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Business
‘Winter is coming’: IMF head issues ‘warning’ over inflation and central bank tightening
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, told Semafor that prices will keep climbing.
Bessent eyed for Trump’s ‘AI czar’
The Treasury Secretary has long played a central role in administration policymaking on the issue.
Bessent eyed for Trump’s ‘AI czar’
The Treasury Secretary has long played a central role in administration policymaking on the issue.
View / Fintech startups that hated banks are now becoming them
New Trump AI adviser won’t fix industry’s problems
The World at a Glance
Updated 8:03am EDT
1
President Trump is due to address the UN General Assembly and meet leaders, with the specter of the Iran war hanging over the global economy.
2Venezuelan officials are looking to strike deals at this week’s UNGA, underscoring the country’s ambitions to return to international markets.
3UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ final general assembly as the body’s leader opens today, capping a tumultuous decade.
4Chinese chip firms announced significant advances in their technology despite US trade restrictions.
5Saudi authorities issued a new alert over Houthi attacks, as fears grew of the Middle East conflict expanding.
6OpenAI called for the US to lead an international coalition on global AI standards, as debate over the technology’s risks looms over this week’s UN General Assembly.
WTO chief warns Trump tariff war risks 7% global GDP hit
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala cited WTO modeling showing that allowing the multilateral rules-based system to erode further under retaliatory tariffs could trigger a 20% collapse in global trade.
US hasn’t lost to China in Africa, DFC CEO says
Washington can take on risky investments abroad while also delivering value to American taxpayers, Ben Black said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
Africa CDC director calls for local vaccine manufacturing
“It’s time for us to manufacture our own vaccines,” Jean Kaseya said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
‘Fear of the unknown’ drives data center pushback, Nvidia exec says
At Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion, Nvidia’s head of sustainability pushed back against the groundswell of anti-AI sentiment that’s unfurled in the US over the last few weeks.
Murphy pushes for athlete unionization rights in college sports bill
The college sports bill has been splitting Senate Democrats.
World has entered ‘age of impunity’ amid global aid cuts, Miliband says
Extensive cuts to global aid have left the world with “more shocks, fewer shock absorbers,” the International Rescue Committee president said.
South Africa woos US and China with platinum
Africa’s biggest economy is leveraging its role as the world’s dominant platinum supplier to forge ties with Washington and Beijing.
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Politics
IDB president says ‘we need to look’ at Venezuela
Ilan Goldfajn said Caracas’ unpaid debts would be ‘part of the conversation.’
Bessent eyed for Trump’s ‘AI czar’
The Treasury Secretary has long played a central role in administration policymaking on the issue.
David Dee Delgado/Reuters
Nigeria minister touts ‘quite good’ relationship with US
Jumoke Oduwole teased a forthcoming deal on critical minerals at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
‘Fear of the unknown’ drives data center pushback, Nvidia exec says
At Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion, Nvidia’s head of sustainability pushed back against the groundswell of anti-AI sentiment that’s unfurled in the US over the last few weeks.
US hasn’t lost to China in Africa, DFC CEO says
Washington can take on risky investments abroad while also delivering value to American taxpayers, Ben Black said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
Venezuela courts debt, energy and mining deals in New York
For years, Caracas was seen as a pariah, and foreign direct investment flows plummeted. But investors have begun returning.
Trump readies diplomatic push at the UN General Assembly
Along with holding talks with Venezuela’s interim leader, the US president will also meet with Gulf countries.
New Trump AI adviser won’t fix industry’s problems
There’s little reason to believe a new adviser will change the narrative on AI safety.
Golden provokes fellow House Democrats
Maine Rep. Jared Golden, who is no stranger to voting against his party, has taken an iconoclastic approach to his last months in Congress.
Murphy pushes for athlete unionization rights in college sports bill
The college sports bill has been splitting Senate Democrats.
Senate Democrats press Greer to refund consumers for tariffs
The lawmakers ask whether officials are monitoring firms’ actions and weighing direct refunds.
Business
‘Winter is coming’: IMF head issues ‘warning’ over inflation and central bank tightening
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, told Semafor that prices will keep climbing.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
Retailers are picking sides on AI shopping agents
Amazon banned Meta’s Muse assistant, while Shopify welcomed it in, the first sign of battle lines being drawn in the way we spend money online.
Kalshi to allow trading on borrowed funds
Only some of the bets will allow margin trading, showing where the prediction-markets platform thinks its future lies.
Paramount readies debt for Warner Bros. deal
It’s one of the most highly anticipated credit launches this year.
Fintech startups that hated banks are now becoming them
SoFi is now a bank, the 46th biggest in America. So are Klarna and PayPal. Chime is the latest to bite the bullet.
Technology
Global South more optimistic about AI than the US, Google exec says
AI is making strides in disease diagnostics and language translation for populations outside of the US and Europe, Google’s James Manyika said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
‘Fear of the unknown’ drives data center pushback, Nvidia exec says
At Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion, Nvidia’s head of sustainability pushed back against the groundswell of anti-AI sentiment that’s unfurled in the US over the last few weeks.
Semafor
OpenAI calls for global US-led coalition on AI safety
Debate over the technology’s risk and promise looms over this week’s UN General Assembly.
