Databricks has closed a $5 billion funding round at a $190 billion valuation, marking a significant increase from the $134 billion valuation it reached just six months ago. The company said Thursday that its revenue run rate surpassed $7 billion in the second quarter, with revenue growing more than 80% year over year.

Funding To Accelerate Enterprise AI

Databricks plans to use the new capital to expand its enterprise AI capabilities, including its Unity AI Gateway governance platform and Genie agentic tools.

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Founded in 2013, Databricks helps businesses build AI applications and agents using their proprietary data. The latest round comes after the company raised $5 billion and secured $2 billion in additional debt capacity earlier this year.

Expanding Beyond Data Analytics

The company has been moving beyond its core data platform into several new areas. Its recently launched Lakebase database, which competes with companies such as Oracle and SAP, has already surpassed a $100 million revenue run rate, according to Databricks.

Meanwhile, its Lakehouse data warehousing business has exceeded a $1.5 billion run rate, while Lakewatch marked the company’s entry into cybersecurity earlier this year.

Databricks ranked No. 3 on CNBC’s 2026 Disruptor 50 list and has grown into a major private-market competitor to Snowflake.

Private Markets Keep IPO Pressure Low

Large private funding rounds are allowing companies such as Databricks to delay going public. Meanwhile, Anthropic and OpenAI are preparing for potential IPOs, highlighting the growing competition for investor capital across private and public AI companies.

The latest Databricks round was led by Coatue, Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price and Sixth Street Growth.

Classic car auctions during Monterey Car Week could generate as much as $500 million this year, potentially surpassing the previous record as younger collectors drive demand for modern supercars.

Hagerty estimates total sales of $470 million to $500 million, which would exceed the $471 million record set in 2022 and extend the market’s recovery after weaker results in 2023 and 2024. “With strong bidding, this could be the first half-billion-dollar auction week the collector world has ever seen,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty.

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Younger Collectors Reshape The Market

A generational shift is changing what buyers want. Millennials and Gen Z collectors are increasingly turning to the supercars they grew up admiring rather than the classic models that dominated the market for decades.

Ferrari F40s, F50s and Enzos, along with Bugatti Veyrons, Koenigseggs and Paganis, have recorded sharp price gains, with some models doubling in value over the past two years.

Among Monterey’s biggest lots is a 1996 McLaren F1 GTR, estimated at $35 million by RM Sotheby’s. A 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3 could also rank among the top 10, with an estimate above $10 million.

Supercars Outpace Traditional Classics

The shift is reflected in Hagerty’s indexes. Its Blue Chip Index, which tracks leading traditional collector cars, fell 2% over the past year, while the Supercar Index climbed 30%.

Rapid appreciation has raised concerns about speculation, with some dealers arguing that prices for modern supercars are increasingly disconnected from traditional measures such as rarity, racing history and long-term collectability.

“There is a huge amount of speculation in that part of the market,” said classic car dealer and adviser Simon Kidston, describing the market as “very frothy.”

Recent sales highlight the trend. A 2003 Ferrari Enzo sold for $17.9 million in January, nearly three times its previous auction record, while another Enzo reached $15.2 million in March. A 2005 Porsche Carrera GT sold for $6.7 million, more than doubling its previous record.

Ferrari Still Leads The Market

Ferrari remains dominant at the top end of the collector market. Nine of the 10 most expensive cars sold at auction so far this year have been Ferraris, according to Hagerty, while five of Monterey’s top lots come from the Italian marque.

“All roads lead to Maranello,” Hagerty said.

While Ferraris from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s are gaining value, many celebrated models from the 1950s and 1960s have largely stalled.

Younger buyers are not exclusively chasing modern cars. Kidston recently sold a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 to a 35-year-old technology founder who called it his dream car, showing that a new generation is also developing an interest in classic models.

China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) is gaining ground in the global NAND memory market, reaching third place by shipments in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.

YMTC captured 14% of global NAND shipments, putting it behind South Korea’s Samsung and SK hynix but ahead of U.S. chipmaker Micron and Japan’s Kioxia.

