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Sam Altman's business dealings are coming under Republican scrutiny, Jensen Huang's CEO pay fell to $36M, Goldman's Japan revenue hits a 15-year high, SpaceX is eyeing global spaceports, and inflation surged to the highest in three years on spiking oil prices.

Do consumers really want AI in finance? Plaid conducted a mega survey to find out. Read their findings here.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 5/12/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks slid from ATHs on hotter-than-expected inflation data 

  • EM stocks and FX fell by the most since March

  • UK long-term yields are surging amid mounting political pressure on PM Keir Starmer

    • 30Y yield climbed to 5.81% to its highest since 1998

    • 10Y yield rose 13 bps to 5.13% to the highest since 2008

  • Copper jumped above $14k/ton near a record high on a rebound in China demand

Earnings

  • JD.com beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on smaller losses from its recent entry into China's highly competitive food-delivery market (WSJ)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Cisco, Alibaba

    • Thursday: Brookfield, Klarna, Figma

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Sam Altman testified in the Musk v. Altman trial yesterday. The jury heard some strong evidence against Musk for the first time in a while

  • Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

  • Trump and billionaires head to China (CNBC)

  • Sam Altman testified in the Musk v. Altman trial (CNBC)

  • Sam Altman's business dealings come under Republican scrutiny (WSJ)

  • US CPI rose 3.8% YoY to the highest in three years (CNBC)

  • US power prices climb 60% faster than inflation as demand surges (BBG)

  • Central banks' use of PBOC yuan swap lines hit a two-year high (BBG)

  • Private credit funds slash loan values as borrower stress rises (RT)

  • Blue Owl retail fundraising evaporates amid private credit concerns (FT)

  • Junk-rated firms rush to reprice risky debt as demand surges (BBG)

  • Hedge fund buying of Asia stocks hit a 10-year high (RT)

  • Hedge funds bet on biofuels to profit from Iran oil price shock (FT)

  • Slate of firms look to ignite Saudi IPO revival (BBG)

  • Goldman's Japan revenue hits 15-year high as foreign banks shine (BBG)

  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's pay package fell by 27% to $36M (BBG)

  • Delivery Hero CEO's will resign amid activist pressure (BBG)

  • SpaceX eyes global spaceports as launch ambitions grow (RT)

  • OpenAI and Microsoft agree to cap revenue sharing at $38B (TI)

  • Meta employees are protesting against mouse tracking tech (RT)

  • China EV exports now outnumber gas car exports (WSJ)

  • 1MDB mastermind Jho Low is seeking a Trump pardon (WSJ)

  • AP and Swatch released first look of new $400 Royal Pop collaboration (ES)

A Message from Plaid

Do customers actually want AI in Finance?

You could spend weeks surveying 2,000+ consumers across the country…OR you could just read what Plaid already found. 

Their latest State of Intelligent Finance report breaks down how people are using AI for money and what they expect next. 

Here's the reality: 

  • 55% of consumers used AI for financial tasks in the past year

  • 86% of those users say it helps them better understand their money

  • 1 in 2 believe managing finances without AI will soon feel outdated

If you're building, marketing, or investing in fintech; this report is basically a cheat code for what's around the bend. 

Find out what customers expect → Where AI is delivering value → How to fill in the gaps 

Download the State of Intelligent Finance here

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • eBay rejected GameStop's $56B half cash, half stock takeover offer as 'neither credible nor attractive'

  • Pharma giant Bristol-Myers signed a collaboration and licensing deal with China's Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals worth $15.2B

  • Spirits giant Brown-Forman rejected a $15B bid from peer Sazerac, weeks after talks with France's Pernod Ricard fell through

  • European PE firm EQT made a fourth and final improved offer for UK product testing firm Intertek for $12.8B, this time with support from activist shareholders Harris Associates, Palliser Capital, and Lost Coast Collective

  • Infrastructure investor Stonepeak will acquire the $10B truck and trailer financing platform of Bank of Montreal 

  • European PE firm EQT is preparing to make a potential $10B binding bid for Volkswagen's heavy diesel engine unit Everllence with backing from SWF QIA and Porsche

  • Dubai Holding, the family office of Dubai's ruler, acquired a 22.3% stake in Emaar Properties from the Investment Corporation of Dubai for $6.5B to boost its stake to 29.7% 

  • Bain Capital and SoftBank unit LYC submitted a joint offer for $3.7B-listed Japanese price comparison website Kakaku.com to counter EQT's offer

  • Activist hedge fund Trian Partners is seeking investor backing for a potential LBO of $1.5B-listed fast-food chain Wendy's

