Highlights for this morning: Google keeps Chrome, Klarna goes IPO, $1 billion OpenAI deal

A U.S. court stopped short of forcing Google to sell Chrome and Android, and allowed it to continue paying Apple for using its default search in its products. Gold hit a record high, rising above $3600 an ounce amid expectations of a Fed rate cut and active central bank buying. OpenAI continues its expansion: the company bought the startup Statsig for $1.1 billion. These and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of September 3.

A federal court in the District of Columbia refused to force Google to sell the Chrome or Android browser, but ordered the company to share some of its search data and limited exclusive contracts, Yahoo Finance writes. Judge Amit Mehta recognized that Google's dominance is not only due to anti-competitive practices, but also to the quality of the product.

As a result, Google will be able to continue to pay Apple about $20 billion a year for the status of the default search engine in Safari and Siri, as well as retain key products, the publication explains. However, the company is prohibited from entering into exclusive agreements for pre-installation of services, linking Play Store licensing to other applications or requiring cross-promotion. Google must also give competitors access to part of its search index and advertising services.

Despite regulatory pressure and increased competition from Bing, Yandex and generative AI, search advertising generated $198 billion for Google's parent company Alphabet in 2024 - more than half of all revenue. The tech giant's shares jumped 8% after the decision was announced, while Apple's stock rose 3%.

Gold futures soared to an all-time high of $3600 per ounce, while spot prices exceeded $3533, Yahoo Finance reports. The rally was supported by expectations of a Fed rate cut in September and record demand from central banks: their holdings of the precious metal surpassed investments in U.S. Treasuries for the first time since 1996.

According to the World Gold Council, the vast majority of central banks expect to increase reserves in the coming year. Investors are also actively using the metal as a hedge against inflation, currency risks and economic uncertainty. Gold is already up 36% in 2025 - much stronger than the S&P 500 (+8%) and bitcoin (+19%).

Analysts expect the growth to continue. UBS forecasts that prices will reach $3700 per ounce by June 2026, and allows a jump to $4000 if geopolitical or economic risks intensify. Goldman Sachs also reiterated a $4000 target, citing sustained central bank demand and inflows into gold ETFs amid Fed policy easing.

OpenAI continues its active buying spree, it announced the acquisition of startup Statsig for $1.1 billion, CNBC reports. This company helps businesses test new features and work with real-time data. Statsig CEO Vijay Raji will join OpenAI in the role of CTO of the applications division.

Statsig will retain its independence and Seattle office, continuing to serve clients. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

The acquisition fits in with OpenAI's strategy to expand beyond its core AI development. In May, the company acquired Jony Ive's startup IO for $6.5 billion, entering the device space, and previously acquired the Rockset database. OpenAI also considered buying AI tool Windsurf for $3 billion, but the deal didn't materialize.

Swedish fintech giant Klarna, which offers a "buy now - pay later" service, has applied for an IPO in the United States. It plans to raise up to $1.27 billion, Bloomberg writes. The company and its investors will offer 34.3 million shares at $35 to $37 apiece, giving it a valuation of about $14 billion - double the 2022 valuation but well below the peak of $45.6 billion in 2021.

Of the total stake, Klarna itself will place 5.6 million shares and the rest will be sold by existing shareholders including Sequoia Capital, Heartland A/S and co-founder Viktor Jakobsson. The placement is expected to take place on Sept. 9. Sequoia will retain about 22% of the voting power after the deal.

The company was filing for an IPO back in November 2024, but the offering was then decided to be postponed due to duties announced by US President Donald Trump.

AI startup Anthropic, developer of chatbot Claude, has raised $13 billion in investment and thus reached a valuation of $183 billion, the company said . This is more than twice the previous valuation, received during the March round, then it was $61.5 billion, recalls Reuters. The company plans to use the funds for capacity expansion, international expansion and research in the field of AI security. The round was led by ICONIQ Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Fidelity.

Anthropic said it already has more than 300,000 enterprise customers and reported a seven-fold increase in the number of accounts and revenue of more than $100,000 a year. The company's annual revenue has grown to $5 billion, five times what it was at the start of 2024.

- Japan's broad Topix index fell more than 1 percent, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.9 percent.

- South Korea's Kospi index and the Kosdaq index of small companies were almost unchanged.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 collapsed 1.8 percent.

- S&P 500 futures are in slight plus, Nasdaq Composite contracts have added 0.2%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts are down 0.3%.

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