AI Agent Payments And The Know Your Agent Compliance Layer

SoFi Technologies and Kraken's parent company, Payward, have partnered to connect their products. Kraken's institutional clients will use SoFi's dollar settlement network, and SoFi will use Kraken Prime for digital asset liquidity. SoFi's stablecoin, SoFiUSD, will be added to Kraken's platforms. According to experts, this partnership reflects the growing integration of digital assets into traditional banking.

Ocugen, Inc. (OCGN) shares fell slightly as the company announced the first patient was dosed in a global Phase 3 trial for OCU410, a gene therapy candidate for dry age-related macular degeneration. The FDA granted OCU410 RMAT designation, potentially accelerating development. Ocugen aims to offer a one-time treatment for the condition, with no approved treatments outside the U.S. and limited options in the U.S.

Studsvik AB, a Swedish nuclear services company, agreed with GE Vernova Hitachi (GVH) and Samsung C&T to build 1.2 GW of nuclear energy using the BWRX-300 reactor design. The project, targeting operation in the mid-2030s, will be developed at one of two sites. Studsvik, with a market cap under $200M and 2025 revenue under $100M, acquired Kärnfull Next earlier this year, entering reactor development. This follows GE Vernova's loss to Rolls-Royce in a prior Swedish nuclear project.

AstraZeneca and Amgen reported positive phase 3 trial results for tezepelumab (Tezspire) in treating eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). The study showed improved dysphagia and histologic remission at weeks 24 and 52 compared to placebo. The companies plan to share data with regulators. Tezspire is already FDA-approved for severe asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis.

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Intel's (INTC) price target to $92 from $109, citing weaker PC demand and near-term profitability concerns. He expects AI-driven demand for processors and advanced packaging revenue to reach $3.5B by 2029. TipRanks shows a Hold consensus with an average target of $116.16.

DeepSeek plans to use 160,000 of Huawei's Ascend 950DT chips in a new data center, advancing China's efforts to reduce reliance on Nvidia (NVDA). Huawei's production capacity and component shortages may delay the order. DeepSeek will use Nvidia chips for training despite Huawei's chips being designed for that purpose. DeepSeek is seeking billions in funding for the project.