🚦 Chime *Another One*

+ Rivian, Tesla, and Lucid impacted as Trump signs resolutions crushing California’s EV rules

June 12, 2025

Good afternoon! Most AI companies say they’re here to help workers. Mechanize isn’t pretending. The new startup wants to automate every job on Earth, from software engineering to teaching, and it’s building AI agents that learn by completing tasks in simulated work environments. Think coding, emailing, and Slacking inside a virtual machine until the AI figures it out.

The company is backed by big names like Stripe’s Patrick Collison and Google’s Jeff Dean, and it’s betting reinforcement learning will eventually scale to every desk job. Its founders say full automation could take 20 to 30 years, but they’re not waiting around. They have no concrete plan for what happens to the people being replaced, aside from vague talk of universal basic income.

MARKETS

  • Stocks pushed higher Thursday after May’s Producer Price Index came in cooler than expected, rising just 0.1%. The data helped offset renewed tariff threats from President Trump and gave traders more hope for a Fed rate cut.

  • The S&P 500 gained 0.38%, lifted by a 13% jump in Oracle, while the Nasdaq added 0.24%. The Dow rose 102 points even as Boeing slipped after a deadly crash in India.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

  • Chime Financial surged 37.41% in its Nasdaq debut, closing at $37.11 after pricing its IPO at $27. ($CHYM)

  • CureVac jumped 37.59% after BioNTech announced plans to acquire the company in a $1.25 billion all-stock deal. ($CVAC)

  • Oracle popped 13.31% after beating earnings estimates and guiding for 70%+ cloud infrastructure growth in FY2026. ($ORCL)

  • Cardinal Health rose 4.55% after raising its full-year earnings forecast. ($CAH)

  • Datadog climbed 3.43% following an analyst upgrade from Wolfe Research citing AI-driven growth potential. ($DDOG)

What’s down 📉

  • GameStop plunged 22.45% after announcing a $1.75 billion convertible note sale aimed at raising cash. ($GME)

  • Oxford Industries fell 13.91% after cutting fiscal guidance due to tariff pressures. ($OXM)

  • Voyager Technologies dropped 6.51% after its IPO pop yesterday, closing well below its first-day highs. ($VYGR)

  • Boeing tumbled 4.79% after a Dreamliner jet crashed in India, killing passengers and raising safety concerns. ($BA)

  • Oklo lost 5.22% after announcing a $400 million stock offering. ($OKLO)

  • GE Aerospace slipped 2.25% as a related engine supplier for Boeing’s Dreamliner jets. ($GE)

NEWS
Chime IPO: Stock Soars in Nasdaq Debut, Valuing It at Nearly $14 Billion

After three years stuck in IPO purgatory, Chime finally got its moment and the markets swiped right.

The online banking app surged 37% in its Nasdaq debut Thursday, closing at $37.11 after pricing its shares above range at $27. That gave Chime a market cap of $13.5 billion, or $15.8 billion on a fully diluted basis. It still falls short of the $25 billion valuation it commanded in 2021, but it's a solid reentry for a company that delayed its IPO following tariff-driven market chaos.

Why It Matters

Chime’s pop wasn’t just a win for the company. It was a vote of confidence for fintech IPOs that have been stuck on the bench. The company raised $864 million in the sixth-largest U.S. offering of the year, with investor demand reportedly topping 20 times the available shares. That’s no small feat in a market still recovering from the highs and hangovers of 2021.

Swiping Into the Future

Chime’s pitch is simple. No fees, early paycheck access, and debit cards that do the heavy lifting. It doesn’t hold a bank charter but partners with Bancorp and Stride Bank to offer services. Chime makes its money through interchange fees, the same way Visa and Mastercard do. That helped it process $121 billion in volume over the last year from 8.6 million users who tap the app 4 to 5 times daily. CEO Chris Britt says two-thirds of users treat Chime as their primary account, mostly Americans earning under $100,000 a year.

Once users set up direct deposit, Chime holds onto more than 90% of them. To get there, though, the company spent $1.4 billion on marketing between 2022 and 2024. That spend seems to be paying off, with Chime posting $25 million in adjusted profit last quarter.

