Paxos says the US SEC has approved its registration as a clearing agency, allowing it to provide clearing and settlement services for eligible transactions (Danny Park/The Block)

Danny Park / The Block:
Paxos says the US SEC has approved its registration as a clearing agency, allowing it to provide clearing and settlement services for eligible transactions  —  Quick Take  — Paxos said its subsidiary, Paxos Securities Settlement Company (PSSC), has received registration as a clearing agency …

Sources: Australia-founded Airwallex, which Keith Rabois accused of being a "Chinese backdoor", is relocating some staff out of China amid its US expansion (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Sources: Australia-founded Airwallex, which Keith Rabois accused of being a “Chinese backdoor”, is relocating some staff out of China amid its US expansion  —  Australia-founded Airwallex is pursuing US expansion amid intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing

Sources: Germany and Spain are leading opposition to EU plans to ban Chinese suppliers like Huawei from telecom networks as part of new cybersecurity rules (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Germany and Spain are leading opposition to EU plans to ban Chinese suppliers like Huawei from telecom networks as part of new cybersecurity rules  —  Germany and Spain are leading opposition to European Commission plans to ban Chinese technology suppliers from telecom networks …

Xreal launches a new sub-brand, X by Xreal, and the $299 a01 display glasses with micro OLED displays, 50° FOV, and 62g weight, set for July release in the US (Scott Stein/CNET)

Scott Stein / CNET:
Xreal launches a new sub-brand, X by Xreal, and the $299 a01 display glasses with micro OLED displays, 50° FOV, and 62g weight, set for July release in the US  —  X by Xreal is arriving in July for $299, and they look to compete with TCL's budget glasses.

Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström defends the company's expansion into AI-generated music, arguing that "controlled" products are superior to unregulated AI "slop" (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström defends the company's expansion into AI-generated music, arguing that “controlled” products are superior to unregulated AI “slop”  —  Streaming app strikes deal with Universal allowing subscribers to create ‘controlled’ covers and remixes

Sources: ByteDance is offering low-priced stock options linked to growth in its Seed AI division to staff of the unit, a first, to fend off poaching from rivals (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Sources: ByteDance is offering low-priced stock options linked to growth in its Seed AI division to staff of the unit, a first, to fend off poaching from rivals  —  ByteDance is offering special stock to employees of its AI lab to fend off poaching from rivals as China's tech talent war heats up.

Sources: Meta, Google, and Amazon execs met Vatican officials on April 29, as part of a quiet lobbying push ahead of Pope Leo XIV's first AI encyclical (Océane Herrero/Politico)

Océane Herrero / Politico:
Sources: Meta, Google, and Amazon execs met Vatican officials on April 29, as part of a quiet lobbying push ahead of Pope Leo XIV's first AI encyclical  —  As Leo XIV prepares his first encyclical, technology firms and Western diplomats have worked to make their case inside the Vatican.

A look at the scourge of smartphone thefts in London, as victims describe receiving texts threatening them into unlinking Apple IDs from stolen iPhones (New York Times)

New York Times:
A look at the scourge of smartphone thefts in London, as victims describe receiving texts threatening them into unlinking Apple IDs from stolen iPhones  —  Tens of thousands of smartphones were reported stolen in the British capital in recent years.  For some victims, losing their phone was only the beginning.

How the AI boom is transforming global M&A, now dominated by the AI-driven race to control the world's energy, fiber networks, and computing capacity (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
How the AI boom is transforming global M&A, now dominated by the AI-driven race to control the world's energy, fiber networks, and computing capacity  —  Deals hit record highs, unloved companies turn sexy and PE finds a new gold mine.  Up until this week, NextEra Energy …

Tether buys out SoftBank's ~26% stake in bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital, taking its stake to ~71%; SoftBank's stake was worth ~$679M (Emily Nicolle/Bloomberg)

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Tether buys out SoftBank's ~26% stake in bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital, taking its stake to ~71%; SoftBank's stake was worth ~$679M  —  Tether has bought out SoftBank Group Inc.'s ownership in the digital-asset treasury company Twenty One Capital Inc., adding to its control …

Delivery Hero says it received a takeover offer from Uber for €33 per share, a discount of 1.76% from Delivery Hero's close on Friday (Anusha Shah/Reuters)

Anusha Shah / Reuters:
Delivery Hero says it received a takeover offer from Uber for €33 per share, a discount of 1.76% from Delivery Hero's close on Friday  —  German food delivery service Delivery Hero (DHER.DE) confirmed it had received a takeover offer from rival Uber (UBER.N) valuing the company at 33 euros …

A look at a copy of the AI EO that President Trump was expected to sign on Thursday; the unsigned EO emphasized that government AI reviews would be voluntary (Sophia Cai/Politico)

Sophia Cai / Politico:
A look at a copy of the AI EO that President Trump was expected to sign on Thursday; the unsigned EO emphasized that government AI reviews would be voluntary  —  The draft also includes language aimed at bad actors.  It directs the attorney general to enforce the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and …

A profile of TP-Link, whose share of the US consumer router market grew from 10% to 60%+ between 2019 and 2025, as it seeks to rebut national security concerns (Noah Berman/The Wire China)

Noah Berman / The Wire China:
A profile of TP-Link, whose share of the US consumer router market grew from 10% to 60%+ between 2019 and 2025, as it seeks to rebut national security concerns  —  When Jeffrey Chao was studying for his master's in computer science in the early 1990s, he would sometimes spend so many hours …

As the US House probes Airbnb's use of Chinese AI models, CEO Brian Chesky says the company is not sharing data with Chinese firms and uses open-source models (Natalie Lung/Bloomberg)

Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
As the US House probes Airbnb's use of Chinese AI models, CEO Brian Chesky says the company is not sharing data with Chinese firms and uses open-source models  —  Airbnb Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky defended his company's use of Chinese artificial intelligence models …

Sources and documents detail Satya Nadella's effort to revamp Microsoft's senior leadership, creating a startup-style operating model to compete in the AI race (Ashley Stewart/Business Insider)

Ashley Stewart / Business Insider:
Sources and documents detail Satya Nadella's effort to revamp Microsoft's senior leadership, creating a startup-style operating model to compete in the AI race  —  CEO Satya Nadella just dismantled the senior leadership structure that has run Microsoft for decades.