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Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple will soon allow iPhone users to put credit card rewards from Apple Card and additional funds from separate bank accounts into an interest-bearing savings account.

In a press release on Thursday, Apple said the feature is expected to launch in the “coming months,” and the FDIC-insured account will be administered by Goldman Sachs, the bank and lender behind the Apple Card. Apple said it isn’t announcing an annual yield yet as interest rates are moving rapidly.

Apple is expanding its consumer financial services offerings as it seeks to broaden the use of iPhones with banking and simple payment and credit features. The company operates a payments network with Apple Pay and offers a credit card. It has plans to allow people to use iPhones as point-of-sale devices and to offer buy-now-pay-later lending later this year.

Goldman Sachs, long known as a premier Wall Street investment bank, is also bolstering its consumer business, partially through partnerships with Apple. Earlier this year, Apple announced a buy-now-pay-later product that used some Goldman infrastructure, but Apple said it planned to handle its own credit decisions and extend loans.

By jumping into interest-bearing accounts, Apple is capitalizing on rising rates as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down soaring inflation. Many traditional brick-and-mortar banks haven’t raised interest rates on savings accounts even as rates broadly are going up. The national average interest rate for a savings account is only 0.16%, according to a Bankrate survey.

Apple representatives said the savings account would offer an interest rate that’s competitive with the best rates available and will be the same for all users.

Goldman Sachs already offers savings accounts through its Marcus brand that have a 2.15% annual percentage yield.

Apple said it won’t require accounts to have minimum balances and it won’t charge fees. Users can automatically deposit the Apple Card rewards, called Apple Cash, into the account.

Within the Wallet app, users will be able to access a dashboard showing account balance and interest accrued. Apple said the feature would first start to roll out for beta testers through a future iOS release.

WATCH: Goldman Sachs is approving subprime credit scores for Apple Cards

Goldman Sachs is approving subprime credit scores for Apple Cards

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Apple’s China iPhone sales grows for the first time in two years

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Apple's China iPhone sales grows for the first time in two years

People stand in front of an Apple store in Beijing, China, on April 9, 2025.

Tingshu Wang | Reuters

Apple iPhone sales in China rose in the second quarter of the year for the first time in two years, Counterpoint Research said, as the tech giant looks to turnaround its business in one of its most critical markets.

Sales of iPhones in China jumped 8% year-on-year in the three months to the end of June, according to Counterpoint Research. It’s the first time Apple has recorded growth in China since the second quarter of 2023.

Apple’s performance was boosted by promotions in May as Chinese e-commerce firms discounted Apple’s iPhone 16 models, its latest devices, Counterpoint said. The tech giant also increased trade-in prices for some iPhone.

“Apple’s adjustment of iPhone prices in May was well timed and well received, coming a week ahead of the 618 shopping festival,” Ethan Qi, associate director at Counterpoint said in a press release. The 618 shopping festival happens in China every June and e-commerce retailers offer heavy discounts.

Apple’s return to growth in China will be welcomed by investors who have seen the company’s stock fall around 15% this year as it faces a number of headwinds.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Apple with tariffs and urged CEO Tim Cook to manufacture iPhones in America, a move experts have said would be near-impossible. China has also been a headache for Apple since Huawei, whose smartphone business was crippled by U.S. sanctions, made a comeback in late 2023 with the release of a new phone containing a more advanced chip that many had thought would be difficult for China to produce.

Since then, Huawei has aggressively launched devices in China and has even begun dipping its toe back into international markets. The Chinese tech giant has found success eating away at some of Apple’s market share in China.

Huawei’s sales rose 12% year-on-year in the second-quarter, according to Counterpoint. The firm was the biggest player in China by market share in the second quarter, followed by Vivo and then Apple in third place.

“Huawei is still riding high on core user loyalty as they replace their old phones for new Huawei releases,” Counterpoint Senior Analyst Ivan Lam said.

