Meet The New AI Billionaires Of 2025

In just a few short years, dozens of entrepreneurs and technologists have crossed into billionaire status thanks to the artificial intelligence gold rush.

To learn more about this new class of wealthy founders, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu highlights some of the most notable AI billionaires minted in 2025.

Data & Discussion

This visualization is based on reporting from CNBC, which tracks the emerging fortunes tied to AI companies around the world. Net worth data was collected from Forbes, as of August 2025.

*The average Anysphere founder’s stake value is $1.3B.

CoreWeave Co-founder: Michael Intrator

Michael Intrator, co-founder and CEO of CoreWeave, stands out with an estimated net worth of $6 billion. His company provides cloud infrastructure optimized for AI workloads, a sector that has seen explosive demand as AI models become increasingly compute-intensive.

The company launched its IPO in March 2025 at $40 per share, and has seen extreme volatility since then. Shares peaked at $183.58 on June 20, 2025, but are currently trading in the low $90 range.

CoreWeave has a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, which is not only its primary supplier of GPUs, but also a major investor.

Scale AI Co-founders: Alexandr Wang & Lucy Guo

Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo, co-founders of Scale AI, are currently two of the world’s youngest billionaires.

The pair met when working for social question-and-answer website Quora, and started Scale AI in 2016. The San Francisco-based firm provides data annotation and other services that are used to build, test, and refine AI systems.

Since then, Guo has founded Backend Ventures (a tech-focused venture capital firm) in 2019, and later Passes (a content creator monetization platform) in 2022.

More recently in June 2025, Meta invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI, a deal which also placed Wang at the head of Meta’s Superintelligence Lab.

OpenAI Alumni: Dario Amodei, Ilya Sutskever & Mira Murati

Three of OpenAI’s most prominent alumni, Dario Amodei, Ilya Sutskever, and Mira Murati all helm companies valued in the billions.

Amodei, formerly vice president of research at OpenAI, co-founded Anthropic in 2021. The company is responsible for Claude, which as of January 2025 had 105 million monthly users.

Sutskever, formerly chief scientist at OpenAI, co-founded Safe Superintelligence in 2024. The company is valued at over $30 billion, with investment from firms like Andreesen Horowitz and Alphabet.

Last but not least is Mira Murati, former chief technology officer at OpenAI. She founded Thinking Machines Lab in February 2025, raising $2 billion from a consortium of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD. The company is set to announce its first product later this year.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Most Popular AI Chatbots in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 22:00

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for initial claims to increase to 240 thousand from 237 thousand last week.

• Also at 8:30 AM, The Consumer Price Index for August from the BLS. The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in CPI, and a 0.3% increase in core CPI.  The consensus is for CPI to be up 2.9% year-over-year (up from 2.7% in July) and core CPI to be up 3.1% YoY (unchanged from 3.1% in July).

• At 12:00 PM, Q2 Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States from the Federal Reserve.

It Makes More Sense To Produce Hydrogen With Nuclear, Not Renewables

Authored by Ross Pomeroy via RealClearEnergy,

Hydrogen is often thought to be linchpin of a future 100% renewable economy. To make up for wind and solar's deal-breaking intermittency and to rid industry of energy-dense fossil fuels, the surplus cheap electricity that renewables produce during times of abundance would need to be channeled into electrolyzers that split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen could then be collected, stored, transported, and eventually combusted for on-demand energy.

But is this scenario really the most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly option? Would it make more sense, for instance, to produce hydrogen from another carbon-free source – nuclear power?

A trio of scientists in the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering at the University of Pisa in Italy explored that question. Utilizing data from the International Atomic Energy Agency Hydrogen Economic Evaluation Programme, the group performed a feasibility assessment to compare various methods of producing hydrogen from futuristic Gen IV nuclear reactors. Their findings are published in the journal energies.

Two methods of producing hydrogen from nuclear power rose to the top. First, engineers could construct an attached electrolyzer system just like with renewable energy. Since a nuclear reactor is almost constantly running as "baseload" power, plant operators could simply divert power to the electrolyzers when grid demand wanes. The researchers estimate the cost of hydrogen with this setup would be 2.71 USD/kg with paltry carbon emissions of 0.3 kgCO2e/kgH2. 

Second, the authors envisioned a system where futuristic Gen IV reactors operating at high temperatures (between 550 and 1000 °C)  can produce hydrogen through the hot steam they emit. This high-temperature steam electrolysis is similar to how hydrogen is produced from steam reforming via natural gas. They predict costs here to be 3.57 USD/kg with slightly higher emissions of 0.8 kgCO2e/kgH2. Costs are higher because it a more novel system, even though it is "the most efficient coupling since it better exploits the electrical and thermal energy resources produced by the reactor," the researchers write.

Costs and carbon emissions for both methods compare favorably with current costs of hydrogen produced from fossil fuels and renewables. In Europe in 2023, hydrogen made via methane reforming cost 3.76 EUR/kg (4.39 USD) and produced emissions of at least 11.6 kgCO2e/kgH2. Hydrogen made from a direct connection to renewables cost 6.61 EUR/kg (7.71 USD) with emissions similar to production from nuclear.

The researchers' assessment is highly preliminary, of course. There's only one commercial nuclear reactor in operation today that matches the reactor they modeled. It's in China. Their cost estimates could also be overly rosy, and it's likely that the cost to produce hydrogen with renewables will come down over time as solar panels grow more efficient. 

The world currently produces 52.6 million tons of hydrogen per year, used mostly to make ammonia for fertilizer. The process of making this hydrogen accounts for two percent of the world's total energy consumption and contributes roughly the same proportion of global carbon dioxide emissions. Even if hydrogen doesn't find wider use in industry, transportation, and grid storage, we still need a lot of it to feed the world, preferably produced in a far cleaner manner than it is currently. Nuclear energy could provide it in abundance.

Source: Buzzetti, R.; Lo Frano, R.; Cancemi, S.A. Sustainable Hydrogen Production from Nuclear Energy. Energies 2025, 18, 4632. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174632

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 19:30

Eight Years Of Consumer AI Deployment In One Giant Timeline

What unfolds in this sweeping spiral graphic, made possible by Visual Capitalist and Made Visual Daily, is a story of how the LLM ecosystem has exploded in size, complexity, and ambition. Each arc represents a model release, each colored path traces a different entity, from OpenAI to Meta, Anthropic, Baidu, and beyond.

When eight years of LLM evolution are collapsed into one view, what’s revealed is not merely the pace of releases, it’s how competition, curiosity, and capital have fused into a self-sustaining cycle. Each launch seems to fuel the next with even greater velocity, pushing breakthroughs into deployment at unprecedented speed and scale. It’s a vivid testament to how far the field has come — and how high the stakes now are.

Key Players in LLM Innovation

While OpenAI maintains a commanding lead in user base and public attention, the wave-like graphic underscores a crucial point: this is not a one-player game. The ecosystem is vast and highly competitive.

