Larry Ellison just leapfrogged Elon Musk to become the world’s richest human, thanks to Oracle’s AI-fueled cloud rocket ship (up 42%, $455B in backlog ).
In today’s edition we cover the UK is tiptoeing back to Beijing for high-stakes trade talks, £1B ambitions and all the diplomatic tightropes you’d expect. Meanwhile, Apple dropped the iPhone Air, stunningly slim, bafflingly single-camera’d, and already meme-famous.
This and more….Let us get to it
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION TODAY
Oracle’s AI Cloud Surge Sends Stock Soaring 42%
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s 81-year-old co-founder and part-time Hawaiian yacht philosopher, has officially dethroned Elon Musk as the world’s richest person, at least for now.
How? Oracle’s stock exploded after revealing a $455 billion backlog in cloud contracts (yes, billion with a ‘B’), driven by AI infrastructure deals with OpenAI, Meta, Nvidia, AMD, and even Musk’s own xAI.
Despite missing Q1 earnings, Wall Street went wild, analysts called the guidance “staggering,” “momentous,” and “truly awesome.” Ellison’s net worth? A cool $389B. Musk? $384B. The lesson? Own the pipes, not just the prompts. AI’s hunger for cloud compute is rewriting the billionaire leaderboard, and Oracle’s suddenly the buffet.
Why it’s trending: Investors are betting Oracle’s lean, GPU-rich cloud can outmaneuver AWS, Azure, and Google, without owning a single data center building. Bold? Yes. Profitable? Apparently.
UK heads to Beijing for first trade talks in 7 years
Business Secretary Peter Kyle jets off to Beijing on Sept 10–11 for the UK-China JETCO summit, the first such talks since 2018. Goals: unlock £1B+ in exports over five years across healthcare, autos, agri-food, and professional services.
Recent wins? The Premier League’s deal with China Mobile’s Migu, Oxford University Press exhibitions, and Silverstream’s green tech exports.
But don’t expect kumbaya: the UK vows “pragmatic engagement with constructive challenge” on human rights and market fairness. With China’s middle class set to drive 23% of global growth by 2050, the UK’s walking a diplomatic tightrope, balancing profit with principle.
Why it’s sparking debate: Is this economic realism or moral compromise? Either way, UK exporters are sharpening their chopsticks.
Apple unveils iPhone Air — The world’s thinnest phone
Apple’s “biggest design shift in 8 years” is… a 5.6mm-thin iPhone Air with a single 48MP camera, reduced battery life, and a $999 price tag.
Tim Cook called it “elegant minimalism.” Critics called it “a paperweight with Wi-Fi.” The WSJ roasted the missing ultra-wide lens; analysts noted it’s clearly aimed at out-thinning Huawei.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 base model ($799, double storage) looks like the real crowd-pleaser. AirPods Pro 3 and new Watches? Meh. The takeaway: Apple’s still betting that “thinner” trumps “more useful”, a gamble that may pay off in holiday sales, but not in reviewer goodwill.
Why it’s gaining traction: In an era of AI phones and foldables, Apple’s doubling down on industrial design, even if it means carrying a MagSafe battery pack like a tech life-vest.
FUNDING FLASH
Space DOTS — $1.5M Seed
Founded by Italian astronautical engineer Bianca Cefalo, this London startup builds real-time orbital threat detection for satellites. Backed by Female Founders Fund and GEC, its SKY-I platform already has £50M in LOIs and partnerships with Airbus and Five Eyes. Next stop: cislunar space.
Marloo — $2.7M Pre-Seed
Modernising UK financial advisers’ 1990s-era tools with AI that automates notes, docs, and comms, tailored to each adviser’s style. Led by Blackbird, with Revolut and Adyen execs onboard. Growing 45% MoM. SOC 2 and GDPR compliant. Watch this space.
Fyxer.ai — $30M Series B
London-born AI productivity assistant that works inside Gmail, Outlook, and Teams, no new platform needed. Uses 500k+ hours of real assistant workflows. ARR jumped from $1M to $17M in 8 months. Backed by Madrona and Marc Benioff. Competing with Superhuman and Copilot.
AnthroTek — £950K Seed
Cambridge synthetic anatomy startup making AI-driven human tissue replicas for med training and Hollywood. Closed round entirely via Genie AI’s legal tools, cutting legal costs by 90%. First of its kind. Pre-money: £10.5M. Next: U.S. expansion.
INTERESTING, BUT STILL COOKING
Bending Spoons buys Vimeo for $1.38B
The Milan-based tech acquirer, fresh off its 2024 purchase of WeTransfer, is taking Vimeo private at a 63% premium, signaling aggressive consolidation in creator tools. With Allen & Co. advising Vimeo and J.P. Morgan backing Bending Spoons, bankers whisper this could be a stepping stone to a U.S. IPO, positioning the Italian firm as Europe’s answer to Adobe or Canva.