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YMTC Strengthens Its Position

NAND memory retains data when devices are powered off and is widely used in smartphones, computers and storage products. Demand is rising as the need for data storage grows, although NAND is generally slower and less expensive than DRAM.

Counterpoint Research Director MS Hwang expects YMTC to extend its lead over Kioxia in 2027 and 2028. He also said manufacturers need roughly 15% market share to generate enough cash to fund future capital investment.

YMTC had briefly overtaken Kioxia a year ago before falling behind again. Its return to third place therefore marks an important shift in the competitive landscape.

China’s Memory Sector Expands

YMTC is preparing for a potential listing in mainland China, following the successful debut of Chinese DRAM maker CXMT in July.

CXMT held 7% of the global DRAM market in the second quarter, placing fourth behind Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, according to Counterpoint’s DRAM report.

Despite its shipment gains, YMTC still trails Micron and Kioxia in NAND revenue because its business remains more focused on consumer products than data centers. Counterpoint expects data centers to account for around half of NAND demand by the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, SK hynix is reportedly preparing to resume investment at its Dalian facility in China after a four-year pause, potentially boosting production capacity.

Oil prices fell on Thursday as investors balanced weaker global demand expectations against ongoing disruptions to energy supplies in the Middle East.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures declined about 2% to $81.61 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 1.8% at $87.40.

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Demand Outlook Weakens

The International Energy Agency said global oil demand is now expected to decline more sharply than previously forecast, with the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz weighing increasingly on the market.

At the same time, efforts to restore global supply remain constrained by renewed hostilities and disruptions to maritime transport. Global oil supply was still 6.3 million barrels per day below year-earlier levels in July, according to the IEA.

Middle East Risks Remain

Security concerns continue to affect shipping routes across the region, with attacks reported on vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea this week.

Oman is also dealing with an oil spill after a tanker carrying an estimated 800,000 barrels of Russian crude ran aground on June 30. The vessel has reportedly begun leaking oil along the country’s coastline, including near a nature reserve home to Arabian Sea humpback whales and Socotra cormorants. Reuters report on the Oman oil spill.

Diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz appear to be continuing, but the conflict, now more than five months old, continues to disrupt regional energy flows.

“The lack of clarity over the possibility of a full reopening of the waterway could leave oil prices exposed to the upside at a time when the market remains tight,” said Christopher Tahir, senior market strategist at Exness. He added that further setbacks could push prices higher, leaving the oil market caught between deteriorating demand prospects and persistent supply risks.

European vibe-coding startup Lovable has raised $400 million in a Series C round, confirming earlier reports that the company was seeking a new funding round at a valuation of $13.3 billion.

Menlo Ventures and the Scaleup Europe Fund led the round, with more than a dozen additional investors participating. The new funding comes just eight months after Lovable raised $330 million at a $6.6 billion valuation.

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Rapid Growth Drives New Funding

Lovable reached $500 million in annualised revenue in June, highlighting the rapid growth of its AI-powered software development platform. The company says its projects now number around 60 million and attract 900 million monthly visitors.

Alongside its growth in users, Lovable has expanded its technology infrastructure. The company has developed its own AI model while continuing to offer access to other leading models.

In June, Lovable also signed a multiyear agreement with Google Cloud that is expected to increase its usage of the platform fivefold.

Expanding Beyond Vibe Coding

Lovable has also begun investing in other European startups working on AI-powered development tools. Among them is Danish company Atech, which is developing software designed to bring vibe coding into hardware development.

With the latest funding, Lovable is now positioned to further expand its platform and infrastructure as demand for AI-assisted software development continues to grow.

More than 640,000 Grubhub drivers and customers are set to receive a share of $23.8 million following allegations that the food delivery company misled workers about potential earnings and engaged in other deceptive practices.

The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it is distributing the money to 640,038 consumers, with most receiving checks by mail and some getting payments through PayPal. The payouts follow a lawsuit filed by the FTC and Illinois attorney general in December 2024.