OpenAI: The most recognizable name in the space. With ChatGPT and its API integrations, OpenAI has become the face of generative AI. GPT-4 and GPT-5 remain benchmarks for capability and deployment scale.

Meta: Meta’s LLaMA series has steadily evolved into one of the most important open-weight model families. LLaMA 2 helped popularize open access; LLaMA 3 is now used in major consumer products like Instagram and WhatsApp, and LLaMA 4 is on the horizon.

Google: With Gemini, Google has rebranded its Bard chatbot into a full-spectrum AI platform. It’s integrated across Workspace tools, Search, and Android, signaling a deep push into multimodal and productivity-focused use cases.

DeepSeek: Based in China, DeepSeek has quickly emerged as a major contender in open-weight LLMs. Its DeepSeek-V2 and DeepSeek-Coder models are among the top-performing open-access models, especially in code generation and multilingual tasks. It reflects China’s growing ambition to compete in foundational AI research.

Anthropic: Backed by Amazon and Google, Anthropic’s Claude models are designed with “constitutional AI” in mind—prioritizing safety and steerability. Claude 3 is one of the top performers across reasoning and coding benchmarks.

Beyond these leaders, the graphic is crowded with rising names. Mistral, Cohere, Baidu, Stability AI, xAI, and Alibaba are all carving unique paths—whether through specialized models, regional focus, or open-weight releases.

Contextualizing the Wave: From Transformers to Today

The roots of today’s LLM explosion trace back further than 2017’s breakthroughs:

• Pre‑Transformer era: N‑gram and statistical models dominated (“web as corpus,” IBM’s early work).

• 2017: The advent of the transformer (“Attention Is All You Need”) completely redefined architecture.

• 2018–2020: Landmark models emerged — BERT, GPT‑1, GPT‑2 — steadily increasing capabilities.

• 2020 onwards: GPT‑3 exploded public attention and utility. GPT‑3.5, GPT‑4 followed, each more capable.

• Latest: LLaMA 3 and 4, with massive scale, multimodality, and instruction tuning, showcase how quickly the frontier keeps moving.

From this timeline, one thing is clear – innovation no longer flows from a single source, but from dozens of labs racing to define what’s next. The result? An LLM landscape that’s more competitive, creative, and global than ever before.

Explore what’s coming next for LLM-makers on Voronoi: What is coming next for LLM makers?

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 19:05

Why The Democrats' Latest Framework For Crypto Market Structure Could Hurt Financial Privacy

Authored by Frank Corva via BitcoinMagazine.com,

This morning, 12 Senate Democrats published a six-page framework for digital asset market structure legislation in which they outlined their plan to combat illicit finance while protecting users’ financial privacy.

Senator Ruben Gallego and 11 of his colleagues recently released a crypto market structure framework that includes vague language around financial privacy.

The group of Democrats, which included Senate Banking ranking member Ruben Gallego (AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), stated in the first page of the document that digital assets legislation should be guided by certain values, include “protecting financial privacy while denying bad actors access to the financial system.”

In the fifth section of the framework, they outlined what this looks like.

The outline included the following points:

• Require digital asset platforms to register with FinCEN as “financial institutions” under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), while adopting anti-money laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policies

• Address bad actors’ use of DeFi platforms to circumvent illicit finance controls

• Ensure that crypto platforms serving U.S. customers comply with sanctions and AML/CFT requirements, even if domiciled abroad

• Shape ecosystems to isolate non-compliant platforms that enable illicit activity

Intentionally Unclear Language?

What does “addressing bad actors’ use of DeFi platforms” look like? What role will U.S. regulators play in “shaping ecosystems to isolate non-compliant platforms”?

These questions remain unanswered as per this framework, which is notably less detailed and comprehensive than the draft of the CLARITY Act that the Senate Banking Committee recently released.

What comes to mind I think of the U.S. government “shaping digital asset” ecosystems is its pushing for the implementation of a digital ID that only allows for “good actors” to transact. Former CFTC Chair Tim Massad said he is in favor of such a scheme in an interview I conducted with him earlier this year.

Luckily, this would be nearly impossible to technically implement for bitcoin. Smart contract blockchain networks, on the other hand, would be more easily susceptible to the censoring of transactions, as the government could mandate that the smart contracts on the network include certain rules and stipulations within the code that prohibit bad actors from transacting.

What Democrats Should Do

If Democrats are looking to engage in Bitcoin and crypto regulation in good faith, they should be more specific about their intentions and include further details about how they plan to combat illicit finance while still preserving user privacy.

And in their next round of messaging, they should clearly define how they plan to “shape ecosystems” as well as provide clear definitions for what they mean by terms like “platforms”. For example, when they say “platforms” are they referring to centralized entities that hold users’ private keys like Coinbase or Kraken, or does the term also encompass services like Samourai Wallet or Tornado Cash?

They are questions that must be answered if Bitcoin and crypto advocates and enthusiasts are to trust that Democrats do in fact want to enshrine into law the right for Bitcoin and crypto users to preserve their privacy.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 18:40

MIT President Sally Kornbluth Is A Magnet For Research Fraud And Medical Misconduct

Authored by Paul D. Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle,

The Boston Globe published an incredible investigation highlighting yet another corruption scandal in academic research, this time involving two prominent research institutions—Duke University and MIT—tied together by Sally Kornbluth, the former head of research at Duke, who MIT picked as president in 2022. The Globe article adds to Kornbluth’s headaches as she has also been caught up in a dragnet of prestigious universities investigated by the Trump administration for alleged antisemitism and liberal political bias.

The White House spotlight likely spurred the Globe reporters to delve into Kornbluth’s past at Duke, uncovering court documents and sworn depositions by prominent Duke scientists. The Globe reported that, while at Duke, Kornbluth ignored scientific criticism and a whistle-blower pointing to corrupt, harmful research by a Duke physician treating patients dying from cancer.

But did anything happen to Kornbluth? No!

As the Globe documents, Kornbluth kept failing up, gaining ever more prominent positions at Duke, even as the university dealt with an increasing series of unethical research problems. (The Globe didn’t report on several other examples of Duke research misconduct, which are detailed below.)

The Boston Globe’s reporting doesn’t plow much new ground. In fits and starts, several media outlets covered the cancer research scandal overseen and ignored by Kornbluth while she was at Duke. The Globe just put all the pieces together into a comprehensive narrative (The Globe article is behind a paywall, but an MIT professor sent me a copy which you can read here).

Much of the news about Duke’s cancer research corruption was broken by The Cancer Letter, such as a whistle-blower complaint by a medical student, who Kornbluth and other Duke administrators tried to shut down: “Duke Officials Silenced Med Student Who Reported Trouble in Anil Potti’s Lab.” The Cancer Letter has an entire series devoted to the Duke Scandal which you can find here.

The federal government later charged Duke’s cancer physician with research fraud, finding that he had submitted false information in his grants to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Several of his papers published in premier research journals were retracted and he was banned for several years from receiving NIH grants.

But it doesn’t end there.

