Trump and Xi Extend Trade Truce to January 10 at White House Summit

webAI announced a strategic partnership with Forge AI Deployment, which is committing $30 million to webAI to build and deploy private, specialized AI systems for enterprise customers. The partnership pairs webAI's collaborative intelligence platform with Forge's enterprise deployment and services operation, with Forge working directly with customers to build AI systems around their proprietary data, workflows and operations on infrastructure those customers control. Forge is led by founder and CEO John Ezzell, who previously built an Oracle-focused services and reseller business that was acquired by Deloitte. webAI co-founder and CEO David Stout said the path to super intelligence is not one model that knows everything but specialized intelligence working together, and Ezzell said enterprises need AI that actually works inside their business rather than another demo. The deal expands webAI's ecosystem of systems integrators, software companies and channel partners building, deploying and distributing specialized AI solutions on its platform across commercial and public-sector markets.

Shopify has signed a deal to make eligible Shopify stores fully shoppable through Meta's new AI agent Muse, with Shop Pay available as a checkout option. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke said the company is partnering deeply with Muse to enable agentic checkout with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores, and the news sent shares more than 5% higher on September 22. Amazon blocked Muse in the same week, arguing that third-party apps should respect a retailer's decision not to participate, and has also blocked ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity's Comet. Amazon's $68.6 billion advertising business adds to the commercial stakes, though its legal position took a hit in August when a Ninth Circuit appeals court overturned its injunction against Perplexity. Amazon operates its own agentic shopping assistant, Alexa for Shopping, and said Rufus had helped deliver nearly $12 billion in incremental annualized sales in 2025.

Microsoft generated $182.9 billion in cash flow from operations in fiscal 2026, up more than 34% from $136.2 billion in fiscal 2025, and its board declared a $0.98 per share quarterly payout, extending its streak of dividend raises to more than 20 years. Azure revenues reached $29.42 billion in the final quarter, up 42% year-over-year, outpacing overall topline growth, while the company continues to direct substantial capital toward AI investments. Microsoft expects fiscal 2027 capital expenditures to grow year-over-year as it builds out data-center infrastructure, a spending pace that could pressure free cash flow and dividend capacity if AI monetization falls short. The company is also shifting toward usage-based pricing, applying the model to GitHub Copilot users in 2026 and replacing unlimited cloud gaming with monthly usage allowances plus the option to buy additional hours. Institutional sentiment remains strong, with 273 hedge funds holding positions at the end of Q2 2026 versus 282 in Q1 2026, short interest at just 1%, and BlackRock the largest stakeholder at 607.37 million shares, or 8.18% of outstanding shares.