Fintech Is Back, Maybe: Chime’s debut follows strong openings from Circle and Voyager, giving hope to other IPO hopefuls like Klarna, Bullish, and StubHub. If the momentum sticks, the fintech freeze could finally be thawing. If not, expect another long winter.

For now, Chime is ringing loud enough to catch the attention of Wall Street and maybe a few late-stage startups hoping their turn is next.

NEWS
Market Movements

  • 🧸 Mattel strikes OpenAI deal for AI toys: Barbie-maker Mattel partnered with OpenAI to launch AI-powered toys and games. It’s the first product deal of its kind for OpenAI, which recently acquired Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup for $5B. Mattel will also deploy ChatGPT Enterprise internally ($MAT).

  • 💰 Micron’s $200B ‘investment’ draws skepticism: Micron and the Trump administration announced a $200B chip investment plan backed by CEOs like Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, and Satya Nadella. But only $30B appears to be new, with the rest repackaging prior commitments. The market shrugged as shares stayed flat ($MU).

  • 🪙 GameStop drops after new bitcoin-linked debt raise: GameStop sank after announcing a $1.75B convertible note offering, likely to fund more bitcoin purchases. The move follows a similar $1.3B raise earlier this year, which funded over $500M in crypto buys. Investors remain skeptical as revenue continues to decline ($GME).

  • ✈️ Boeing tumbles after crash: Boeing shares fell 8% in premarket trading after an Air India Boeing 787 crashed in India with 242 people onboard, renewing investor concerns over safety and ongoing reputational risks ($BA).

  • 📈 Oracle soars on forecast: Oracle popped nearly 8% after it raised its FY26 revenue forecast to at least $67B, driven by a 14% rise in cloud revenue to $11.7B. Strong AI demand, including its Stargate JV with OpenAI, continues to fuel growth, with Q4 revenue beating estimates at $15.9B ($ORCL).

  • 🚗 Toyota chairman reelected: Shareholders reelected Akio Toyoda as Toyota chairman amid criticism over its $33B bid to take Toyota Industries private — a deal seen by critics as undervaluing shares and consolidating family control at minority investors’ expense ($TM).

  • 🧬 Pharma buyout: BioNTech will acquire CureVac in a $1.25B all-stock deal to strengthen its mRNA-based cancer therapy pipeline ($BNTX, $CVAC).

  • 🚨 Meta sues AI developer: Meta filed a lawsuit against CrushAI, an app that creates AI-generated non-consensual nude images via Facebook and Instagram ads. Separately, the social media giant faces pressure from 42 state AGs to curb investment scams on its platforms ($META).

EV
Rivian, Tesla, and Lucid impacted as Trump signs resolutions crushing California’s EV rules

President Trump just threw California’s clean car plans into reverse. On Thursday, he signed three resolutions that strip the state of its authority to set stricter emissions rules effectively killing its 2035 ban on new gas-powered vehicles.

The fallout was immediate: Rivian dropped 2.1%, Lucid fell 1.2%, and Tesla ended flat, despite being squarely in the policy’s crosshairs. It’s a sharp blow to the EV industry, which had counted on California home to 40% of U.S. zero-emission sales in 2022 to lead the charge.

One Nation, One Standard
Trump framed the move as a victory for the U.S. auto industry, declaring California’s EV mandate “terminated.” Automakers and trucking groups applauded, arguing that a national standard reduces costs and restores “freedom of choice” for consumers.

But environmental groups warned the real winners are Big Oil and China. With the U.S. stepping back, Beijing looks set to widen its EV lead—China already claimed two-thirds of global electric car sales last year.

California Fires Back

Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t hold back, calling the decision “illegal” and promising to sue. “Trump is gutting clean air protections and giving away America’s EV future,” he said.

Trump, meanwhile, said he still likes Tesla despite his recent feud with Elon Musk and added his signature touch: riffing on electric boats, windmills, and shark attacks at the White House signing event.

Bottom Line: California’s EV rules shaped national policy and forced automakers to adapt. Scrapping them could slow U.S. progress and open the door for China to dominate the EV market.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Tomorrow

With earnings season in the rearview and no major reports on deck, Wall Street’s calendar is looking like a ghost town. The only real item of note? The University of Michigan’s early read on consumer sentiment.

