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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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The secret ingredients powering AI chatbots
Some US companies are disclosing they use a cocktail of AI, including some Chinese open-source models, to build custom consumer-facing tools.
The secret ingredients powering AI chatbots
Some US companies are disclosing they use a cocktail of AI, including some Chinese open-source models, to build custom consumer-facing tools.
View / Google doesn’t need the LLM crown
View / The US has a sanctions problem
Semafor Recommends
The Ego Trip, by Kimon de Greef, tells of an esoteric hallucinogen and its ‘superstar’ adherents.
Robert Service’s account of the 1991 Soviet coup d’etat, The August Coup, ‘captures the ludicrousness of it all beautifully.’
The Great Swim, by Gavin Mortimer, is ‘an engaging, entertaining read’ about the first woman to swim the English channel.
Gerald Martin’s Mario Vargas Llosa: A Life is a ‘chatty yet coolly analytical’ biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Peruvian novelist.
The Real Ambassadors, about Dave and Iola Brubeck’s creation of a musical for Louis Armstrong, is ‘well written, researched… [and] truly exceptional.’
Schumer sees Senate map expanding deeper into red territory
The Democratic leader’s chosen candidates lost in two primaries. But he told Semafor he’s only adding to his midterm target list.
Hacks put pressure on third-party model testers
Models from Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI all accessed the internet and compromised outside organizations while undergoing cybersecurity testing with AI evaluation company Irregular.
US shed 23,000 jobs in July
Labor Department data paints an unexpectedly bleak picture in July.
Middle East ambassadorships sit vacant as Trump relies on special envoys
About half of the nations ensnared by the Iran conflict currently lack a Senate-confirmed leader of their US embassy.
Scientists unveil new AI-made viruses
New research employed AI to generate entirely new genomes with far less human input, using a model trained on DNA sequences.
Miller’s opponent takes a Sanders-esque view of scandal
Brian Poindexter told Semafor that he believes voters want him focused on the cost of living, not his opponent.
South Africa’s cross-border crypto ban proposal sparks backlash
Pretoria’s attempt to pull borderless digital tokens into legacy exchange control risks isolating businesses and driving volume offshore.
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Politics
Trump unveils new critical minerals investments
The projects include a $1.4 billion loan for batteries, a $400 million loan for scandium, and a $150 million loan for magnets, plus $58 million in Export-Import Bank financing for graphite and boron.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Democratic establishment uses a ‘vulnerability’ attack on the left
Rep. Angie Craig is warning that fraud investigations could dog her progressive rival for Minnesota Senate, and she’s not alone.
Tim Evans/Semafor
US shed 23,000 jobs in July
Labor Department data paints an unexpectedly bleak picture in July.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Miller’s opponent takes a Sanders-esque view of scandal
Brian Poindexter told Semafor that he believes voters want him focused on the cost of living, not his opponent.
Schumer sees Senate map expanding deeper into red territory
The Democratic leader’s chosen candidates lost in two primaries. But he told Semafor he’s only adding to his midterm target list.
Senate finalizes deal on Russia sanctions
The Senate is back in session after senators made progress on a voting deal to go on August recess — but didn’t fully clinch it.
Tennessee Republican booted in primary upset
Tennessee voters ousted Rep. Andy Ogles in Thursday’s primary, despite his endorsement by President Donald Trump.
Senate negotiations intensify on recess deal
“There’s some movement in the right direction,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Semafor.
Lawmakers urge Trump to impose Balkan sanctions
“We are deeply concerned by reports that current and former employees and associates of the Srebrenica Memorial Center have been summoned for questioning,” the senators wrote.
Middle East ambassadorships sit vacant as Trump relies on special envoys
About half of the nations ensnared by the Iran conflict currently lack a Senate-confirmed leader of their US embassy.
Americans turning to AI for financial advice but confidence low, poll shows
About 20% of Americans have recently used AI for financial advice, but their confidence in its expertise remains low.
Business
Cash-strapped borrowers turn to scrip
The Boston Fed found that over the past four years “pay-in-kind” arrangements rose from 6% to 10% of portfolios at the most common type of private-credit fund, known as a BDC.
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters
Elon Musk rattles the telecom industry
On SpaceX’s earnings call this week, the company confirmed Semafor’s earlier reporting that it planned to move into the mobile business.
Masa Son doubles down on AI bets
The SoftBank CEO is using borrowed money and financial sleight-of-hand to double down on the AI boom.
Novo Nordisk faces a rough patch
Novo’s shares have fallen 15% this year, tumbling further this week after guidance missed analysts’ targets.
Kalshi banks on its predictions’ accuracy
The company studied its bets and found they came closer to reality than most AI models and track human “superforecasters.”
Technology
Google doesn’t need the LLM crown
Whoever stands atop the AI race podium isn’t the main point anymore.
Steve Marcus/Reuters
Hacks put pressure on third-party model testers
Models from Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI all accessed the internet and compromised outside organizations while undergoing cybersecurity testing with AI evaluation company Irregular.
Daniel Cole/Reuters
AI avatars enter the job interview
For some job candidates, using AI in the application process is a reaction to a system that’s grown more machine than human.
DeepSeek warns of price increase
The warning shows how Chinese tech companies are balancing their low-cost reputation with a need to actually make money
The secret ingredients powering AI chatbots
Some US companies are disclosing they use a cocktail of AI, including some Chinese open-source models, to build custom consumer-facing tools.
