☕️ Anwar says no to Bersatu reunion

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

USD6.8 bil (RM26.98 bil) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc will be acquiring Taylor Morrison Home Corp in an all-cash deal at USD72.50 per share, a 24% premium to the home builder’s closing price at the end of May. This marks the first multibillion-dollar purchase made by Berkshire’s new chief executive, Greg Abel, since taking over from Warren Buffett. Taylor Morrison is one of the largest community developers and home builders in the US. Its existing management team will continue to lead the company post-acquisition. There is also speculation that the purchase is a signal of optimism in the US housing market, which is currently struggling under higher and volatile mortgage rates.

USD150 bil (RM609.27 bil) – NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang revealed that the US chip giant will be increasing its annual investment in Taiwan to that amount, with Huang describing the island as the “epicentre of the AI revolution”. Taiwan’s economy soared last year on the back of skyrocketing exports of AI hardware. Huang also mentioned how Nvidia was spending between USD10 bil and USD15 bil a year in Taiwan just five years ago. The chip giant is currently building a new office in Taipei.

10 septillion years – There exists a theoretical problem that would take the world’s current fastest supercomputers that long to solve. However, Google’s cutting-edge quantum computer chip Willow is said to be able to solve the problem in five minutes. A team of scientists from King’s College London will also be the first UK academic research team to gain access to Willow. Google said the team “made a compelling research proposal”, leading the tech giant to extend an invitation. For reference, 10 septillion is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 – that’s 25 zeroes.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

PH doesn’t want Bersatu too
PM Anwar Ibrahim has dismissed speculation that Bersatu could return to Pakatan Harapan (PH), saying the coalition does not operate on what he described as a “divorce and remarry” political cycle. Anwar said PH’s approach is based on consultation and cooperation, not shifting alliances or political manoeuvring. The comments come amid rumours that Bersatu may be exploring a return to PH following the breakdown of its cooperation with PAS. Anwar, who is also PH chairman, said he had not heard of such discussions and stressed that the priority remains stability within the federal unity government. He added that the cabinet leadership is committed to keeping the coalition strong and focused.

Anwar also said he would not support any move that could be seen as betraying existing partners (oh boy, didn’t the man learn betrayal is a must in Realpolitik 101), stressing that all current agreements must be respected to maintain trust and political stability. While acknowledging differences at state level, he said the federal government remains stable and continues to have strong backing from its component parties. The remarks follow PAS formally ending its cooperation with Bersatu after months of strained ties, although both parties remain under Perikatan Nasional. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has since indicated that the party is open to new political arrangements ahead of state elections and the 16th General Election, adding to ongoing speculation over shifting alliances.

Rosmah ordered to pay RM67 mil over missing jewellery
Rosmah Mansor has been ordered by the High Court to pay RM67.46 mil to Lebanese jeweller Global Royalty Trading SAL after being found liable over 43 pieces of jewellery that were not returned. The case involves 44 items handed to her in 2018 under a consignment arrangement for viewing, with only one piece later recovered. High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon ruled that Rosmah did not purchase the jewellery and failed to return the remaining items, adding that she was responsible for accounting for them while they were in her custody. Once delivery and non-return were established, the burden shifted to her to explain what happened. The court said she did not discharge that burden.

Rosmah had argued the jewellery may have been seized during post-2018 election raids and blamed the police or government. However, the court found no evidence of seizure and dismissed her third-party claims against the IGP and the government. The judge also noted that key witnesses linked to handling and movement of the items were not called, weakening her defence. While a disputed page of the consignment document was rejected, the rest of the agreement was upheld.

Singapore court targets Capital A stakes
The Singapore High Court has ordered the seizure of Capital A Bhd’s Move Digital Sdn Bhd stakes in BigPay Pte Ltd and Teleport Everywhere Pte Ltd to enforce a partial arbitration award. The order, issued by the Sheriff of the Supreme Court of Singapore, covers Move Digital’s 99.56% stake in BigPay and 11.45% stake in Teleport, a key logistics arm and major revenue contributor. The action relates to a requirement for Move Digital to buy out BigPay co-founders Christopher Davison and Navin Rajagopalan’s minority stakes for USD14.736 mil (RM59.85 mil). The dispute dates back to 2021, when the founders filed arbitration claims alleging breach of shareholder agreements and minority oppression.
Learn: What is arbitration?

They originally sought up to USD183 mil, but a tribunal in Dec 2024 set the buyout at USD14.736 mil (RM59 mil). Capital A said Move Digital will challenge the enforcement, stating it believes it has grounds to contest the seizure. The group also confirmed RM24.13 mil had been advanced to BigPay for operations. Teleport is Capital A’s biggest contributor (about 40%) to group revenue in the first quarter ended Mar 31, bringing in RM308.65 mil out of RM766.59 mil.

