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Politics
Threats to US payment rails help trigger Bessent’s AI worries
Advanced models have heightened banks’ fears of an outage that would hamstring their ability to send money.
How Antonio Neri turned HPE into an unlikely AI stock
The veteran dealmaker says he’s ‘building the best networking business on the planet’.
How Antonio Neri turned HPE into an unlikely AI stock
The veteran dealmaker says he’s ‘building the best networking business on the planet’.
View / Hollywood shouldn’t fear AI
View / Activists go back to basics
The World at a Glance
Updated 7:58am EDT
1
A tech stock sell-off saw Asian markets tumble, with Wall Street set to follow.
2The White House asked OpenAI to limit the release of its next model to government-approved users.
3The AI buildout is reshaping energy networks around the world as deveopers race to add new capacity.
4Tankers crept through the Strait of Hormuz, despite a new vessel attack rattling an already unsettled energy market.
5Europe’s ongoing heat wave is piling pressure on national grids, as countries scramble to keep up with surging electricity demand.
6US inflation in May rose to its highest level in three years, even as consumer spending remained resilient.
Asian stocks slump on tech rout
South Korea’s benchmark index triggered an automatic suspension of trading, before closing down 5.8%.
White House limits OpenAI model release
The move to restrict access represents Washington’s latest AI intervention.
Qualcomm plans new chip architecture for phones
The company is in discussions with manufacturers of smartphones, personal computers, and cars about an aspect of its new data center chip technology.
Democrats push Trump to coordinate with WHO on Ebola
A new bill would direct the president to rejoin the organization within 30 days.
Dangote Refinery IPO will be ‘landmark’ for Nigerian exchange
Nigeria’s stock market is keen to attract “high-quality issuers,” its CEO told Semafor.
Don’t read the Dimon succession tea leaves
Marianne Lake, who exited Thursday, was at least the eighth JPMorgan executive to occupy pole position since 2013.
As inflation rises, Americans are spending and Europeans are saving
Countries everywhere are feeling inflationary pressures from the Iran war, but Americans and Europeans are coping differently.
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Politics
Threats to US payment rails help trigger Bessent’s AI worries
Advanced models have heightened banks’ fears of an outage that would hamstring their ability to send money.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Only Trump can end his own blockade
The US president is preventing the reauthorization of a key surveillance law, and refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Debatable: Trump’s DC renovations
The president’s projects, from the Reflecting Pool to city fountains, are divisive.
Tom Brenner/Reuters
Venezuela’s deadly earthquakes test US aid effort
President Donald Trump said the US was “ready, willing, and able to help.”
Democrats push Trump to coordinate with WHO on Ebola
A new bill would direct the president to rejoin the organization within 30 days.
Window shrinks for Congress crypto deal
“This thing’s going to have to come together fairly quickly,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Semafor.
Raimondo launches AI project with backing of tech giants
The former Biden official is joining with a GOP former governor to help transition America’s workforce.
Iran war funding request struggles on Capitol Hill
Still, Republican leaders think that there could be enough Democratic items in the budget request to persuade Democrats to support it.
Trump charms Senate Republicans hours after Iran blowup
Hours after the president castigated Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Cassidy voted to help defeat a war powers measure.
Trump blames ‘Big Oil’ for gas prices
US retail gas prices have stayed north of $3.90 despite Brent crude prices falling.
Trump and Senate Republicans hit a new low
The president canceled the signing of one of his own priority bills before privately castigating his own party.
Business
How Antonio Neri turned HPE into an unlikely AI stock
The veteran dealmaker says he’s ‘building the best networking business on the planet’.
Courtesy of HPE/Graph Massara/Semafor
Apple raises prices due to memory chip shortage
CEO Tim Cook said Apple could no longer protect its customers from higher prices stemming from the global memory chip shortage.
As inflation rises, Americans are spending and Europeans are saving
Countries everywhere are feeling inflationary pressures from the Iran war, but Americans and Europeans are coping differently.
Don’t read the Dimon succession tea leaves
Marianne Lake, who exited Thursday, was at least the eighth JPMorgan executive to occupy pole position since 2013.
Activists need to go back to basics
The AI era is the perfect time for the right breed of activists: those with real plans on how to tear up business models and remake them for this particular moment of upheaval.
Technology
Hollywood shouldn’t fear AI
AI can help more artists make more movies, rather than replace artists or the art.
Arafat Barbakh/Reuters
OpenAI pulls ahead on custom chips
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saw from the very beginning that compute infrastructure would become an important battlefront, and his company is getting ahead in a key element that can make models do more, faster and more cheaply.
Sam Altman and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan. Courtesy of OpenAI.
New Cooley platform provides AI legal help for startups
Built with legal AI startup Legora and trained on Cooley’s data, the platform will roll out to the summer batch of Y Combinator startups first.
Qualcomm plans new chip architecture for phones
The company is in discussions with manufacturers of smartphones, personal computers, and cars about an aspect of its new data center chip technology.