Kornbluth evaded any consequences from this highly detailed example of research fraud that harmed dying patients. On the contrary, Duke promoted Kornbluth to Provost, the chief academic officer overseeing the university’s teaching and research mission. “The Provost also engages with issues concerning admissions, financial aid, information technology, and all other facets of university life touching on academics,” explains Duke on their website.

Duke made national news for more fake scientific studies in 2019, while Kornbluth was Duke’s academic provost.

The Globe didn’t report this, but the Justice Department forced Duke to pay $112.5 million in 2019 because university officials submitted bogus data to win federal grants on a mouse study project.

“This settlement sends a strong message that fraud and dishonesty will not be tolerated in the research funding process,” said one federal official. “We will continue to take appropriate legal measures to ensure a fiscally sound system that protects grant funds.”

The Boston Globe missed another Kornbluth medical scandal that stayed hidden until I reported it in 2022—the same year MIT picked Kornbluth as their university president. Yes, Kornbluth is ensnared in even more academic sleaze.

While Duke Provost, Kornbluth ignored a 2019 complaint filed by Massachusetts’ Attorney General Maura Healey that charged Duke physician Ralph Snyderman and other board members of Purdue as co-defendants with the Sackler family for addicting millions of Americans on opioids. “Defendants Peter Boer, Judith Lewent, Cecil Pickett, Paulo Costa, and Ralph Snyderman took seats on the Board and knowingly advanced the Sacklers’ scheme.” The Daily Mail later named Ralph Snyderman in their report on this lawsuit.

As I reported in 2022, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s complaint runs 274 pages, with Duke’s Ralph Snyderman named 76 times. “Together with the Sacklers, they controlled the unfair and deceptive sales and marketing tactics Purdue used to sell its opioids in Massachusetts.”

According to the complaint, Snyderman voted with the Sacklers to hire hundreds more sales reps to sell opioids; to implement incentive compensation policies that aggressively drove opioid sales; and, to pay out millions of dollars to already convicted criminals to help the Sacklers keep their loyalty.

In November 2020, Purdue pleaded guilty in federal court to several felonies, admitting that it marketed and sold dangerous opioid products, lied to the Drug Enforcement Administration about steps it had taken to prevent the diversion of opioids, and that it paid kickbacks to encourage prescribing.

Yet, Kornbluth did nothing to address Snyderman’s corrupt behavior.

When I contacted Duke in 2022 to ask if they were looking into the Attorney General’s complaint against Snyderman, a Duke spokesperson emailed me, “I can’t comment on Ralph Snyderman. I’ll decline comment.”

Who knows what other research scandals MIT’s Sally Kornbluth has tried to bury or will ignore in the future?

The DisInformation Chronicle is a community-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 17:00

Nepal Army Takes Over Capital As Politicians Flee By Helicopter, Mayhem Worsens

The collapse of the Nepal government situation has gone from bad to worse overnight and into Wednesday. Parliament has gone up in flames, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned, there have been dozens of deaths and injuries - including among some government officials or their families. 

Government ministers have been seen fleeing the capital, chased by enraged mobs of mostly youth, sick of government corruption and following the latest attempt to outright ban a large number of popular social media sites, including Facebook, X, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube.

Via Reuters/DW

But apparently the social media ban days ago was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. "The unrest started in early September, when a group of young Nepalis, fed up with seeing politicians’ children posting about their designer handbags and luxury travel while most people struggle to make ends meet, organized a peaceful protest," CNN reviews.

"Anger had been brewing for years about the country's worsening youth unemployment crisis and lack of economic opportunities, exacerbated by what many viewed as a growing disparity between the country’s elite and regular people," the report adds.

Residents of top politicians in Kathmandu have been reported attacked and in some cases damaged or set on fire, including the home of the now former prime minister of the country.

Army helicopters were seen ferrying government ministers to safety:

Nepal officials reportedly fled by clinging to an emergency helicopter yesterday as protesters stormed & set fire to the government building https://t.co/HkvqrNyPny pic.twitter.com/52COoCDbDP

— RT (@RT_com) September 10, 2025

The Finance Minister was beaten by a mob, with some barely escaping the wrath of the rioting...

Politicians are FLEEING Nepal after Gen Z rises up against social media ban! pic.twitter.com/SuTiqgsfnp

— Sabby Sabs (@SabbySabs2) September 10, 2025

The moment at which police opened fire on crowds was the tipping point, with at least 19 demonstrators killed, as we detailed Tuesday. Even after the social media ban was reversed, the rioting became more intense. The police had merely described using riot control measures like rubber bullets and tear gas.

Part of the outrage among youth was an increasingly feeling of economic isolation from the rest of the world, and little hope for progress, in a tiny mountainous country where personal remittances accounted for over 30% of Nepal’s GDP.

Nepal’s parliament, which was built in 1903, engulfed in flames...

Nepal’s parliament ENGULFED in flames — built in 1903 as the PM’s residence

Protesters broke into the building, looted it, and set it on fire

Singha Durbar (Lion’s Palace) is the largest palace in Asia pic.twitter.com/liBH5sG99e

— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025

Recent World Bank figures have put youth unemployment of individuals aged 15 to 24 at just over 20%. So when the most popular social media apps were recently banned by the central government, popular rage sparked across the country.

Now, Kathmandu has been taken over by the army, with an effective state of martial law and indefinite curfew on until authorities can restore order. The Army is warning against looting:

The man in the spotlight is General Ashok Raj Sigdel, the Chief of the Army Staff, who has appealed to protesters to engage in talks to find a peaceful way out.

The 58-year-old General, who took over the top post last year, addressed the shaken nation in a televised address last night. "We appeal to the protesting group to halt protest programs and come forward for dialogue for a peaceful way out for the nation. We need to normalize the present difficult situation and protect our historical and national heritage and public as well as private property, and to ensure safety to the general public and diplomatic missions," he said.

The Kathmandu Post

People have been ordered to stay indoors. There are reports of tanks in the streets, with some of the youth claiming that the army troops are on their side, against the police.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 16:40

Tucker Carlson Exposes Mark Cuban's Hypocrisy On Ukraine Aid

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Tucker Carlson confronted billionaire Mark Cuban over his hypocrisy on Ukraine, blasting him for backing taxpayer funding while refusing to spend any of his own fortune.

The viral clash took place Monday at the 2025 All-In Summit during a seminar titled “How to Save America,” hosted by David Sacks and others.

When asked about U.S. funding for Ukraine, Cuban voiced partial support, saying:

“Half my family is Ukrainian … and so, you know, personally, I think we should help. But I don’t have a studied answer for you.”

That prompted Carlson to ask bluntly:

“How much money have you sent to Ukraine?”

“None,” Cuban admitted.

“Oh, so what do you mean by we? You’re the one whose family’s from Ukraine. Why don’t you send them a billion dollars?” Carlson shot back.

Cuban then tried to pivot, claiming that he was trying to “fix healthcare.”

