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Oct 22, 2026

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Oct 22, 2026

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Oct 22, 2026

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Oct 22, 2026

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Oct 22, 2026

What is PHP and why did it spark a global cyber-security scramble?

AI uncovered long-hidden programming flaws, triggering a rare global cyber-security response.

Oct 21, 2026

The 'trillion pound' oil fund the government believes Britain could have built

Oct 21, 2026

The grads ditching the UK for a fresh start abroad

Oct 21, 2026

Tesla Profit Slumps as Elon Musk’s Car Company Considers Merging With SpaceX

Oct 21, 2026

Why is Elon Musk plotting a mega-merger of SpaceX and Tesla?

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Hang Seng Index dives amid AI and war concerns

Asian stocks struggled to stay above water in early trade on Thursday, as tech earnings optimism provided only fleeting support amid lingering concerns over artificial intelligence and uncertainty in the Gulf. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 138 points, or 0.58 percent, down at 23,513 before losses expanded. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index opened up 1 point, at 3,714. The Shenzhen Component Index opened down 14 points, or 0.12 percent at 11,690. The ChiNext Index fell 6 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,687. In the US market, Meta reported third-quarter revenue that beat expectations, while AI server maker Super Micro forecast quarterly revenue and profit margin that both topped estimates. However, Meta's plan to issue non-voting class C common stock drew renewed scrutiny on AI spending. "There's a lot of noise out there at the moment and investors are still digesting this morning's results," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. "Also, we're really only at the start of the meaty part of earnings season, which is coming at the same time that investors are tackling the uncertainty from an upcoming Fed decision, geopolitical risks, and US midterms." In a sign of subdued risk sentiment, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was down 4.2 basis points at 5.1065 percent while the yield on 30-year notes was at a one-week low of 5.3968 percent. Meanwhile, Brent crude rose 1.1 percent to US$110.03 a barrel, near a five-month high. The United States ordered diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi strikes, while the New York Times reported the US and Israeli militaries had developed specific plans for renewed attacks on Iran after the US midterm elections, which take place on November 3. In Tokyo, the Nikkei opened 82 points, or 0.13 percent, lower at 64,539 before chip-sector shares gave back the previous session's gains to set the 225 benchmark 680 points back at 63,941 at one stage before noon. In Seoul, the Kospi opened 65 points, or 1.14 percent, at 5,670 before, like the Nikkei, profit-taking pressure in the chip sector put the benchmark 123 points down at one stage before lunch. (Reuters & Xinhua) Edited by Edmond Fong

Oct 22, 2026

Websites go dark as AI exposes critical security flaws

Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites on Wednesday after two critical flaws came to light involving PHP, a programming language that is the basis for a large share of the internet. PHP sits underneath popular web design platforms, so the weaknesses potentially affect a vast range of websites, from online stores and news outlets to government services. Wiz, one of the security firms that found the flaws, estimated that PHP runs about 70 percent of the world's websites and said they rank "among the most severe vulnerabilities discovered in PHP, and arguably in software history." The US National Security Agency told organisations to patch immediately or pull vulnerable systems offline. Only sites that run PHP on their own servers are exposed. Many large platforms are built on other programming languages or use operators that could install the fix quickly and were able to stay online. The flaws "often provide a direct path to the server's file system or database," the NSA said in a statement on X. Attackers could use them to take over web servers without needing a password. Volker Dusch, a security engineer at the PHP Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal it was the most serious problem PHP had faced in more than a decade, comparing it to Heartbleed, a 2014 flaw that set off a worldwide rush to patch. The discovery came amid a surge in software security disclosures driven by increasingly powerful AI models, with the number of vulnerabilities found in 2026 on track to roughly double last year's record total. PHP programmers released a fix on Wednesday. "If you run PHP, it is imperative that you update now," the PHP Foundation, which funds developers working on the language, said in a blog post. Security firm Calif found the flaws in August using OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model, as part of an OpenAI-funded audit of PHP's code. Wiz, which is owned by Google, said it found them independently weeks later with help from AI models including Google's Gemini 4 Argon and GPT-5.6 Sol. OpenAI said on X that it considered the flaws "one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory," adding that the discovery "marks a new phase, where AI can find security bugs with internet-scale impact." The flaws had been reported privately to PHP's developers and kept confidential while a fix was prepared. Details leaked online on Tuesday, a day before the planned release of the fix, prompting the rush to take sites offline before hackers could exploit them. In France, local government websites, including one for the Paris police, were made inaccessible at the request of the French National Cybersecurity Agency, the interior ministry said. In the Netherlands, the national digital identity service DigiD, the website of the House of Representatives and the site of the national cybersecurity centre went offline as a precaution, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS. In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate said its own cyber.gov.au site was among government websites affected by the flaws, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC. The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, warned users they could see outages on its sites while it addressed the flaws, and said it had deliberately taken many of its supporting services offline until they could be safely patched. Several Pokemon apps, including Pokemon HOME, Pokemon Champions and Pokemon Sleep, also went offline on Wednesday for emergency maintenance, with Pokemon Sleep citing security measures, according to gaming news site Kotaku. The operator of the hit Japanese game Umamusume said it was carrying out maintenance to fix a PHP vulnerability found in its servers. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

