Business & Economy News: 31 October 2026

OpenAI is seeking up to $20 billion in a new funding round, down from an earlier target of up to $30 billion, with the round still open and figures subject to change. The Financial Times reported a $1.25 trillion post-money valuation and a Friday investor deadline, while United Arab Emirates investors and Coatue are leading. The cut followed a week of AI stock weakness and below-estimate capital spending from Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.

A federal judge in Mississippi let an NAACP lawsuit proceed against SpaceX's AI division, rejecting arguments that its gas turbines were mobile sources exempt from air permits. The suit alleges SpaceXAI and a subsidiary operated 27 gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, without permits to power AI data centers, violating the Clean Air Act. The ruling came two weeks after the same court rejected a Justice Department request to end the case.

Binance said Saturday it has covered up to 90% of roughly $6.3 billion stolen in a record crypto theft announced Thursday, and plans to resume withdrawals by Sunday, subject to security checks. It said all top 10 tokens are fully backed 100%, while the remaining 10% involves less liquid tokens outside that group. TRM Labs pointed to North Korean hackers as potential culprits.

Oxfam's retail profit fell 23% to £4.9m in the last financial year, while the British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 stores after a £3.3m loss. The charities face pressure from online secondhand platforms such as Vinted and Depop, even as UK spending on secondhand clothing has quadrupled over the past decade to £8.8bn a year.

Oxfam's filings show only £6 of every £100 spent in its shops now goes to its poverty work, down from £22 in 2022.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges said its management committee recommended an orderly wind down after more than 90 years in business, with partners expected to vote in the coming days. The firm, a top 20 U.S. law firm, reportedly had over $2 billion in revenue in 2025 and employs roughly 1,200 lawyers plus staff. Reuters reported 90 days of pay, and a recruiter urged staff to start job searches immediately.

Cryptocurrency tied organizations have contributed more than $200 million to federal races this cycle, outpacing online betting and data center development groups. Fairshake and affiliated super PACs support 33 House candidates, with a baseline $1 million for six incumbents, including digital assets subcommittee chair Bryan Steil. Coinbase donated $25 million to Fairshake's midterm efforts after giving $79 million to federal races in 2024.

An Environmental Defense Fund analysis found that 90 of 184 operating US coal plants connected to the grid received support from the Trump administration. The administration gave $950m in taxpayer dollars to 24 plants and Clean Air Act exemptions from toxic pollution limits to 70 plants, and used requirements to keep plants online past retirement dates. EDF says the measures extend coal's life and raise electricity costs and pollution.

Trump said in September 2024 that his plan would cut energy prices in half or more within 12 months and put gasoline below $2 a gallon. Gas prices stood at a national average of $4.20 a gallon, nearly 40% above the same period last year, while diesel rose about 70% over the past year to $6.32. Gas and diesel prices are forecast to be the highest ever on an election day after the Iran attack, Houthi attacks and Ukrainian refinery strikes.

A Thursday security incident at Binance affected about $6.3 billion in client assets, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. Earlier, Polymarket halted trading on its international exchange after a third-party data provider hack drained at least $2.7 million from user wallets. Both companies said they would make affected investors whole, while experts said more incidents are likely as AI hacking grows.

Berkshire Hathaway shares set record closes in October, with Class A ending the week at $815,600 and Class B at $548.56 on Monday. The stock closed the month up 8.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq dropped 5.3%. Alphabet, a major Berkshire holding, fell almost 13% Thursday after reporting negative free cash flow of $9.1 billion, raising concerns about AI infrastructure costs.

Twenty-two super PACs registered in the final 10 weeks before the 2026 midterm elections have each spent at least $1 million on congressional races, reporting roughly $637 million in independent expenditures by Oct. 29. That is about one-sixth of all independent spending reported in House and Senate races this cycle. New PACs can form after a key donor-disclosure deadline, so voters may not learn who funded them until after Election Day.

Ford and Rivian are leaning into 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, to make vehicle parts, accessories, tools and testing units. Rivian has spent more than $5 million on machines and says materials cost about $1.7 million a year, with machines typically paying for themselves within a year. The company says the technology can lower supplier tooling costs, streamline logistics and cut production times from weeks to days or hours.

