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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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The World at a Glance
Updated 8:02am EDT
1
The US carried out fresh strikes on Iranian military targets, diminishing hopes for an imminent peace deal.
2A period of relative calm following the initial turmoil of the Iran war means that monthly oil prices are set to dip.
3India raised the price of gasoline and diesel amid fuel shortages prompted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
4The Kremlin urged foreign diplomats to leave Kyiv, warning of a major forthcoming attack.
5China’s leader reportedly complained about Japan’s increased defense spending in an ‘intense diatribe’ in his recent meeting with Trump.
6China’s EV exports surged 40% year-on-year in April, further cementing its global dominance of the industry.
China’s rising memory chip sector creates dilemma for US tech firms
Chinese firms CXMT and YMTC are gaining ground because South Korean and American chip giants can’t keep pace with AI demand.
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ReutersSen. Schiff takes on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
The California Democrat called the fund “the most brazen act of self-dealing corruption we’ve ever seen.”
Gulf’s SpaceX investors could be set for windfall following IPO
SpaceX’s IPO filing last week didn’t disclose details about regional investors, but even a 1% holding is set to be worth around $15 billion.
Steve Nesius/ReutersChinese AI startup DeepSeek slashes price of flagship model
DeepSeek made a 75% discount on its flagship model permanent, intensifying an AI price war.
Dado Ruvic/ReutersThe future of AI is an AI futures market
Wall Street is building a way for traders to buy and sell the processing power that underpins AI like the way they bet on the fluctuating price of a barrel of oil.
Stephen Nellis/ReutersLyft is coming for corporate travel
CEO David Risher told Semafor he’s already speaking with CEOs like United Airlines’ Scott Kirby about bundling Lyft with other corporate travel perks.
Kylie Cooper/ReutersQuad meeting showcases weakened anti-China bloc
The latest Quad talks, hosted by India, mark the second successive year the group’s leaders will not meet.
Officials from Australia, India, Japan, and the US. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
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Politics
Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
‘Circular firing squad’: Democrats question state conventions after Michigan debacle
The party is reevaluating its nominating practices that some warn could result in activist-driven sideshows.
Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesSen. Schiff takes on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
The California Democrat called the fund “the most brazen act of self-dealing corruption we’ve ever seen.”
Republican Congress faces major pileup before midterms
It’s not clear how Republicans will handle opposition to the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
‘Life by 1,000 Band-Aids’: Trump has no good options to tame inflation
The economic reality that could doom his party in November is not easy to fix, as Joe Biden learned.
Iran deal status remains uncertain
The fate of an Iran peace deal remained uncertain Monday, as both Washington and Tehran offered conflicting signals on progress.
No ‘immediate’ tariffs on semiconductors
The US will not impose tariffs on semiconductors in the near future, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday.
Trump administration clarifies new green card policy
Most people seeking green cards will have to leave the country to apply for permanent residency, rather than do it from inside the US, the Trump administration said Friday.
Gabbard resigns, adding to Trump’s long to-do list
Any successor to the departing national intelligence director would have to get through an increasingly frustrated Senate Republican Conference.
Senators pitch bipartisan affirmation of US-Taiwan ties amid arms sale pause
The president has described a paused $14 billion weapons package for the self-governing island as a “negotiating chip” with China.
Trump faces further Republican rebellion
The latest displeasure comes over an “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” wth Trump’s standing among GOP legislators is at its lowest point of his second term.
Debatable: Taiwan arms sales
Members of Congress broadly support defensive weapon sales to Taiwan, but there’s friction over how far US support for the self-governing island should go.
BusinessKylie Cooper/Reuters
Lyft is coming for corporate travel
CEO David Risher told Semafor he’s already speaking with CEOs like United Airlines’ Scott Kirby about bundling Lyft with other corporate travel perks.
Kylie Cooper/ReutersVail Resorts’ CEO Rob Katz says he won’t hedge the weather on prediction markets
The biggest risk to Vail Resorts’ ski business is the weather, but Katz says hedging it in the markets “is not as simple as it might look.”
The future of AI is an AI futures market
Wall Street is building a way for traders to buy and sell the processing power that underpins AI like the way they bet on the fluctuating price of a barrel of oil.
US consumer sentiment falls as Dow hits record
The gulf between US stocks and Americans’ spirits keeps widening.
Why an anxious AI romantic now drives Match Group’s dating apps
CEO Spencer Rascoff uses digital “personas” to help the Tinder owner understand its users.
Technology
Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via ReutersDado Ruvic/Reuters
Iran is using Chinese censorship tech
Beijing appears to be exporting the technology that powers its cutting-edge firewall.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via ReutersChinese AI startup DeepSeek slashes price of flagship model
DeepSeek made a 75% discount on its flagship model permanent, intensifying an AI price war.
Dado Ruvic/ReutersGoogle’s Nick Fox on remaking its search engine
“It’s been clear that people don’t want incorrect information — and so that bedrock of trust and accuracy has served us well.”
Waymo suspends services in six US cities after flooding
Waymo suspended service in six US cities after its driverless cars drove on flooded roads during storms last week.
Pope calls for ‘disarming’ of AI in first encyclical
Pope Leo XIV warned humanity against creating “new digital slaveries” in a 42,300-word encyclical about AI, the first major teaching document of his papacy.
