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(Reuters) -S&P Global has agreed to buy private markets data provider With Intelligence, the company said on Wednesday, as it looks to expand its products for the fast-growing segment of financial services. Private markets are seeing increased investor interest as years of higher interest rates and muted exits have pressured private valuations at a time when industry executives are concerned about asset price bubbles in public markets. Insights into pricing and comparables for private assets have become valuable because of the historical opacity around such investments. The trend has drawn BlackRock, with the world's largest asset manager spending $12.5 billion to buy Global Infrastructure Partners last year. It also spent $3.5 billion for private markets data provider Preqin in February and $12 billion for private credit firm HPS Investment Partners in July. Private markets also received a boost from U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order in August, aiming to ease access to nontraditional assets like private equity and private credit in 401(k) plans. Founded in 1998, With provides data and analytics for alternative and private markets to around 3,000 customers globally. It is expected to generate around $130 million in revenue in 2025, with annual contract value growth expected in the high teens. The deal is set to close in 2025, or early 2026, and is expected to be add to the company's adjusted profit per share in 2027, S&P Global said. Citi advised S&P Global, while Centerview Partners was the financial advisor for With. (Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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By Xiuhao Chen and Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -Apple's Tim Cook pledged to boost the tech giant's investment in China on Wednesday as it navigates the trade war between Beijing and Washington. Many U.S. companies have become cautious about relations with China as the world's two biggest economies clash over tariffs and as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to promote manufacturing in the United States rather than elsewhere. But Cook told China's industry minister Li Lecheng the iPhone maker will keep investing in China, according to an official summary of their meeting in Beijing released by the Chinese, although it gave no details of the size of the potential investment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  The California-based company, which has also made investment pledges to Washington, has so far remained relatively unscathed by the trade war between the United States and China. Other companies, such as Nvidia and Qualcomm have found themselves the target of Chinese investigations. Washington has long placed sanctions on Chinese companies such as Huawei. BALANCING ACT A Shanghai-based government affairs consultant, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with media, said U.S. companies are wary of angering a White House that could hurt them at home in the world's biggest consumer market for appearing too pro-China. At the same time, they are seeking to avoid appearing insincere in Beijing where they have pledged to be "in China, for China", he added. Cook in August presented Trump with a custom U.S.-made plaque mounted on a 24-carat gold stand commemorating Apple's "American Manufacturing Program", after saying it would invest an additional $100 billion in domestic manufacturing. When Cook visited China in March, Apple made public its plans for a new clean energy fund there worth 720 million yuan ($101 million). Meanwhile, Apple, which relies on suppliers and factories in China where most of its iPhones are assembled, has been trying to shift some manufacturing capacity to India. Apple's COO Sabih Khan on Tuesday visited Lens Technology, a Chinese glass supplier for Apple, the Changsha-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Lens Technology produces glass covers for Apple products including the iPhone and Apple Watch and has been a partner for 19 years, it said. China hopes Apple will continue to explore the Chinese market and grow together with Chinese suppliers, the industry minister, Li Lecheng, who is also in charge of infotech, told Cook, adding that China would continue to foster a good business environment for foreign companies, including Apple. 'CHOOSING CHINA' Apple's shipments in China grew 0.6% from a year earlier to 10.8 million units in the third quarter against the backdrop of sluggish demand in China's smartphone market, according to data research firm IDC on Wednesday. Boosted by the iPhone 17 series, it was the only brand among China's three biggest vendors to achieve growth in shipments during the period. As part of his visit to China this week, Cook visited Apple's store in Shanghai and met Chinese game developers and the designer of the popular Labubu dolls, he said in posts on China's X-like Weibo. On Monday, he said the iPhone Air would be available for pre-order in China after the industry ministry cleared the way for major telecom operators to support its eSIM functionality. "The business community has always been a stabiliser of China-U.S. relations and a promoter of pragmatic cooperation," China's ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, said during an event in Washington on Tuesday. Many U.S. companies have "chosen China" and are benefiting both countries, Xie added. ($1=7.1258 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Xiuhao Chen and Joe Cash; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Barbara Lewis)

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By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) -Optimism over the profit potential of artificial intelligence has helped drive the U.S. stock market to record highs, but investors are looking for weak spots that could emerge in the AI trade and have identified some risks to watch for. AI has been the dominant theme on Wall Street since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, which fueled enthusiasm about the technology's potential. Citigroup strategists estimate that nearly 50% of the S&P 500's overall roughly $57 trillion in market capitalization has “high” or “medium” exposure to AI.  The benchmark index is up about 13% year-to-date, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has climbed 17%.  "So much of what is holding up the markets is either directly or indirectly related to that trade," said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at PNC Financial Services Group.  