Carlson swiftly countered: “Why don’t you fix their healthcare? If you’re, like, so deep, if you think we need to help, why don’t you start? How about you first?”

“I noticed that’s never even an option for anybody. It’s like we need to help. That’s not what charity is. Forcing other people to help is not charity,” Carlson added.

CUBAN: “Half my family is Ukrainian … I think we should help.”

TUCKER: “How much money have you sent to Ukraine?”

CUBAN: “None.”

TUCKER: “If you think we need to help, why don't you start?” pic.twitter.com/Iv6l64sGTV

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) September 9, 2025

The exchange has since gone viral, coming amid ongoing debate over foreign funding while Americans continue to struggle at home.

A growing bloc of Republicans has opposed sending more money to Ukraine, a country long plagued by corruption and mismanagement.

Despite this, the U.S. has spent a staggering $130 billion on the Eastern European country, according to the German Kiel Institute.

Watch the full exchange below:

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 14:25

Main Street Optimism Ticks Higher; Tariff Inflation Expectations Tumble

Main Street optimism edged higher in August, as the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to 100.8.

As RealInvestmentAdvice.com reports, that reading sits above the long-term average of 98 but missed the consensus estimate of 101.

Stronger sales expectations led the improvement, with a net 12% of owners anticipating higher real sales volumes. This represents a six-point jump from July.

The Uncertainty Index also declined by four points, showing less concern around financing and capital expenditures.

Business health improved as 68% of owners rated conditions “good” or “excellent.”

Profit trends notched their best level since March 2023, while fewer firms raised prices, and financing costs eased. The average short-term loan rate fell to 8.1%, the lowest since May 2023, providing some relief for Main Street borrowers.

On the brighter side, the much feared impact of Trump's tariffs appears to be evaporating rapidly as fewer and fewer small businesses plan price hikes in the next three months...

Still, Main Street challenges remain.

Owners have consistently cited labor quality as the top issue, with 32% of Main Street reporting unfilled job openings.

While this marks the lowest share since 2020, it still reflects persistent hiring difficulties, especially in construction and manufacturing.

The bottom line: For investors, the survey results are a welcome contrast to broader signs of economic cooling. Main Street is becoming more optimistic again, but the miss relative to expectations and ongoing labor shortages temper the headline.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 14:05

'Delete This': New Smoking Gun Emails Reveal Fauci COVID Coverup

The infamous autopen-pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci lied under oath while testifying before Congress, and Rand Paul just dropped the receipts. 

"Emails obtained by the Committee appear to contradict your testimony," wrote Paul - referring to Fauci declaring under oath that he never 'engaged in attempts to obstruct the Freedom of Information Act and the release of public documents.' 

"In an email dated February 2, 2020, you directed then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to "Please delete this e-mail after you read it." 

The coverup began while the virus was barely on America’s radar. Just one day after the Feb. 1, 2020 Proximal Origins call, Fauci, Francis Collins, and Jeremy Farrar plotted how to “get ahead of the science and the narrative” under WHO.

Fauci ended with: “Please delete this… pic.twitter.com/lAVuPB8mZJ

— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) September 10, 2025

Paul's letter continues;

I have reason to believe that you may be in possession of additional records related to the Committee’s ongoing investigation. These records are necessary for the Committee to fully understand the federal government’s actions to identify the origins of COVID-19, and the extent to which taxpayer dollars were used to conduct risky virological research, as well as to weigh potential legislative reforms.

For this reason, I request that you provide the following, in complete, original, and unredacted form, no later than 5:00 PM on September 23, 2025:

1. A list of all email addresses, phone numbers, and messaging application usernames you used at any point between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2023.

2. All email communications, including attachments, sent or received by you between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2023, whether on government-issued or personal accounts/devices, that refer or relate in any way to:

• NIH, HHS, CIA, FBI, DOD, COVID-19

• The “Proximal Origins” paper, The Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar, The P3CO Review Group, Gain-of-function research, Dual-use research of concern, EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak, The Wuhan Institute of Virology, Ian Lipkin, Ralph Baric, Zhengli Shi, The DEFUSE proposal, DARPA, DTRA, USAID PREDICT, The Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Vincent Munster, Fort Detrick, The Integrated Research Facility, The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC)

3. All email communications, including attachments, created, sent, received, copied, or otherwise transmitted between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2023, whether on government-issued or personal accounts/devices, between or among you and:

• Jeremy Farrar, Francis Collins, Hugh Auchincloss, Ian Lipkin, Ralph Baric, Vincent Munster, Kristian Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, Edward Holmes, Robert Garry.

Including communications in which you appear in any field (to, from, cc, bcc) or in forwarded chains.

4. All records of calls and voicemails, whether on government-issued or personal devices/accounts, between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2023, between you and:

• Jeremy Farrar, Francis Collins, Hugh Auchincloss, Ian Lipkin, Ralph Baric, Vincent Munster, Kristian Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, Edward Holmes, Robert Garry, Samantha Power, Including call logs, voicemail transcripts, and audio recordings.

5. All text messages, iMessages, and communications conducted through encrypted or third-party messaging applications, including but not limited to Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat, sent or received by you between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2023, whether on government-issued or personal accounts/devices, that refer or relate in any way to:

• NIH, HHS, CIA, FBI, DOD, COVID-19, The “Proximal Origins” paper, The Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar, The P3CO Review Group, Gain-of-function research, Dual-use research of concern, EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak, The Wuhan Institute of Virology, Ian Lipkin, Ralph Baric, Zhengli Shi, The DEFUSE proposal, DARPA, DTRA, USAID PREDICT, The Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Vincent Munster, Fort Detrick, The Integrated Research Facility, The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)

Where are we on the validity of autopen pardons?

And there it is. Incontrovertible proof that Fauci lied under oath, well within the statute of limitations. He explicitly ordered people to delete emails. And yet nothing will happen, not only because the autopen gave Fauci a pardon but because the system will never allow it. https://t.co/GsyzNetBcc pic.twitter.com/I1gxgpGLOl

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) September 10, 2025

*  *  *

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 13:45

Blowout 10Y Auction: Lowest Yield Since Last September's 50bps Jumbo Cut; Near-Record Foreign Demand

After yesterday's remarkably strong 3Y auction, which in our view was one of the "top 3" best 3Y sales in history, moments ago the US Treasury sold 10Y paper (in a 9-Year 11-Month reopening) in what may well be one of the "top 3" 10Y auctions too. 

Starting at the top, the auction priced at a high yield of 4.033%, down significantly from 4.255% last month, and the lowest since last September, when the market suffered another growth scare and the Fed ended up cutting by 50bps just a week after a similar 10Y auction priced. And just like the Sept 2024 auction, this one also stopped through the When Issued by a solid 1.3bps: this was the highest stop through since the market chaos in April.

The bid to cover was a solid improvement, from 2.351 to 2.650: the highest since April's 2.665% and above the six auction average of 2.556.

