Sep 28, 2026
A high-profile resignation from AI company Anthropic has brought mainstream attention to ongoing tensions in Silicon Valley over artificial intelligence safety warnings, as industry insiders continue to raise concerns about existential threats even while developing the technology. The debate played out this week as tech executives gathered at Goldman Sachs' annual San Francisco conference.
A consortium of 21 financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity, and WisdomTree plans to create a company in 2026 to issue a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency in the first half of 2027. The group has more than doubled in size since October, though the token has no name or chosen blockchain yet.
Twenty-one major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank announced plans to form a company this year to issue a dollar-backed stablecoin, with a market launch targeted for 2027.
Anthropic brought Citigroup into its IPO preparations, joining a banking syndicate that includes Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. The AI company's revenue reached $11.6 billion, surpassing OpenAI's $6.7 billion, as it prepares for a potential public offering.
Goldman Sachs has won a coveted role in Nvidia's $500 billion AI infrastructure financing program and is now in talks with potential investors including insurers, money managers, and banks to participate in the deal. The bank is serving as sole traditional investment bank structurer and distributor for GPU-backed compute bonds.
Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire NEOS Investments, manager of the $1.1 billion BTCI bitcoin synthetic ETF, in a cash-and-equity deal valuing NEOS at up to $2.25 billion. The acquisition gives Goldman three crypto options-income ETFs including bitcoin and ethereum products.
Nvidia announced a plan with major Wall Street firms including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to mobilize up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure. Analysts warn the deal faces significant risk from China's Huawei chip production surge, which could depress secondary GPU market prices that serve as collateral for the financing structure.
Nvidia has partnered with six major Wall Street firms including Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to mobilize over $500 billion in third-party capital for GPU-backed AI infrastructure financing. The complex leveraged financing structures, including Lambda's $1 billion credit facility, are drawing increased scrutiny as rating standards remain unresolved.
Major lenders including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are now incorporating local community opposition into credit-risk assessments for data center projects, as at least 75 projects worth approximately $130 billion face local resistance. Banks are favoring jurisdictions with stronger permitting prospects and less risk of delays due to community backlash.
The United States Treasury and Japanese government coordinated currency market intervention to halt the yen's slide to its lowest level against the dollar in 40 years, marking Washington's first yen-buying intervention since 2011. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York executed the operation through Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon endorsed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on July 23, splitting from major banking trade groups who oppose the bill's stablecoin provisions. Solomon argued the legislation would provide needed regulatory certainty.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation processed live production trades involving tokenized stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasurys with nearly 40 financial firms including JPMorgan, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and Vanguard, marking Wall Street's largest tokenization initiative to date.
Launched on July 15, 2026, Ode with Anthropic is a $1.5 billion enterprise AI services firm backed by Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs, and others, built on the acquisition of Fractional AI to deploy engineers directly into mid-sized companies.
HM Treasury announced a wholesale digital markets taskforce including 54 firms backed by the City of London Corporation. BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Ripple are among participants. The UK government estimates tokenized financial markets could add £33 billion ($44 billion) to annual economic output by 2035.
Europe's largest-ever defense startup funding round, with Munich-based Helsing securing $1.8 billion in Series E capital at an $18 billion valuation, led by Dragoneer and Lightspeed, with participation from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, ICONIQ, JPMorgan Chase, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
BlackRock has filed what appears to be the final amendment with the SEC for its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), a covered-call product charging 65 basis points that will trade on Nasdaq. The launch sets up a race with Goldman Sachs to bring the first major yield-paying Bitcoin ETF to market.
Goldman Sachs completely exited its XRP and Solana ETF positions in Q1 2026 while reducing Ethereum ETF holdings by approximately 70%. The firm maintained approximately $700 million in Bitcoin ETF exposure.
Anthropic is closing a $1.5 billion joint venture with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and other Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private-equity-backed companies. OpenAI is launching a similar enterprise-focused joint venture with asset managers.
SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO that could raise $75 billion and value the company at $1.75 trillion, which would make Elon Musk the first trillionaire. The filing comes amid growing conflicts of interest with Trump administration, NASA, and defense contracts.