China on Thursday concluded its “Fourth Plenum,” a meeting aimed at setting out the country’s development agenda for the next five years. Beijing will focus on domestic consumption, self-reliance in technology as well as the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

In the U.S. economy and markets — generally considered the exemplar of free-market capitalism — the government’s fingerprints have started becoming visible, if you squint a little.

For instance, Intel reported third-quarter revenue that surpassed analysts’ expectations, helping the stock jump 7.7% in extended trading. Intel said demand for its processors appears to be recovering.

But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, that is, the U.S. government’s 10% stake in the company, acquired in August. The company’s stock has seen a massive surge since that acquisition, with President Donald Trump saying the government has made $30 billion to $40 billion on its stake. The transaction, however, complicates Intel’s accounting practices for its income, the company suggested in a press release.

Trump, meanwhile, pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the White House said Thursday. Zhao was convicted in April 2024 for enabling money laundering at Binance.

When asked why Trump pardoned Zhao, the president said, “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything. And so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the Trump family’s crypto venture has been helped by “a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance.”

Trump’s proclivity for acquiring stakes in U.S. companies and his other dealings raise the question: are we seeing a four-year U.S. economic plan — with a twist — unfold?

Intel beats revenue expectations. Third-quarter sales came in at $13.65 billion, higher than the $13.14 billion from an LSEG consensus estimate. Intel added that demand for its chips outstripped supply.

Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. The move came two months after The Wall Street Journal reported on the Trump family’s crypto venture, which appeared to have links with a trading platform “administered by Binance.”

China to encourage consumption over the next five years. Top government leaders emphasized the need to “vigorously boost consumption” in the domestic economy, a readout of China’s “Fourth Plenum” meeting said, according to a CNBC translation.

The S&P 500 claws back losses. The index rose 0.58% on Thursday, recovering from Wednesday’s fall. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.37%, with shares of Kering popping 8.7% after the luxury conglomerate beat revenue expectations.

[PRO] Time to consider dividend stocks, CIO says. As interest rates come down, in accordance with market expectations, such stocks should get a boost, according to Kevin Simpson, founder and chief investment officer at Capital Wealth Planning.

Stony silence from Moscow after Trump turns on Russia, says talks with Putin ‘don’t go anywhere’

Just days after a “very productive” phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Trump changed tack on Wednesday, voicing his frustration with Moscow. “We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just, it didn’t feel right to meet,” he said Wednesday.

Trump’s comments on Putin were not highlighted by pro-Kremlin state media outlets such as TASS, Radio Sputnik and RIA Novosti on Thursday, with barely a mention of the criticism or the canceled meeting.

— Holly Ellyatt

Chip equipment manufacturer Applied Materials is laying off 4% of its workforce.

The company on Thursday began notifying impacted employees around the world “across all levels and groups,” it said in a filing. Applied Materials provides equipment, services and software to industries, including the semiconductor industry.

Applied Materials had approximately 36,100 full-time employees, according to an August 2025 filing. A layoff of 4% would represent about 1,444 employees.

“Automation, digitalization and geographic shifts are redefining our workforce needs and skill requirements,” the company wrote in the filing. “With this in mind, we have been focused for some time on building high-velocity, high-productivity teams, adopting new technologies and simplifying organizational structures.”

The move comes at the end of the company’s fiscal year. Earlier this month, the Applied Materials forecasted a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue after the U.S. expanded its restricted export list. That resulted in company shares to dipping 3% in extended trading.

As a result of the workforce reduction, Applied Materials expects to incur charges of approximately $160 million to $180 million, consisting primarily of severance and other one-time employment termination benefits to be paid in cash, the filing states.

The company said the cuts are a way to position itself “as a more competitive and productive organization.”

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said the software giant won’t build artificial intelligence services that provide “simulated erotica,” distancing itself from longtime partner OpenAI.

“That’s just not a service we’re going to provide,” Suleyman said on Thursday at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California. “Other companies will build that.”

Suleyman’s comments come a week after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company plans to allow verified adults to use ChatGPT for erotica. Altman said that OpenAI is “not the elected moral police of the world.”

Microsoft has for years been a major investor and cloud partner to OpenAI, and the two companies have used their respective strengths to build big AI businesses. But the relationship has shown signs of tension of late, with OpenAI partnering with Microsoft rivals like Google and Oracle, and Microsoft focusing more on its own AI services.

Earlier on Thursday, Microsoft announced a series of new features for its Copilot AI chatbot, including an AI companion called Mico that can respond to users through a call feature and express itself by changing its color.

Suleyman in August penned an essay titled “We must build AI for people; not to be a person.” He argued that tech companies should not build “seemingly conscious” services that can give humans the impression that they may be capable of suffering, and wrote that conscious AIs could create another “axis of division” for humanity.

On Thursday, Suleyman said the creation of seemingly conscious AI is already happening, primarily with erotica-focused services. He referenced Altman’s comments as well as Elon Musk’s Grok, which in July launched its own companion features, including a female anime character.

“You can already see it with some of these avatars and people leaning into the kind of sexbot erotica direction,” Suleyman said. “This is very dangerous, and I think we should be making conscious decisions to avoid those kinds of things.”

OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, while xAI responded saying, “Legacy Media Lies.”

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