Chinese AI firms scale aggressively to compete with US
DeepSeek hopes to at least double the size of all its departments to become a “driving force” in developing artificial general intelligence.
Micron posts blowout earnings
The US reported strong results to top off a multi-day tech stock whipsaw.
Energy
France and UK swelter in record-breaking heat
The UK saw its two hottest June days, and France its hottest day ever.
Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
US energy dominance faces a test in Ukraine
One essential facet of US President Donald Trump’s overseas energy dominance strategy is proving slow to materialize.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
Europe’s missed energy transition opportunities
EU authorities risk curbing investments in the bloc’ss energy transition because of a failure to integrate its capital markets and regulatory shortcomings.
Chris J. Ratcliffe/Reuters
Gulf
Iran attacks cargo ship in Hormuz
The attack forced the UN to pause evacuations in the waterway.
Stringer/Reuters
Gulf wealthy snap up exclusive European mansions
A Sardinian compound once known for “bunga bunga” parties and a “mini Buckingham palace” are among the luxury properties bought by Gulf billionaires.
Burjeel issues $500M Islamic bond as market thaws
The Abu Dhabi-listed company said demand was three times larger than supply, in a sign that Gulf debt markets are thawing after the US-Iran conflict stalled new issuances.
Gulf states appear skeptical of Iran deal
The Gulf appears skeptical about the US-Iran deal despite Washington’s assurances that it will restrain Tehran and preserve regional security.
UAE conglomerate overhauls Saudi retailer management
The UAE’s Al-Futtaim, which bought a nearly 50% stake in AFG International last year, said it was appointing Sameer Jain as CEO of the business.
China
Chinese AI firms scale aggressively to compete with US
DeepSeek hopes to at least double the size of all its departments to become a “driving force” in developing artificial general intelligence.
Florence Lo/Reuters
Chinese AI firm Zhipu plans billion-dollar share sale amid rally
Chinese AI startup Zhipu is weighing a multi-billion dollar share sale after it skyrocketed around 2,000% since its January IPO.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters
Countries grapple with China’s robotics lead
China’s lead in the embodied AI race is prompting major economies to adopt starkly different responses.
Florence Lo/Reuters
Africa
Nigerian lawmakers approve police overhaul
The decision marks a new effort to tackle an endemic, decades-old security crisis.
Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters
South Africa corruption investigation widens
Business Vusimuzi Matlala offered to provide evidence against members of the goverment underscoring the breadth of a huge graft probe in the continent’s biggest economy.
Phill Magakoe/Pool via Reuters
US to provide new experimental Ebola drug
Slowing the virus’ spread has been hampered by the fact that there is no known treatment or vaccine for the new Bundibugyo strain.
Dangote Refinery IPO will be ‘landmark’ for Nigerian exchange
Nigeria’s stock market is keen to attract “high-quality issuers,” its CEO told Semafor.
Nigerian-born artist taps memories for Obamas portrait
Njideka Akunyili Crosby was commissioned to paint the first joint portrait of the former US president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama.
Kenya signs deal with Chinese firm for airport upgrade
The agreement comes as Nairobi faces increasing competition from Ethiopia and Rwanda, which are jostling for power as East Africa’s main travel hub.
Security
Russia’s fuel crisis worsens
Fuel prices at Russia’s airports have spiked 17% in June.
Stringer/Reuters
Honduras to buy Ukrainian drones as Kyiv’s defense clout grows
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Ukraine has become a world leader in military drone technology, both in attack and defense.
Leah Millis/Reuters
US’ pro-Ukraine tone unnerves Moscow
Russia accused the US of failing to follow through on “understandings” reached at last year’s Alaska summit.
Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters
Media
Daily Wire, under pressure, seeks strategic investors, targets IPO
The Daily Wire is in talks to take on at least $100 million in investment, with an eye on an initial public offering in a few years’ time.
REUTERS/Cheney Orr
OpenAI’s $100 billion ad bet
The tech giant rolled out new tools for creatives.
The Atlantic beefs up its video podcasts
One of America’s oldest magazines is investing in video after seeing notable growth in its audience.
David Droga on AI and the end of ‘mediocre’ human-made ads
As he sees it, the advertising industry is in the throes of a profound technological shift.
Conservatives make the case for right-wing ads at Cannes Lions
The Daily Wire and others are offering an overtly partisan alternative to advertising gatherings that often stay far away from politics.
CEO Signal
How Antonio Neri turned HPE into an unlikely AI stock
The veteran dealmaker says he’s ‘building the best networking business on the planet’.
Courtesy of HPE/Graph Massara/Semafor
Former IEA chief says world faces a ‘third oil shock’ despite US-Iran deal
Nobuo Tanaka says the Hormuz crisis has accelerated a seismic shift in the global energy order, but business leaders can learn from it.
Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters
How a marathon-running CEO set the pace for Cigna
David Cordani says the insurer had to “actively listen” to rebuild trust with its customers.
Courtesy of Cigna/Graph Massara/Semafor
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