Top story by morning: Trump called war 'over' - Fox, Anthropic valued at $800 billion

A Fox News journalist announced an interview with U.S. President Donald Trump in which he was quoted as saying, "The war [in the Middle East] is over". Meta has extended its partnership with Broadcom until 2029 to scale its own AI chips and reduce its reliance on Nvidia and AMD. Amazon is buying satellite company Globalstar for $11.6 billion to compete with Starlink and launch direct-to-smartphone connectivity - without the use of cell towers. These and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of April 15.

Fox News journalist Maria Bartiromo announced an interview with Trump in which she said he claimed that "the war [with Iran] is over." "We just parted ways with President [of the United States Donald Trump], it was a great interview, he talked a lot about the economy, about the Iran war. And I want to tell you one thing: I asked - Mr. President, you talk about the war in the past tense, that it was, was, was - is it over? He replied, 'It's over,'" Bartiromo told her X page. The entire interview, she said, will air on Fox News at a later date. Earlier on April 14, Trump said in comments to the New York Post that "something could happen in the next two days," commenting on the possible resumption of the negotiation process. Reuters sources had said the previous day that the sides could return to dialog in Islamabad as early as the end of this week.

Meta has extended its partnership with Broadcom until 2029 to develop its own AI chips together, CNBC reports. The company plans to launch a minimum of 1 gigawatt of capacity with further growth to several gigawatts. The new generation of MTIA chips will be manufactured using an advanced 2-nanometer process. At the same time, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan decided to leave Meta's board of directors, the channel notes.

Meta relies on its own chips to reduce its dependence on expensive solutions from Nvidia and AMD. The company is sharply increasing investments in artificial intelligence (up to $135 billion in 2026), concluding new deals with major partners and building dozens of data centers to catch up with competitors like Google and Amazon, CNBC recalls.

Amazon has agreed to buy satellite operator Globalstar for $11.6 billion to enter the satellite communications market and compete with Elon Musk's Starlink, Bloomberg reports. The deal will give the company access to key radio frequencies and allow it to launch a direct-to-smartphone service without towers by 2028.

The purchase is part of Amazon's strategy to grow beyond retail and cloud. The company is lagging behind Starlink, which already has thousands of satellites and millions of users, but expects to strengthen its position through direct connectivity technologies and new partnerships, including Apple, the agency points out.

Investors are offering to invest in Anthropic at a valuation of about $800 billion - more than double the $350 billion after the round in February, Bloomberg has learned. However, the company is in no hurry to accept the terms: negotiations are at an early stage, and the final decision has not yet been made.

Interest in the startup is due to the rapid growth of its business: annual revenues have reached about $30 billion, and demand from large corporate clients continues to grow, intensifying competition with OpenAI. In parallel, Anthropic is considering an IPO in the coming months, but is cautious about releasing new models - for example, the company considered the Mythos system too risky for wide release because of its ability to find vulnerabilities in software, the agency recalls.

OpenAI has started to give limited access to the new AI model GPT-5.4-Cyber - it helps to find weaknesses in programs so that they can be fixed, Bloomberg writes. While it is being tested by hundreds of cybersecurity specialists, access will be expanded later.

This is part of a race with Anthropic, which recently released a similar Mythos model, but with severe limitations, the agency points out. Concerns are growing around such AI models, as they can be used not only for defense, but also for hacking attacks, Bloomberg notes.

U.S. authorities next week will start refunding importers for duties that the Supreme Court has ruled illegal, Reuters reports. For this purpose, they are launching the CAPE system: companies will receive payments in one remittance, sometimes with interest, instead of complex settlements for each shipment. According to Reuters, the matter concerns $166 billion paid by companies in the form of duties, which the U.S. Supreme Court in February recognized as illegal.

Tens of thousands of companies have already applied for refunds, but the process will be staggered and may be difficult - especially for small businesses, the agency points out. Some of the refunds will have to be processed manually, which will slow down payments, Reuters explains.

The investment division of Goldman Sachs plans to launch its first cryptocurrency ETF in the coming months, writes Reuters. The fund will track the price of bitcoin and additionally earn on options transactions. This comes shortly after the launch of a similar product at Morgan Stanley, the agency notes.

The launch comes amid a weak market, with bitcoin down about 15% since the beginning of the year and interest in crypto-ETFs growing slowly. Analysts note that the new product may be difficult for investors due to volatility and risk of loss, despite the attempt to add yield through options.

- Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.4 percent on April 15, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.8 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was up 0.2 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index rose nearly 3%, while the Kosdaq added 2.5%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.

- S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq Composite futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded contracts were little changed.

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