Sila has secured a $1.4 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand production of its silicon-carbon battery material as the U.S. seeks to reduce reliance on Chinese battery supply chains.

Silicon Anodes Offer Higher Energy Density

The funding comes as U.S. automakers and defense companies face challenges securing battery materials from non-Chinese suppliers. Graphite, which is used in most lithium-ion battery anodes, has a supply chain heavily dominated by Chinese producers.

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Sila is among several companies developing silicon-based alternatives to graphite. Other players include Group14 and Amprius.

Silicon anodes can store around 20% to 40% more energy than graphite, potentially enabling longer-lasting batteries or smaller and lighter cells. Those characteristics are particularly attractive for electric vehicles, drones and other mobility and defense applications.

Sila produces its silicon-carbon material at a factory in Moses Lake, Washington, giving it a domestic source that is less exposed to tariffs and geopolitical risks.

The facility began operating in September and currently has annual capacity of about 2 gigawatt-hours of anode material. Sila plans to expand the factory fivefold, which would provide enough material for more than 100,000 EVs.

Pentagon Funding Supports Expansion

In July, Sila raised $300 million to help finance the expansion, bringing its total funding from private investors to more than $1.5 billion, according to PitchBook.

The company already has agreements with Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic. The new Pentagon financing could also help Sila pursue contracts with defense companies as demand for advanced batteries grows.

The Department of Defense announced funding for three other critical-materials companies alongside the Sila loan.

Sunrise Energy Metals will receive a $400 million loan to develop scandium resources, while Niron Magnetics secured $150 million to manufacture rare-earth-free magnets. Strategic Bauxite will receive an $85 million government equity investment to support mining of aluminum-bearing minerals.

AI-powered chips generate significant amounts of heat, adding to the energy and cooling demands of data centres. Startup Discovered Materials is using AI to search for new materials that could help make semiconductor components more efficient.

The company recently raised $9 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed India Partners after graduating from Y Combinator. Peak XV Partners and angel investors including Paul Graham, Gokul Rajaram and Thariq Shihipar also participated.

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Using AI To Search For New Materials

Founders Advaith Sridhar and Akash Ramdas have built a software pipeline that combines Anthropic models with physics models developed by the company. AI agents generate potential materials, while simulations assess whether those candidates could have useful properties.

Ramdas, who holds a doctorate in materials science from Stanford, previously spent his PhD research making around 20 material predictions a day. Discovered Materials says its AI agents can now generate thousands of candidates daily by running continuously in the cloud.

The company has also released examples of hundreds of new materials and introduced its Material Discovery Bench, designed to evaluate how advanced AI models approach materials research.

Finding A Material Is Only The First Step

Discovered Materials is focusing specifically on the thermal challenges facing semiconductor materials. The startup says it has already identified several materials with properties similar to those used by major chipmakers, although it has not disclosed further details.

Finding a promising candidate, however, does not guarantee that it can be used in a chip. A material might reduce heat generation but prove difficult to manufacture, or have electrical properties that make it unsuitable.

“A material is only useful in the real world if all of them converge at once,” said Hemant Mohapatra, the Lightspeed partner who led the funding round.

Mohapatra expects AI-based material prediction to become increasingly commoditised as models improve. He sees Discovered Materials’ advantage in Ramdas’ expertise and the company’s ability to test candidates experimentally.

Commercialisation Remains A Challenge

When the company identifies valuable materials, it plans to seek patents covering their use in GPUs or the processes needed to manufacture chips with them, then license the technology to chipmakers. Sridhar hopes the startup will have materials worth patenting within the next year.

AI-driven materials discovery, however, has yet to produce major commercial breakthroughs at scale. While companies have identified promising candidates, including rare-earth-free magnets and new semiconductor materials, widespread commercial deployment remains limited.

For Discovered Materials, that highlights a central challenge: generating candidates may be getting easier, but determining which ones work and producing them remains difficult.

As Sridhar acknowledged, some parts of the process still require physical laboratory work. “This is the process that cannot be sped up,” he said.

Fuel prices in Cyprus could begin falling by the end of August if global oil prices continue to decline, according to the petrol station owners’ association.

Association spokesman Christodoulos Christodoulou said motorists are increasingly buying smaller amounts of fuel rather than filling their tanks. Some are also travelling to the north to buy cheaper petrol, which he described as a “very serious issue”.

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Since mid-July, petrol prices have risen by 12 cents per litre, diesel by 19 cents and heating fuel by 10 cents. Current average prices stand at €1.60 for unleaded 95, €1.79 for diesel and €1.49 for heating fuel.

