Semafor

Semafor

@semafor.com

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The Africa Finance Corporation named a European-Turkish consortium to build a railway line through Zambia, the development of which will be a major step in the US-backed Lobito Corridor project to transport critical minerals and metals to Angola’s Atlantic coast. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

The multibillion-dollar development, which also includes upgrading Angola’s railway, is part of Washington’s attempt to challenge China’s dominance in Africa’s mining export market. Read more from Tiisetso Motsoeneng: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comAfrica Finance Corporation names Lobito Corridor buildersThe multibillion-dollar development is part of Washington’s attempt to challenge China’s dominance in Africa’s mining export market.

Microsoft’s buyout offer to employees shows which tech jobs matter. Employees eligible for the buyouts include those in its Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and finance divisions. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comMicrosoft’s buyout offer to employees shows which tech jobs matterExcluded from the 60,000 workers eligible for severance are people who work in roles tied to data centers, cybersecurity, quantum computing, sales, and marketing.

Some of the cuts may reflect overstaffing: AI was already responsible for 30% of code at Microsoft as of a year and a half ago — and Meta, Google, and Amazon have also made big staffing cuts. Read more from Liz Rappaport: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

🟡 NEW: The FTC tells Cintas, which is seeking to buy its rival Unifirst in a $5 billion deal, that it will sue to block the transaction. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

The regulator has not voted on the decision, and a formal “last-rites” meeting has not yet been held, people familiar with the matter said, but FTC staff have privately expressed concerns over the companies’ combined market share. Read more from Rohan Goswami: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: FTC flexes its muscles on $5 billion uniform dealLegal threats run counter to the Trump administration’s hands-off merger approach.

Anthropic’s IPO needs believers to bridge it to the payoff, says Liz Hoffman. Read her full view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comView: Anthropic’s IPO needs believers to bridge it to the payoffThe company’s IPO filing shows a fast-growing startup that has burned little of its capital, and obligations it can’t meet without raising more cash.

Anthropic warns that already-high energy costs could rise further, slowing the AI buildout. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comAnthropic says energy difficulties could slow down the AI buildoutIn its IPO prospectus filed on Monday, the tech giant revealed it is on the hook for $400 billion in chip purchases and data center leases.

The balance of power in Ukraine’s energy war is shifting as Kyiv misses its chance for the upper hand, argues Tim McDonnell. Read his full view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Tim writes: Kyiv has failed to take some basic steps that would leave it better prepared this winter, a report from the research and advocacy group Ukraine Facility Platform concluded. Read more: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comView: Kyiv misses chances for upper hand in energy warSo far, this cycle of energy destruction and adaptation has served more to prolong the war than to push either side to the negotiating table.

Why Jeffries and other top Democrats are heading to red states www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Johnny Garcia asked Hakeem Jeffries to join him here in deep-red Texas to help flip a GOP seat. After the midterms, the House Democratic leader may need Garcia even more. Read more from Nicholas Wu: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comWhy Jeffries and other top Democrats are heading to red statesThe aspiring future speaker wants to neutralize the Republican redistricting maneuver — but he has subtler goals, too.

Read more of Nicholas's view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Even if Netanyahu loses Israel’s closely watched election, new leadership is unlikely to change much for Washington. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comIsraeli elections won’t change much for WashingtonEven if Benjamin Netanyahu loses, new leadership is unlikely to radically change Israel’s trajectory on issues important to the US.

The Trump administration is working with Venezuela to set up a path toward elections, following a blueprint that would see a new Supreme Court, or TSJ, put into place by the end of the year. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comTrump administration pushes for Venezuela electionsWhile the specific timeline remains unclear, the administration is pushing for it to happen while Donald Trump is still US president.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's victory in Brazil means more Trump tensions. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comLula victory in Brazil means more Trump tensionsFlávio Bolsonaro’s loss is a setback for President Donald Trump’s bid to elevate like-minded leaders across the globe.