EU Court sides with Meta & TikTok on DSA fees
In a landmark procedural win, the EU’s General Court ruled that the 0.05% supervisory fee under the Digital Services Act was improperly calculated, not because the amount was wrong, but because it bypassed required legislative channels. No refunds for 2023 fees, but regulators now have 12 months to rebuild the framework. The precedent could ripple across Amazon, Apple, Google, and X, all subject to the same levy funding DSA enforcement.
AMD’s FSR Redstone delayed to late 2025
Pitched as the rival to Nvidia’s DLSS 4, Redstone promises AI-powered super resolution, real-time path tracing, and frame generation, all built on open standards for broader developer adoption. But AMD’s historical struggle with software uptake looms large: unless studios widely integrate it, Redstone risks becoming a high-spec footnote in the GPU war.
Microsoft leases $20B in GPU capacity from Nebius
Born from the ashes of Yandex’s international spin-out, Nebius will supply Microsoft’s AI ambitions from a new Vineland, NJ data center, a strategic play as GPU scarcity defines the AI era. The deal sent Nebius shares soaring 68%, and lifted rival CoreWeave too, now valued at $45B after loaning $12B against its own GPU stockpile. Microsoft’s 2025 infrastructure spend? A staggering $120B, nearly 4x its 2023 outlay.
Nintendo Direct drops Sept 12 — Mario turns 40
Expect fireworks: Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4 updates are all but confirmed, alongside potential teases for the next Zelda epic (likely years out, à la Tears of the Kingdom). The real subtext? Building a killer 2026 launch slate for the rumored Switch 2, blending nostalgia with next-gen horsepower.
Spotify finally launches lossless audio — for free
After eight years of promises, Premium users in 12 markets (expanding to 50+ by October) can now stream 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, but only if they toggle it on manually and plug in wired headphones. Bluetooth’s bandwidth limitations remain the bottleneck, a quiet reminder that even streaming giants are tethered to hardware realities.
Perseverance Rover may have found Martian biosignatures
Dubbed “Sapphire Canyon,” the 25th sample from Jezero Crater’s ancient riverbed shows clustered “poppy seed” and “leopard” spots rich in organic molecules and iron minerals (vivianite, greigite) , eerily similar to microbial signatures on Earth. NASA is cautious: “Not proof of life… but the most compelling candidate yet.” Confirmation? That’ll take lab analysis back on Earth, sometime in the 2030s.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT
UKRI awards £27M across 31 cutting-edge biotech projects
Funded through the BBSRC ALERT scheme, highlights include: a wearable brain-imaging platform at Birmingham to track neural changes across lifespans; Edinburgh’s dedicated axolotl facility (yes, the regenerating salamander) to unlock tissue repair secrets; and Lancaster’s mobile carbon flux system to map soil emissions on UK farms, directly feeding into DEFRA’s land-use policy.
For startups and scale-ups: collaboration grants, academic partnerships, and spin-out pathways are actively encouraged. If you’re in medtech, agritech, or climate tech, this is your open door.
FCA cracks down on “finfluencers” — three now formally charged
Charles Hunter, Kayan Kalipha, and Luke Desmaris appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court this week, accused of illegally promoting high-risk forex and crypto investments to followers without FCA authorisation.
All pleaded not guilty, with a Crown Court hearing set for October. The regulator’s message is unambiguous: if you’re giving financial “advice”, even via Instagram Reels or TikTok, you need to be authorised. Penalties include criminal prosecution. For influencers and brands: compliance isn’t optional. Get authorised , or get lawyered.
FCA proposes flexible contactless payment limits — £100 cap may rise
Driven by demand from younger users, 75% of 16–24 year-olds now use mobile contactless, the FCA is consulting on giving providers discretion to raise limits or let customers toggle the feature off entirely.
Fraud remains low (just 1.3p per £100 spent, vs 6p for card-not-present fraud), thanks to improved backend controls. For fintechs and merchants: prepare for larger, faster in-person transactions, and rethink UX around payment flexibility and security toggles.
Argo Blockchain faces delisting after restructuring deal with U.S. firm Growler
The London-listed Bitcoin miner has agreed to hand over 80%+ of its equity to Growler Mining in exchange for a $7.5M lifeline, aiming to avoid insolvency and deleverage its balance sheet. A court hearing for sanction is expected by mid-December 2025; failure could trigger liquidation.
Once a darling of the crypto bull run, Argo’s fall underscores the brutal economics of mining in a high-rate, low-reward environment. A stark reminder: in crypto, infrastructure plays win, speculative miners often don’t.
