额外威胁。

Marco Bello/Getty Images News Strategy ( MSTR ) is scheduled to announce Q4 earnings results on Thursday, February 5th, after market close, and a metric to keep a watch on will be the number of diluted shares. The stock was 8.15% lower at $122.40 during late morning trading on Wednesday ahead of its quarterly earnings release. MSTR has lost ~65% of its value in one year, trading about 23% below its 20-day simple moving average. The former MicroStrategy is known for using its balance sheet and repeated equity and debt issuances to buy and hold large amounts of bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) , treating it as a long-term treasury reserve. MSTR is viewed as a high-beta proxy for BTC. Bitcoin has fallen below the average price paid by its largest corporate buyer, Strategy, narrowing the margin for error in Michael Saylor's massive, leveraged bet on the highest-profile crypto. While the company is not under immediate financial strain, its flexibility is diminishing unless bitcoin meaningfully recovers or investors remain willing to buy its shares. Beyond mark-to-market losses, Strategy's treasury model depends on its shares trading at a premium to its BTC holdings—a premium that has narrowed markedly since late last year, Seeking Alpha analyst Pacifica Yield pointed out . Insiders have been net sellers of the stock, with MSTR seeing 10 sell transactions in the past three months against four open market buys. Short interest stood at a 'high rate' of 11.81% of the total float as of January 15. "This high short interest makes MSTR stock an attractive target for investors hoping to trigger a short squeeze, or a scenario where shorts get forced out of their positions by a quick gain in the price," noted Seeking Alpha author A.J. Button . "Even if such a squeeze were short-lived, it could force short sellers, who are leveraged by definition, to exit their positions at losses," added the author. For MSTR's Q4 financial results, analysts expect deeply negative earnings. The consensus EPS es...

据美国劳工统计局消息，1月份非农就业报告将改期至2月11日发布。 该数据原定于2月6日公布，此前因政府部分关门而推迟。周三，包括劳工部在内的多个机构获得拨款。 劳工统计局表示，原定于2月11日发布的1月份消费者价格指数（CPI）报告调整至2月13日发布。12月份职位空缺与劳动力流动调查（JOLTS）也将调整发布时间。 在特朗普签署了与参议院民主党人达成的拨款协议后，美国政府周二晚间结束部分停摆。 除了常规的月度非农就业和失业数据外，1月份的就业报告还将包含备受关注的年度就业修正数据。外界预计，这些数据将显示截至2025年3月的一年里，就业增长大幅低于最初公布的水平。 责任编辑：丁文武

Earnings Call Insights: Chubb Limited (CB) Q4 2025 Management View Evan G. Greenberg, Chairman & CEO, stated, "We had an outstanding quarter, which contributed to another record year, demonstrating both the resilience on the broadly diversified nature of our company. We delivered excellent full year results with strong contributions from virtually all of our businesses." Greenberg reported "core operating income of nearly $3 billion or $7.52 per share up about 22% and 25%, respectively," and highlighted "record low combined ratio of 81.2%." CEO Greenberg noted, "Our company’s published growth this quarter was faster than the average for the full year," and emphasized significant growth in agriculture where Chubb is "the #1 crop insurer in America." He also cited that "our invested asset now stands at $169 billion, up from $151 billion a year ago." For the year, Greenberg stated, "We printed record operating income just shy of $10 billion or $24.79 per share, up about 9% and 11%, respectively, over prior." Greenberg pointed out, "P&C premium revenue again grew over 7.5% in the quarter, with consumer up almost 12% and commercial up over 6%. Our international P&C and U.S. agriculture business had a particularly strong growth quarter, with premiums up nearly 11% and over 45%, respectively." "We are continuing to invest to improve our competitive profile. While early, we're off to a good start in '26, and we're confident in our ability to generate for the year strong growth in operating earnings and double-digit growth in EPS and tangible book value through the 3 sources of income, P&C underwriting, investment income and life though cats and FX aside," Greenberg stated. Peter Enns, Executive VP & CFO, said, "We concluded the year with an outstanding quarter that produce full year earnings records and all-time highs on our balance sheet, including cash and invested assets exceeding $171 billion and book value of nearly $74 billion." CFO Enns reported, "We returned $1.5 bi...