A US-Canada trade deal isn't quite as 'close' as US officials portrayed. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Canada is also characterizing it differently: “Canada remains in constructive dialogue with our US counterparts on a range of priorities,” a spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told Semafor. Read more from Eleanor Mueller: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comUS-Canada trade deal not as ‘close’ as portrayedNational Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett had said Sunday that negotiators were “very close” to reaching an agreement.

Elon Musk is back at the center of everything, says Liz Hoffman. Read her full view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Liz writes: If Nvidia’s Jensen Huang is the business world’s Bugs Bunny, playing every position on the baseball field by himself, Elon Musk is its Forrest Gump, materializing at the center of events both strange and consequential. Read more: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comView: Elon Musk is back at the center of everythingThe billionaire has recently been materializing at the center of events both strange and consequential.

🟡 NEW: DoorDash is in exclusive talks to acquire Instacart www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

A deal is far from certain and the talks could fall apart, people familiar with the matter cautioned. It could not be determined what price was under discussion or how a deal would be structured. Read more from Rohan Goswami and Liz Hoffman: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: DoorDash in exclusive talks to acquire InstacartA combination would create a delivery giant.

AI fears are adding a 200-basis-point premium to SpaceX’s debt, argues Liz Hoffman. Read more of her full view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Liz writes: How does Wall Street quantify fear? Political boogeymen get names (Red Menace, death panels); financial ones get numbers. The VIX captures the market’s twitchiness, while credit-default spreads calculate the odds of a company going bust. Read more: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comView: AI fears add a 200-basis-point premium to SpaceX’s debtWhen SpaceX issued its first corporate bonds, it paid 6.65% for the most expensive piece. The most expensive slice of the $40 billion of private credit borrowing it’s finalized in recent days will…

Meta is issuing new stock for the first time since 2013, announcing a $95 billion offering to fund its AI buildout. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comMeta announces $95B offering to fund AIAbout $60 billion will come in the form of new, nonvoting shares that the company created last week.

Anthropic’s IPO filing reveals $81 billion in net losses in the first half of the year, more than $400 billion in future obligations, and the risks posed by founder control and the Trump administration. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Investors got a look for the first time at just how much money Anthropic is losing and how deeply entwined the frontier lab is with other players in the AI ecosystem. Read more from Liz Hoffman, Ashley Gold, and Rohan Goswami: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comFounder control, Trump risk, giant losses: Anthropic’s IPO filingThe frontier lab’s filing reveals $417 billion in future compute and infrastructure leases.

🟡 SCOOP: Times journalist’s children allegedly became billionaire memoirist’s focus www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

The Times story from September of 2025 titled "The Billionaire, the Psychedelics and the Best-Selling Memoir" turned Amy Griffin's success into a parable about class and America’s new ultrarich. Read more from Ben Smith: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: Times journalist’s children allegedly became billionaire memoirist’s focusDays after a New York Times investigation raised questions about Amy Griffin’s memoir The Tell, reporter Katherine Rosman received a worrying call.

Read more of Ben's view in the full article: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

A heated debate over how to define what qualifies as an ultra-processed food contributed to the resignation of Trump administration health adviser Calley Means ahead of the midterm elections. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comTrump administration weighs ultra-processed food definitionA heated debate over how to define what qualifies as ultra-processed food contributed to the resignation of Trump administration health adviser Calley Means.

The globally-minded tech news startup Rest of World is scrambling to find a new home — or faces the prospect of shutting down. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

The six-year-old digital publication has seen the social and web search traffic on which it depends evaporate. This sharp decline has prompted the organization’s founder and primary financial backer, Sophie Schmidt, to explore other options for its future. Read more from Max Tani:

semafor.comRest of World faces prospect of shutting downThe six-year-old digital publication has seen the social and web search traffic on which it depends evaporate.

Read more of Max's view: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

James Talarico and Ken Paxton are both attacking one another as outsiders more beholden to California than Texas in the closing days of their competitive Senate race. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: Paxton, Talarico accuse each other of being outsidersBoth Texas Senate candidates also acknowledged the impact of high prices on voters at their events over the weekend.

