Platts Launching US GPU Compute Prices on 23 November

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, will launch US GPU prices on Nov 23, 2026.

Daily prices will cover 4 NVIDIA chips: NVIDIA H100, H200, B200 and B300 chips. Prices will be in USD per GPU-hour and USD per million tokens of output, based on prices and availability at 1.30pm CT (Central Standard Time, the second easternmost time zone in the US and Canada). This product range is wider than the proposed CME futures launching in partnership with Silicon Data.

Silicon Data publish H100 and B200 data, including daily-computed indices. They were first-to-market with a GPU forward curve. 

The CME are planning to launch GPU futures in 2026 (on the CME NYMEX) pending approval from the CFTC (a tentative launch of 5 October was crossed due to need for longer review, citing manipulation risk in an opaque market), under the maxim "The New Currency for the AI Economy". These futures are set to cover H100 and B200 GPUs, with a contract size of 730 GPU hours (per contract), which is approximately 1 continuous (30 day) month of GPU time; with an IM of 10% of notional (subject to change). Settlement is at an average of daily prices provided by Silicon Data excluding CME Group holidays. The contract is purely financial with no physical delivery.

Note: S&P Global Energy is the rebrand of S&P Global Commodity Insights completed in November 2025. Before that it was known as S&P Global Platts and simply Platts before that.

Platts was originally a newsletter called Platts Oilgram first published in 1923, a specialist publication keyed off a magazine called National Petroleum News (started by Warren C. Platt in Ohio in 1909).

Apple Discloses Acqui-Hire of Agentic Data Engineering Firm Ascend.io

Apple have disclosed details (except deal value) of their acquisition of Ascend.io, a startup in Silicon Valley founded in 2015, building agentic data engineering technology, from Ascension labs. The deal closed on June 30, 2026.

Ascend.io uses AI agents to automate routine data engineering work, with clients that include News Corp, HarperCollins, Mattel and Marist.

The deal terms include the right to "make employment offers and hire certain employees" and a "non-exclusive license to Ascend's IP rights" and assignment of certain patents.

Pundits speculate the deal is as much about talent and technology as finished products.

Endava Revenue Recognition Woes Lead to Changing of the Guard

An investigation into Endava's revenue recognition has led Chief Financial Officer and Board member Mark Thurston to resign. John Cotterell, CEO, has also informed the Board of his decision to retire effective October 19, 2027, in accordance with his 12 month notice requirement.

A CFO search is underway, while Conor McShane of AlixPartners LLP continues to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer. The Board has determined new leadership is critical so have also appointed Rob Machin, the Company's Chief People and Locations officer as Interim CEO from late November 2026.

LSEG agrees to buy Octus from Permira for $3.535bn

The multiple was 11.8x 2026 revenue of $300m+, roughly 28x EBITDA, and LSEG's largest deal since Refinitiv. Permira was reportedly asking for $4bn in 2025.

Octus is a credit intelligence and data platform with workflow tools, and a user base of 40,000 including banks, buyside and law firms, advisory and restructuring firms as well.

Proprietary datasets include syndicated loans, DIP (Debtor-in-possession) financing (a special form of financing to companies in financial distress, typically during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy) and unsecured claims. All great for understanding the credit constraints that companies are in. Their mantra is "Octus: Where Credit Becomes Clear".

Freight Rates in Spotlight with Hormuz Disruption

Disruption to major shipping lanes, like the Strait of Hormuz, have caused freight rates to climb this year. 

As an example, the BDI, or Baltic Dry Index (published daily), which tracks the cost of shipping raw materials like coal and steel, is up about 36% since early January - but with peaks and troughs creating substantial volatility.

(Technical note: BDI is a composite index made up of  a weighted sum of cost indices for various size of ships: 40% Capesize, 30% Panamax, 30% Supramax).

Recall that Capesize are the largest class of dry-bulk carriers, primarily transporting high volume commodities like iron ore and coal. Their name comes from the fact they traditionally had to "round the capes" as their size exceeded canal limits. They have deadweight tonnage of between 150K to 400K tonnes (note: DWT includes cargo, fuel, water, provisions, passengers and crew).

Freshfields Mulling Carve Out of AI Unit

Freshfields (a leading global law firm) has a dedicated AI focus area.  

Anna Gressel is Global Co-Head of AI, based in New York (World Trade Center) as is Giles Pratt, who also leads the IP/data practice, based in London (Bishopsgate).

In the AI space, they have advised AxelSpringer (Politico, Business Insider, Bild and Welt) on the IP and commercial aspects of its global partnership with OpenAI.

Rystad Energy gets PE Money and new CEO

Marlin Equity Partners has invested in Rystad enabling it to lean into data, technology and AI. Founder Jarand Rystad (who has led the company since 2004) will step away as CEO - with Deputy CEO Lars Erik Nicolaisen rising to the CEO spot on 12 October 2026. Rystad launched Spektra in August, which is a tech ecosystem replete with MCP connectors and and API gateway.