Earnings Call Insights: Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) Q4 2025 Management View Kevin Freeman, President and CEO, highlighted "solid financial results during the fourth quarter that reflect our ongoing commitment to revenue, quality and cost discipline," noting best-in-class service and improving yields despite a more challenging environment. Freeman stated that the team remains focused on "controlling what we can control to ensure that we continue to deliver an unmatched value proposition for our customers." He emphasized continued investment in capacity, technology, and people, acknowledging that "these investments have increased our overhead cost in the short term," but are intended to support long-term growth and market share gains. "Old Dominion's revenue totaled $1.31 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025, which was a 5.7% decrease from the prior year," stated Adam Satterfield, Executive VP, Assistant Secretary & CFO. He added, "Our operating ratio increased 80 basis points to 76.7% for the fourth quarter of 2025." Outlook Satterfield explained, "Just from a big picture top line standpoint, I feel like our revenue for the full quarter will probably come in somewhere between $1.25 billion and $1.3 billion. The low end of that range would be if we underperform seasonality at a rate similar to what we just did in the fourth quarter and then the top end would be normal seasonality." He projected, "the 10-year average change in the operating ratio was an increase of 100 to 150 basis points from the fourth quarter to the first. And I think we can get to the top end of that range." The company remains "cautiously optimistic that we will see some recovery in demand within the industry," according to Freeman. Financial Results Old Dominion reported $1.31 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease from the prior year. LTL tons per day declined 10.7%, partially offset by a 5.6% increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight; excluding fuel surcharges, the...

I'll be keeping a close eye on Boston Scientific stock following the market's peculiar reaction to its solid earnings report. Shares of leading cardiovascular and medsurg (medical-surgical) technologies provider Boston Scientific (BSX 14.64%) are down 16% as of noon ET on Wednesday, following its fourth-quarter earnings report. Boston Scientific grew sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by 16% and 14%, surpassing Wall Street's expectations. However, the company came up ever-so-slightly short of analysts' hopes for Q1 and 2026 guidance, sending the stock down today. After the stock doubled between 2023 and 2025, the market seemed to have Boston Scientific priced to deliver exceptional guidance -- and while its Q4 earnings looked great (to me, at least), its guidance wasn't "perfect" in the market's eyes. Expand NYSE : BSX Boston Scientific Today's Change ( -14.64 %) $ -13.41 Current Price $ 78.21 Key Data Points Market Cap $136B Day's Range $ 75.00 - $ 81.68 52wk Range $ 75.00 - $ 109.50 Volume 2.3M Avg Vol 10M Gross Margin 62.57 % Buy the dip on this top-tier compounder? I believe the market's reaction to Boston Scientific's earnings is a bit short-sighted. The company: delivered 18% sales growth in its core cardiovascular segment grew revenue by 12% in its medsurg unit delivered 12% sales growth or higher in every geography it covers continued building out its broad pipeline of technologies in both segments announced its intent to acquire Penumbra , potentially reinforcing its vascular tech solutions , potentially reinforcing its vascular tech solutions projected for 11.25% sales growth in 2026 guided for $4.2 billion in free cash flow (FCF) in 2026, compared to $3.7 billion this year Now trading at 28 times forward FCF, Boston Scientific isn't outrageously valued, given that it has grown sales by double digits for 12 consecutive quarters. Most importantly, the company remains an innovation (and investment) machine, which should help extend this track record...