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Settlement Follows Multiple Allegations

The complaint accused Grubhub of misleading drivers about potential earnings, restricting customers’ access to their accounts and funds, and listing restaurants on its platform without their permission.

According to the complaint, Grubhub at one point listed as many as 325,000 restaurants that were not affiliated with the company. Regulators alleged that these listings helped make the platform appear larger, while some restaurants that requested removal were allegedly encouraged to enter paid partnerships instead.

Under the settlement, Grubhub must make several changes to its business practices. Driver earnings claims must be more accurate, customers must have a way to challenge account restrictions that prevent access to their accounts or funds, and restaurants must give consent before being listed on the platform.

Grubhub Faces Further Legal Pressure

The payout comes only a month after a federal judge gave final approval to a separate settlement worth nearly $25 million involving about 60,000 Grubhub delivery drivers in California.

Other food delivery companies have also faced scrutiny over their treatment of drivers, customers and restaurants. DoorDash has faced criticism and legal challenges over driver compensation, while Uber Eats has faced allegations involving customer charges and restaurant listings.

Twitch will allow Amazon to use creators’ content to train generative AI models, with streamers automatically included unless they manually opt out. The policy has sparked backlash across the Twitch community, particularly because livestream recordings contain extensive amounts of creators’ voices, video and other original material that could be valuable for training AI systems.

Twitch Defends The Opt-Out Approach

During a livestream on the official Twitch channel, Head of Community Mary Kish and Chief Product Officer Mike Minton addressed viewers who questioned why participation was not opt-in. Minton acknowledged that this was one of the main complaints in the chat, saying that if participation were voluntary from the start, “nobody would opt in.”

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Twitch’s community has generally been sceptical of generative AI, partly because many AI systems have been trained on books, images, videos and other online material without creators’ consent. Against that backdrop, the company announced the change by highlighting a new setting that allows users to opt out of having their channel content used to train generative AI models across Amazon.

Questions Remain Over Existing Content

The announcement also raised questions about whether Twitch content had already been used for AI training. When a viewer asked whether Amazon had previously used their videos, Minton said he did not know what content Amazon had already used for model training.

Twitch noted that its approach is not unique. Meta, for example, uses public content from Facebook and Instagram to train its AI models, although the options for opting out vary by country and platform settings. Kish said Twitch’s decision to provide an opt-out option reflects feedback from its creator community.

How To Opt Out

Creators who do not want their content used for Amazon’s generative AI training can disable the feature through their channel settings. Users need to open their channel settings rather than the Creator Dashboard, select Security And Privacy, find Training For Generative AI and switch the option off.

The policy puts the decision in creators’ hands, but only after they take action to exclude themselves, raising broader questions about who should control the use of livestream content as generative AI continues to expand.

Anthropic has begun watermarking content generated by Claude, adding invisible code that allows AI-generated material to be identified by computer systems.

The move is part of the company’s effort to comply with the European Union’s AI Act Transparency Code, which requires AI-generated or AI-edited content to carry machine-readable indications. While regulators have welcomed greater transparency, some Claude users have raised concerns about the potential impact at work and in education.

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Users Question Who Could Be Affected

Reddit discussions have focused on whether watermarking could expose people who use Claude for tasks such as reorganising text, summarising documents or finding alternative wording.

Critics argue that users could be identified even when AI played only a supporting role. Others have pushed back, saying the issue arises mainly when people present AI-generated material as entirely their own.

Some users have also questioned whether watermarking amounts to Anthropic taking credit for their work, arguing that they provide the instructions, context and revisions while Claude simply acts as a tool.

Supporters counter that the technology is not about ownership but about identifying AI-generated material when its use could have important consequences.

Transparency Vs Privacy

Not all criticism centres on people trying to hide their use of AI. Some users have questioned the broader principle of watermarking, pointing to the irony of requiring attribution for AI-generated content when leading models were trained on large amounts of human-created material.

Despite these concerns, many Reddit users support watermarking as a practical way to distinguish AI-generated content from human work.