Oct 22, 2026

Meta beats expectations but legal penalties hit profit

Meta beat investor expectations for third-quarter revenue on Wednesday as it doubles down on a global AI race but the social media giant's profits took a hit due to an US$18 billion legal settlement with nearly all US states. The company reported US$9.86 billion in profits from July to September, almost 50 percent below investor expectations, which Meta said was dragged down by a US$9.9 billion charge related to the settlement. Meta reported its earnings just hours after another financial penalty was announced related to a case in New Mexico. A judge ruled that Meta must pay US$25 billion to New Mexico after a jury found last month that the social media giant had deceived users in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. "We continue to monitor active legal and regulatory matters that could significantly impact our business and financial results," CFO Susan Li said on Wednesday afternoon during a call with analysts. Meta still faces "a number of youth-related trials scheduled in the coming months in the United States," Li continued. Meta shares jumped as high as 7 percent. The company has been spending aggressively to build out its AI capabilities, and investors are looking for signs that the investments are paying off. "We expect that the (profits and losses) of Reality Labs to improve from here... and trending towards profitability," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the call. Reality Labs is the company's hardware division which is developing devices like AI-powered glasses. In September, Meta unveiled several new AI wearables including an audio-only, camera-free version of its smart glasses, amid global concerns about privacy and the filming of women and girls without their consent. Its AI model known as Muse will be "the centrepiece of our vision" for wearables, Zuckerberg said in September at the company's annual Meta Connect conference. Smart glasses let wearers take photos, film videos, listen to music, make phone calls, translate text or interact with an AI assistant. During Connnect, Meta also announced the Muse Charm, a tamagotchi-like AI device that will allow users to interact with their Muse agent, a type of autonomous AI assistant, separately from a smartphone. "We're about to ship Muse Charm, which will have gone from concept to a hardware device in people's pockets in less than a year," Zuckerberg said on Wednesday. And 10 million people already use its Muse model in the US and Canada, the company said. But AI models consume large amounts of computing, which has sparked an industry-wide race to build out new data centres around the world. Meta said it spent US$35 billion on capital expenditures – which include buying property and equipment – in the September quarter, below investor expectations of US$41 billion. The company has spent over US$85 billion so far this year, it said in an investor document. In July the company had increased its spending estimate for the whole year to US$145 billion, up from US$130 billion, which is nearly double what it spent in 2025. Meta also announced that it would issue a new class of stock, though the new shares would not have voting rights, which will allow it to raise more money for its ambitious AI roadmap. It might also be leverage to encourage its founder and chief executive to stay in California. In a securities filing, Meta expressed concern that Zuckerberg's voting power "could drop to approximately 53 percent or lower" if he has to sell a significant portion of his shares to pay increased taxes. That is a possibility due to a controversial tax on billionaire wealth, Proposition 40, that could pass in California this November. Existing shareholders will be given one new Class C stock for every share they already own – meaning Zuckerberg will also gain new shares and could eventually sell them to pay the new tax without diluting his voting power. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

Oct 21, 2026

Tesla profits drop but top analyst estimates

Tesla reported a drop in third-quarter profits on Wednesday but topped analyst estimates as multi-billionaire Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker invested heavily in new technologies. Texas-based Tesla reported profits of US$787 million, down 42.7 percent from the year-ago period. Besides marginally lower car sales, Tesla saw a drop in revenues from regulatory credits and energy and storage, while spending on research and development jumped. Revenues were essentially flat at US$28 billion. "We continue to invest in the future through R&D and Capex spend across our businesses, including SI, robotics and energy," said Tesla, referring to the Trump administration's favoured term, "Super Intelligence" instead of artificial intelligence. "Much hard work lies ahead, but we are as optimistic as ever," the company added in the earnings release. The results follow Musk's disclosure on Tuesday that special committees of independent directors at both SpaceX and Tesla have been set up to discuss a merger of the two companies. Analysts had been cautious about Tesla's third-quarter financial performance heading into Wednesday's release. While third-quarter auto sales topped estimates due in part to an uptick in European markets amid high petrol prices, better sales have not always translated into a lift into Tesla's bottom line. Also impactful, capital spending more than doubled to US$4.7 billion. The company has also faced questions about the rollout of Tesla's robotaxi venture that has progressed much more slowly than hoped. Musk has repeatedly made overly rosy forecasts about self-driving technology, as in 2019 when predicted there would be more than a million robotaxis the following year. In Texas, where Tesla has focused its robotaxi launch, there are currently about 800 robotaxis, according to FSD Database. Tesla's release highlighted the September 3 launch of robotaxi services in Austin and said "cumulative unsupervised Robotaxi miles grew eightfold quarter over quarter." For much of this year, Tesla has also encountered scrutiny over a steep increase in annual capital spending to US$25 billion or more to fund ambitious programmes in artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving. But such issues have been upstaged by the prospects of a merger between the two Musk businesses, which have a combined equity value of more than US$3.5 trillion. "We think it's a matter of when, not if" the two companies combine, said CFRA Research equity analyst Garrett Nelson. "That's the whole issue," Nelson said of a potential mega-deal. "Tesla as we know it today may not exist in six to 12 months." On SpaceX's conference call on Tuesday night, Musk said the committees have not agreed on the terms of any deal and there is no guarantee they will. Musk said the two companies could gain from working together on AI software, chip design, robotics and space-based computing. Shares of Tesla rose 1.4 percent in after-hours trading. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