美国财长贝森特：对总统是否可以借口（货币）政策原因罢免美联储主席不发表意见。

國家主席習近平昨日先以視像會晤俄羅斯總統普京，再跟美國總統特朗普通電話。習近平稱高度重視中美關係，雙方要加強對話溝通，妥善管控分歧。他又強調，永遠不可能讓台灣分裂出去，美方務必慎重處理對台軍售問題。特朗普就稱跟中方關係極好，相信未來三年會取得積極成果，亦重視中方在台灣問題上的關切。 國家主席習近平昨晚同美國總統特朗普通電話，談及雙邊關係、台灣及伊朗等議題。習近平稱雙方保持著良好溝通，中美元首去年十月在釜山成功會晤，為中美關係領航把舵，受到兩國人民和國際社會歡迎。習近平強調高度重視中美關係，在新的一年願與特朗普繼續引領中美關係這艘大船穿越風浪、平穩前行，多辦一些大事、好事。 他又稱美方有美方的關切，中方有中方的關切。中方言必信、行必果、說到做到，只要雙方秉持平等、尊重，互惠態度相向而行，就可找到解決彼此關切的辦法。 習近平提到中國「十五五」開局起步，美國將迎來建國250周年，雙方要按照兩國元首達成的共識，加強對話溝通，妥善管控分歧，拓展務實合作，不以善小而不為Z、不以惡小而為之，一件事一件事去做，不斷積累互信，走出一條正確相處之道，讓今年成為中美兩個大國邁向相互尊重、和平共處，合作共贏的一年。 說到台灣問題，習近平強調這是中美關係中最重要問題。台灣是中國領土，中方必須捍衛國家主權和領土完整，永遠不可能讓台灣分裂出去，美方務必慎重處理對台軍售問題。新華社報道，特朗普稱重視中方在台灣問題上的關切，美方願同中方保持溝通，在他任內保持美中關係良好穩定。 特朗普又指美中關係是世界上最重要雙邊關係，他很尊重習近平主席，在兩國元首引領下，雙方在經貿等領域有良好互動。他指樂見中國成功，美方願與中方加強合作，推動兩國關係取得新發展。 特朗普又在網上帖文，稱跟習近平進行廣泛及深入的通話，涉及經貿、台灣、俄烏戰事及伊朗議題，還有他計劃四月訪華事宜。兩國元首亦談及，中方採購美國石油、天然氣、大豆等農產品事宜。 他指自己跟中國，以及與習近平的個人關係極好，雙方明白到保持這種關係的重要性。他相信在未來三年總統任期，會跟中方取得積極成果。

If you run paid campaigns in the U.S., you have likely seen advertising become more competitive over the past few years. Costs are rising across platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, while automation and AI play a growing role in how budgets are allocated and campaigns are optimized. Recent 2025 Google Ads benchmarks show cost-per-click increases across most industries, reinforcing what many advertisers already experience day to day. At the same time, a technical shift is already well underway in Europe. While it has not fully reshaped the U.S. advertising landscape yet, it is influencing how major platforms think about data usage, measurement, and long-term performance. For many businesses, this shift is no longer only about marketing strategy. It is increasingly tied to how privacy choices, consent signals, and digital governance are managed across regions. Platforms like Clym help businesses connect these requirements directly to advertising and analytics workflows, rather than treating them as separate systems. Europe Shows Where Platforms Are Heading In Europe, advertising platforms increasingly rely on structured consent signals to maintain reliable campaign measurement. What started as a regulatory response to privacy laws has evolved into a technical foundation for how advertising systems function. Google’s introduction of Google Consent Mode V2 illustrates this shift. Consent Mode allows Google Ads and Google Analytics to adjust how data is used based on user choices, rather than cutting off measurement entirely. Microsoft has taken a similar approach with Microsoft Consent Mode, enabling tools such as Microsoft Clarity to respect user preferences while still supporting aggregated insights. As these systems become more dependent on structured inputs, advertisers need practical infrastructure to manage user choices and translate them into signals platforms can interpret. Clym supports this by centralizing consent handling in one place, making it eas...

Putin Touts Energy Ties With China, While India Still Dodges Issue Of Russian Oil Ban Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video link call on Wednesday, wherein Putin hailed Russia's energy relationship with China as "strategic" while emphasizing that Beijing has become Moscow's top buyer of oil and gas since the Ukraine 'special military operation' began. The timing is the most notable aspect, given the call came just two days after Trump announced he would cut tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for New Delhi halting purchases of Russian crude . Trump also said Washington could lift an additional 25% penalty tariff imposed over India's energy cooperation with Moscow. The curious thing is the lack of confirmation of the oil purchase cutoff from the Indian side. As yet, there's no clear indicator that this key element in the Modi-Trump deal has been ratified. On Wednesday FT reports India hails Donald Trump ‘deal’ but ducks discussing Russian oil ban . The reality remains that there are also technical problems with US crude imports replacing Russian... "WTI is simply too light to be considered as Urals replacement" for refiners in India following this week’s announcement of a US-India deal on tariffs, June Goh , an analyst at Sparta Commodities said in a note. And this is likely why Putin seized the opportunity to tout his energy ties with China. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has also reminded the world in a statement to TASS that Russia tops the list in terms of oil and pipe gas supplies to China . "China continues to hold the first place among our foreign trade partners. Russia is fifth among the countries - trade counterparties of China. The task was set during the talk to take efforts for further development of trade and economic ties, in particular, for example, in the energy sphere. Russia is the top supplier of oil and pipe gas to China," Ushakov said . Kremlin estimates say China has purchased more than $230 billion worth of R...