Demis Hassabis was shifting away from DeepMind CEO duties for a year
The CEO of Google’s AI unit was increasingly unsatisfied with the role of tech executive, preferring a more scientific position, said two people familiar with his thinking.
Energy
Argentina’s fossil fuels boom gains momentum
Argentina’s shale output is up 28% year-on-year as the country’s pivot to become an energy supplier gather pace.
Agustin Marcarian/File Photo/Reuters
The US has a sanctions problem
Tehran and Muscat are scrapping over who will control the Strait of Hormuz, but for ships to actually start moving, it will require a new deal with Washington and a rethinking of US sanctions.
Stringer/Reuters
Emissions-tracking startups see M&A opportunities
Both the US and the EU have scaled back corporate emissions reporting requirements, which ASUENE CEO Kohei Nishiwada believes is a good time to push for growth.
Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Gulf
Gulf investors turn to Asia for AI opportunities
Conflict in the Middle East and Europe and supply-chain uncertainty are raising the appeal of markets seen as relatively stable.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Gulf renewable projects forecasted to grow despite wartime pressure
The Iran war has made financing Gulf solar and wind projects more difficult, but the economics still stack up firmly in their favor.
Saudi builds maritime coalition to secure safe shipping routes
Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Salem Alshehri will lead the effort, which includes Egypt, Pakistan, and Türkiye.
Saudi-Türkiye-Pakistan sign defense pact as peace talks drag
The pact stipulates that an “armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”
Saudis flock to new navigation app Hudhud
Standard maps are of little help when the Saudi Arabian capital, which redraws itself weekly, with closures and new interchanges outpacing the Big Tech cartographers.
China
China’s AI giants target enterprise profits
Price wars could erode margins, as firms race to bundle their models and workplaces offerings.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
Taiwan export boom marks return of ‘Tiger economy’
Propelled by chips and other AI-related exports to the US, the surge caps a decade-long pivot away from the mainland market.
Ann Wang/Reuters
China currency debate bursts into the open
Economists are sparring over the yuan’s value as China’s trade surplus continues to grow.
Stringer/Reuters
Africa
Cameroon president’s absence stirs health speculation
The two-month absence of 93-year-old Paul Biya, who is thought to be in Switzerland, has prompted renewed speculation about his health.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya in April. Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo/Reuters.
Immigration stokes economic anxiety, survey shows
Nearly two-thirds of respondents preferred to see fewer or no job seekers admitted into their country, Ghana-based polling company Afrobarometer found.
An anti-immigrant demonstration in South Africa. Rogan Ward/Reuters.
French ban on telemarketing calls could hit 50,000 Moroccan jobs
Firms making unsolicited phone calls to French consumers could pay fines of up to €75,000 a call.
South Africa’s cross-border crypto ban proposal sparks backlash
Pretoria’s attempt to pull borderless digital tokens into legacy exchange control risks isolating businesses and driving volume offshore.
African football backs FIFA’s Infantino
As other confederations abandon the FIFA president, Africa gives Infantino a lifeline.
Nigeria raises military salaries as security threats persist
Insurgent groups, such as Boko Haram and Islamic State affiliates, have caused instability in Nigeria’s northeast for many years.
Security
France to deport Russian journalist accused of publishing propaganda
The case has laid bare Europe’s dilemma in carrying out its strategic objectives while upholding its liberal values.
The news studio at RT France. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters.
Russia’s war narrative falters
Russia is suffering from “narrative collapse” in its war against Ukraine, a journalist said, as Kyiv turns the tide in the conflict — on the front lines and in American right-wing media.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Iran and Ukraine wars merge in the Caspian Sea
The Ukraine and Iran wars collided over the weekend, as Kyiv attacked an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea.
The foreign ministers of Iran and Russia on July 24. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters
Media
The AI ‘news’ accounts hyping a blue-state dystopia
AI-generated videos are flooding YouTube with fake narratives about chaos in California and New York.
Screenshot/Truth Social
Senate Democrat’s new bills would restrict AI-powered ads and paid influencers
California Sen. Adam Schiff plans to introduce two new bills that would attempt to illuminate who is paying influencers for political speech online and restrict AI-generated likenesses of politicians.
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on loneliness and why he’s more worried about your phone than your body
Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Mixed Signals to make the case that America’s loneliness crisis is a public health emergency.
Steve Hilton on the Murdochs, David Ellison, and conservative media’s California
Steve Hilton has lived many lives: a key strategist to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, a populist Fox News host, and — after renouncing his UK citizenship — the Republican nominee in California’s gubernatorial race.
Katie Nolan on the sports gambling takeover, covering politics, and the slow return of the boys’ club
Sports media host and “Casuals” podcast creator Katie Nolan joined Mixed Signals live at Cannes to talk about navigating two decades of upheaval in sports media.
CEO Signal
Why Max Levchin wants Affirm to act like your smarter older sister
The fintech founder sees AI threatening traditional lenders by alerting consumers to their hidden fees.
How Patrice Louvet blends ‘magic and logic’ at Ralph Lauren
The Procter & Gamble veteran has focused the fashion brand by balancing emotion and data.
How Bruce Van Saun united Citizens against America’s biggest banks
The superregional lender’s CEO has made a virtue of its place in “the middle of the river.”
Courtesy of Citizens Financial Group/Jake Angelo/Semafor
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