Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao assisted Donald Trump’s family with the launch of its stablecoin, one that could yield tens of millions of dollars annually. On Thursday, Zhao received a pardon from the Republican president.

Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. His exchange facilitated transactions for the military wing of Hamas, hackers and money launderers, and let some customers trade with residents of Iran in contravention of US sanctions, prosecutors said. Between 2018 and 2022, Binance allegedly processed at least 1.1 million transactions that violated sanctions, worth about $898 million.

But that’s all in the past now. Pardoning Zhao marks the latest act of clemency Trump has granted to a crypto entrepreneur, underscoring how he has positioned himself as a friend of the industry—and how Trump’s family has enriched itself while doing so.

Trump also pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was serving life in prison for allowing criminal activity to flourish on the dark web marketplace. Asked Thursday to respond to accusations that the latest pardon amounted to a corrupt bargain, a White House spokesperson said the decision was “thoroughly reviewed” by Trump administration lawyers. —David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

Battered US chipmaker Intel managed to give an upbeat revenue forecast after personal computer demand grew, boosting optimism for a comeback attempt by a company now partially owned by American taxpayers.

In the stretch of a few months, new Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan secured an unconventional investment from the US government, courtesy of Trump, and won backing from Nvidia and SoftBank Group. Unconcerned about the administration’s foray into a patch usually occupied by state-run economies, investors applauded those deals, sending Intel shares up 90% this year. But concerns have lingered over whether Intel can make products that attract customers again.

Ford expects to lose $2 billion in profit after a devastating fire at a key supplier of aluminum for its top-selling F-150 pickup truck. The announcement is Ford’s first detailed accounting of the damage it expects from a Sept. 16 fire at Novelis’ aluminum factory in Oswego, New York.

The Novelis plant is Ford’s top provider of aluminum for its highly profitable F-Series pickups and other oversized cars, including sport-utility vehicles like the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. The automaker has already reduced production of some of those models.

Google will supply up to 1 million of its specialized artificial intelligence chips to Anthropic PBC in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars—one  that deepens its partnership with the fast-growing AI startup. The arrangement gives Anthropic vastly more computing capacity while cementing Google’s position as both a major investor and key infrastructure provider in the escalating race to power large AI models. 

The deal also ranks among the largest commitments yet in the AI hardware arms race, underscoring the soaring cost of developing cutting-edge systems that require immense computing power to train and run large language models.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he won’t recognize any territorial swaps during potential peace negotiations with Russia as he tries to rally financial support from European allies. Zelenskiy said he still hopes Washington will eventually agree to deliver long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, adding that Kyiv hasn’t yet used US-supplied weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

The Ukrainian president has also urged European leaders to deliver loans tied to Russian frozen assets, adding that he understands why allies want to use the bulk of the proceeds to buy European-made weapons. Ukraine is also ready to step up its production and sign more co-production accords with European companies as a way to help the continent “build an arsenal” to deter Russia, he added.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

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