However, like yesterday's 3Y auction, it was the internals that were most notable, and specifically Indirects: yes, foreigners just couldn't get enough of today's reopening, and took down a near record 83.1%, ghe second highest on record, and just April's 87.9% market panic/basis trade collapse was higher.

And with Directs taking 12.66%, the lowest since April, Dealers were left with 4.2%, the lowest on record.

Overall, this was another stellar auction, one which dragged yields to a session low of 4.03% from an earlier high of 4.10%, which was to be expected after today's huge PPI miss, and now the question is whether tomorrow's CPI will reaffirm the deflationary glideslope and prompt Powell to cut 50bps next week. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 13:41

Elon Musk Commits $1 Million To Murals Of Iryna Zarutska Nationwide, Turning Public Spaces Into Culture War Battlegrounds

Americans are learning this week about the urgent need to rebuild insane asylums and expand prison capacity, given the Democratic Party's nation-killing progressive mass-release policies that have flooded city streets and communities with violent criminals, such as the one who brutally murdered a young Ukrainian refugee woman in broad daylight on public transit in North Carolina. 

With the Overton Window having shifted last year, what was once socially acceptable, such as bending the knee to woke policies cut from Marxist cloth (defund the police, etc.), is no longer popular as the dominant narrative across the land. Instead, Americans are demanding law and order, especially in the era of the Trump administration.

A significant inflection point, and what is being considered as politically disastours for Democrats ahead of the Midterms, has been the horrifying murder of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, on a commuter train in Mecklenburg County. Her killer, Decarlos Brown, who was previously arrested 14 times in North Carolina for crimes ranging from assault to firearms possession, and whose own mother admitted he had schizophrenia and should never have been allowed back on the streets, was recently released on cashless bail by a progressive magistrate judge despite a two-decade violent crime spree. 

"Watching her cry alone with her hands holding her face is one of the saddest things I have ever seen," one X user wrote. 

Watching her cry alone with her hands holding her face is one of the saddest things I have ever seen

— Evan Barker (@evanwch) September 9, 2025

Christopher Rufo noted, "We need more police, more prisons, and more asylums. And yes, we can arrest our way out of the psychotic-criminals-murdering-people-in-the-streets problem." 

We need more police, more prisons, and more asylums. And yes, we can arrest our way out of the psychotic-criminals-murdering-people-in-the-streets problem.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 9, 2025

The optics for the Democratic Party get worse, as their dark-money, billionaire-funded NGO network appears partly responsible...

Charlotte Pocketed $3.3M From Left-Wing NGO To Empty Jails For 'Racial Equity' https://t.co/bDMSxUPeDe

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 9, 2025

What seems to be emerging this week could be the early innings of a cultural and political moment reminiscent of the one seen with George Floyd - though not as part of a Marxist takeover. This time, it is driven by the 'America First' crowd, with their first move being the use of public spaces as the battleground, much like in 2020.

The first evidence of this comes from an Intercom CEO, Eoghan McCabe, who just offered $500,000 to artists nationwide, $10,000 per grant, to paint murals of Iryna Zarutska's face in prominent US metro areas. 

Just like the murals of Floyd, McCabe's taking the playbook from the left and turning public spaces into battleground areas with highly visible art of Zarutska's face to communicate to everyday folks how the death of this young and innocent woman was due to nation-killing progressive policies.

I am offering $500k in $10k grants to paint murals of the face of Iryna Zarutska in prominent US city locations

Please contact katie@eoghan.com for more details

Please also share this message

If you would like to contribute to this fund, please contact Katie also pic.twitter.com/M8OyqfcZlm

— Eoghan McCabe (@eoghan) September 10, 2025

And Elon Musk commits $1 million. 

I will contribute $1M

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 10, 2025

Why should McCabe stop with Zarutska? The America First crowd may soon realize that the next battleground is public space. Recall that dark-money-funded anti-Trump Indivisible group understands this space very well. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 13:20

"Shock To Global Seaborne Gas Trade": China-Russia Pipeline Seen Displacing One-Third Of LNG Imports

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

China’s planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline with Russia could displace the equivalent of one-third of the country’s LNG imports and deliver a “shock” to the global seaborne gas trade, according to analysts cited by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The 50-billion-cubic-meter-per-year conduit, slated to run through Mongolia, would lock in long-term Russian pipeline supply and sharply cut China’s need for LNG cargoes just as global exporters scale up capacity.

The warning follows Sunday’s signing of a binding memorandum between Moscow and Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom chief Alexei Miller presented the deal in Beijing as a centerpiece of their energy partnership.

While intent has been formalized, key commercial details such as pricing and financing remain unsettled, with analysts describing the accord as a demonstration of strategic alignment between the two nations, underscoring Russia’s eastward pivot after Europe halted most pipeline purchases.

Chinese media continue to emphasize the sheer scale of the shift. Sina Finance reported Gazprom’s plans to expand existing Power of Siberia flows from 38 to 44 bcm annually, and Far East volumes from 10 to 12 bcm, alongside the new Mongolian line. QQ.com highlighted Beijing’s view of the project as insurance against volatile LNG markets and leverage in negotiations with U.S. and Qatari suppliers.

The initiative is part of a “new gas world order,” with pipeline deals reinforcing China’s long-term bargaining power in energy.

Analysts from Barron’s and Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy have warned that U.S. LNG exporters could lose market share in Asia if China secures more Russian volumes, with the pipeline reducing spot demand and softening growth trajectories for American cargoes.

If Power of Siberia 2 is built on schedule, it would provide China with fixed-price, long-distance pipeline gas at volumes comparable to major LNG supply deals.

That shift could cap demand growth for new liquefaction projects targeting Asia, forcing U.S., Qatari, and Australian exporters to compete more aggressively for the remaining market.

Traders told Bloomberg that such a rebalancing would ripple through long-term contract negotiations now underway, reshaping LNG investment decisions well into the 2030s.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 13:00

From Cotality (formerly CoreLogic): US home price insights — September 2025

The 2025 spring homebuyers season ended softly, with slower price growth dominating the narrative and potentially opening the door to more buyers.

• Year-over-year price growth dipped to 1.4% in July 2025. This is almost half the rate of inflation recorded in the Consumer Price Index that month.

• Monthly price increases have been nominal this year and were in negative territory (down 0.2%) between June and July 2025.

• South Dakota saw prices rise 6.2% year-over-year, entering the top 5 states with the highest home price growth. The full list includes New Jersey, South Dakota, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and West Virginia , all of which continue to record more than triple the national rate of price growth.

• Florida, Texas, Montana, and Washington D.C. reported negative home price growth.
...
“July’s decline in home prices is atypical — the last two periods where we saw monthly declines in July was in 2022 and during 2006-2008 period — but this year’s decline follows a year of relatively flat home prices and persistent weakness in homebuying demand,” Cotality’s Chief Economist Dr. Selma Hepp explained. “And even though price weakness has spread across more markets, 50% continue to see prices increase. The markets where prices are increasing tend to be more affordable markets in Midwest, such as the Chicago metro; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Tulsa OK; and Louisville, KY; as well as Philadelphia and the New York metro. At the same time, Florida markets and those in the West continue to see persistent price declines.”
emphasis added

This graph from Cotality shows the Top 10 coolest markets.
The list is dominated by Florida and Texas.  According to Cotality, the highest risk markets are all in Florida.
House prices are under pressure with more inventory and sluggish sales.

