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Nvidia's second-quarter results Wednesday beat Wall Street's expectations and guided to roughly 70% sales growth heading into 2028. Analysts said the forecast alone would push Nvidia toward becoming the second-largest US tech company by revenue.

Hours later, the company confirmed a $12.9 billion Hugging Face buyout, locking in the open-source platform that has become critical infrastructure for AI developers. CEO Jensen Huang used the call to defend Nvidia's growing stakes across its own ecosystem, arguing the exposure is small compared to demand.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook publicly rebuked Trump's renewed threat to dismiss her, two months after the Supreme Court blocked his first attempt. Cook's lawyer told CNBC the administration has no lawful basis to remove her before her term ends.

The White House is now exploring alternative paths to oust her, according to people briefed on the matter. Central bank independence — a bedrock principle since the Fed's founding — is now the pivot point in a broader fight over who controls US monetary policy.

An unsealed federal court filing named federal agencies among victims of a sprawling Chinese state-sponsored intrusion campaign, including the Federal Reserve, NASA, and the Department of Justice. Hospitals, telecoms, power utilities, banks, and defense contractors also appear on the target list.

Investigators describe the effort as one of the most successful sustained cyber campaigns run against the US government, with access quietly maintained inside some networks for months. Beijing's foreign minister simultaneously called for the two governments to "overcome obstacles" ahead of a planned Trump-Xi summit.

Icelanders are casting ballots Thursday in a knife-edge EU membership referendum that polls suggest will come down to fishing rights. Reykjavik would end decades of Nordic go-it-alone policy if the yes vote holds.

A driver rammed pedestrians in Caen on Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring nine before his arrest at the scene. French investigators are examining whether the attack has a connection to Russia.

Norway's royal family gathered at King Harald's bedside after the palace called the 88-year-old monarch's condition "very serious." Crown Prince Haakon continues to serve as regent, the role he has held since Harald stepped back from public duties.

A small plane went down in the water next to a remote Alaska coastal town, killing all four people on board. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the aircraft to lose control before impact.

Experts warn Trump's newly announced beef affordability plan will do little to bring down retail prices as the midterm cycle intensifies. Grocery bills have become one of the most persistent political vulnerabilities for the White House heading into November.

A military judge set a June 2028 trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks. Guantanamo prosecutors have been trying to move the case for more than a decade as families of victims wait for resolution.

CrowdStrike shares jumped 11% after a record second quarter driven by rising demand for AI-hardened cybersecurity products. Shares are up 61% year-to-date, and executives argued frontier AI threats are a tailwind, not a headwind, for the sector.

Hyundai is on pace to be the fastest-growing automaker in the US as it ramps a new $7.6 billion Georgia plant into full production. Executives told analysts the Korean group intends to keep taking share from Detroit as tariff pressure holds.

The end of US penny production is pushing merchants toward rounding cash to the nickel, while more retailers add credit-card surcharges. Consumers are seeing small changes at the register that add up across categories from groceries to gas.

A UK patient underwent the first brain surgery with AI guidance analyzing tissue in real time during the operation. Surgeons said the system flagged structures and suggested boundaries between healthy and diseased matter as they cut.

A large observational study found people who received the recombinant shingles vaccine had measurably lower risk of major cardiovascular events. Researchers can't yet rule out confounding, but the signal has appeared across enough populations to prompt formal follow-up trials.

A pulsating implanted graft mimicked exercise gains in mice, boosting muscle mass, bone density, and strength without any actual movement. Bioengineers said the technique could one day help patients who can't exercise because of illness, injury, or age.

Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik won US Open mixed doubles on Wednesday night, beating Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 1-6 (10-6). Their match capped one of the more competitive mixed doubles brackets in recent Flushing memory.

Jonathan Kuminga agreed to a two-year Timberwolves deal worth $12.4 million with a player option, his agent told Shams Charania. Minnesota expects him to fill the vacant starting power forward spot when camp opens next month.

The NFL will eliminate Pro Bowl Games after years of declining fan engagement, though the league will still name Pro Bowlers each season. Selection will function purely as an honor without any accompanying showcase weekend.

Yayoi Kusama, whose polka-dot canvases and immersive Infinity Rooms defined a generation of contemporary art, died in Tokyo at 97. Kusama had lived voluntarily at a psychiatric hospital for decades while producing some of the most-visited installation art on the planet.

Beyoncé pledged $1 million to earthquake relief in Colombia through her BeyGood foundation. Her donation will fund emergency shelter, food, and supplies in the worst-hit regions.

James Gunn announced that "Man of Tomorrow" wrapped filming, setting DC Studios up for its next major theatrical release. Post-production begins immediately, with Gunn declining to confirm a release window.

What it is: Local officials and tech companies negotiating massive new data-center campuses have increasingly been signing non-disclosure agreements with each other during the permitting stage, before any public review begins. That practice has effectively locked residents out of decisions about projects that will draw down water tables, gobble up transmission capacity, and lock in tax abatements for a decade or more — all before anyone at a school board or planning commission meeting can raise a hand and object.

The detail: An investigation into data-center siting traced NDA-covered negotiations across multiple states, including deals reached with attorneys general, state economic-development boards, and small-town city councils that had never handled a project of that scale. In some communities, residents learned the buyer's identity only from a zoning notice; in others, they learned from press releases the same day construction began, long after every meaningful decision had already been made, incentives negotiated, and the site prepared.

Why it matters: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much electricity as a mid-sized city and draw millions of gallons of water each day for cooling, and the tax abatements attached to these deals routinely run into the hundreds of millions of dollars over their lifetime. Homeowners already dealing with rate hikes from other pressures, groundwater drawdowns, truck traffic, and 24-hour cooling-tower noise have had no chance to weigh in before contracts get locked in for 20 to 30 years — and by the time environmental reviews surface, the political cost of unwinding a signed deal is enormous.

What to watch: Whether state legislatures start banning NDAs in siting negotiations — a proposal now floated by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in at least three states with fast-growing data-center corridors. Federal permit review may also come into play if the water and grid costs start to escalate faster than local utilities can absorb them, especially in Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and the Carolinas, where the buildout is now moving fastest.

That’s today’s Five Minute Daily, with the essential stories shaping the world, markets, science, sports and culture. Share this edition with someone who values a concise briefing and subscribe to keep reading.

—The Five Minute Daily Team