格隆汇2月5日｜美国财长贝森特：对特朗普是否有权因政策分歧解雇美联储主席或委员会成员一事不予置评。我认为美联储是一个独立机构。

Qualcomm (QCOM) Sees Increased Bullish Option Activity GuruFocus

格隆汇2月5日｜美国财长贝森特：美联储必须维护其信誉，并以无可指摘的方式运作。

当地时间2月4日，美国佛罗里达州联邦法院判处试图在特朗普高尔夫球场实施刺杀的瑞安·韦斯利·劳斯终身监禁。瑞安·劳斯此前已被定罪，罪名涉及策划并企图对特朗普实施袭击。（央视新闻）

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Vesnaandjic/iStock via Getty Images It's been a while since I checked in on Zeta Global Holdings Corp. ( ZETA ). I've only covered it once before, back in September 2024, when I said that it " wasn't on my radar for good reason. " And I left it off, never adding the stock to my watch lists or taking any position. I hope you left it off your radar too. That was pretty close to the top. ZETA is down 40% since that article was published, even after its rally from its April 2025 lows, where it was really in the pits. Seeking Alpha Over its lifetime, going public during the IPO craze in 2021, ZETA has still returned shareholders handsomely, to be fair. The last time I covered it was at an exceptional time for the stock, when it was unduly bought up. Q3 2024 was an easy time to be a bear on ZETA. Data by YCharts ZETA as the Palantir of Marketing Zeta positions itself on its website as: Zeta Global is the AI-powered marketing cloud that leverages proprietary AI and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. The best way I've heard it summarized is by a fellow analyst—a conversation between us led to my taking another look at ZETA and writing this article—they are "trying to be the Palantir ( PLTR ) of advertising." Indeed, the "Palantirization" of everything is underway, and nothing is off-limits for AI firms. Advertisements and analytics, ZETA's primary domain, are natural domains to attack for an upstart tech firm. I really mean it when I say upstart; they have sub-2,500 employees. Data by YCharts The idea is that with enough data and the right engineers in place—job postings for such roles are up 800% this past year—you can take any operation and make it more efficient with AI analysis. There is deep human inefficiency built into most operations, and once all the data is correctly mapped, it's easier to fix those inefficiencies, in theory. Palantir proved this model for logistics and threat detection. Palanti...

当地时间2月4日，两位美国官员透露，美国政府已于4日正式告知伊朗，拒绝其提出的更改原定6日的会谈地点与形式的要求。双方此前商定在伊斯坦布尔举行有多国观察员参与的会谈，但伊朗方面3日突然要求将谈判移至阿曼并以双边形式进行，意图将讨论严格限制在核问题范围内，排除导弹等美方关切的议题。美方评估后认为，此举可能削弱多边协调效力，故坚持原有安排。一位美国高级官员表示，美方已向伊朗明确表示“要么接受原计划，要么取消谈判”，而伊方选择了后者。该官员同时暗示，若外交渠道持续受阻，美方将不得不考虑“其他选项”。目前伊朗驻联合国代表团尚未就此置评。（央视新闻）

Nvidia (NVDA) stock took a hit on Monday, dropping over 3% as reports surfaced that its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI had stalled. The semiconductor giant's shares continued to slide through the week, falling 9% in the past five days and 15% from all-time highs as investors digested what appeared to be cracks in one of AI's most important partnerships. The drama started when The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had privately told business associates the investment wasn't binding. Sources reported that Huang criticized OpenAI's business strategy and expressed concern about competition from Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Anthropic. Huang quickly pushed back on the narrative over the weekend, telling Bloomberg the reports were "nonsense" and reaffirming Nvidia's commitment to OpenAI. "We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI. I believe in OpenAI, the work that they do is incredible," Huang said, calling it "probably the largest investment we've ever made." Altman Fires Back at "Insanity" OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X, formerly Twitter, to defend the partnership, writing, "We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world. We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don't get where all this insanity is coming from." The public show of support came after The Wall Street Journal reported OpenAI wasn't satisfied with some of Nvidia's latest chips for AI inference—the process where trained models analyze new data and generate outputs. OpenAI has been shopping for alternatives since last year, seeking chips that can deliver faster responses for products like Codex, its coding assistant. That search led OpenAI to strike deals with AMD (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and startup Cerebras, totaling over $10 billion in commitments. The moves signal OpenAI's strategy to diversify beyond Nvidia's dominant grip on AI chips, which currently powers over 90% of the GPU market. Despite the apparent friction, Nvidia ...

