From Silicon Valley power plays to international legal battles, the overnight news cycle was relentless.
Here is your cheat sheet: PayPal is eyeing a banking charter, Tesla is testing driverless tech in Texas, and SpaceX just made Elon Musk wealthier than ever.
But the biggest headline might be happening in the courtroom, where President Trump has launched a high-stakes legal battle against the BBC.
PayPal applies to launch US bank
PayPal said on Monday that it has applied for regulatory approval to establish PayPal Bank, a move that would allow the payments giant to expand into traditional banking services, including lending to small businesses.
“Establishing PayPal Bank will strengthen our business and improve our efficiency, enabling us to better support small business growth and economic opportunities across the US,” PayPal Chief Executive Officer Alex Chriss said in a statement.
The application will be reviewed by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, alongside Utah’s Department of Financial Institutions.
If approved, PayPal Bank would also be able to offer interest-bearing savings accounts, according to the company.
PayPal, which owns the Venmo payments app, already provides consumer credit products and has been steadily expanding its suite of banking-like services.
The push comes as fintech firms increasingly challenge traditional banks by offering deposits, payments, and lending through digital platforms.
Shares of PayPal rose 1.5% in extended trading following the announcement.
Tesla stock hit new highs
Tesla said it has begun testing fully driverless vehicles in Austin, Texas, marking a new phase in its efforts to roll out autonomous ride-hailing services.
“Testing is underway with no occupants in the car,” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wrote over the weekend in a post on X.
The update comes nearly six months after Tesla launched a limited Robotaxi service in Austin that still included safety drivers.
Shares of Tesla rose 3.6% on Monday to close at $475.31. The stock is now up 18% for the year and sits about 1% below its all-time high reached in December 2024.
For more than a decade, Musk has told investors that Tesla vehicles would eventually become fully autonomous, capable of operating as robotaxis or driving long distances without human intervention.
While those promises have not yet been fully realised, Tesla unveiled a Robotaxi-branded ride-hailing app in Austin in June, followed by a separate service in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Trump sues BBC for $10 billion
President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation, seeking at least $10 billion in damages over what he says was a misleading edit in a documentary aired last year.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Miami, stems from a 2024 episode of the BBC’s Panorama program that included edited footage of Trump’s speech ahead of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Trump alleges the edit falsely suggested he directly called for violence.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah acknowledged on November 10 that the edited footage gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action.”
The broadcaster later issued a second apology but rejected Trump’s demand for compensation.
“I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth,” Trump said Monday at the White House.
“Literally, they put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said coming out.”
The case adds to Trump’s ongoing legal battles with media organisations and comes as he continues to challenge coverage of his actions surrounding the events of January 6.
Musk’s net worth surpasses $600 billion
Elon Musk’s personal fortune has climbed to a new record, surpassing $600 billion for the first time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk is now worth nearly $638 billion after SpaceX was valued at about $800 billion in an insider share sale, making it the world’s most valuable private company.
Musk owns roughly 42% of the rocket maker, a stake valued at $317 billion after applying a liquidity discount for private holdings.
This marks the first time Bloomberg has calculated an individual’s net worth above $600 billion.
Musk was worth just $4.8 billion when he joined the index in 2013 and first crossed $100 billion in 2020 as Tesla’s valuation surged.
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