CNBC Daily Open: Trading Signals and Noise

Hello, my name is Katie Foley from London. Welcome to today’s Daily Open Newsletter.

Geopolitics generates noise, but AI continues to generate signals.

We’ve spent the past 12 hours parsing the Iranian headlines, trying to determine whether President Donald Trump’s latest comments and Iranian state media reports indicate something concrete, or just another turn in what has always seemed to be a “close” negotiation.

At the same time, Anthropic is moving closer to going public, with rival OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking to CNBC about the “race” to go public, while SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son said we are still in the early stages of a multitrillion-dollar tech revolution.

Investors may not know where oil will trade next. But they seem increasingly confident that they know where capital spending, infrastructure spending and corporate attention will go in the coming decades.

Anthropic said it has secretly filed an IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting up a potentially historic stock sale for investors ready to take the leap into artificial intelligence. “This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” Anthropic said in a statement Monday. “The proposed initial public offering is subject to market conditions and other factors.”

Meanwhile, CNBC’s David Faber conducted a wide-ranging interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Asked if there is a race to be the first to go public, Altman said “no,” saying the real race is to offer the best technology and “if we think it makes sense, we’ll do it.”

Alphabet said it plans to sell $80 billion in stock, including a $10 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway. Google’s parent company said in a statement that the capital will “fund investments in world-class AI computing infrastructure to meet unprecedented customer demand.” For Berkshire, the deal builds on the position it has built rapidly over the past three quarters and marks one of the conglomerate’s largest recent equity investments.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says physical AI and robotics are the next trillion-dollar opportunity. When asked by CNBC’s Arjun Karpal what areas he’s most excited about, Son answered, “Both humanoids and industrial robots with physical AI at their core.”

In the geopolitical arena, President Donald Trump dismissed the possibility of peace talks with Iran breaking down, telling CNBC, “Honestly, I don’t care if the peace talks end.” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview that he thought the drawn-out debate was “starting to get very boring.” Oil prices rose more than 4% on the news after Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that Tehran had halted negotiations and was tightening the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil movement slowed down European futures are doing relatively well this morning, countering the downtrend in Asia. Although futures suggest losses within the US.

— Katie Foley

NBA star Stephen Curry partners with Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning

NBA star Stephen Curry has entered into a partnership with Chinese sportswear and equipment company Li-Ning that will include not only product development but also a commitment to sports culture.

The Golden State player said in the letter that he also plans to launch Curry-branded stores in the United States and China, adding that the partnership will help his brand have broader resources and a global footprint.

“I was confident that Li-Ning was the right partner to deliver the innovation and design that I want Curry Brand to represent,” he said, adding, “Curry Brand’s future lies with Li-Ning.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

— Justina Lee