Concerns over conflict spillover mount as US Senate Republicans again block a resolution to end hostilities with Iran. Despite growing unease among some Republicans about the widening conflict and its impact on energy prices, the Senate voted 49-50 against a procedural motion to advance the proposal, which would have required President Trump to withdraw US forces from involvement in hostilities against Iran without congressional approval. Three Republican senators crossed party lines to support the measure: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering a plan to charge international students $100,000 for the right to remain in the US after graduation, according to a source familiar with the matter. If implemented, this would further strain student visa holders already affected by recent immigration policies. A White House official stated there are no imminent policy changes but did not deny the proposal is under consideration.
Amazon.com reported a sharp acceleration in its cloud business revenue for the second quarter, with growth of nearly 37% year-over-year, the highest since 2021. The e-commerce giant disclosed in its earnings report Thursday that Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated $42.23 billion in the quarter ending June, surpassing the StreetAccount analyst consensus of $40.54 billion. This marks a significant pickup from the 28% growth rate in the first quarter. AWS's artificial intelligence business and its custom chip segment both surpassed an annualized revenue run rate of $25 billion, more than doubling from the previous year.
Apple reported strong fiscal third-quarter results, driven by a 22% year-over-year surge in iPhone sales, which pushed both profit and revenue above market expectations. However, shares fell 4% in after-hours trading as services revenue missed estimates. Earnings per share came in at $2.02, above the analyst forecast of $1.89, while total revenue reached $109.42 billion, exceeding the expected $108.65 billion.
OpenAI announced price cuts of up to 80% on its two newest AI models, GPT-5.6Terra and GPT-5.6Luna, just three weeks after their public release. The company faces pressure from enterprise customers who are increasingly cost-sensitive and reluctant to deploy high-priced models without clear returns on investment. OpenAI also needs to compete with tech giants like Google and Microsoft, which have been aggressively marketing cost-efficient models. The company said Terra's price is reduced by 20%, with input token fees at $2 per million tokens and output fees at $12 per million tokens. Luna's price is slashed by 80%, with input fees at $0.20 per million tokens and output fees at $1.20 per million tokens. The pricing for Sol remains unchanged.
The Japanese yen surged more than 3% against the US dollar, its biggest single-day gain since December 2023, sparking speculation that Japanese authorities have again intervened in the currency market. In New York trading on Thursday, the yen rose as much as 3.3% to 157.98 per dollar, the largest intraday gain since December 2023, when Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda signaled the central bank was ready to exit the world's last negative interest rate regime. "Such a sharp move strongly suggests that Japanese authorities have likely intervened in the currency market," said Geoffrey Yu, senior strategist at BNY Mellon. "However, the effectiveness of the intervention remains to be seen."