Nvidia (NVDA) stock took a hit on Monday, dropping over 3% as reports surfaced that its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI had stalled. The semiconductor giant's shares continued to slide through the week, falling 9% in the past five days and 15% from all-time highs as investors digested what appeared to be cracks in one of AI's most important partnerships. The drama started when The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had privately told business associates the investment wasn't binding. Sources reported that Huang criticized OpenAI's business strategy and expressed concern about competition from Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Anthropic. Huang quickly pushed back on the narrative over the weekend, telling Bloomberg the reports were "nonsense" and reaffirming Nvidia's commitment to OpenAI. "We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI. I believe in OpenAI, the work that they do is incredible," Huang said, calling it "probably the largest investment we've ever made." Altman Fires Back at "Insanity" OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X, formerly Twitter, to defend the partnership, writing, "We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world. We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don't get where all this insanity is coming from." The public show of support came after The Wall Street Journal reported OpenAI wasn't satisfied with some of Nvidia's latest chips for AI inference—the process where trained models analyze new data and generate outputs. OpenAI has been shopping for alternatives since last year, seeking chips that can deliver faster responses for products like Codex, its coding assistant. That search led OpenAI to strike deals with AMD (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and startup Cerebras, totaling over $10 billion in commitments. The moves signal OpenAI's strategy to diversify beyond Nvidia's dominant grip on AI chips, which currently powers over 90% of the GPU market. Despite the apparent friction, Nvidia ...

Nvidia (NVDA) stock took a hit on Monday, dropping over 3% as reports surfaced that its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI had stalled. The semiconductor giant's shares continued to slide through the week, falling 9% in the past five days and 15% from all-time highs as investors digested what appeared to be cracks in one of AI's most important partnerships. The drama started when The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had privately told business associates the investment wasn't binding. Sources reported that Huang criticized OpenAI's business strategy and expressed concern about competition from Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Anthropic. More News from Barchart Huang quickly pushed back on the narrative over the weekend, telling Bloomberg the reports were "nonsense" and reaffirming Nvidia's commitment to OpenAI. "We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI. I believe in OpenAI, the work that they do is incredible," Huang said, calling it "probably the largest investment we've ever made." www.barchart.com Altman Fires Back at "Insanity" OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X, formerly Twitter, to defend the partnership, writing, "We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world. We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don't get where all this insanity is coming from." The public show of support came after The Wall Street Journal reported OpenAI wasn't satisfied with some of Nvidia's latest chips for AI inference—the process where trained models analyze new data and generate outputs. OpenAI has been shopping for alternatives since last year, seeking chips that can deliver faster responses for products like Codex, its coding assistant. That search led OpenAI to strike deals with AMD (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and startup Cerebras, totaling over $10 billion in commitments. The moves signal OpenAI's strategy to diversify beyond Nvidia's dominant grip on AI chips, which currently powers over 90% of the GPU marke...

There has long been a lobby against returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius based on tenuous environmental arguments, and Clive Hambler’s letter (28 January) is an example. While the marine ecosystems of the Chagos are relatively pristine, the terrestrial environments are not, as the islands were used as major coconut plantations for a couple of centuries before being forcibly depopulated in the 1970s. Aside from Diego Garcia, they have been effectively rewilded through neglect, so the vegetation is secondary forest, good but not “virgin”, and does support important seabird colonies. As for the marine environment, the now-displaced islanders fished the waters during those 200 years, also exporting some fish to Mauritius. As I understand it, the Mauritian plan is to retain much of the current marine conservation zone for limited “artisanal” fishing only – the wider seas have been plundered by large-scale international fishing operations for decades, and in the 19th century for the industrial harvesting of sperm whales. From their first settlement in the late 1700s, the islands were administered from Mauritius until detached as the British Indian Ocean Territory on Mauritius becoming independent in 1968. The displaced inhabitants, employees of the monopolist Chagos Agalega Company, were Mauritian and Seychellois citizens. The islands’ return to Mauritius is thus both legally and morally correct. There is no evidence that it will cause the “irreversible destruction” that Hambler claims. Anthony Cheke Co-author, Lost Land of the Dodo: The Ecological History of Mauritius, Réunion & Rodrigues Clive Hambler notes that the Chagos Islands is the best protected tropical ecosystem on Earth and that Mauritius’s plans for fishing after regaining sovereignty threaten this. We need to recognise the reasons why the Chagos Islands are a “last great tropical wilderness” area. The UK exiled thousands of British subjects in the 1960s and 1970s from the Chagos Islands to make way for ...

