Welcome to the twelfth edition of The Weekly Briefing!
Each week, we will recap the most interesting commercial news stories shaping the market, from corporate deals to regulatory shifts and highlight why they matter to businesses and law firms.
We aim to help readers sharpen their commercial fluency while keeping track of the legal angles behind the headlines.
SpaceX Integrates xAI as Musk Consolidates His Tech Stack
SpaceX has integrated xAI into its broader operations, deepening Elon Musk’s push to unify AI, data, and infrastructure under a single ecosystem.
It’s tempting to frame this as a futuristic play about putting AI data centres into space. In reality, this looks far more like a cost and capital decision. Training and scaling frontier AI models burns tens, if not hundreds, of millions, and xAI has been playing catch-up to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, particularly with adoption challenges around Grok.
Bringing xAI under SpaceX gives it access to deep, patient funding rather than constantly raising externally. That distinction will matter to investors and regulators alike.
Slaughter and May advises NatWest on the sale of Evelyn Partners
NatWest Group has agreed to acquire Evelyn Partners for £2.7bn, marking one of its most significant strategic moves since returning to full private ownership.
This deal isn’t about chasing growth for its own sake. It reflects NatWest’s track record of adapting early to structural shifts in banking, from buying Sainsbury’s Bank during the rise of supermarket banking to now leaning into wealth management as lending margins come under pressure.
Wealth management offers longer-term client relationships and steadier, fee-based income, which is especially valuable in a period of geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility. From a shareholder perspective, this looks like another example of NatWest positioning itself for the long haul rather than short-term wins.
Clyde & Co Expands US Footprint with Seattle Merger
Clyde & Co has expanded its US presence by merging with a Seattle-based insurance and litigation boutique, strengthening its core practice rather than chasing headline scale.
Clyde & Co is already known for insurance work, and partnering with a specialist firm in the same space deepens that reputation. It’s a disciplined way to enter the US market without diluting brand identity or forcing a dramatic strategic shift.
What’s also notable is what didn’t happen. There’s no unwieldy double-barrelled firm name and no attempt to be everything to everyone. Instead, this is a focused expansion built around an existing strength, a reminder that law firm growth, when done well, looks more like refinement than reinvention.