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Greetings loved ones,
Europe may shut down for the month of August, but we’re still busy bees here at Pint HQ.
When I say WE, I mean the royal ‘we’, as our underpaid interns are the ones working overtime whilst the editors lounge around somewhere in the Mediterranean .
So take a break from your holiday/pretending to work, and get up to speed with what happened in the world.
Please, or I’ll lose my job when the boss gets back.
⏰ Today's reading time is 5 minutes
Quote of the Week
“I eat a lot and I excrete a lot. ”
Nvidia tries to make pension funds and insurance companies bag-holders as it enters memorandum with private capital groups
Nvidia announced this week that it has entered into a memorandum (MoU) under which groups like KKR, Apollo and Blackstone will line up $500bn from their investors (think insurance companies or pension funds) to help Nvidia’s customers buy its expensive GPUs.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stressed that now compute is its own asset class, presumably in an attempt to re-brand the otherwise shady confusing financing of the AI infrastructure buildout and make institutional investors comfortable with buying in.
The proposed structures are similar to those used in project finance, which institutional investors are familiar with. The difference is that Nvidia’s chips have a lifespan of 3-5 years rather than being, well, proper infrastructure like roads and bridges. Minor details.
The move may relieve some pressure on Nvidia’s balance sheet; many of its customers have been financed by Nvidia lending its own cash to them to help them buy chips.
Whether the arrangement passes the smell test is debatable, as Nvidia is still on the hook as a guarantor for the new debt.
But as soaring demand for compute has meant that old chips’ lifespans are being extended, perhaps GPU clusters can be financed like infrastructure.
And hey, there’s definitely a job for Jensen Huang on the Jefferies debt desk if when everything spectacularly unravels in 18 months’ time.
Iceland to vote on whether to restart EU accession talks
The EU membership debate is hotting up in Reykjavik (and other Icelandic places we definitely know the names of) this week as Iceland prepares for a referendum on its future relationship with the EU.
The referendum will ask voters whether Iceland should resume EU accession talks. Iceland originally applied for membership in 2009 after the global financial crisis but pulled back during the Eurozone debt risis, pausing its application in 2015.
Iceland is already a member of Schengen and the common market, but in light of President Trump’s views on the actual Iceland (Greenland) and heightened Russian activity in the North Atlantic, security is a key driver in Iceland reconsidering EU membership.
For argument’s sake, the EU is definitely a serious defence partner who can complete simple projects like building new jets.
Just like the Brexit vote, there’s also the matter of fishing. Unlike the UK, the sector generates 10% of Iceland’s GDP and its fisheries are among the world’s best, so hesitancy in adopting EU laws or sharing fishing rights with the bloody Spanish EU-based operators is understandable.
A vote to resume talks would be huge for the stalling EU project, which hasn’t admitted any new member states since 2013.
The Royal Navy has removed internet connectivity from its K3 Scout vehicles, a fleet of autonomous boats, over concerns that their cameras were sending data to a device in China.
The communications were picked up during a routine assessment and the MoD claims that no sensitive data was transmitted. Rather, the cameras just confirmed they were switched on and online.
The camera supplier had given assurances over their security credentials, but the incident is concerning as it points to China potentially pre-positioning itself inside the UK’s critical and military infrastructure.
The drone boats were only bought in March as the MoD expanded the Navy’s capabilities without spending serious money on new ships, so it shouldn’t be surprising that contractors were sourcing parts on Temu.
This isn’t the first time the MoD has had security concerns regarding Chinese technology either.
Apparently, MoD staff were instructed last year to not connect their devices to, or discuss sensitive matters in, Chinese-made MG cars the MoD uses in case sensitive information was being collected via the cars.
As UK defence spending won’t reach required levels anytime soon, it’s unclear how the MoD will be able to keep the armed forces equipped in a cost-effective (to put it kindly) manner while avoiding the risks of using Chinese technology.
If you like Football, stop scrolling
Football, not soccer. Sorry yanks, but we call it by its real name here.
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Don't tell them we said this, but it's actually quite funny too.
Farage faces renewed watchdog probe after Clacton by-election victory
The Clacton by-election has reignited scrutiny of Nigel Farage, with Parliament's standards watchdog reopening its investigation into a £5 million gift he received from Christopher Harborne after his win.
And no, that’s not the donor who calls Farage ‘daddy’. You need to fork out extra for those kind of kinks.
Farage took 63% of the vote in a 34-candidate contest boycotted by major parties, beating his closest rival Count Binface, who took nearly 27% of the vote.
Considering A) he wears a bin on his head B) had never cracked 1,000 votes in a parliamentary election, 27% of the vote is a huge win for him.
Farage skipped the count itself, citing security warnings from Essex Police, a claim police denied giving. Which is rather odd, because Nigel always tells the truth.
Either way, like any good liar worth his salt, he’s back in public office. This means the parliamentary investigation into him can now be resumed, which apparently came as a bit of a shock to him and his team.
If found in breach, Farage could face suspension and another by-election.
The contest cost taxpayers roughly £250,000 and broke the record for candidates in a UK by-election.
Trump sued over selling priority access to his Truth Social posts
In a (frankly, surprising) move against the President, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump over his use of Truth Social.
The lawsuit concerns Truth API, Truth Social’s paid service charging $100,000 per month which allows subscribers early access to the president’s posts.
The Donald is funny but $100k per month? A bit of a reach for us.
The chief concern is that many posts contain market-moving information like updates on tariff arrangements, and that selling early access is ‘blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional’.
As Trump owns a $1bn stake in Truth Social, he stands to make a handsome profit too. Put another way, he’s selling insider information in plain sight while paywalling government announcements.
The lawsuit aims to stop this, and have the scheme declared unconstitutional and unlawful. Trump may also be required to post policy announcements on other platforms in the future.
This administration has been no stranger to shady movements around Trump’s announcements, but Truth API’s flagrant nature may finally cause some legal troubles for Trump.
We’re not sure what the appropriate defence is here but look forward to hearing Trump’s view once he finds his way out of the airport catering lorry he’s currently stuck in.
Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal charges over fatal shooting of healthcare boss
It’s a me! Luigi Mangione plead guilty today to federal stalking charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court.
I am pretty positive I was at IHOP with him getting some Thick N' Fluffy Strawberry Banana French Toast, but whatever.
Mangione said he pursued Thompson after years of back pain and navigating the health insurance system, and admitted posing as an investor to gather information about UnitedHealthcare’s conference.
“Unlike previous interactions with insurance," he got a quick reply, Mangione said.
He probably go a few nose exhales in court for that one. Well, maybe not from Thompson’s widow and kids.
He faces up to life in prison when sentenced on Dec 18th.
The plea ends Mangione’s federal case after a judge dismissed two firearm-related counts that could have brought the death penalty.
His lawyers are seeking dismissal of his separate New York murder case on double jeopardy grounds a.k.a you cannot be tried twice for the same crime.
Sort of. Maybe slightly less greasy.
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Quick-fire news you might have missed
Psyop of the Week
In today’s episode of what the fuck have I just read?, everyone’s favourite neoliberhell neoliberal magazine The Economist ran a piece accusing children’s TV show Paw Patrol of having ‘a dark underbelly of authoritarian capitalist messages.’
Paw Patrol is a kids show about a group of talking dogs who go on search and rescue missions, by the way.
So next time you catch a glimpse of the show or some of its merch (which pulls in over $1 billion a year), try not to turn into Augusto Pinochet.
That’s all for today, but before you go…
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