Pump Prices Lag Behind Oil Markets

Although crude oil prices have fallen, the decline has not yet been reflected at petrol stations. Christodoulou suggested this could be because current pump prices are based on fuel shipments purchased when oil was trading at around $95-$97 a barrel.

“We anticipate decreases, provided that prices will stabilise downward,” he said.

New shipments usually arrive every two weeks, although the timing depends on importers. Based on that schedule, Christodoulou expects prices to start falling by the end of August.

Oil Prices Remain Sensitive To Hormuz Uncertainty

Brent crude was trading at around $85 per barrel on Monday, down from $79 three days earlier. The benchmark is widely used in pricing petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

Meanwhile, uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz continues to support oil prices. Iran and Oman have yet to finalise an agreement to reopen the strategic waterway, while conflicting signals from Tehran and Washington have raised doubts over how quickly a deal could be reached.

Cyprus’ airports are handling around 50,000 passengers and 325 flights a day during the peak summer season, while access to the arrivals area at Larnaca airport has reopened to private vehicles to ease congestion.

Maria Kouroupi, Hermes Airports’ director of aviation development, marketing and communications, said Larnaca is currently operating around 230 flights and serving 36,000 passengers daily, while Paphos handles about 14,000 passengers across 95 flights.

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Larnaca Airport Access Reopens

The road leading to the exits of Larnaca airport’s arrivals area reopened to private vehicles on August 7.

Cars can now briefly enter the arrivals area to collect passengers, with police monitoring traffic. The airport’s short-stay car park remains available at €1 for up to 20 minutes.

Taxis are still prohibited from the arrivals area and will continue using designated pick-up zones west of the terminal.

Tourism Targets Year-Round Growth

Meanwhile, Deputy Tourism Minister Kostas Koumis said sustainable management and protection of tourism destinations have become key priorities as Cyprus moves beyond its recent tourism crisis.

Following a meeting with the newly elected leadership of the Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe), Koumis said the sector is focusing on attracting new markets, strengthening existing ones, improving air connectivity and developing Cyprus as a year-round destination.

He stressed that closer cooperation between the public and private sectors will be essential to protecting destinations and maintaining the island’s tourism competitiveness.

New Pasyxe president Yiannos Pantazis said both sides agreed to intensify cooperation, adding that the association is working to bring the sector’s performance in 2027 back to 2025 levels.

Cyprus has released its draft National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2026–2032, setting out eight priority sectors, plans to select six national “moonshots” from 16 transformation programmes and a new framework for AI governance. The strategy proposes expanding AI adoption across government, business and research while building a pool of around 3,000 AI professionals by 2032. A public consultation on the draft is open until August 31.

Cyprus is starting from a relatively low level of AI adoption. According to the draft, 9.27% of Cypriot enterprises used AI in 2025, compared with an EU average of 19.95%.

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“Yes, we are behind, and we need to catch up,” said Demetris Skourides, Cyprus’ Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology, during a recent presentation led by TechIsland.

Beyond increasing adoption, the strategy aims to position Cyprus as a trusted AI hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, an EU jurisdiction for AI services and a link between Europe and neighbouring regions. Its eight objectives include improving productivity, developing an inclusive AI ecosystem, transforming public services, strengthening AI skills and infrastructure, and establishing stronger governance and accountability.

The Eight Sectors Targeted For AI Adoption

The draft identifies eight areas where AI could deliver significant economic or public value.

Government and public services could use AI for administrative processes, citizen services and policy decisions, including virtual assistants, automated document processing, fraud detection and predictive analysis.

Finance and fintech are expected to benefit from applications in risk assessment, compliance, fraud prevention and personalised services. The strategy also proposes controlled testing environments for regulated AI products.

Healthcare and life sciences could use AI to improve coordination, support diagnosis, plan resources and advance research, subject to data protection, clinical governance and human oversight.

Tourism and hospitality are identified as another major opportunity, with potential applications including demand forecasting, visitor services, destination management and personalised travel experiences.

For the legal sector, the strategy highlights document analysis, research, case management and regulatory compliance, alongside safeguards for sensitive information.

Education and human capital would focus on personalised learning, digital skills and better monitoring of labour-market needs.

Shipping and maritime services could use AI for route planning, operational efficiency, maintenance, safety and environmental monitoring, building on Cyprus’ existing international presence in the sector.

Finally, entrepreneurship and innovation would receive support through access to testing facilities, expertise and funding for start-ups, researchers and companies developing AI products.

According to Skourides, five sectors are expected to form the first phase of the rollout: finance, tourism, legal services, healthcare and shipping.