Technology and AI-linked stocks have stumbled several times this year. The emergence of a Chinese low-cost AI model called Deepseek at the start of the year sent shockwaves through tech stocks as it raised questions about massive capital spending. Similar questions also arose in August, briefly hitting tech stocks once again. The AI trade recovered from those setbacks and has thrived. "There is a huge opportunity here, but it really just comes down to what's priced in and what's not," said Steve Lowe, chief investment strategist at Thrivent Financial. "There is a lot of growth priced in, and that is one of the concerns, because there are still a number of risks that could trip up people's expectations." While some of the market participants who point to risks remain bullish as the benchmark S&P 500 starts the fourth year of its bull run, investors have identified potential warning signs to watch for as tech and other major U.S. companies begin reporting quarterly results in the days ahead. MASSIVE CAPEX SPENDING IN FOCUS Given massive capital expenditures required to build out infrastructure tied to AI applications, investors said they will watch the rate of spending and return on investments, and the potential for outlays to erode profitability. Capex from major cloud computing and AI platform companies known as "hyperscalers" including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle, is expected to roughly double from 2024 to 2027 to $500 billion annually, according to Barclays strategists. While these companies generate massive amounts of cash, it is important to watch whether they are "spending faster than their growth rates and eating into their free cash flow margins," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for State Street Investment Management. Investors are also wary of any surprise softening in the spending, given the importance of tech outlays to support the AI expansion. "The bigger risk is not investing too much; it is not investing enough right now," said Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. There could be ramifications from potential "circular" deals involving AI companies with overlapping interests, such as Nvidia's recent announcement it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. While the interdependent relationships within the AI ecosystem "do not appear sinister … there is significant systemic risk in such close financial and operational ties," Irene Tunkel, chief U.S. equity strategist at BCA Research, said in a note this week. Tech companies have large cash resources to support AI spending and deal making. But a switch toward more leverage might raise eyebrows. "When you see these big announcements, you want to see it funded through cash flow, not debt or equity raises," said Anastacio Teodoro, senior portfolio manager at Federated Hermes. EYEING RETURN ON INVESTMENTS Barclays strategists are optimistic about the AI theme over the next 12 to 18 months, but they are also wary of signs the energy infrastructure may not be sufficient to support data centers and the AI-related build-out.  "The power issue is probably one of the most important gating factors you should be looking out for," Venu Krishna, head of U.S. equity strategy at Barclays, said on a recent call with journalists.  Investors are also on guard for signals that demand is tailing off or that the massive investments are not paying off as anticipated. "One potential trigger is that suddenly the needs just look like they are going to be less than was originally anticipated," PNC's Ma said. Patrick Ryan, chief investment strategist at Madison Investments, said there have yet to be many tangible signs of significant revenue and productivity gains stemming from AI. "If you get to the point where it becomes questionable that all of this investment was really going to pay off … that is going to be something that would be very at risk," Ryan said. "How that happens, I can't necessarily put my finger on it." (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Alden Bentley and Nick Zieminski)

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(Reuters) -S&P Global has agreed to buy private markets data provider With Intelligence, the company said on Tuesday, as it looks to expand its products for the fast-growing segment of financial services. The deal is set to close in 2025, or early 2026, and is expected to be accretive to the company's adjusted profit per share in 2027, S&P Global said. Citi is acting as S&P Global's lead advisor, while Centerview Partners is the financial advisor for With. (Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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By Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Vertical Semiconductor, a startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Wednesday said it raised $11 million in funding to commercialize chip technology that can deliver electricity to artificial intelligence servers more efficiently. Vertical makes chips out of a material called gallium nitride, an alternative to silicon which is becoming central to an effort led by chip designer Nvidia to rework auxiliary chips inside AI data centers to direct electricity and convert it into the form needed by Nvidia's chips. Those data centers currently consume as much power as some cities. However, when converting huge voltages from power stations to the tiny voltages needed by microchips, much of that electricity simply generates heat. That has spurred a frenzy of investment and interest in reducing that loss. "That is power you are not delivering to (computing tasks) – it straight turns into heat," Matt Hersenson, a partner with Playground Global, the venture capital firm that led the funding round, said in an interview. Established chipmakers such as Renesas, Infineon and Power Integrations are all working with Nvidia to develop power chips made of gallium nitride, known as "GaN" in the chip industry, for AI data centers. But Vertical, which plans to deliver prototypes this year and to deliver chips next year, has a different approach that it hopes will make its chips smaller and cooler. On most existing GaN chips, the transistors – the fundamental building blocks of chips – are laid out horizontally. Vertical, as its name suggests, stacks the parts of the transistor on top of one another, leading to more compact chips. The approach came out of work at MIT led by Tomas Palacios, a professor at the school who co-founded the firm, and developed by Joshua Perozek, whose doctoral research focused on the technology. Cynthia Liao, who joined as CEO from MIT's Sloan School of Management, said the startup hopes to compete against established players by offering better cost savings to data center owners over time than more established technologies. "We do believe we offer a compelling next-generation solution that is not just a couple of percentage points here and there, but actually a step-wise transformation," Liao said in an interview. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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