What's The Opposite Of "Quiet Day"?

By Michael Every of Rabobank

There haven’t been any ‘quiet days’ in 2025 in global strategy, just a constant flow of conflating developments across geopolitics and geoeconomics. The last 24 hours have been no exception.

Israel struck Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, which may -- unconfirmed -- have killed their negotiating team; or at least the hardline ones who yesterday refused Trump’s ‘final’ deal, 24 hours after he had warned there’d be consequences if it was rejected. This has seen fears of regional contagion, but Qatar --already attacked by Iran earlier in the year-- has no real armed forces of its own, just the largest US airbase in the Middle East.

International condemnation has been swift. Even Trump posted in opposition, stating he hadn’t known about the attack until the last moment and had tried to warn Qatar (which should have been able to detect it itself; and Turkish sources are claiming they tipped Doha, and Hamas, off). Trump added it should be used as a platform for peace and that he will be deepening defence relations with Qatar ahead. There are layers of misperceptions, misstatements, and potential missteps in all this, but it suggests further shifts in the region – we shall see if it’s towards peace or more conflict.

Meanwhile, while Europe then slept, Russian (Iranian-designed) drones made a mass attack on Ukraine and also entered Polish airspace, seeing several EU states’ F-35s scrambled and Polish airports close as far as Warsaw. One US Representative posted:

“Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland… This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations. I urge President Trump to respond with mandatory sanctions that will bankrupt the Russian war machine and arm Ukraine with weapons capable of striking Russia. Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory. Putin stated that “Russia knows no borders.” Free and prosperous nations will teach Russia about borders.”

Indeed, while Trump had earlier continued US-India online détente in posting he still expects a trade deal to be agreed, he then told Europe it must put 100% tariffs on China and India to stop Putin, which he would follow. To say that this has major consequences is an understatement: most so if this is done, but also if it isn’t - because that would makes clear the EU (and US) are not prepared to use sufficiently strong economic statecraft, which leaves them with either military statecraft or nothing. Run the fat tail risks on both.  

At the same time, Nepal just lost its PM after violent public protests seeing its parliament burned - the tiny state sandwiched between giant India and China is a focus of their (and others) attention.

French President Macron appointed 39-year-old Defence Minister Lecornu as his latest prime minister… how long will he last as French borrowing costs now top Italy’s in what Bloomberg calls ‘an historic market shift’? And who is left as the Eurozone ‘core’ now vs the ‘periphery’, and what percentage of Eurozone GDP do they represent? I’m asking for a central bank friend.

Indonesia, also facing large public protests --the finance minister’s house was burned down before they stepped down-- has seen its president ask the central bank to directly lower the cost of borrowing for his admin’s key projects, via “burden sharing”. At least it answers the question, “What is GDP for?”

In this geoeconomic maelstrom, China is aiming to shore up ASEAN ties, the SCMP reporting that “Ahead of next week’s 22nd China-ASEAN Expo, commerce ministry official says the trade partners could formally secure closer economic ties this year”. So, larger ASEAN trade deficits with China it will be then; and the US won’t allow any transshipment to send those goods their way. Yet Europe doesn’t have any such barriers in place, and if it raises them, it’s again moving into a US trade bloc, as we had projected.

In purely economic news, as if there can be any such thing nowadays, the FT says Rachel Reeves is to tell ministers to prioritize the fight against UK inflation as Labour MPs are instead “increasingly concerned about the ‘straitjacket’ imposed on economic policy.” Aren’t we already seeing “rate cuts!”?  

Similarly, the WSJ reports that ‘Inflation Erased US Income Gains Last Year’ as “High-income households fared better than others, while women lost ground to men.” That doesn’t sound like Main Street is beating Wall Street.

Neither did the -911K downward revision of US payrolls data in the year to March 2025, which presents a very different outlook for the economy than previously seen and, as I noted a few weeks ago, leaves one wondering why we bother to look at those data - besides the monthly casino routine of higher/lower than that is. Bloomberg also says 1/3 of the top jobs at the BLS are currently unfilled, which doesn’t suggest data quality is going to get any better soon - but, hey, a wider, wilder range of outcomes in the monthly casino, right? VP Vance posted: “It’s difficult to overstate how useless BLS data had become. A change was necessary to restore confidence.” But change to what?

Moreover, a US judge ruled allegations of mortgage fraud sent to the DOJ do not apparently constitute necessary “for cause”, or notice, for Trump to have fired her, hence Governor Cook can remain in the job for next week’s FOMC meeting. Again, expect this to be appealed and/or end up at the Supreme Court, where some suspect it will be reversed as part of an extension of executive power over civil servants (the so-called Humphrey’s Executor). In the meantime, is Cook, a dove, going to vote for a rate cut or suddenly become a hawk despite the payrolls revisions? Who knows… but politics and personality politics in central banking? Whocouldanooed?! 

Moreover, the US Supreme Court also agreed to hear Trump’s IEEPA tariff appeal in November.

In markets, Anglo American and Teck are to merge, creating a copper mining giant with a market value of more than $53bn, which given how crucial copper is to energy systems, which are crucial to AI, which is crucial to national security and any hopes to get us out of our high debt, high inflation, low productivity slump, obviously won’t be subject to any economic statecraft pressure from either the US or China. Honest. It’s all going to be “because markets.”

Lastly, the SCMP says ‘China offers funding for stablecoin research as global interest grows’ where “The country’s largest state research bureau is offering grants for the study of the digital assets - and how to monitor their movements.” Might that have something to do with the looming introduction of USD stablecoins, and their ability to de facto dollarize other economies?

Like I said, it’s far from quiet. Some messages are being screamed as loudly as they can, even if they are then distorted by their volume.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 12:20

Kremlin Dismisses Polish Drone Attack Claims, Saying No Evidence Provided

Russia on Wednesday formally rejected Poland's claims that its drones breached Poland's airspace overnight - citing that no evidence has been provided which link the drones to Russia's military.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk definitely asserted that a "huge number of Russian drones" had entered airspace of the NATO member and that it was an "act of aggression". Ukrainian President Zelensky has also alleged that it was an intentional attack, and is using it to try to lobby NATO to provide more direct air defense.

Via Reuters

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has reacted in stating "The EU and NATO leadership accuse Russia of provocation on a daily basis. Most often, without even trying to provide any arguments."

Russia's charge d'affaires in Warsaw, Andrey Ordash, summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. But he and Peskov underscored that no evidence was provided that the UAVs were sent by Russia.

