The question is how much. Business leaders have long had to navigate a myriad of policies at the state and federal levels. Right now, concerns over valuations and a possible capital crunch are arguably worrying investors more than who controls Congress. While the frontier labs face growing scrutiny over their models and opaque financing, many CEOs are prioritizing security, safety, and speed because it’s good for business.

I’m heading back from the annual gathering of senior leaders at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in Miami this morning, where I spoke about leadership trends and also interviewed HPE CEO Antonio Neri about his take on the current business landscape. It’s been a good year for the enterprise IT solutions business that spun off from HP in 2015, with HP Inc. retaining the printer and PC business. HPE recently cleared the last legal hurdle to complete its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. While its stock price has lost a quarter of its value over the past month, it’s still up 112% so far this year.

Like a lot of business leaders I meet, Neri is quick to distance himself from the fear of a bubble around AI. “We have zero exposure to that financing architecture that people are concerned about,” he told me, referring to the circular equity, funding, and supply deals between chipmakers, hyperscalers, AI labs, and cloud providers. “We took a more brutal approach at the beginning of the cycle through policies on where not to go … 2026 has been the year where we have built a foundation. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break away. This is the window.” 

When it comes to the outcome of the midterms, Neri expresses the kind of sanguine view I hear from a lot of leaders right now: Business has to take the lead in areas like data privacy, sovereignty, security, and AI regulation because customers demand it. Prudence and innovation are ultimately rewarded, regardless of who is in office. Said Neri: “Experience has taught me that eventually, time cures everything.”

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

Top leadership news

Anthropic’s growth slows as higher costs push it back to an operating loss

Anthropic’s revenue reached $17 billion in the third quarter, up 47% from the previous quarter. That’s a slowdown from the 144% growth it posted in the second quarter. The company’s updated IPO filing, which included the third quarter numbers, showed a $567 million operating loss as computing costs rose, though the company remained profitable on an adjusted basis.

Apple beats sales expectations despite rising memory chip costs

Apple reported $114.5 billion in quarterly revenue and $30.7 billion in profit, beating Wall Street expectations in John Ternus’s first earnings report as CEO. Rising memory chip costs remain a concern.

Palantir shares fall despite 96% revenue growth

Palantir’s quarterly revenue rose 96% to $2.3 billion, beating Wall Street expectations as its U.S. commercial business overtook U.S. government revenue for the first time. Shares fell 3.6% in after-hours trading, despite the company increasing its full-year revenue forecast.

The markets

S&P 500 futures are flat this morning. The last session closed down 0.51%. The STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.34% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.44% in early trading. Japan’s markets are closed today. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 3.59%. China’s CSI 300 was down 0.20%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.57%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 1.58%. Bitcoin is down at $77k.

Around the watercooler

Following a sudden GOP slide, a top data scientist’s model gives Democrats 90% odds of taking the Senate as Kansas trends blue in major shock by Shawn Tully

The AI boom is facing another supply crunch. This time it’s the amount of capital available to feed Silicon Valley’s endless need for cash by Jason Ma

Americans now spend nearly half of their budgets on food and housing alone, the biggest share in 15 years by Joshua Hong

After topping 2024’s donor list, Elon Musk said he’d do ‘a lot less.’ Since then, he’s given more than George Soros has personally in his lifetime by Catherina Gioino

The Pentagon is investigating if rogue freezers are tied to cyberattacks in France. Another wave of hacks is hitting supermarkets across Europe by Sasha Rogelberg

CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joseph Abrams, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.