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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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Politics
Trump’s Iran sanctions run into limits
Experts and former officials say the penalties thus far are having a limited effect on the Islamic Republic’s willingness to negotiate.
Manchin suggests Collins should become independent
The former West Virginia senator is running a project to elect more members of Congress outside the major parties.
Manchin suggests Collins should become independent
The former West Virginia senator is running a project to elect more members of Congress outside the major parties.
View / Meta’s new class of nonvoting stock lets Zuckerberg fund AI without losing control
View / What the GOP activist who confronted El-Sayed really got wrong
The World at a Glance
Updated 6:36pm EDT
1
The US Treasury secretary dismissed the possibility of “systemic” economic risks stemming from the AI boom, the FT reported, amid a global tech selloff.
2Elon Musk has invested roughly $1 billion in David Ellison’s Skydance, Semafor reported, as the company looks to cut costs and bolster its stock price.
3The Trump administration accused Canada of election interference, as politically-charged fears swirled over potential meddling ahead of the US midterms.
4Partisan actors are gaming AI platforms to regurgitate misleading information ahead of critical elections in Brazil, Israel, and the US.
5French President Emmanuel Macron said protests not organized by trade unions would be banned, as the country’s lame-duck government grappled with deficits and mounting discontent.
6A Chinese medtech exports surge is challenging US, European, and Japanese competitors in hospitals around the world, extending Beijing’s technological prowess.
SpaceX-Tesla merger could face antitrust scrutiny
One former Justice Department official told Semafor that the risks for the merger are real.
Where Democrats think Republican gerrymandering will backfire
Democrats are becoming increasingly confident about their chances in Texas and Florida.
Elon Musk makes $1 billion investment in Ellison’s Skydance
Skydance has tapped equity investments from an array of sources, including Middle East sovereign wealth funds.
Trump lacks options to lower gas prices without ending war
President Donald Trump has just one way left to bring down gas prices.
SpaceX $40 billion debt deal gets pricey as AI fears spread
Musk is trying to raise money to fund a massive expansion in chips, data centers.
White House expects press briefing ‘soon’ as hiring search continues
The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed.
Republican group places seven-figure ad buy in Mississippi
Senate Leadership Fund’s plans are the latest sign that Republicans are worrying about the typically red state.
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Politics
US monitors new Ebola cases
The virus, now in Kenya and Nigeria, continues to spread well beyond the initial site of the outbreak.
James Keyi/Reuters
Trump’s Iran sanctions run into limits
Experts and former officials say the penalties thus far are having a limited effect on the Islamic Republic’s willingness to negotiate.
A sign showing currency exchange rates in Tehran. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Manchin suggests Collins should become independent
The former West Virginia senator is running a project to elect more members of Congress outside the major parties.
David Swanson/Reuters; Amanda Sabga/Reuters
SpaceX-Tesla merger could face antitrust scrutiny
One former Justice Department official told Semafor that the risks for the merger are real.
Where Democrats think Republican gerrymandering will backfire
Democrats are becoming increasingly confident about their chances in Texas and Florida.
AI is reshaping high-stakes elections around the world
Partisan actors are gaming AI platforms to regurgitate misleading information ahead of critical elections in Brazil, Israel, and the US.
US braces for election meddling ahead of midterms
The Trump administration accused Canada of election interference, as politically-charged fears swirled over potential meddling ahead of the US midterms.
White House expects press briefing ‘soon’ as hiring search continues
The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed.
Trump lacks options to lower gas prices without ending war
President Donald Trump has just one way left to bring down gas prices.
Republican group places seven-figure ad buy in Mississippi
Senate Leadership Fund’s plans are the latest sign that Republicans are worrying about the typically red state.
The fight for MAHA’s soul
The MAHA movement that President Donald Trump has spent years cultivating in alliance with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered voters. Now it’s beginning to splinter.
Business
SpaceX-Tesla merger could face antitrust scrutiny
One former Justice Department official told Semafor that the risks for the merger are real.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
Brian Chesky’s new blueprint for Airbnb — and Silicon Valley
The designer-turned-founder sees an opportunity in addressing AI-fueled isolation.
US Treasury Secretary Bessent dismisses AI bubble fears
Bessent shrugged off the possibility of “systemic” economic risks stemming from the AI boom.
SpaceX $40 billion debt deal gets pricey as AI fears spread
Musk is trying to raise money to fund a massive expansion in chips, data centers.
Elon Musk makes $1 billion investment in Ellison’s Skydance
Skydance has tapped equity investments from an array of sources, including Middle East sovereign wealth funds.
Technology
AI is reshaping high-stakes elections around the world
Partisan actors are gaming AI platforms to regurgitate misleading information ahead of critical elections in Brazil, Israel, and the US.
An AI generated video of Jair Bolsonaro plays at rally. Bia Borges/Reuters
US Treasury Secretary Bessent dismisses AI bubble fears
Bessent shrugged off the possibility of “systemic” economic risks stemming from the AI boom.
David Dee Delgado/Reuters
China’s AI leader DeepSeek raises $15B
The Hangzhou-based firm twice increased its financing target ahead of the latest funding round, which analysts said set the stage for an imminent public listing.
US stock futures retreat on AI concerns
Worries have coalesced around whether supply chain constraints will limit buildout, and if revenues will keep up with breakneck infrastructure spending.