The National Police Service (NPS) is the fourth or fifth iteration of a “British FBI”, not the third (What is Shabana Mahmood proposing in ‘biggest ever’ policing reforms? 26 January). Before the Serious And Organised Crime Agency and the National Crime Agency, we had a National Crime Squad, and before that a National Criminal Intelligence Service. The new NPS may have too wide a remit to be manageable. Many Met police commissioners end their time badly because of the extent of their responsibilities – public order, counter-terrorism, mid-range organised crime, street crime, drunks, knives, road traffic, domestic disturbances, dealing with the mentally unwell, and the vetting and personnel problems of police and civilian staff. The head of the NPS will deal with counter-terrorism, take over the existing regional crime units, address fraud in all its forms and will also cover cybercrime, large-scale sexual exploitation and people-trafficking, as the National Crime Agency does now. These are all different skills, and staff will have to be transferred from their existing positions. Much frontline work, including cyber and fraud, is carried out by constables and sergeants; in the police, higher ranks and better salaries go to managers and administrators. , Because of poor career progression, the National Crime Agency and other elite units have a staff retention problem, which needs resolving. Who would want to lead the NPS? Peter Sommer London

The possible cuts to Whitehall’s physical education funding left one misty-eyed for that jargonistic catchphrase of the Blair era: joined-up government (Government row breaks out over plan to cut spending for PE in England’s schools, 27 January). Coincidentally, your story appeared hours after the NHS published data from its Health Survey England. Inevitably, the 2024 data revealed another rise in the percentage of adults in England who were obese or overweight – reaching 66%, compared with 53% in 1993. About 30% of adults were obese. The survey again illustrated the links between deprivation, obesity and ill-health. As the survey noted, it is estimated that obesity and related illnesses cost the NHS £6.5bn in 2022. However, the economic and social costs are much greater than that. It is a significant factor in the surging health/disability-related benefits bill as people leave the workforce early – distorting local labour markets and shrinking the tax base needed to meet those rising welfare costs. The government really needs to learn that prevention – including inculcating a love of physical activity – is better than cure. Prof Les Mayhew Bayes Business School

Amy Jankiewicz says the government must address the effect of global increases in population and unsustainable consumption patterns as intertwined challenges George Monbiot’s article ( The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised, 27 January ) highlights the grave risks identified in the UK government’s report Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security . However, it overlooks a key factor highlighted in the report – that population growth is a major indirect driver of global biodiversity loss. “As the global population grows, reaching 9.7 billion by 2050, the impact of food production on natural systems will intensify and it will become even more challenging to produce sufficient food sustainably,” it says. Mass-scale expansion of agriculture driven by global population growth risks sacrificing sustainability: forests cleared for farmland, pesticides polluting waterways, and ecosystems pushed beyond recovery accelerating biodiversity loss. It is a concern echoed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which identified population growth and GDP per capita as the strongest drivers of carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Sky_Blue/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images A.P. Moller-Maersk ( AMKBY ) ( AMKAF ) and Hapag-Lloyd ( HPGLY ) ( HLAGF ) said Wednesday they will resume some transit routes through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal this month on one of their shared Gemini Cooperation services, marking a cautious return to the area after months of diversions around the Cape of Good Hope. The shipping companies said the ME11 service linking India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean will be rerouted from mid-February with ships traveling under naval escort, adding they may later apply similar routing changes to the AE12 and AE15 services, subject to conditions. The Suez Canal is the fastest route linking Europe and Asia and, until the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, had accounted for ~10% of global seaborne trade, according to Clarksons Research. "The highest possible security precautions will be undertaken, as the safety of the crew, the vessels, and the customers' cargo remains the highest priority of both carriers," Maersk ( AMKBY ) ( AMKAF ) said. More on A.P. Møller-Maersk Maersk: Upside From The Q3'25 Period With A Guidance Increase Maersk: Playing The Long Game A.P. Møller-Maersk Q3 2025 Earnings Call Presentation