Anthropic disclosed a first-half net loss of $80 billion and hundreds of billions of dollars in compute commitments in its IPO prospectus, with more than 90 pages of risk factors. The filing followed Microsoft, Google and Amazon reports of capex figures or forecasts below analyst estimates, raising doubts about the AI buildout. Investors are still waiting for Anthropic's third-quarter results as the Nasdaq logged a three-week losing streak.

CATL, the world's largest battery maker, is expanding into battery swapping and energy storage as price wars pressure profitability. It announced four battery-swapping partnerships this month, including with Dongfeng Motor and Huawei's Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology, and set up a 5 billion yuan energy-storage subsidiary. The company also announced a 3 gigawatt-hour sodium-ion battery project with Germany's Intilion.

Chancellor John Healey added two percentage points to income tax rates on savings and property income, making them 24%, 44% and 49% for basic, higher and additional-rate taxpayers from 6 April. He also kept the cash ISA limit at £20,000 instead of cutting it to £12,000 for under-65s. Advisers say the higher tax will make it harder for savers to beat inflation, though allowances can protect some interest.

Avanti West Coast paid more than £20m in delay repay refunds during the summer, including £9.3m in the four weeks to 25 July and £12.2m in the following eight weeks. The operator has paid more than £50m in 2025-26 and is expected to pay more than £70m this financial year. DfT figures show total passenger delay compensation across the railway rose to £150m in 2024-25, up 8%.

Fitch kept France's A+ debt rating but cut its outlook to negative, citing weaker growth, higher borrowing costs and a larger deficit. Insee said GDP fell 0.1% in the third quarter after stagnating in the second and shrinking in the first. Finance minister Roland Lescure called for a responsible 2027 budget to cut the deficit to 5%, though adoption in parliament looks uncertain.

Fitch kept France's A+ rating but cut its outlook to negative, citing weaker growth, higher borrowing costs, a larger deficit, political fragmentation and a difficult social climate. Insee said GDP fell 0.1% in the third quarter after stagnating in the second and shrinking 0.2% in the first. Finance minister Roland Lescure said France needs a responsible 2027 budget to cut the deficit to 5%, though adoption in parliament looks uncertain.

Coutts says eight in 10 properties in London's most exclusive neighbourhoods, including Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, now sell below asking price. Prime central London prices fell 5% in the third quarter of 2026, with sales averaging a 10% discount to asking. Knightsbridge and Belgravia are 30.8% and 26.9% below their peaks, while new listings fell 14% from the previous quarter.

Shell, BP, TotalEnergies and Exxon reported higher refined product margins, while Chevron's downstream earnings more than quadrupled to $4.9 billion. Tight fuel supplies reflected Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries, Iran war disruptions, Houthi attacks and refinery closures in Europe and North America. Analysts say stockpile releases and a U.S. Russia deal may have limited impact unless supply rises, demand weakens or tensions ease.

Eurostat says EU house prices rose 69% on average from 2015 to the second quarter of 2026, while rents and energy costs kept climbing. Greece recorded the highest housing cost overburden rate in 2025 at 26.4%, more than three times the 7.7% EU average. Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway also recorded rates above the EU average.

Chen Yunji, a co founder of Cambricon Technologies, urged universal ethical requirements for leading Chinese and American AI models at the World Laureates Forum in Shanghai. He proposed an ethics checker for models from DeepSeek, ByteDance and OpenAI to reduce cyber risks. CrowdStrike said an unidentified group used an open source DeepSeek model and another unidentified model in attacks on more than 200 organisations since October 17.

The MV Odyssey, a four year residential cruise sold as an escape from Donald Trump, ended in Cambodia after an oil shock caused by his war. Passengers were given seven hours to leave the ship. The vessel, owned by Villa Vie Residences, had set sail from Belfast in October 2024 and offered a presidential term package for $319,998.

In Hong Kong, buyers avoid homes linked to unnatural deaths, with prices potentially falling by as much as 50% and rents typically about 20% below market rates. Agents say such homes can receive low valuations, making mortgages harder to secure. In parts of France, buyers may accept homes sold under a vente en viager arrangement at discounts of up to 80%, with the seller receiving an upfront payment and monthly annuity.