Peskov further pointed out that the drones flew from Ukraine into Poland, and there have been prior such episodes. For example, a November 2022 incident saw a Ukrainian missile land on Polish territory - which was initially widely blamed on Russia, until the missile debris was examined - after which it was determined to be an errant Ukrainian air defense missile.

Russia's Defense Ministry is explaining on Wednesday that range of the UAVs which allegedly crossed the border with Poland do not exceed 700 km - suggesting that such a breach was not possibly. The MoD said it is open to holding direct consultations with the Polish government to resolve the matter. Meanwhile...

NATO does not have air defenses. Member countries do. https://t.co/2oSga0DdTp

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) September 10, 2025

One former Swedish military officer and analyst of the conflict has offered the following points, pushing back against claims of some kind of intentional Russian attack with a 'drone wave' on a NATO member:

1. Russia isn't attacking Poland, some Russian drones flew over Polish territory during the attack on western Ukraine tonight.

2. This isn't a continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations. US actions against imaginary threats in Venezuela are more unprovoked and it is questionable if the US presently is a productive member of the world society with its threats to other nations territorial integrity, support of Israeli aggression and escalating trade wars. 

3. Sanctions have had limited impact on the Russian economy and to bankrupt the Russian war machine the West must initiate a full scale trade war with China, BRICS and large parts of the world. Half the world economy can't sanction the other half without severe economic repercussions at home. The population in the West are not willing to accept a global economic depression in answer to some Russian drones getting lost. Especially since they might have lost their way due to Ukrainian EW defences.

4. Russia isn't losing in Ukraine, everybody knows that. Otherwise western leaders could lean back in their couches and look forward to Russia losing for a couple of more years. But then Russia might be losing along the entire Dnieper river, not as far east of the river as they are now.

Contrast the above with some Congress members, like Rep. Joe Wilson, claiming that this is a Russian "act of war" against NATO.

Polish airspace was violated by at least 19 Russian drones overnight, the country's prime minister said, in a torrent of activity that triggered a response from the NATO country's air force, which scrambled and downed several of the drones.

Read more: https://t.co/X3Mk3ogVp7 pic.twitter.com/xBAvdwKAcD

— ABC News (@ABC) September 10, 2025

But broadly among US leaders, incidents like this could serve to get more air defense systems like Patriots into Ukrainian hands. Trump has appeared to slow-play this, but will be pressured to 'act' more quickly and robustly, also as the Trump-backed peace negotiation process seems completely derailed.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 12:00

Trump Rape Accuser Boasts Of 'Trick' On Jurors By Making Herself Look "F***able"

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll recounted the bizarre “trick” she claimed to have used to convince a jury against President Donald Trump, saying she aimed to make herself look “f***able.” 

A jury in deep-blue New York controversially ruled that Trump had defamed Carroll when he denied her sexual abuse allegations, which she said occurred in either 1995 or 1996. Trump has denied ever meeting Carroll. 

Speaking on The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller in July, Carroll said she conducted mock trials to prepare for her defamation suit against Trump. 

LAWFARE: E. Jean Carroll admits she tricked the jury by making herself look “fuckable” and says she’s glad it worked. Tim Miller gets emotional, imagining how much that must fuel Carroll’s “feminist juices.” pic.twitter.com/I06GMFp4vP

— @amuse (@amuse) September 8, 2025

Some of the mock jurors concluded that Carroll might have seemed to invite Trump’s alleged advances because, by her own admission, she was of old age.  

“I mean … that has to be pretty dispiriting that then you’re like, ‘Well, I got to be hotter to win this case,’” Miller said. 

“Yeah. I got to be f***able, is the word,” Carroll replied. 

She added that she recreated her 1990s look by redoing her hair, hiring the same hairdresser and makeup artists she used then.  

“I wore the exact same clothes I wore in 1996. The exact clothes!” Carroll stated, later adding: “I didn’t look like I looked in ‘96, but I looked like somebody who could have looked like somebody in 1990 and it was enough. It was enough… it was a trick.” 

The self-described “trick” worked as the real jury awarded her a combined $88.3 million in purported damages, though Trump is actively appealing the controversial verdict. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 11:40

Trump Cryptically Writes "Here We Go!" In Reaction To Russia-Poland Drone Incident, Oil Spikes

Update(1120ET): Minutes ago, President Trump issued a somewhat cryptic statement on his Truth Social, as part of his initial reaction to the overnight alleged Russian drone breach incident in Poland.

Stating "Here we go!" is a bit ominous, given it sounds - depending on the president's intent behind the words - a bit like George W. Bush's infamous "Let's Roll" related to Iraq.

Crude markets suspect so, with oil spiking...

Russia has rejected Polish and Ukrainian accusations that it sent a drone swarm to 'attack' Poland, a longtime NATO member. But likely the US will try to manufacture leverage over Moscow with this dangerous incident, where NATO planes were scrambled, civilian airports were closed, and ground air defenses put at the ready.

* * *

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10lb Ground Beef Bundle (comes with epic seasoning)

Organic mango multipack (no seed oils, added sugar, pesticides, sulfites)

Steak Lover's Bundle

Microplastic-Free tea (actually tastes great)

ZeroHedge Hat (limited edition)

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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country would formally request the invocation of NATO's Article 4 after an overnight Russian aerial attack on Ukraine saw the alleged violation of Poland's airspace by multiple Russian drones. He called it an "act of aggression".

Tusk cited that 19 drones breached the country's airspace throughout the incident, resulting in some of them being shot down. NATO's Article 4 states: "The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened."

Article 4 consultations can lead to the alliance taking action if the consensus is reached. Notes from Poland says "It has previously been invoked seven times, including by Poland and seven other countries when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022."

Polish Air Force, via DW

"Triggering Article 4 launches a consultation process within NATO, which can then lead to the alliance taking action. In 2022, it resulted in NATO providing support to Ukraine and activating its own response force," the analysis continues.

A Spokesperson for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe has described of the overnight border breach of NATO's 'eastern flank' member Poland that this was "the first time NATO aircraft had engaged potential threats in allied airspace."

He further confirmed that German Patriots in Poland were "placed on alert and that an Italian airborne early warning aircraft and an aerial refueler from NATO's Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet were also launched," as cited in Newsweek.

As for Tusk, he said in his address, “We are dealing with a large-scale provocation" and that "the situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios.”

However, this certainly isn't the first time errant drones have crossed into Poland, but in this instance they were reported to have 'threatened' a Polish city some 40 miles away from the border with Ukraine. The NY Times notes:

But the apparent scale of the incursion and the joint NATO response in the early hours of Wednesday was a startling reminder of the risk that the war in Ukraine could escalate into direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. It was not yet clear whether Russia intentionally sent its drones into Poland, which would represent a clear expansion of the conflict.

Kiev has been trying to hype this threat, and it is in its interest to do so, as it has long sought to get NATO more directly involved in the war with Russia.

The moment a Russian drone was shot down in Poland. pic.twitter.com/A40K1hx7id

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 10, 2025

President Zelensky has initially cited 8 drones observed breaching Poland's border. "More information is coming in about the intrusion of Russian attack drones into Polish territory. As of now, it’s known about 8 drones," he wrote on X.

