Elon Musk publicly backed the merger of SpaceX and Tesla, prompting shareholders to question the fairness of the merger.

Affected by strong risk aversion, the Nikkei 225 index fell 2.65% to close at 62907.84 points, marking its lowest closing level since July 30. Analysts at InTouch Capital Markets stated: "Investors are beginning to question whether the performance of the latest round of artificial intelligence (AI) corporate earnings is sufficient to support current elevated valuations, as well as the rationale for companies' continued large-scale investments in computing infrastructure." The analysts added, "Resurgent geopolitical concerns have further exacerbated pressure on the market environment, which is sensitive to economic growth." (Source: Jinshi)

Beating AI Express News: Independent evaluation firm Artificial Analysis tested DeepSeek’s newly launched search API, including it in a comparison of 27 search products, giving it an overall score of 69 and ranking 17th. The top two products, Exa and Perplexity, both scored 80 points. However, DeepSeek charges just $0.75 per 1,000 successful searches, making it the cheapest among all paid search APIs tested. The evaluation uniformly used GPT-5.6 Luna to call different search APIs to complete fact-based Q&A, in-depth research, and multi-round web searches. After integrating DeepSeek, the overall score rose from 33 points (when offline) to 69 points. DeepSeek performed well in direct fact-finding with an accuracy rate of 70%, just 3 percentage points behind the top-ranked product. But for complex problems requiring repeated searches and clue stitching, its accuracy rate was only 63%, ranking third from the bottom among the 27 products. Additionally, it returns an average of about 7,000 tokens per search. While this provides rich information, it increases the model’s cost of reading and processing materials. The average cost to complete one evaluation task is approximately $0.032, of which search fees account for only $0.0085, while model call fees reach $0.023, making up about 73% of the total cost—the second-highest model cost on the list. Even so, DeepSeek’s total cost per task is still the 5th cheapest. It has pushed search request prices to the lowest level, but lengthy search results have eroded part of its cost advantage.

Beating AI News — Walmart plans to roll out its Agent Profiles feature within the next month, allowing AI agents to shop on behalf of users. The retail giant clarified that these AI agents will not access users’ bank card details or modify payment methods. Users can set their own spending limits, track the AI agents’ shopping history, and revoke access at any time. The feature aims to let AI agents execute shopping tasks while retaining users’ control over payment security and spending behavior.

According to Bitget market data, South Korea’s KOSPI index closed down 201.9 points, or 3.52%, to 5533.76 points. SK Hynix fell 5.48%, and Samsung Electronics dropped 4.02%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 1713.40 points, or 2.65%, to 62907.84 points.

Beating AI News: Corgi, the AI insurance firm that previously gained fame in Silicon Valley via its "Corgi Girls" beauty marketing, is trying another approach to attract customers: opening cafes. This summer, the company announced plans to open 100 all-day cafes in San Francisco within six months, offering entrepreneurs office and social spaces, attracting potential clients through gatherings, events, and networking, then selling them corporate insurance. But the expansion quickly hit trouble. Corgi had 16 leases near finalization, but suddenly paused progress, then laid off its expansion director and some team members. Three other already signed San Francisco locations also failed to open for an extended period. Despite this, the company remains committed to its goal of opening 100 cafes. Its actual operations have also been far from smooth. Corgi’s second San Francisco outlet opened in September, but was ordered to close just 13 days later due to a lack of valid health permits. The San Francisco Chronicle later confirmed that the store’s building renovation procedures were also incomplete. Nearby residents filed an appeal, accusing it of being an "office disguised as a cafe", further complicating its reopening. What’s harder than opening stores is turning buzz into business. The San Francisco Standard interviewed three attendees of the outlet’s opening event, and found none had a need for insurance, with one even unaware that Corgi was an insurance company. Though the sample size is limited, it exposes the limitations and awkwardness of this marketing model.

Goldman Sachs report shows that the global average crude oil transportation cost has risen from roughly $3 per barrel a year ago to over $20, with major Middle East routes exceeding $35 per barrel. War risks stemming from the Strait of Hormuz crisis, ship-to-ship transfers, rising bunker fuel costs, and declining tanker scheduling efficiency are jointly driving up crude oil transportation expenses, creating a new round of energy price pressure. Goldman Sachs estimates that the Strait of Hormuz war risk premium adds around $7 per barrel to transportation costs, ship-to-ship transfers add $4, rising bunker fuel costs add $4, reduced tanker scheduling efficiency and route diversions add $3, and the lower availability of Iranian tankers contributes another $2. The surge in transportation costs has also widened regional crude oil spreads: the gap between Brent crude and WTI crude recently hit around $14 per barrel, significantly higher than the usual level of roughly $5. Goldman Sachs notes that Asian refiners are particularly vulnerable, with some European refiners already cutting crude oil imports and processing volumes. The bank forecasts Brent crude prices will fall back to around $90 per barrel by the end of this year, and average $80 per barrel in 2027. However, if transportation, insurance, and refining costs stay elevated, even with benchmark crude prices declining, product prices like gasoline and diesel may remain high, further intensifying energy inflationary pressure.