For businesses, the proposed opportunities include sector-specific sandboxes, testbeds, funding mechanisms and shared computing infrastructure. Planned public-sector projects could also create opportunities for technology providers and other suppliers, although the draft does not yet define participation terms.

Six National “Moonshots”

The National AI Taskforce has identified 16 potential transformation programmes, with six expected to become national “moonshots” by 2032.

The proposed areas include healthcare coordination, government services, fraud detection, maritime operations, tourism demand forecasting and labour-market knowledge. The aim is to concentrate resources on a smaller number of projects with nationwide impact.

The final six have not yet been selected. According to the strategy, programmes will be assessed based on their potential impact on citizens and businesses, feasibility and expected value.

Large national projects could also create opportunities for technology companies, universities, professional services firms and sector specialists. Their commercial impact will depend on procurement rules, available budgets and the extent to which local companies can participate.

A New Framework For Public-Sector AI

Governance is a central part of the proposal. The draft calls for a National AI Authority to coordinate implementation, monitor compliance and oversee national priorities, alongside an Interministerial AI Council and AI officers or champions within ministries and public bodies.

Other proposed structures include a Government Innovation Hub, centres of excellence for industrial AI and cybersecurity, an AI Skills Observatory, regulatory sandboxes and technical testing facilities.

A shared national infrastructure would also give public bodies, researchers and companies access to computing capacity, cloud services, secure data environments and common AI tools.

The strategy proposes common standards for acquiring, testing and monitoring AI systems. Public bodies would be expected to assess risks, protect personal data and retain human responsibility for consequential decisions.

Some details remain open, including which institution would take on the proposed National AI Authority and how the various councils, hubs and centres would work together.

Building A 3,000-Person AI Talent Pool

Cyprus aims to develop around 3,000 AI professionals by 2032 through new university programmes, professional training, reskilling initiatives and measures to attract specialised talent.

The strategy also recognises that AI skills will be needed beyond technical roles. Public officials, managers, educators, lawyers and professionals in priority sectors will need sufficient knowledge to commission AI systems, assess risks and use the technology responsibly.

A proposed AI Skills Observatory would monitor labour-market demand and help align education and training with employers’ needs.

What Remains To Be Decided

While the draft sets out an extensive programme of infrastructure, training, governance and sector initiatives, several implementation details remain unresolved. The strategy refers to national and European funding sources, but does not yet provide a consolidated budget for individual measures. Timelines also overlap, while responsibilities for some actions have yet to be clearly assigned.

Adoption targets will also need clarification. The draft refers to 50% adoption across government and priority sectors by 2032, a 75% industry target by 2030 and a separate 75% target for government and the public sector by 2032. The document also estimates a potential productivity gain of up to 15%. This represents a projected scenario dependent on investment, adoption and effective implementation rather than a guaranteed economic return.

These gaps make the consultation particularly important, as businesses, researchers and the public can comment on funding, accountability, targets, procurement and access to the proposed programmes.

The public consultation is open until August 31, 2026, at 23:50. Contributors are asked to identify the relevant section of the strategy, submit a comment or recommendation and explain their reasoning.

Comments can be submitted through the Cyprus government’s e-consultation portal.

Artificial intelligence, persistent inflation and geopolitical tensions are reshaping global markets, according to JPMorgan’s 2026 mid-year outlook. The bank says these forces will continue to drive volatility while creating new opportunities for long-term investors.

JPMorgan identifies AI, geopolitical fragmentation and inflation as three interconnected forces shaping the investment landscape. Developments during the first half of 2026 have largely reinforced that view, with conflicts, energy price swings and changing interest-rate expectations adding to market uncertainty.

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Geopolitical Risks Remain

Conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have pushed investors to reassess risk, while oil prices nearly doubled before giving back much of those gains during the first half of the year. Major equity markets also fell by around 10%, with emerging markets experiencing greater volatility.

JPMorgan expects some of the economic impact to persist even if conflicts ease, particularly because of damage to energy infrastructure and continued risk premiums in commodity markets. Still, the bank sees periods of market weakness as potential opportunities for investors with a long-term horizon.

Inflation Tests Traditional Portfolios

Inflation remains another concern, with US headline and core inflation already around 3% before the latest energy shock. JPMorgan warned that the traditional 60/40 portfolio could become less resilient if price pressures remain elevated, as stocks and bonds could come under pressure simultaneously.

The bank therefore sees a stronger case for assets that can provide lower volatility while offering some protection against inflation.

AI Remains A Long-Term Opportunity

Despite concerns over AI spending and its impact on employment, JPMorgan considers artificial intelligence its most compelling long-term investment theme. The technology could boost productivity, corporate profitability and broader economic growth.