Rifts ahead of US-China talks on AI safety
Analysts voices skepticism that Washington and Beijing would reach an accommodation on the proposed AI safety mechanism.
Experts warn of AI warfare risk
The US military reportedly prepared to intercept a Chinese vessel in the Middle East this spring after an AI chatbot misidentified materials on board, a close call that “almost started a war,” a source told CNN.
The real reason not to IPO
OpenAI and Anthropic were once essentially research laboratories, running on the thrill of innovation without the pressure of revenue models or Wall Street analysts.
Energy
‘Hold us accountable’ on data centers, Amazon sustainability chief says
Kara Hurst said the tech giant would seek to be more transparent about the environmental impact of its massive data center buildout.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
Hormuz disruption will lead to ‘structural shift’, Shell Foundation CEO says
The disruption will result in “a permanent shift to energy that is much more reliable,” Jonathan Berman said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
Semafor
EDP can’t ‘take the risk’ of moving forward with US wind projects
“Several hundred megawatts” of planned onshore wind farms in the US remain on indefinite hold EDP’s CEO told Semafor.
Nick Oxford/Reuters
Gulf
Qatar Investment Authority deepens US ties with JPMorgan
The deal includes a $15 billion customized public equities portfolio managed by the US bank and a $5 billion private markets initiative.
Bassam Masoud/Reuters
Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills lands in the Maldives
The Maldives is the next coastline for UAE real estate developer Mohamed Alabbar, who signed an agreement with the archipelago’s government.
Saudi issues new warnings, as Houthi attacks intensify
Saudi Arabia warned residents in a province bordering Yemen of potential danger from Iran-backed Houthi fighters.
Saudi’s Ceer unveils first EVs in push to become autos hub
PIF-backed carmaker’s luxury EVs aim to make Saudi a manufacturing center and challenge Chinese brands.
Iran war’s peacemakers also have skin in the game
Oman, Pakistan, and Qatar are the rare mediators with a direct interest in ending a conflict.
China
Xi purges top generals for ‘disloyalty’
China said Monday that it removed two top generals over allegations of disloyalty and corruption, the latest in a long series of expulsions under leader Xi Jinping.
Zhang Youxia. Florence Lo/Reuters
OpenAI calls for global US-led coalition on AI safety
Debate over the technology’s risk and promise looms over this week’s UN General Assembly.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
The summit won’t break the US-China stalemate
Beneath the diplomatic surface, the two sides are radically at odds over just about everything.
US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping in 2025. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Africa
World has entered ‘age of impunity’ amid global aid cuts, Miliband says
Extensive cuts to global aid have left the world with “more shocks, fewer shock absorbers,” the International Rescue Committee president said.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
Africa CDC director calls for local vaccine manufacturing
“It’s time for us to manufacture our own vaccines,” Jean Kaseya said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
IFC chief takes aim at Africa’s costly risk label
The World Bank’s private-sector arm is opening up decades of credit data as it seeks to convince investors that African markets are systematically mispriced.
Nigeria set to complete $2B fiber optic rollout in 3 years
Digital economy and communications minister Bosun Tijani told Semafor the project — initially slated to take five years — is at the core of Nigeria’s plan to harness the power of the internet.
Zipline inks Côte d’Ivoire deal to expand drone delivery
The deal will support the delivery of health supplies to a third of the Ivorian population.
Gates Foundation commits $1B to global AI development
More than 90% of the data used to train early large language models came from English-language sources.
Security
World has entered ‘age of impunity’ amid global aid cuts, Miliband says
Extensive cuts to global aid have left the world with “more shocks, fewer shock absorbers,” the International Rescue Committee president said.
Screenshot/Semafor/YouTube
Saudi issues new warnings, as Houthi attacks intensify
Saudi Arabia warned residents in a province bordering Yemen of potential danger from Iran-backed Houthi fighters.
Stringer/Reuters
Secretary-General Guterres set for UN exit
A former Costa Rican vice president is the frontrunner to replace him, meaning the UN could be led by a woman for the first time.
Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters
Media
Inside the US Treasury secretary’s tense relationship with financial media
Scott Bessent’s blacklist starts with Bloomberg.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Fertile ground
Flagship’s lead writer Tom Chivers says goodbye after four years.
Crooked Media’s nonprofit launches new political creator drive
The nonprofit arm of Pod Save America’s audio empire is hoping to lure younger voters back to the Democratic Party.
YouTube cracks down on ‘ghost creators’
The enforcement action targeted accounts named in Semafor’s report earlier this week.
Paid actors, AI writing: How a new kind of video business cashed in on America’s divided politics
‘Ghost creators’ are reaching millions of viewers with nearly identical, sensationalized videos that take aim at Democrats.
CEO Signal
Why Kai-Fu Lee thinks companies need an AI boss
Google’s former China chief says CEOs face a Darwinian choice if they want more than “AI theater.”
How Atlassian built a $45 billion software company far from Silicon Valley’s ‘froth and bubbles’
CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes says CEOs need context, experimentation, and some big bets to get the most from AI.
How the billionaire Bayeux Tapestry backer gets ‘impact per dollar’
WorldQuant’s Igor Tulchinsky finds inspiration in the ‘very, very old data set’ now on display in the British Museum.
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