  • German industrial conglomerate Siemens is exploring an acquisition of Mer Mec, an Italian maker of signaling and communications equipment for trains, for over $1.2B

  • Providence Equity Partners is exploring an acquisition of $1.1B UK-listed telecom Gamma Communications

  • French state-owned utility Electricite de France is looking to sell its renewable energy assets in China for over $500M 

  • European growth investor Verdane will acquire a 50% stake in Norwegian state-owned telecom Telenor's IoT venture Telenor Connexion at an $810M valuation

  • Lionel Messi's REIT Edificio Rostower Socimi acquired shuttered Via Wagner shopping center in Barcelona from investment fund Santomera Bay for $13.5M

  • Brazilian steelmaker CSN received non-binding offers for its cement unit

  • Ex-Eaton Vance CEO Thomas Faust took a majority stake in mutual fund rescuer ReFlow Services

VC

  • Anthropic is in early talks to raise $30B at an over $900B pre-money valuation

  • Isomorphic Labs, an AI drug discovery startup spun out from a Google DeepMind, raised $2.1B in new funding led by Thrive Capital

  • Paymentology, a UK cloud-native issuer-processing platform for banks and fintechs, raised a $175M investment co-led by Apis Partners and Aspirity Partners

  • Forus, an AI-powered healthcare network, raised $160M in funding from Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, and Accel

  • Exaforce, an AI cybersecurity startup, raised a $125M Series B at a $725M valuation from HarbourVest, Peak XV, Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, and Seligman Ventures

  • Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm, raised a $120M funding round led by One Peak

  • Havoc, an all-domain collaborative autonomy company, raised a $100M Series A from CCM Capital Markets, Clear Street, Vanderbilt University, and others

  • Star Catcher, a company building the first power grid in space, raised a $65M Series A led by B Capital, Shield Capital, and Cerberus Ventures

  • Vapi, an AI voice startup, raised a $50M Series B at a $500M post-money valuation led by Peak XV Partners

  • Webidoo, an AI OS provider for SMBs, raised $25M led by IXC3

  • Greenboard, an AI financial compliance platform, raised a $15.5M Series A led by Base10 Partners 

  • HrdWyr, an edge AI semiconductor startup, raised a $13M Series A led by Ideaspring Capital

  • Casimir, a quantum vacuum energy chip startup, raised a $12M seed round funded by Texas Fund II

  • Exponent Financial, an integrated capital and AI-powered accounting platform for multi-unit franchisees, raised a $40M Series A anchored by Chailease International Leasing

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • $16B-listed money transfer fintech Wise became latest to shift listing from London to US

  • Utility giant American Electric Power is seeking to raise $2.6B in a share sale at a 4% discount amid booming AI demand

  • Japanese industrial electronics maker Hitachi is looking to offload 8% of Hitachi Construction Machinery shares worth $640M in block trades

  • KKR-backed emergency medical services firm GMR Solutions is seeking to raise $480M at a $3.3B valuation in a downsized IPO

  • Sunshine Silver Mining filed for a $400M IPO to restart an Idaho mine

  • German airline Lufthansa will exercise an option to lift its stake in ​Italy's ITA Airways from 41% to 90% via a $380M share purchase 

  • Quadria Capital-backed Indian diapers maker Nobel Hygiene is seeking to raise $300M in an India IPO

  • Robinhood is preparing a second IPO of its second VC fund for retail investors 

Debt

  • Software firm ServiceNow received $38B in orders for a $4B bond sale, its first since Covid

  • Amazon raised $3.6B in a debut Swiss franc bond sale

  • Italian lender UniCredit is arranging SRTs tied to over $3.5B of corporate loans for Spanish lenders CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell and a similar deal at its German unit

  • Japanese metals refiner JX Advanced Metals plans to sell $1.6B of convertible bonds to fund buybacks

  • Taiwan brokerage giants Yuanta Securities and Fubon Securities are seeking a combined $1B in loans to expand business

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Lenders sued telecoms provider CommScope for breaching a debt agreement by failing to pay a prescribed premium of $150M following a $10.5B sale of its broadband connectivity and cable unit to Amphenol

Funds / Secondaries

  • Blackstone is preparing to raise ~$10B for its third Blackstone Core Private Equity Fund to hold assets for longer than usual

  • Early-stage VC A* raised $450M for its third fund 

  • Private markets firm Pantheon's UK-listed PE FOF Pantheon International sold 10% of its PE portfolio for $300M to fund more share buybacks

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • JPMorgan will launch a tokenized money-market fund on Ethereum

  • UAE will allow residents to pay Dubai government fees using crypto

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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