Oct 21, 2026

US stocks rise on AI-led earnings

The Nasdaq led Wall Street to a higher close on Wednesday after quarterly results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer improved investor appetite for artificial intelligence-related stocks while weakness in communication services stocks capped gains. SpaceX shares finished up 7.8 percent after Elon Musk's rocket and space technology firm posted its first profit as a public company. Musk said, following the report, that a merger of SpaceX and Tesla would be "a good idea," also boosting Tesla shares. Elsewhere in earnings, Super Micro shares jumped 9.6 percent and it was among the S&P 500's top gainers after the AI server maker forecast quarterly revenue and profit margin above Wall Street estimates, signalling that AI demand remained resilient. The report also benefited peers HPE, which rose 3.7 percent, and Dell, which rose 5.3 percent. The reports provided some reassurance to investors who have been worried about the sustainability of massive spending on AI buildouts and their profitability. The technology sector was hammered last week by a selloff in AI-linked stocks, with data centre operator CoreWeave at the centre of the storm. The SpaceX news "pushes back on some of the investor worries" about AI along with some help from Super Micro, according to Angelo Kourkafas, senior global strategist at Edward Jones. Kourkafas said the reports will not "answer all the questions investors have on returns on AI investments, but it's a good start." As a result, the S&P 500 Information Technology index finished up 1.6 percent, the biggest gainer among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors. "It's really a positive technology story for almost anyone that is somewhat involved in the artificial intelligence ecosystem," said Marc Dizard, chief investment officer at Huntington Bank. "The technology market reaction has been a reaffirmation that the artificial intelligence trade is still intact," he added. However, Dizard said sentiment can quickly shift around AI and that investors will seek reaffirmation when they monitor earnings reports from other companies. Shares in Meta rose 3 percent in late trading after it released its quarterly results following the regular session's close. After finishing up 3.4 percent in the regular session, Tesla shares rose another 1.6 percent following its report, which was also issued after the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 360 points, or 0.7 percent, to 52,856, the S&P 500 gained 44 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,757 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 278 points, or 1.1 percent, to 26,702. Gains in the benchmark S&P 500 were limited by a 1.3 percent decline in communication services stocks. The biggest losers included telecom operators such as AT&T, which sank 6.5 percent even as it beat third-quarter revenue and profit expectations. The SpaceX results, along with a recent wireless spectrum purchase, fanned fears that it could become a formidable competitor in telecoms, according to Dizard. T-Mobile US shares fell 2.5 percent and Verizon Communications lost 2.2 percent. Also in communications services, Netflix shares sank 5.3 percent after the video streaming company issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for its fourth-quarter profit. Google's parent Alphabet also declined 1.6 percent. (Reuters) Edited by Cecil Wong

Oct 21, 2026

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are dominating the AI stock boom. Here's their edge

Wall Street’s Big Three have generated $52 billion in equity trading revenue this year, capturing about 80% of the market on rising margin lending to hedge funds.

Oct 21, 2026

How The New York Times Reports on A.I. Images

A Times reporter and editors discuss the challenges of sifting through what’s real and what’s not in pursuit of the news.

Oct 21, 2026

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: SpaceX, Super Micro Computer, Netflix, Dell and more

These are the stocks posting the largest moves premarket.

Oct 21, 2026

HK, mainland stocks lose ground

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent to close at 23,651 on Wednesday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 1.08 percent to end at 7,943, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.26 percent to end at 3,994. Mainland stocks also closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.6 percent to 3,713 whereas the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.82 percent lower at 11,704. Turnover of stocks covered by these two indices totalled about 1.44 trillion yuan, down from 1.46 trillion yuan on the previous trading day. Pork as well as culture and media stocks led the gains, while batteries, energy metals and education shares were among the biggest decliners. Elsewhere, Tokyo and Seoul were boosted as chipmakers and other key players in the AI buildout boom chalked up healthy gains, following a torrid few weeks fuelled by concerns about profitability and debt financing. The Nikkei finished about 1 percent higher while the Kospi gained more than 3 percent. (Xinhua/AFP) Edited by Edmond Fong

Oct 21, 2026