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U.S. Agency Approves OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic for Federal AI Vendor List

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The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has approved OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude as official AI vendors for federal agencies, the agency announced Tuesday. This move supports the Trump administration’s push to expand AI adoption across government sectors.

The approvals come as part of a broader AI blueprint released on July 23, which seeks to ease environmental regulations and increase AI exports to allied countries to help the U.S. maintain its technological edge over China.

With the GSA’s approval, these AI tools will be accessible to federal agencies through a platform that streamlines contracts and usage terms. The agency emphasized that it prioritizes AI models that ensure truthfulness, accuracy, transparency, and freedom from ideological bias.

President Donald Trump has described the AI race as a defining challenge of the 21st century. His administration’s AI plan includes around 90 recommendations focused on promoting U.S. AI software and hardware exports, while rolling back state laws seen as restrictive to AI innovation.

This approach contrasts sharply with the Biden administration’s “high fence” policies, which placed more stringent safeguards on AI use within federal agencies, including monitoring and assessing AI’s impact on the public. Biden also signed an executive order aimed at fostering competition, protecting consumers, and combating misinformation—measures that were later rescinded by Trump.

CFTC Moves to Permit Spot Crypto Trading on Registered Futures Exchanges

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced plans to launch an initiative allowing spot trading of crypto asset contracts on futures exchanges registered with the agency. This effort aims to further integrate digital assets into traditional finance and could accelerate broader crypto adoption.

Acting Chair Caroline Pham explained that the CFTC will work alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Project Crypto to enable federal-level trading of digital assets. The agency has opened a public comment period to gather input on how to designate spot crypto asset contracts for trading on regulated markets.

Industry leaders welcomed the move as a significant step toward aligning crypto markets with conventional financial standards. Saad Ahmed, head of Asia Pacific at Gemini, said the initiative could expand institutional and sophisticated investor participation worldwide.

The development follows several crypto-friendly actions by the Trump administration, including bills like the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act aimed at creating tailored regulatory frameworks. Shortly after taking office, President Trump established a crypto working group tasked with recommending new regulations, fulfilling his campaign pledge to overhaul U.S. crypto policy.

Last week, the administration released a landmark report urging the SEC to implement specific rules for digital assets and encouraged the CFTC to use its existing powers to “immediately enable” federal digital asset trading. Trump, who branded himself the “crypto president” during his campaign, received substantial financial support from the crypto industry and Republican congressional candidates.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins recently outlined multiple pro-crypto initiatives, including developing clearer guidelines on when a crypto token qualifies as a security and proposals for disclosure and exemption rules.

The dual approach by the CFTC and SEC marks a victory for the crypto sector, which has long sought tailored regulations. It may also benefit exchanges, which have dominated spot trading by operating in a regulatory gray area.

Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, expressed optimism that a wider range of digital assets beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum could establish themselves on U.S. trading platforms over the next two years, aided by initiatives like this.

However, the success of these initiatives hinges on resolving fundamental questions about whether digital assets should be regulated as commodities or securities—a longstanding issue for U.S. regulators.

Neither the CFTC nor the SEC has provided further comments yet.

This shift under the Trump administration sharply contrasts with the Biden administration’s regulatory crackdown, which has included lawsuits against major exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance for alleged violations of U.S. laws. The Trump-era SEC has reportedly dropped these cases.

Bitcoin Hits Record High Fueled by Institutional Demand and Crypto-Friendly U.S. Policies

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Bitcoin surged to an all-time high on Friday, driven by strong demand from institutional investors and supportive policies from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The leading cryptocurrency reached a peak of $116,781.10 during the Asian trading session, marking a gain of over 24% for the year. It was last traded around $116,563.11.

Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, attributed the record rally to “relentless institutional accumulation,” noting that major investors are buying large amounts of Bitcoin, reducing available supply on exchanges.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order to create a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies and has appointed crypto-friendly officials, including SEC Chair Paul Atkins and White House AI czar David Sacks. Trump’s family businesses have also entered the crypto space, with the Trump Media & Technology Group planning to launch an exchange-traded fund investing in various crypto tokens, including Bitcoin, according to a recent SEC filing.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also experienced a strong rise, climbing nearly 5% to $2,956.82 and earlier reaching a five-month peak of $2,998.41.