Gas Hits $4 as Iran Conflict Chokes Oil Routes
US gasoline prices have climbed back to $4 a gallon, up 15% in a week, as the conflict with Iran shuts down alternative oil routes around the Strait of Hormuz. Crude sits near $89 a barrel after Houthi forces threatened a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, jeopardising the pipeline that had rerouted 3.5 million barrels a day to the Red Sea. Diesel has broken above $5 a gallon, with the pain shifting from crude into refined products as refineries dial back activity. If the standoff persists into late autumn, triple-digit oil looks hard to avoid.
Kimi K3 Cracks Open the AI Duopoly
Chinese startup Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a near 3-trillion-parameter open-source model that matches frontier US systems on some coding benchmarks at roughly a third of Anthropic's price. Chinese open-weight models now hold the top five spots on Open Router by weekly global token usage. The NASDAQ fell 1.5% on Friday as investors weighed the threat to OpenAI and Anthropic's estimated 80% margins.
Judge Blocks Paramount's Warner Bros Deal
A US judge temporarily halted Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros, ruling the sale likely violates antitrust laws. Warner Bros shares fell nearly 4% on the news, with a hearing scheduled for next month.