AI helps find vulnerability affecting up to 70% of websites
France, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands took government websites offline Wednesday after web developers used AI to identify a bug affecting up to 70% of the world’s websites.
Tech firms monitor city council meetings to track data center sentiment
Startup Hamlet has parsed tens of thousands of city council meetings by scraping local governments’ video recordings, tagging comments as friendly or hostile to a potential project.
Energy
Brazil’s energy course may hold after election, but Amazon at risk
Lula’s administration has celebrated new oil discovery and exploration efforts, marking a difference from some regional leftist allies.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Climate talks are failing
The latest dire UN projection stressed that the ambitions to limit global warming adopted a decade ago in Paris are all but out of reach.
Adriano Machado/Reuters
Trump and an oil shock aren’t enough for Texan drillers
“‘Drill, baby, drill’ is basically drill as much as you can to commit economic suicide,” one of the Permian Basin’s top CEOs said.
Kevin Zweerink/Semafor
Gulf
War dents Gulf’s protein boom
Riyadh-based Nadec’s net profit plunged because of higher feed prices and shipping costs.
nadecfoods/Instagram
Dubai introduces one frequent flyer mile for each minute in the city
Previous incentives included discounts at amusement parks, hotels, and restaurants. The maximum award is 7,200 points for a five-day visit.
Abu Dhabi lures Eli Lilly, Oura, and Whoop in healthcare push
Mubadala Bio signed a deal with US drugmaker Eli Lilly during the Future Health Summit this week to package and distribute GLP-1 drugs locally.
UAE nominates Lana Nusseibeh to become next UN secretary-general
Born in 1978, Nusseibeh is an Emirati citizen whose family traces their roots to one of the most prominent Muslim dynasties in Jerusalem.
Gulf attracts finance firms controlling $5.8 trillion since war
Top investors bet on the Gulf as a major source of future capital even as war upends the region’s security and oil flows.
China
China medtech exports surge, challenging global incumbents
Chinese medical equipment makers are increasingly challenging US, European, and Japanese competitors in hospitals around the world, extending Beijing’s technological prowess to yet another industry.
Thomas Peter/Reuters
China’s AI leader DeepSeek raises $15B
The Hangzhou-based firm twice increased its financing target ahead of the latest funding round, which analysts said set the stage for an imminent public listing.
Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Batterymaker CATL tumbles on earnings miss, competition fears
China’s battery champion is reckoning with intensifying domestic competition amid the country’s EV price wars.
Maxim Shemetov/File photo/Reuters
Africa
US monitors new Ebola cases
The virus, now in Kenya and Nigeria, continues to spread well beyond the initial site of the outbreak.
James Keyi/Reuters
Ghana eyes mineral export ban to boost domestic processing
This is part of a broader push by Africa’s resource-rich countries to capture more value from their resources.
Philip Mostert/Reuters
JPMorgan closes in on Nigeria merchant banking license
If successful, the New York-based lender would add considerable heft to the investment banking sector as the country seeks to attract more foreign capital.
Africa doesn’t have to ‘pick sides’ between US and China
The head of the UK’s development finance body added that prioritizing clean power made it impossible to remove Chinese firms from supply chains.
Aid groups told to account for $700M of Ebola funding
Global bodies, including the UN, are accused of violating Congolese sovereignty by failing to tell the government of what has happened to the money.
Washington won’t say what it wants on AGOA, says South Africa ambassador
Pretoria’s envoy says relations with the US remain at a “stalemate”, with trade disputes and ideological divisions complicating efforts to rebuild ties.
Security
Macron bans non-union protests amid France unrest
French cities have been shaken in recent weeks by vandalism and looting sparked by cost-of-living demonstrations, amid a broader crisis besieging the country’s lame-duck centrist government that has spiked French bond yields.
Stephane Mahe/Reuters
US envoy Steve Witkoff holds talks with Putin
Russian officials have noted that the meetings are unlikely to result in any imminent agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters
European fuel crisis energizes far-right parties
The crunch has energized Europe’s rightist parties who are pressuring governments in Germany, Italy, and Poland to restore energy ties with Russia.
Abdul Saboor/Reuters
Media
White House expects press briefing ‘soon’ as hiring search continues
The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Four years of Semafor
Semafor is starting to emerge clearly as the thing we hoped it would become.
How CBS News’ Middle East war spread to the Upper Midwest
Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has personally advocated for CBS News journalists to pursue numerous story angles related to Abdul El-Sayed’s supposed sympathy towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fox stays positive on data centers even as public backlash grows
More than half of the references to data centers on Fox News over the last two years would have left viewers with a favorable impression, according to a Semafor analysis.
Hack reveals Netanyahu campaign’s media ties
The latest breach comes from the Whatsapp account of Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich.
CEO Signal
Brian Chesky’s new blueprint for Airbnb — and Silicon Valley
The designer-turned-founder sees an opportunity in addressing AI-fueled isolation.
The $22B startup co-founder working to make chatbots talk back
ElevenLabs’ Mati Staniszewski is betting that “voice AI” will soon become the norm.
Why Suntory’s CEO is still investing in a sobered-up spirits market
Nobuhiro Torii sees a chance to build the family company’s brands as listed rivals cut back.
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