1. Anthropic Shows a Profit (AI)
Anthropic generated more than $11.5 billion in preliminary second-quarter revenue, up from $4.73 billion in the first quarter and $787 million a year earlier. The company also showed positive adjusted operating income. 1
The result comes with a large compute bill. In June, investors closed a $35 billion loan package through a separate vehicle that buys Google chips and leases them to Anthropic. 2 A second package of at least $36 billion was proposed in August, but the terms had not been agreed. 3
Anthropic is still adding capacity. On August 10 it launched Theseus, a platform for financing long-term data-center leases. 4 It also entered early talks to buy Decart AI for around $6 billion. 5
Why it matters
Anthropic can now show investors more than fast revenue growth. Positive adjusted operating income gives its coming IPO a stronger financial case and puts pressure on rivals that are still reporting large losses.
Reality check
The figures are preliminary, adjusted, and could still change. A financing vehicle keeps debt off Anthropic's balance sheet, but the lease payments remain a real cost. The second chip package and the Decart acquisition are proposals, not completed deals.
2. Models Get Cheaper and More Local (AI)
Meta released Muse Glimmer on August 10 with open weights under the Apache 2.0 license. The 30-billion-parameter model is designed to run on a Mac or PC with one consumer GPU. 6
xAI released Grok 4.6 two days later at $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens. The company says it matches GPT-5.6 Sol on a broad third-party intelligence index. 7 Google followed with Gemini 3.7 Flash at an introductory price of $0.75 for input and $3.75 for output. 8
The Gemini app also passed one billion monthly users. 9 DeepSeek moved the other way, raising V4 prices by several times during peak hours from August 16. 10
Why it matters
Strong models are reaching lower price points, and useful local models no longer need a data center. That makes more AI products affordable to run and puts pressure on labs that charge a premium for every token.
Reality check
Google's price is introductory, xAI's benchmark comparison is not the same as a production test, and Muse Glimmer is not a replacement for the strongest cloud models. DeepSeek's increase also shows that prices can rise quickly when demand reaches capacity.
3. The SEC Cancels Its Crypto Vote (Crypto)
On August 10, the SEC scheduled an open meeting for August 14 to consider new rules for crypto-asset offerings. The proposal was meant to create a tailored fundraising system for some tokens sold as investment contracts. 11
The SEC canceled the meeting on August 13, citing an unforeseen scheduling issue. It did not set a new date. 12
Why it matters
Congress has not passed a market-structure law, so the SEC's rulemaking had become the next route to clearer token rules. Canceling the first vote leaves issuers without either path.
Reality check
The proposal was delayed, not rejected. The SEC can schedule another meeting, and an unforeseen conflict may be exactly that. Even after a vote, a public comment period and final rule would still take months.
4. Intel Raises $20 Billion (Markets)
Intel increased a planned share sale from $15 billion to $20 billion on August 10. It priced about 210.5 million new shares and expected net proceeds of roughly $19.7 billion. 13
The company said the money may be used for capital spending and working capital. The sale came after a strong run in Intel's stock and during a record period for US equity issuance. 14
Why it matters
Advanced chip factories require years of spending before they produce revenue. Intel is using the AI market's appetite to fund that work with equity instead of adding more debt.
Reality check
The proceeds are for general corporate purposes, not a named factory or customer order. Selling new shares dilutes existing holders, and more capital does not guarantee that Intel's next manufacturing process will win outside customers.