It’ll offer a glimpse into how Americans are feeling after a rollercoaster May and a rebound from post-Liberation Day dips. With little else to chew on, expect traders to comb through the mood data for any hints on where the economy—and the market—might head next.

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

  • 🧠 Elon Musk Walks Back Trump Feud: At 3am, Elon Musk tweeted that he regretted “some” of his recent posts about President Trump, calling them excessive. The move followed reports that VP JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles urged Musk to tone it down—and that Musk spoke to Trump directly. Last week’s clash involved mutual accusations ranging from Epstein ties to contract threats. Musk says Tesla’s self-driving service will debut in Austin June 22.

  • 🧪 RFK Jr. Replaces Entire CDC Vaccine Panel: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with eight new appointees, several of whom have questioned mRNA vaccines. Critics in the medical community worry the revamped panel could undermine public health. Kennedy defended the move, citing pharmaceutical influence in the prior group. The new panel will vote on COVID and flu recommendations later this month.

  • ⚖️ Judge Orders Release of Detained Protest Leader: A federal judge ruled that protest leader Mahmoud Khalil must be released unless the government appeals by Friday. Arrested during a crackdown, the former Columbia student had been held for weeks without charges. The judge said his detention violated due process. Supporters say the case was politically motivated.

  • 🏙️ NYC Bans Broker Fees for Renters: New York City’s FARE Act took effect Tuesday, banning landlords from forcing tenants to pay broker fees. The move drops the average lease signing cost from $13,000 to $7,500, but landlords may offset the loss by raising rent. NYC was one of the last major U.S. cities with tenant-paid broker fees. A judge denied a last-minute request from real estate groups to delay the change.

  • 🪧 Protests Spread After Federal Raids and Military Deployment: Protests erupted nationwide after President Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to suppress unrest tied to federal immigration enforcement raids. Civil rights groups and local officials condemned the move as unconstitutional. Demonstrations have since spread to Chicago, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., with Texas sending troops to San Antonio in anticipation of protests. Some rallies have remained peaceful, while others escalated into clashes with law enforcement.

  • 🎬 Disney and Universal Sue Midjourney Over AI Images: Disney and Universal filed the movie industry’s first major copyright lawsuit targeting AI, accusing Midjourney of illegally generating likenesses of characters like Yoda and the Minions. The studios allege the startup trained its model on copyrighted material and ignored cease-and-desist letters. The case includes side-by-side comparisons of real and AI-generated stills from films like Avengers: Infinity War. They’re seeking damages and a halt to Midjourney’s upcoming video tool.

  • 🛑 42 Attorneys General Press Meta on Scams: A coalition of 42 state AGs urged Meta to crack down on financial scams across Facebook. The scams often impersonate celebrities to push fake investments and crypto schemes. The AGs say Meta’s efforts are insufficient and demand quicker takedowns, better detection tools, and more transparency. Meta acknowledged the problem but hasn’t announced specific updates.

  • ⚖️ Weinstein Convicted on One Count in NY Retrial: Harvey Weinstein was found guilty on one count of criminal sexual act but acquitted on another during his New York retrial. The retrial followed an appeals court tossing his 2020 conviction over procedural issues. Weinstein remains imprisoned for a separate California conviction. His lawyers say they’ll appeal the latest verdict.

  • 🎵 Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Co-founder, Dies at 82: Brian Wilson, the musical genius behind the Beach Boys, passed away at 82. Known for shaping the iconic California sound, Wilson battled mental illness but continued to create groundbreaking music. His 1966 album Pet Sounds is still hailed as one of the greatest of all time. Tributes have poured in from musicians and fans across generations.

  • 🥟 Dumpling Chain Dominates U.S. Dining Scene: Taiwan-based Din Tai Fung topped all U.S. restaurants in revenue per location in 2024, with an average of $27.4 million per store. Its Disneyland site alone sells 10,000 soup dumplings a day. With just 16 U.S. locations, it’s beating steakhouse giants like Mastro’s. The rise of Asian sit-down chains—like KPOT and Kura Sushi—continues to reshape the casual dining landscape.

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