Democrats are trying to temper soaring expectations in the battle for the Senate, but they can’t help savoring Trump’s campaign stop in deep-red Mississippi, which some are calling “a full-out rescue mission.” www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: Democrats see Trump ‘rescue mission’ in MississippiBoth parties remain skeptical that Democrats can win Mississippi’s Senate race, but there are signs it’s competitive.

Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek is running a radically centrist campaign, calling for border security, criticizing his party for obstructing farm and data center legislation, and saying he has “no interest” in talking about impeachment. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

He even embraces a term that Democrats rarely use these days. “Politically, the term moderate can be pejorative. And I say that I’m proudly a moderate,” Turek told Semafor Read more from Burgess Everett: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comJosh Turek is running a radically centrist campaignThe Iowa Senate nominee, if he wins, could start reconstituting a red-state Democratic bloc that’s lost ground.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged this week before raising them again in December. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

The decision would represent a win for the Trump administration, whose allies have urged the central bank against hiking just days before the midterms. Read more from Eleanor Mueller: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comFederal Reserve expected to tap brakes on rate hikesThe decision would represent a win for the Trump administration, whose allies have urged the central bank against hiking just days before midterms.

Donald Trump’s wartime alliance with Benjamin Netanyahu is exposing a divide within his party that will outlast his presidency — over what “America First” really means for the US-Israel relationship. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Making peace between the GOP’s pro-Israel establishment and its restive right wing will pose an early challenge for JD Vance for a possible 2028 run. But any Republican looking for the nomination will have to sidestep the same sort of internal clashes over Israel that have bedeviled Democrats.

semafor.comRepublicans race to avoid a civil war over IsraelMaking peace between the GOP’s hawkish establishment and its restive right wing will pose an early challenge for Vice President JD Vance.

Betting operators and prediction markets have spent record amounts on campaign donations and lobbying, hoping it will help win back millions of bettors and gambling dollars that prediction markets have lured away. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Prediction market companies are fighting against several state attorneys general, who argue that the sites operate as illegal online gambling operations and should be shut down, limited to non-sports betting or regulated on a state-by-state basis instead of by the federal agency.

semafor.comBetting operators and prediction markets spent record amounts on campaign donations and lobbyingSports-betting and casino companies want to win back millions of bettors and gambling dollars that prediction markets have lured away.

🟡 NEW: Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign is launching a new TV ad with a unique approach: spotlighting conservative pundits’ praise for the progressive — and criticism of GOP nominee Mike Rogers. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: El-Sayed’s new ad pitch: Republicans love meThe Michigan progressive, locked in a close Senate race, is spotlighting the praise he’s gotten from conservative pundits.

🟡 NEW: House Democrats are making a play for a red seat in Kansas, but Republicans are competitive in a California seat — and both are releasing polling to back it up. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Democrat Don Coover is down by three points against incumbent Republican Rep. Derek Schmidt, within the 3.9% margin of error, according to Democratic polling conducted in mid-October and shared with Semafor. Read more from Nicholas Wu: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comExclusive: Dems make a Kansas play as GOP eyes a California seatDemocrat Don Coover is down by three points against incumbent Republican Rep. Derek Schmidt, within the 3.9% margin of error, according to Democratic polling conducted in mid-October and shared with…

Warhound, a new defense technology company, has launched with $200 million in seed funding from investors including Sequoia Capital to create dogs genetically engineered for military use. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

semafor.comWarhound raises $200 million to engineer military dogsThe company is a collab between defense tech firm Anduril and Colossal Biosciences, the biotech startup looking to bring back the woolly mammoth.

Joe Manchin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are making dueling closing arguments in Maine’s Senate race, campaigning for opposing candidates in the final stretch before Election Day. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

Read more of David's view in the full story: www.semafor.com/article/10/2...