Online ticketing platform StubHub goes public with a valuation of $8.6 billion. Meanwhile, Britain and the United States have struck a $42 billion deal: Nvidia and Microsoft will deploy the country's largest AI supercomputer. TikTok, in turn, got a break again - Donald Trump extended the deal with Oracle and Silver Lake for the fourth time. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of September 17.

StubHub was valued at $8.6 billion in its NYSE IPO

Online ticketing platform StubHub has set its IPO price at $23.5 per share, which equates to an $8.6 billion valuation for the company, CNBC reports. Trading will begin Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker STUB.

StubHub was founded in 2000, seven years later it was bought by eBay for $310 million. In 2020, founder Eric Baker bought the company back through his new project Viagogo for about $4 billion. Attempts to go public have been made several times, but were previously postponed due to market turbulence.

The revival of the IPO market after a period of high inflation and rates has allowed StubHub to get back on track, the TV station notes. The company increased revenue 10% to $397.6 million in the first quarter, with operating income of $26.8 million and a net loss of $35.9 million.

Britain and the US have struck a deal with an investment of $42 billion

Britain and the United States have signed a technology pact covering artificial intelligence, quantum computing and civilian nuclear power, Reuters reports. The agreement is timed to coincide with Donald Trump's visit and includes investments by US companies totaling 31 billion pounds ($42 billion), with Microsoft leading the largest projects.

Under the plan, Nvidia will deploy 120,000 GPUs and up to 60,000 Grace Blackwell Ultra chips for the country's largest AI supercomputer, to be built in partnership with Microsoft and OpenAI. Microsoft will commit 22 billion pounds to cloud and AI infrastructure, including a center in Loughton, northeast London.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized that the deal would ensure economic growth and security, as well as strengthen transatlantic cooperation. Experts note that Britain has chosen a more "soft" American approach to AI regulation in contrast to the EU's hard line.

Baidu shares soar amid AI pivot

Baidu shares rose nearly 16% in Hong Kong and 8% in the US following news of a partnership with state-owned China Merchants Group, CNBC writes. The partners plan to develop industrial AI solutions, including language models, digital agents and "virtual employees."

The company is actively expanding its AI business around the Ernie chatbot and its own chips, which will reduce dependence on Nvidia products. At the same time, Baidu placed offshore bonds for 4.4 billion yuan ($56 million) to finance its AI business.

Despite a drop in revenue in the second quarter due to weak advertising, Baidu shares have risen nearly 59% since the beginning of the year. Saurav Xi, senior bond analyst at Gimme Credit, said the company's strategy is a "complete U-turn on AI."

Trump extends TikTok deal deadline to mid-December

US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for the sale of US business TikTok for the fourth time, CNBC writes. ByteDance now has until December 16 to finalize the deal with a consortium of investors that includes Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz. Without an extension, the Homeland Security Act would come into effect, effectively blocking TikTok in the US.

Under the "framework agreement," about 80% of TikTok's U.S. segment will go to investors, and users will have to switch to the new application. Oracle will retain a cloud contract with the service. The deal is expected to close within 30-45 days.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said commercial terms were agreed upon back in the spring, but the process was delayed by Trump's tariff policies and Beijing's stance. Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to hold talks this week on the details of the deal.

What's in the markets

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 0.6 percent.

- The benchmark Nikkei 225 was almost unchanged.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was falling by 0.7%, the Kosdaq index of small companies - by 0.3%. - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was falling by 0.7%.

- Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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