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Like Google, China’s biggest search player Baidu is beefing up its product with AI to fight rivals

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Like Google, China's biggest search player Baidu is beefing up its product with AI to fight rivals

Pictured here is the Ernie bot mobile interface, with the Baidu search engine home page in the background.

Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Chinese tech giant Baidu has bolstered its core search platform with artificial intelligence in the biggest overhaul of the product in 10 years.

Analysts told CNBC the move was a bid to keep ahead of fast-moving rivals like DeepSeek, rather than traditional search players.

“There has been some small pressure on the search business but the focus on AI and Ernie Bot is a key move ahead,” Dan Ives, global head of tech research at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC by email. Ernie Bot is Baidu’s AI chatbot.

“Baidu is not waiting around to watch the paint dry, full steam ahead on AI,” he added.

Baidu AI overhaul

Baidu is China’s biggest search engine, but — as is also being seen by Google — the search market is being disrupted.

Users are flocking instead to AI services such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek, which shocked the world this year with its advanced model it claimed was created at a fraction of the cost of rivals.

But Kai Wang, Asia equity market strategist at Morningstar, also noted that short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also getting into AI search and piling pressure on Baidu.

To counter this, Baidu made some major changes to its core search product:

  • Users can now enter more than a thousand characters in the search box, versus 28 previously;
  • Questions can be asked in a more direct and conversational manner, mirroring how people now use chatbots;
  • Users can ask questions through voice but also prompt the seach engine with pictures and files;
  • Baidu has integrated its AI chatbot features, which enable users to generate photos, text and videos, into the product.

“This is more aligned with how people use ChatGPT and DeepSeek in terms of how they look for answers,” Wang said.

Outside of China, Google has also been looking to enhance its core search product with AI, highlighting how search has been under pressure from the burgeoning technology.

Baidu on the offense

Baidu was one of China’s first movers when it came to AI, releasing its first models and ChatGPT-style product Ernie Bot to the public in 2023. Since then, it has aggressively launched updated AI models.

However, the Beijing-headquartered company has also faced intense competition from fellow tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent, as well as upstarts such as DeepSeek.

These companies have also been launching new models and infusing AI into their products and Baidu’s stock has fallen behind as a result. Baidu shares have risen around 2.5% this year, versus a 30.5% surge for Alibaba and a 20% rise for Tencent.

“This is a defensive and offensive move … Baidu needs to be aggressive and perception-wise show they are not the little brother to Tencent on the AI front,” Wedbush Securities’ Ives added.

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AI voice startup ElevenLabs pushes global expansion as it gears up for an IPO

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AI voice startup ElevenLabs pushes global expansion as it gears up for an IPO

Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs is an AI voice generation startup based in London. It competes with the likes of Speechmatics and Hume AI.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

LONDON — ElevenLabs, a London-based startup that specializes in generating synthetic voices through artificial intelligence, has revealed plans to be IPO-ready within five years.

The company told CNBC it is targeting major global expansion as it prepares for an initial public offering.

“We expect to build more hubs in Europe, Asia and South America, and just keep scaling,” Mati Staniszewski, ElevenLabs’ CEO and co-founder, told CNBC in an interview at the firm’s London office.

He identified Paris, Singapore, Brazil and Mexico as potential new locations. London is currently ElevenLabs’ biggest office, followed by New York, Warsaw, San Francisco, Japan, India and Bangalore.

Staniszewski said the eventual aim is to get the company ready for an IPO in the next five years.

“From a commercial standpoint, we would like to be ready for an IPO in that time,” he said. “If the market is right, we would like to create a public company … that’s going to be here for the next generation.”

Undecided on location

Fundraising plans

ElevenLabs was valued at $3.3 billion following a recent $180 million funding round. The company is backed by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and ICONIQ Growth, as well as corporate names like Salesforce and Deutsche Telekom.

Staniszewski said his startup was open to raising more money from VCs, but it would depend on whether it sees a valid business need, like scaling further in other markets. “The way we try to raise is very much like, if there’s a bet we want to take, to accelerate that bet [we will] take the money,” he said.

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