Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan faces criticism following Trump's public comment
In the realm of business, Firefly Aerospace soared more than 50% during its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Thursday, trading at over $70 per share. Meanwhile, Skydance Media officially closed its $8 billion merger deal with Paramount on the same day [1].
In the world of space, NASA administrator Sean Duffy announced the Trump Administration's ambitious plan to land a working nuclear fission reactor on the moon by the end of the decade. This follows the research of Sebastian Corbisiero, the national technical director for space reactors at the Idaho National Lab, who believes a lunar reactor is an important first step towards developing systems that could sustain a Martian colony [2].
NASA and its contractors have been relying on atomic power for a long time, using radioisotopic batteries for Apollo missions, space probes, and Martian landers since the 1960s [3]. The Fission Surface Power Project, a consortium including companies like Lockheed Martin and Westinghouse, aims to create a system that weighs just 6 tons, can fit into a cylinder 13 feet in diameter and 20 feet long, and can work for 10 years without maintenance or refueling [4].
OpenAI released GPT-5, its new flagship language model, which is said to answer questions more quickly and be less prone to hallucinations [5].
In the realm of politics, President Donald Trump said he directed the Commerce Department to no longer include undocumented immigrants in the U.S. census. Japan's top trade negotiator also announced that the Trump Administration would revise its tariff order to eliminate the stacking of multiple tariffs on Japanese goods [6].
The recent inspector general report shows that $41.8 billion of the IRS funding has been rescinded, all of which were designated for enforcement. However, the estimated revenue from IRA-funded enforcement through 2031 is $204 billion, per a 2022 estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. For every $20 billion clawed back from enforcement, the CBO estimated $44 billion in decreased revenues [7].
In the cannabis industry, a GOP lawmaker has filed a federal cannabis rescheduling bill, indicating a push to change the legal status of cannabis at the federal level. Local and international cannabis-related policy developments include Colorado Springs' City Council recommending marijuana revenue be allocated to PTSD recovery programs, and activists in Belize securing enough signatures for a marijuana legalization referendum [2].
Health studies show ongoing research on CBD treatment's effectiveness for seizure reduction and connections between infections and medical cannabis use [2]. Business updates in the cannabis industry report quarterly revenues and losses for companies like Organigram Global Inc., Charlotte’s Web Holdings, and Grown Rogue International, along with executive changes at High Tide Inc [2].
Additional Forbes-related content includes in-depth investigative reporting on wealth and power dynamics, such as a piece analyzing how Jeffrey Epstein amassed his fortune, featuring exclusive Forbes reporting [3].
Lastly, Instagram rolled out a new map feature allowing users to share their location with a select group of followers [8].
[1] Firefly Aerospace jumps more than 50% during IPO [2] Forbes Daily newsletter: August 14, 2025 - Business, cannabis policy, health, and investigative journalism [3] NASA and atomic power: A long-standing relationship [4] Fission Surface Power Project: A step towards a sustainable lunar presence [5] OpenAI's new language model: GPT-5 [6] Trump Administration's tariff policy changes and its impact on Japanese goods [7] IRS funding rescission and its impact on revenue [8] Instagram's new map feature: Sharing locations with selected followers
- In the field of technology, Forbes Daily's newsletter provides in-depth reporting on the successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Firefly Aerospace, a company working in the space industry.
- Meanwhile, in the realms of finance and politics, the discussion surrounding the legal status of cannabis is heating up, with a GOP lawmaker filing a federal rescheduling bill, a move that could potentially change the federal legal status of cannabis.
