Meta in talks for Scale AI investment that could top $10 billion, Bloomberg News reports
Meta Platforms is in talks to make an investment that could exceed $10 billion in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
42 minutes ago
- Business Times
ECB's Schnabel says now is right time to boost role of euro
[DUBROVNIK] European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel sees a favourable moment now to strengthen the euro's global role as investors turn to Europe. There is a 'window of opportunity' to increase the international role of the euro, she said in a question to a panel at the 31st Dubrovnik Economic Conference on Saturday (Jun 7). Earlier at the same conference, she said that there are signals that investors are focusing on the continent to diversify their portfolios, calling it a 'positive confidence effect.' The remarks reinforce comments from policymakers including president Christine Lagarde and show how officials are seeking to turn President Donald Trump's attacks on global trade and US institutions to their advantage. Investors have rushed out of the US dollar so far this year, with the greenback falling against every other major currency tracked by Bloomberg. At the end of May, Lagarde said that Trump's erratic policies offer a 'prime opportunity' to strengthen the euro's role and allow the currency bloc to enjoy more of the privileges so far reserved for the US dollar. The changes 'create the opening for a 'global euro moment,'' that politicians should seize, she said. Schnabel on Saturday referred to talks with financial market actors showing that investors are becoming more interested in diversifying and 'moving a bit into Europe – again, great news.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up She said that this is also due to expected higher public spending in Europe in defence and infrastructure. 'In the case of Germany, which has a lot of fiscal space, actually also investors saw it very positively that finally Germany gave up on its austerity,' she said. Schnabel highlighted that more investment into Europe ease financial conditions and lowers fragmentation – 'which is another very positive effect.' In recent weeks, Schnabel has emphasised the need for a big European bond market to strengthen the euro's global role and suggested considering joint debt to finance public goods in Europe. Commenting in an interview with El Pais published on Sunday, Spain's central bank chief Jose Luis Escriva also highlighted that 'the US dollar's dominance as an international reserve currency seems to be peaking.' 'The euro has the potential to compete with the US dollar, especially if it maintains its macroeconomic and institutional stability,' he said. 'With a strong economy and a trade volume larger than that of the US, Europe has room to strengthen the euro's role as a reserve and reference currency in an international trade still dominated by the US dollar.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Traders scour for ‘elusive' catalyst to push S&P 500 to record
For stock traders there's little to fear at the moment. Corporate America keeps churning out solid earnings. The chances of a recession aren't blaring. And President Donald Trump's tariff policy is expected to become more clear before long. So what's there to worry about? Despite sitting just 2.3 per cent away from a new all-time high, the S&P 500 Index has been struggling to get there, meeting resistance at 6,000 – a key psychological threshold. Prior to Friday (Jun 6), the equity benchmark had not seen a move exceeding 0.6 per cent in either direction for seven straight sessions – the longest stretch of calm since December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With a key inflation read on tap Wednesday as the Federal Reserve enters a blackout period before its June 18 interest-rate decision, money managers are wrestling with what could propel the S&P 500 back to a record after the index soared 20 per cent from its April lows. 'For US stocks to get back to all-time highs we have to get rid of uncertainty, but most catalysts are elusive for now until the trade war chaos is resolved,' said Eric Diton, president and managing director of the Wealth Alliance, whose firm is now putting on hedges in portfolios to protect against a sell-off. From US job growth moderating in May to sluggish US services and manufacturing activity, weakening economic data have been piling up recently. Yet, the market has been blowing it all off, with traders pricing in little risk over the next month on optimism that the worst effects of Trump's tariffs may be avoided. The Nasdaq 100 Index is just 1.9 per cent away from a record. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'My concern is investors are becoming too numb to the trade war and economic risks, so when red flags appear they start dismissing them,' said Oliver Pursche, senior vice-president and adviser at Wealthspire Advisors. Some traders are preparing for sticky inflation. The consumer price index report is forecast to show the core reading – which excludes food and energy costs – rose by 0.3 per cent in May from a month earlier, above April's 0.2 per cent print. That would leave the core gauge up 2.9 per cent year-over-year – above the Fed's 2 per cent target. Wells Fargo economists see inflation picking up in the second half of the year. Signs of a better-than-expected economic outlook has revived hopes that chair Jerome Powell will resume reducing borrowing costs as soon as September. At the same time, some are wary that any surprises in inflation and eventual return of volatility may fuel an unwind of wagers on riskier investments and spark another sell-off. With the S&P 500 trailing the MSCI All Country World Index excluding the US Index by almost 12 percentage points in 2025 – marking the worst start to a year against its global peers since 1993 – Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett says global stocks are getting close to triggering a technical 'sell' signal after investors rushed into risk assets, leaving positioning stretched. 'Once there's too much complacency there's a risk of surprise, so I'm more cautious heading into the summer,' said Patrick Fruzzetti, portfolio manager at Rose Advisors, who is snapping up shares of health care and staples companies that tend to have comparatively low valuations and offer robust dividends. Traders are, however, still obsessed with macroeconomic data. Over the past three months, the S&P 500's average realised volatility on days when the CPI report, the government's monthly jobs data and Fed rate decisions are released has been nearly 42 per cent, compared with a reading of 29 per cent on all other sessions, according to data complied by Asym 500. After fund managers reduced cash holdings and invested heavily in US equities over the past two months, the boom has left demand for loss protection muted. The market is vulnerable to being caught off-guard if CPI comes out hotter than expected, Wealthspire's Pursche said. 'I fear many are not paying attention to these threats because most are thinking 'everything will be fine,' but they're ignoring warning signs,' Pursche added. Still, rules-based and discretionary investors remain moderately underweight equities, data compiled by Deutsche Bank show. That means traders still have dry powder to buy stocks in the weeks ahead. One key challenge for investors will be assessing the lagging impact of tariffs on inflation, which has money managers split on where stocks are headed in the coming months. 'We've become desensitised with inflation because everyone is betting that it will take months before tariffs will flow through into the economic data,' said Brooke May, managing partner at Evans May Wealth. 'But if there's a hot CPI print, it could lead to another sell-off in stocks, though will investors use any drawdown to keep buying the dip, or sell?' BLOOMBERG
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Meta in talks over Scale AI investment that could exceed $10 billion, Bloomberg reports
Meta Platforms is in talks to make an investment that could exceed $10 billion in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. The terms of the deal were not yet finalized and could still change, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Scale AI declined to comment and Meta did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours. Founded in 2016, Scale AI is a data labeling startup backed by tech giants Nvidia, Amazon and Meta. Last valued at nearly $14 billion, Scale AI also provides a platform for researchers to exchange AI-related information, with contributors in more than 9,000 cities and towns.