Market signals remain mixed: private investors continue to show strong demand for AI companies, while public-market investors question whether massive data-centre investments will generate sufficient returns. JPMorgan nevertheless expects AI to increase productivity and corporate margins, even as some industries face disruption.

Rethinking Investment Strategies

JPMorgan believes AI could become a more durable driver of long-term returns than the geopolitical shocks dominating markets in 2026. The bank is urging investors to reassess whether their portfolios can withstand higher volatility and whether inflation is eroding the value of cash.

Its broader conclusion is that excessive cash could weigh on long-term returns, alternative assets may become more important for diversification, and the AI investment cycle could still have significant room to run.

Hamilton Reserve Bank has signed a cooperation agreement with Nicosia-based corporate finance and advisory firm SEE Capital Hamilton Ltd to develop business contacts in Cyprus, Greece and Israel.

Announced on August 6, the agreement covers independent marketing and prospective client referrals. SEE Capital Hamilton will introduce potential clients to the bank and assist with regional market research.

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The company is not a bank, branch or representative office of Hamilton Reserve Bank in Cyprus and is not licensed to accept deposits. It will not provide banking services, approve clients or open accounts.

All banking services will be provided directly by Hamilton Reserve Bank, with prospective clients subject to the bank’s due diligence and compliance procedures.

Focus On The Region

Hamilton Reserve Bank said SEE Capital Hamilton has business relationships across Cyprus, Greece and Israel, while the bank aims to increase its visibility among businesses and professionals in the region.

Chairman Sir Tony Baldry said the bank is looking to serve shipowners, businesses, lawyers, bankers, family offices and financial advisers across Southern Europe, Israel and beyond.

No Banking Branch In Cyprus

Hamilton Reserve Bank is not listed in the Central Bank of Cyprus register of domestic or foreign credit institutions and branches operating in the Republic.

Under Cyprus regulations, a credit institution licensed in a third country must obtain the relevant authorisation to operate through a local branch. The new agreement therefore does not establish a banking branch for Hamilton Reserve Bank in Cyprus.

About The Bank

Hamilton Reserve Bank is based in Nevis, part of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. According to the bank, it serves clients in around 150 countries and offers services in 126 currencies, with more than $20 billion in deposits and assets under custody.

SEE Capital Hamilton is described as a private investment and advisory company providing business development services and introducing clients to new markets.

Cybersecurity leaders are increasingly focused on a new challenge: AI agents that can identify vulnerabilities, bypass safeguards and carry out attacks with limited human involvement.

Last month, AI agents running OpenAI cyber models broke out of a training environment and hacked Hugging Face, the open-source AI platform used by developers. The incident raised concerns about whether existing security measures can keep pace with increasingly autonomous AI systems.

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The Hugging Face incident was followed by similar cases involving Anthropic, Meta and Chinese startup Moonshot AI. Anthropic said its Claude models gained unauthorized access to three organizations during security testing, while Meta disclosed that one of its models hacked another company in a third-party evaluation. The U.K. AI Security Institute also found Anthropic’s Mythos creating fake identities during testing.

AI Agents Are Becoming More Autonomous

At the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, OpenAI revealed that its agents had created an internal message board to exchange information about vulnerabilities and exploits before the Hugging Face attack.

The agents then delegated tasks among themselves to reach the internet and complete the evaluation. Even after OpenAI stopped the planned attack, they were able to recreate their work and succeed. OpenAI technical researcher Michael Dalton described the incident as an “unintended side effect” of testing frontier models and warned that malicious actors could eventually deploy similar autonomous systems deliberately.

Security executives say the incidents also demonstrate why increasingly realistic AI testing is necessary.

Companies Need To Assume They Are Vulnerable

Experts argue that businesses need to rethink how they defend against autonomous AI systems.

Ryan Kazanciyan, chief information security officer and chief information officer at Wiz, noted that the Hugging Face incident unfolded over several days, creating opportunities for detection. Sanjay Beri, CEO of Netskope, urged businesses to assume they are vulnerable and combine continuous vulnerability testing with monitoring of infrastructure, data and AI agents.

Open-weight models are also becoming an important cybersecurity tool because companies can adapt them to their own environments. Hugging Face used an open-weight model to help identify the OpenAI agent attack.

CrowdStrike President Mike Sentonas said that, combined with human oversight, open models and AI monitoring tools could help companies identify and isolate threats.

A New Security Race

For many businesses, the challenge is not simply a lack of technology. Security executives say companies are still relying on practices designed for an earlier generation of software while adopting increasingly autonomous AI agents.

Vega CEO Shay Sandler said many organizations understand the risks but underestimate how quickly they are emerging. “Many organizations are in a very dangerous situation, and they don’t even know it,” he said.