Why SpaceX defies valuations
With a 93x sales multiple, SpaceX won’t really be a stock when it goes public, it will be a wager on the future.
Energy
Joyce Zhou/Reuters
Jim Young/File Photo/Reuters
Ferrari unveils new EV model
The company’s share price crashed 6% after the Luce was revealed.
How to win an energy war
The past few weeks have revealed more of the strengths and limitations of energy-centric warfare.
Joyce Zhou/ReutersRepublicans split on ethanol share in national fuel mix
High US gasoline prices are increasing pressure on the Senate to pass legislation increasing the share of ethanol into the fuel mix, but not all agree.
Jim Young/File Photo/ReutersGulfSteve Nesius/Reuters
Gulf’s SpaceX investors could be set for windfall following IPO
SpaceX’s IPO filing last week didn’t disclose details about regional investors, but even a 1% holding is set to be worth around $15 billion.
Steve Nesius/ReutersKuwait’s caution looks prescient in face of Iran war
While Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Riyadh pursued rapid transformation, Kuwait quietly built up its financial buffers.
The US relied on a spurned friend during the Iran war: Canada
The US embassy in the UAE had to improvise to help Americans without passports after its facilities came under fire.
Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca begins
Saudi Arabia has modernized some of the structures to accommodate more pilgrims and lower the heat, which can reach more than 50 degrees Celsius.
Iranians attend Hajj despite war
The fact that any Iranians are being allowed this year reaffirms Riyadh’s policy of not politicizing its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites.
China
Tyrone Siu/ReutersMajid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters Dado Ruvic/Reuters
China cracks down on cross-border stock trading
The crackdown is partly intended to give Chinese authorities greater visibility into overseas stock trading by Chinese nationals so they can tax profits.
Tyrone Siu/ReutersIran is using Chinese censorship tech
Beijing appears to be exporting the technology that powers its cutting-edge firewall.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via ReutersChinese AI startup DeepSeek slashes price of flagship model
DeepSeek made a 75% discount on its flagship model permanent, intensifying an AI price war.
Dado Ruvic/ReutersAfrica
A campaign poster depicting Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Zohra Bensemra/File Photo/Reuters.
Senegal’s political avalanche
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye decision to fire his popular prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, has sparked a political crisis.
A campaign poster depicting Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Zohra Bensemra/File Photo/Reuters.Benin’s new president focuses on economic prosperity
Romauld Wadagni, the former finance minister, promised to ensure citizens benefit from the growing strength of the country’s economy.
South Africa seeks 15-year AGOA extension
South African officials warned that short extensions of the free trade deal undermine investor confidence and disrupt regional manufacturing plans.
African Development Bank meets amid Iran war, Ebola
The week-long gathering is the first since Sidi Ould Tah, Mauritania’s former finance inister, was elected the lender’s president a year ago.
Kenya’s mobile money tax plans threaten M-Pesa growth
President William Ruto’s administration wants to impose a new 16% value-added tax on services by payment platforms.
How China forced Europe to reconsider Africa’s industrialization
As Europe seeks alternatives to Chinese manufacturing dominance, Africa has a chance to renegotiate its place in the global economy.
Security
Anastasia Barashkova/Reuters
Adnan Abidi/Reuters
US carries out fresh Iran strikes
American officials said an agreement with Tehran was still possible, arguing that the latest attacks were defensive.
Russia blocks online access to criminal records
The 15 million records showed an explosion in convictions for treason, espionage, and “cooperation with foreigners,” Meduza reported.
Anastasia Barashkova/ReutersRubio questioned in New Delhi on US green card policy
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the policy was “not targeted at India.”
Adnan Abidi/ReutersMedia
Courtesy of Proton
Thousands of journalists’ data exposed to dark web
More than half of the exposures contained personal information such as names, phone numbers, dates of birth, and addresses, per a new study from Proton.
Courtesy of ProtonGoogle’s Nick Fox on remaking its search engine
“It’s been clear that people don’t want incorrect information — and so that bedrock of trust and accuracy has served us well.”
California influencer disclosures offer a glimpse at how secret money distorts American politics
Tom Steyer’s campaign is making use of paid astroturfed social media support.
Democrats move to restore military paper’s independence
The new legislation from Senate Democrats aims to insulate Stars and Stripes from the Trump administration’s efforts to assert control.
New arts magazine Totei to focus on the ‘creative process’
The online magazine will publish content weekly, including profiles of artists and musicians, photo essays, reported features, and interviews.
CEO Signal
Courtesy of Match Group/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
Courtesy of Becton Dickinson/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
Why an anxious AI romantic now drives Match Group’s dating apps
CEO Spencer Rascoff uses digital “personas” to help the Tinder owner understand its users.
Courtesy of Match Group/Joey Pfeifer/SemaforHow syringe-maker BD is infusing AI into its medical devices
CEO Tom Polen is turning his 65,000 employees into lean manufacturing “problem-finders.”
Courtesy of Becton Dickinson/Joey Pfeifer/SemaforWhy Allstate’s Tom Wilson thinks CEOs should create more jobs with AI
The insurance industry veteran says executives have an obligation to do hard things.
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