He also claimed this was intentional: "Increasing evidence indicates that this movement, this direction of strike, was no accident. There have been previous incidents of individual Russian drones crossing the border and traveling a short distance into neighboring countries. But this time, we are recording a much larger scale and deliberate targeting," he continued.

That's when he pivoted to calling for more integrated NATO air power to protect Ukraine:

The precedent of using combat aircraft from several European countries simultaneously to shoot down Russian weapons and protect human lives is highly significant. Ukraine has long proposed to its partners the creation of a joint air-defense system to ensure the guaranteed downing of “shaheds”, other drones, and missiles through the combined strength of our combat aviation and air defenses.

US Congressional hawks have also pounced, with US Representative Joe Wilson demanding that Trump trigger immense sanctions now over the 'act of war'. 

Polish media published new photos of a drone that allegedly crashed in Poland.

According to the Poles, seven drones have already been found: six in the Lublin Voivodeship (bordering Ukraine and Belarus), one in the Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland), and one in the… pic.twitter.com/HVq1Rxsj2B

— Mats Nilsson (@mazzenilsson) September 10, 2025

"Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahed drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House," Wilson wrote on X. "This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations."

Those who have long wanted to see greater US actions against Russia are clamoring for escalation. Will saner minds prevail?

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 11:20

Trump Ready To Hit China, India With 100% Tariffs To Pressure Putin, But Only If Europe Joins

In a curious reverse twist on a global trade war theme, President Trump told European officials he would impose draconian and sweeping new tariffs on India and China to push President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine, but on one condiciont - EU nations do so as well.

Trump made the ask when he called into a meeting with senior US and EU officials in Washington, Bloomberg and FT reported citing people. The US is willing to mirror tariffs imposed by Europe on either country, one of the people said.

The proposal, which will never be accepted, amounts to a very public dare for Europe and is meant to show who really is the bad guy in the public perception war, given that several nations - including Hungary - have blocked more stringent EU sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector in the past. Such measures would require the backing of all member states. 

Other potential measures discussed by US and EU officials include further sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers as well as restrictions on its banks, financial sector and major oil companies, according to the people. Trump’s suggestion, first reported by the Financial Times, comes after his deadline for Putin to hold a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy passed without indication that the Russian leader - who is now advancing rapidly deep inside Ukraine territory and may be knocking on Kiyv's door soon - has any interest in engaging in face-to-face peace talks. Instead, Moscow has stepped up its Ukraine bombing campaign, with a strike Tuesday killing at least two dozen pensioners as they collected payments in eastern Ukraine.

According to Bloomberg, any US action would ultimately depend on Trump, who has so far refrained from punishing Russia directly despite skating through several self-imposed deadlines and Putin’s continued reluctance to negotiate an end to the war. Trump has, however, already doubled tariffs on India to 50% over its continued purchase of Russian oil. He has so far refused to punish China for doing as much energy trade with Russia as India. 

Later Tuesday, Trump wrote a social media post that the US and India were continuing negotiations to address their trade barriers, and expressed optimism the two would reach an agreement to resolve their dispute. He also said he looked forward to “speaking with my good friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming weeks.

Trump’s tariff proposal contrasts with a softer tone he has taken in recent months on China as part of apparent efforts to secure a summit with President Xi Jinping and a trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy. Last month, he extended a pause on higher tariffs on Chinese goods into early November, a move that stabilized trade ties.

And yet, offering a token olive branch has done nothing to alienate Russia and China, which last week swore loyalty to each other during the 80 year anniversary of World War II. Signaling Xi’s defiance against attempts at isolating Putin, Russia last week announced China had signed an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2, a vast energy pipeline that Beijing had sought to delay for years. That came after photos of Xi, Putin and Modi smiling and holding hands at a summit in Tianjin were beamed around the world.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said his country had always adhered to an “objective and fair stance” on the war in Ukraine, when asked at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday about Trump’s latest tariff proposal. 

“China is not the creator of this crisis, nor is it a party involved,” he said. “We firmly oppose using China to make excuses and exerting so-called economic pressure.”

Xi would retaliate against any escalation. Chinese exports have shown resilience despite a 55% levy on shipments to the US, indicating Beijing has room to withstand more pain. For Trump, returning to tit-for-tat moves risks destabilizing China’s supply of magnets that are critical to American manufacturing of everything from mobile phones to missiles.  Such a scenario could also jeopardize a meeting between Trump and China’s top leader that both nations are working to arrange, and could take place as soon as next month on the sidelines of a major summit in South Korea. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 10:55

Miran Clears Key Senate Hurdle In Push For Fed Seat

The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along party lines Wednesday to advance President Donald Trump’s pick of Stephen Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to a short-term position as a Federal Reserve governor - setting up a likely floor vote in the coming days and deepening a political fight over the Fed’s independence.

Stephen MiranPhotographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

If confirmed, Miran would join the Federal Open Market Committee just days before its Sept. 16–17 meeting, where policymakers are widely expected to cut interest rates for the first time since December amid signs of slowing job growth.

A Strategic Appointment Before the Fed Vote

According to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with Senate planning, a full confirmation vote is tentatively set for Monday, Sept. 15. Miran’s temporary term would expire early next year, but the White House has not clarified whether Trump plans to nominate him for a full 14-year term or return him to his post leading the Council of Economic Advisers.

Miran told senators during his testimony that he would take an unpaid leave of absence from his White House role to serve at the Fed, emphasizing his commitment to act independently.

“I want to assure this committee and the American people that my decisions will be guided by data, not politics,” Miran said, reiterating that his advisory work at the White House would be paused.

Democrats Question Independence, Cite "Servitude"

Democrats blasted the nomination, arguing that Miran’s dual roles would undermine the Fed’s independence. They said the arrangement effectively ties his decision-making at the central bank to Trump’s influence, given the president’s power to decide Miran’s future.

“He knows that every vote he takes will determine whether he gets to go back to his White House job,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), calling the situation “servitude.”

Other Democrats warned that placing a senior Trump economic adviser at the Fed - even temporarily - risks politicizing the central bank at a critical moment as it weighs a policy pivot toward lower rates.

The nomination comes amid heightened tensions between the White House and the central bank. Trump has moved aggressively to reshape the Fed’s leadership, including firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

Cook challenged her dismissal in court, arguing that the president lacks authority to oust sitting governors. On Tuesday night, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from removing her while the case proceeds.

The legal battle underscores growing uncertainty about the Fed’s autonomy as Trump pushes for policies designed to stimulate growth ahead of next year’s election season.

What Comes Next

• Sept. 15 – Senate expected to vote on Miran’s confirmation

• Sept. 16–17 – FOMC meeting, where markets expect a rate cut

• Early 2026 – Miran’s short-term appointment set to expire unless re-nominated

 

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/10/2025 - 10:40