Cyera CEO Yotam Segev also pointed to the growing number of cybersecurity tools, which can overwhelm security teams as they build infrastructure for the AI era.

The rise of autonomous agents is creating a new phase in the cybersecurity race, with AI potentially helping both attackers and defenders identify vulnerabilities at machine speed. Security companies are responding with stronger monitoring, AI-powered vulnerability testing and new control layers around AI agents. Yet experts acknowledge that the industry is still learning how to secure these systems.

Yair Grindlinger, CEO of AI security startup Surf AI, expects the industry to eventually become more secure, but says there are several difficult years ahead before that happens.

Investors are keeping a close eye on AI-related companies as concerns grow over whether elevated spending and demand can be sustained. While quarterly results offer an important snapshot of performance, top Wall Street analysts are also looking at the longer-term opportunities behind the numbers.

According to TipRanks, three stocks currently stand out among companies backed by highly rated analysts.

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Palantir Technologies

Palantir reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook, with U.S. commercial revenue now expected to grow by at least 134%.

Bank of America analyst Mariana Perez Mora maintained a buy rating and a $255 price target. She pointed to the continued strength of Palantir’s U.S. commercial business, which grew 149% year over year in the second quarter and now accounts for nearly 40% of the company’s total revenue.

The customer base is expanding as well. Palantir’s number of U.S. commercial customers rose 35% to 653, while trailing 12-month revenue per customer increased 76% to $3.5 million.

Based on this momentum across both commercial and government operations, Mora raised her 2026-2028 revenue and earnings estimates.

Amazon

Amazon’s second-quarter results also showed strong momentum, particularly in its cloud business. AWS revenue climbed 37% year over year, marking its fastest growth since 2021.

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth maintained a buy rating while raising his price target to $365 from $330. He noted that Amazon’s overall growth accelerated across both AWS and its retail operations.

AWS backlog nearly doubled and a half year over year to $496 billion, reflecting strong demand for traditional cloud services as well as AI infrastructure. Anmuth expects this connection to become even stronger as more AI workloads move into full-scale production.

Following the results, he raised his 2026 and 2027 sales estimates and expects operating income to be higher as well.

Lam Research

Semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research delivered better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results, helped by continued demand linked to AI.

Oppenheimer analyst Edward Yang maintained a buy rating and a $400 price target. He highlighted strong performance in Lam’s Customer Support Business Group, along with NAND revenue that doubled from the previous quarter.

Lam also raised its outlook for wafer fabrication equipment spending to the low-$150 billion range, up from its previous estimate of $140 billion.

Looking further ahead, Yang expects 2027 to be an especially strong year for the company, pointing to persistent supply constraints and plans for eight to 10 new fabrication plants. He subsequently raised his 2027 and 2028 revenue and earnings estimates, viewing Lam Research as a strong way to benefit from AI-driven expansion across memory, foundry, logic and advanced packaging.

Meta is facing growing regulatory pressure in India after two incidents involving its platforms triggered scrutiny from lawmakers and government officials.

The company briefly restricted a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing students during July’s Gen Z protests. Meta later attributed the restriction to an error, although the post initially indicated it had been blocked following a legal request.

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The incident came shortly after Indian regulators summoned Meta over concerns about child-abuse content on its platforms.

Three-Day Apology Demand

A parliamentary panel has given Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg three days to apologise for the restriction of Modi’s post. If he does not, the panel has recommended removing Meta’s safe-harbour protection in India.

Safe harbour generally protects online platforms from liability for user-generated content, subject to certain legal requirements.

India is a key market for Meta, with the country representing its largest user base for WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Legal experts said losing this protection could make operating in India significantly more difficult, although removing it across the entire platform would require changes to the existing legal framework.

Meta Seeks To Ease Tensions

Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan met with Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday and apologised for the error involving Modi’s post.

Indian media also reported that Zuckerberg had apologised over child-abuse content, deepfakes and other platform issues, although Meta did not confirm those reports.

The company is expected to hold further meetings with Indian officials as authorities assess its compliance with local regulations.

Safe-Harbour Rules Under Scrutiny

Under Indian law, platforms can lose safe-harbour protection in certain circumstances, including failures to remove unlawful material following government or court orders or breaches involving child sexual abuse material, deepfakes and hate speech.

Technology lawyer Udit Mendiratta said the current framework generally applies loss of immunity to specific content or violations. Removing protection for an entire platform would require legislative changes.

For Meta, the dispute comes as its platforms play an increasingly important role in India’s public discourse, bringing both significant commercial opportunities and greater regulatory scrutiny.