Highlights for the morning: Binance under attack, OpenAI prepares a device, Asia changes focus
Binance is facing a massive new lawsuit in the US in which the company is accused of helping to fund Hamas: adding to the pressure on the crypto industry. Amazon announced investments of up to $50 billion in data centers for the US government, reflecting a surge in demand for government AI capacity. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of November 25.
Binance is accused of helping to fund Hamas
Binance, its co-founder Changpeng Zhao and top executive Guanyin Chen are facing a major new lawsuit in a North Dakota federal court, Bloomberg reports. More than 300 victims and relatives of victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack allege that the platform "knowingly facilitated" more than $1 billion in crypto transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah and other organizations designated as terrorist organizations in the United States.
The lawsuit says Binance allegedly knowingly built a system that allowed terrorist groups to circumvent AML measures and move crypto assets freely, including transactions that occurred after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 and paid $4.3 billion in fines. The plaintiffs also link Binance to gold smuggling operations in Venezuela, through which Hamas and Hezbollah were funded, according to the charges.
This is the fourth lawsuit against Binance in the U.S., but the new 284-page document contains the most detailed data on wallets linked to Hamas, Hezbollah, PIJ and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Bloomberg writes.
Amazon will invest up to $50 billion in AI infrastructure for the U.S. government
Amazon has announced that it will invest up to $50 billion to expand its Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure to provide US federal agencies with stronger artificial intelligence and high-performance computing capabilities, CNBC writes. The project will start in 2026 and add 1.3 GW of new data centers.
Government customers will have access to AWS AI tools, Claude models from AI startup Anthropic, Nvidia chips and Amazon Trainium's own AI processors. The company says it will allow federal agencies to develop custom AI solutions faster, work with large data sets and improve employee efficiency, the channel notes.
OpenAI has completed the first prototypes of its own AI devices
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company has completed the first prototypes of future AI devices being built with former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, CNBC reports. He called the results "amazing" but declined to reveal details of the device.
Ive noted that the project will be shown in less than two years, and that its development still involves a high degree of uncertainty. Altman said the goal is to create a device with a much "calmer atmosphere" than smartphones - something that works for a long time, helps filter information, understands the user's priorities and knows their entire context.
Competitors are eyeing OpenAI's plans to enter the gadget market: the ChatGPT developer has an opportunity to change the market after attempts by Google, Amazon and Meta to create popular AI gadgets failed to produce breakthroughs, the channel notes.
Asian fund rotates out of Korea and Taiwan into Chinese AI stocks, deeming them undervalued
One of Asia's most successful managers, Kelly Chun of Value Partners, is increasing exposure to Chinese AI stocks and reducing positions in South Korea and Taiwan, Bloomberg writes. She believes China's hyperscalers remain relatively undervalued and the country's investment in AI infrastructure is still low, creating the potential for significant upside.
Chun has been gradually selling Korean and Taiwanese securities since August, switching to Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong. Her two funds, managing $490 million, have been in the top 2% of returns among peers over the past year.
Funds are rebalancing the portfolio amid concerns that the rally in AI stocks in Korea and Taiwan has become excessive, the agency points out: the Kospi and Taiwan benchmark indices have gained 21% and 9.2% respectively in three months, while Hang Seng Tech has lost nearly 5%.
What's in the markets
- The broad Japanese Topix index was down 0.2%. Benchmark Nikkei 225 rose slightly - by 0.07%.
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.35 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was up about 1 percent.
- In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.3%, while the Kosdaq was almost unchanged.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.14%.
- Futures on the Nasdaq 100, on the S&P 500 and on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell within 0.15 percent.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