At the heart of the debate is a broader question for generative AI: as these tools become part of everyday work and education, how much responsibility should users have to disclose when they rely on them?

Cyprus’ involvement in space was once seen as an unlikely dream. Fourteen years later, the country is preparing its first small satellite and has become increasingly connected to major international space networks.

Founded in 2012, the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) has played a central role in developing the sector and establishing links with organisations including NASA, the European Space Agency and Lockheed Martin.

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From Childhood Fascination To National Ambition

CSEO President George Danos developed an interest in space as a child, when his parents bought him his first telescope. After studying at Imperial College London and spending around 15 years working abroad, including with Richard Branson’s Virgin group, he returned to Cyprus and founded CSEO.

One of the organisation’s early goals was to bring Cyprus into the European space community. The country became an ESA cooperating state in 2016 and has since progressed to associate membership.

International cooperation has expanded further, with CSEO developing links with space agencies and researchers in the US, Japan, France, Italy, Israel and the UK. NASA’s then chief scientist James Green also visited Cyprus in 2018 to mentor teams participating in space innovation competitions.

Rather than competing with larger space powers, Danos said, CSEO’s role is to connect Cyprus to the international space ecosystem.

Building A Space Sector

CSEO focuses on four areas: education, innovation and start-ups, research and development, and international cooperation. Its Nicosia facilities include satellite manufacturing and testing equipment, a thermal-vacuum chamber, vibration-testing systems, an ISO-7 clean room and mission-control and communications facilities.

Research covers space health and space weather. Work with the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics examines how space conditions affect genes, while artificial intelligence and modelling are being used to study the effects of solar activity on satellites, telecommunications and electricity networks.

First Satellite Nears Completion

A major milestone is now approaching, with CSEO’s first CubeSat nearing completion and discussions under way with launch providers. Once in orbit, its camera will demonstrate technology for detecting wildfires, while additional payloads will focus on space health and space weather. One satellite cannot provide a full wildfire monitoring service, Danos noted. A larger constellation would eventually be needed to turn the technology into a comprehensive service.

Looking further ahead, he wants to develop an international satellite constellation carrying different sensors to study the Sun’s effects on Earth and climate.

Could A Cypriot Go Into Space?

A Cypriot astronaut remains a long-term ambition, although Danos believes such a mission should have a clear scientific or economic purpose. “The goal of having a Cypriot into space is important,” he said, stressing that it would require cooperation between government, industry, academia and NGOs.

For now, CSEO is focused on strengthening Cyprus’ research capabilities, developing local expertise and expanding international partnerships. “Our country has made great strides in space and the future ahead looks great,” Danos said.

Cyprus’ summer court recess is a “very good” system that serves several purposes, according to Nicosia Bar Association chairman Stefanos Skordis, who said there is no need to change the current arrangement.

The Supreme Court and district courts observe a summer recess from July 10 to September 9. While trials are generally not held during this period, judges can still hear urgent cases and deal with other judicial matters when required.

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Recess Allows Courts To Prepare For New Year

Skordis said the summer period should not be viewed simply as a holiday, as judges and lawyers continue working on paperwork, pending matters and preparations for the new judicial year.

He also noted that similar arrangements exist in other countries, with courts limiting hearings or introducing special procedures for urgent cases during the summer.

Procedural deadlines generally exclude the summer recess, apart from the final seven days of the period, unless a court decides otherwise.

Similar Systems Across Europe

Several European countries operate comparable systems. Greece has special summer court divisions from July 1 to September 15, while Spain generally treats August as a non-working month for judicial proceedings, with exceptions for urgent cases. Italy also limits proceedings during August, mainly continuing to hear labour disputes.

Belgian courts generally close from July 1 to August 31, while Ireland, which shares a common-law tradition with Cyprus, limits court sittings during judicial holidays but allows special hearings for urgent matters.

A similar approach is followed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, where proceedings are generally suspended during its judicial holiday from July 16 to August 31, unless urgent circumstances require otherwise.