Situational awareness: President Trump is expected to sign an executive order in coming days, opening the door to more private-market investments in 401(k) plans.

Blackstone's pledge to invest $25 billion in data centers and power in Pennsylvania on Tuesday places the company's marker on where AI is going.

Why it matters: It's an outsized bet that tech giants slowing down data center leasing is a blip, and that spending on AI power will grow as it becomes more efficient.

Context: Pundits have shown concern that the explosion of investments on the so-called "picks and shovels" of the space is entering bubble territory.

Between the lines: What Blackstone appears to see as the secret sauce to this particular pledge is the idea of colocation — building the data center alongside the power source, cutting out the cost of building the transmission and pipelines.

• Builders also argue proximity makes it faster to get a data center up and running.
• Per a source familiar, the $25 billion also includes a stake in its joint venture with PPL, the Pennsylvania-based utilities company, which will invest in new natural gas facilities in the state.

Zoom out: Blackstone has invested $85 billion into the space over the last four years, and is clearly not slowing down.

• This $25 billion is committed to projects that will break ground come 2028.

Aura Minerals, a company with gold and copper mines in Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras, raised $196.4 million from its U.S. listing, pricing shares at $24.25.

• Shares will begin trading on Nasdaq this morning. The company already trades in Toronto.

Why it's the BFD: President Trump has announced 50% tariffs on copper, effective Aug. 1, driving up price and volatility for the metal.

Between the lines: Aura's copper production is largely in Latin America, meaning it could take a direct hit from the tariffs.

• Though the company over the last year has been growing its gold production as a percentage of revenue — with the company saying that it believes it's an inflation hedge with more use-cases compared to copper.
• As of 2024, 33% of its revenue sourced from copper-gold concentrate, the rest from gold. That figure was 42% the year prior.
• Aura has an agreement with Trafigura to buy most of its copper through 2027, providing some insurance against the current copper volatility.

The bottom line: The biggest concern is not U.S. copper tariffs alone — but what could happen if reciprocal tariffs are lobbed back.

• Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by OpenAI's former chief technology officer Mira Murati, raised $2b led by Andreessen Horowitz. The deal values it at $12b. axios.link/3IsLhwn

• SpaceX is planning an insider share sale that would value the company at about $400b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/467Ty2L