Interfaith council rejects Selangor worship guidelines
A coalition representing Malaysia’s major non-Muslim faith groups has objected to Selangor’s 2025 planning guidelines for non-Muslim houses of worship, saying several requirements are too restrictive for smaller communities. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), said one key concern is a rule requiring at least 5,000 residents or 1,250 housing units before land can be allocated. The council said this would disadvantage smaller communities, noting that even about 20 Sikh families would still require a place of worship for daily prayers. The group proposed lowering the threshold to 1,500 residents or 375 housing units, while retaining the minimum land allocation.

The group also objected to restrictions on locating houses of worship in commercial zones, converting existing buildings, and using residential properties for religious purposes, saying applications should be assessed case-by-case due to limited land availability. The council further raised concerns over a height limit of 72 ft or matching nearby mosques, saying this could raise equality and religious freedom issues.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

US strikes Iran after downed US helicopter
Oil markets are in for a ride again. The US has conducted military airstrikes against Iran at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island after the crash of an American helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and a Jordanian air base that hosted American military forces. Trump attributed the downing of the helicopter to Iran, but Iran did not claim credit for it.

Meanwhile, Trump went on Truth Social and threatened Iran for ‘taking too long’ to reach a peace deal and that they would ‘pay a price’. This is Trump contradicting himself, as he announced to the world a day earlier that a deal could be reached in ‘two or three days’ and that the Strait of Hormuz would once again, ‘immediately reopen’.

Interestingly, Aaron Blake from CNN analysed how many times Trump claimed that ‘a deal is around the corner’ since Mar. Suffice to say, Trump’s concept of ‘around the corner’ might just be a very long corner that he mistook for a wall.

Anthropic releases Claude Fable 5 with ‘parental control’
Two months ago, Anthropic rolled out Mythos. It was an advanced AI model that detects security weaknesses in software. But it didn’t want ‘bad actors’ to take advantage of it to hack software and other applications. So, Anthropic released it to a limited number of users, which included big tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon.

Fast forward to now, Anthropic released a similar Mythos-class model called Claude Fable 5 to its enterprise and paid subscribers. The catch is that it will come with ‘parental controls’. It will block responses in ‘high-risk areas’ such as cybersecurity and biology.

However, this release could be crucial as Anthropic had just filed for a listing on the US markets just last week. Investors are looking out for better AI models to justify the high valuations AI companies could be getting.

UN warns that we might need a bigger boat
The rate of sea-level rise has more than doubled, from 2.0mm per year in 2015 to 4.6mm per year in 2023, according to the United Nations. The culprit? Humans, of course. But specifically, pollution and overfishing have become ‘intensifying stressors’ and human-induced activities cause widespread biodiversity loss and put oceans under ‘severe strain’. 16% of the total increase in ocean heat since 1955 has occurred since 2018. In simple terms, the ocean has been heating up more over the past eight years. So, do we need a Noah’s Ark anytime soon?

Shorts:

1. GM’s plan to use EVs to power the grid
   GM is using the solar power model for EVs. In Malaysia, you can sell your excess energy, powered by your solar panels, back to Tenaga Nasional. GM wants to do the same thing for its EVs. It is releasing a software update that allows some vehicle owners to sell power back to the grid when electricity is in high demand. GM will then take a small cut of that sale. Not everything is set in stone, however. It is still in discussions with 10 utility players, and this is still in the pilot phase. GM hopes to commercially roll this out in the next few months in California, Texas, and Michigan.

2. Shopee to cut developer jobs for AI
   Shopee is pivoting harder into AI. Sea, its parent company, is laying off hundreds of developer jobs globally in favour of using more AI in the workplace. This amounts to about 8% of Shopee's developer workforce and affects roles such as quality assurance. Some are wondering whether this is ‘AI-washing’. Many companies, especially in the US, have been laying off workers while citing AI as replacing some job functions. But in reality, this has more to do with overhiring during the pandemic. The company gets bloated and needs to find a convenient excuse to cover this up. This does not seem to be the case, as Sea has aggressively hired in the past two years. Employee count increased from 62.7k in 2023 to 102.7k in 2025. But Sea could be getting nervous after its share price tanked by more than half from USD186.5 (RM758.98) in Aug 2025 to USD83 in June 2026. This could be its next bet to win back investor confidence.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Data centres in space? SpaceX gives a sneak peek. This better work to justify its sky-high valuation.

2. China’s Unitree performing on America’s Got Talent. Americans cheering, but Pentagon must be stressing.

3. What happens inside your voice box when you talk? Warning - some might find it graphic. Interesting video nonetheless.