Chevron

DeepSeek Repopulates World of Warcraft with 1,800 Bots

A Reddit user repopulated a private World of Warcraft server with about 1,800 AI players connected to DeepSeek's API, producing lively chat at a reported running cost of roughly €43 per month. The newsletter frames this as evidence that cheaply priced LLMs can recreate believable digital communities and suggests that when more capable frontier models reach similar price points, bots will perform actions (questing, raiding) rather than only converse. The issue sits alongside other recent signals: Tesla filed a US trademark for “Megapod,” a modular AI data-center hardware concept; a SemiAnalysis stress test found flat-rate AI subscriptions can be loss-making at high utilization; and a Linux maintainer removed the AppleTalk protocol after an influx of AI-generated patch submissions. Together these items highlight falling inference costs, new infrastructure tradeoffs (power/cooling), and emerging risks from high-volume automated code contributions.

Microsoft, Chevron to Build 2.67GW Gas Plant for Data Centers

Microsoft and Chevron announced a plan to develop a 2.67-gigawatt natural gas power plant in West Texas, called Project Kilby, under a 20-year power purchase agreement to supply a Microsoft-operated AI and cloud data center. The facility will be powered primarily by two large GE Vernova turbines with additional capacity from Solar Turbines, a Caterpillar subsidiary. Chevron described the development as one of the largest co-located natural gas power and data center projects in the U.S. Environmental Integrity Project estimates the project could emit more than 13 million tons of CO2 and significant quantities of other air pollutants, a development that complicates Microsoft’s prior carbon-reduction commitments.

Bank of America Upgrades Exxon Mobil to Buy

Bank of America upgraded Exxon Mobil from neutral to buy and set a $154 price target, implying roughly 9% upside, saying the recent share-price pullback leaves minimal fundamental downside while preserving upside optionality should Iran-related tensions affect commodity prices. Analyst Jean Ann Salisbury said Exxon is well positioned whether the U.S.-Iran war is resolved or tensions rise again, citing potential negotiating leverage in Middle East projects. Exxon shares were down nearly 17% in the second quarter and fell more than 4% on Monday after U.S. signals of an agreement to end the conflict. The stock trades at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 23.8 versus Chevron’s 31.3 (FactSet). LSEG data shows 27 analysts cover Exxon: 13 buy/strong buy, 13 hold, and one underperform.