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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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Business
AI is an inflation problem, Fed’s Goolsbee says
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warns of “spillover” from AI price spikes into unrelated parts of the economy.
Trump AI directive sparks questions
An Anthropic incident in which a testing model submitted visa applications, according to a State Department spokesman, spurred the task force’s first “action.”
The World at a Glance
Updated 7:43am EDT
1
The global economy will grow more this year than previously expected, the IMF said, with booming investment in AI outweighing a fast-growing debt pile.
2US home sales plunged to a 12-year low after mortgage rates topped 7%, expanding fears over soaring global borrowing costs.
3Asian tech stocks slid as investors voiced worries over excessive spending in the AI buildout.
4Key banking regulators signaled they would increase scrutiny of AI development, as worries rise that the technology could threaten financial stability.
5Storms killed several people and left thousands without power in the US and Mexico, as experts warned this year’s El Niño increased storms’ force.
6US President Donald Trump defended his deal with Moscow to suspend export sanctions on Russian fuel amid growing bipartisan pushback.
Trump weighs Guilfoyle’s future
Kimberly Guilfoyle’s future as US ambassador to Greece is in question following critical reporting.
Swing-district Democrats keep focus on high prices
Controversies arpimd the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and foreign lobbying aren’t steering Democrats away from talk of affordability.
More anti-Trump billboards hit the heartland
Home of the Brave is nearly doubling its billboard campaign in Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa.
Trump faces Russia diesel deal blowback
The US president defended his deal with Moscow to suspend export sanctions on Russian fuel, calling it “the right choice.”
Meta has reached AI ‘frontier,’ Zuckerberg says
Mark Zuckerberg said Meta had reached the “frontier” of AI capabilities with the release of its latest Muse model.
Attacks on Riyadh threaten Saudi confidence
The Houthi attacks threaten the kingdom’s efforts to project its business-as-usual approach, and official silence is unsustainable.
Hack reveals Netanyahu campaign’s media ties
The latest breach comes from the Whatsapp account of Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich.
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Politics
Trump crosses country in bid to save midterms
The president’s goal remains persuading his loyalists to turn out in an election where he isn’t on the ballot.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
Congress battle drifts deeper into red territory
The battle for Congress is shifting deeper into red territory as both parties deem some races essentially over.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
More Americans view Democrats favorably as midterms inch nearer
More than half of Americans say Democrats would do a better job keeping the US prosperous, while only 37% believe Republicans would, according to Gallup polling.
Jim Vondruska/Reuters
Trump AI directive sparks questions
An Anthropic incident in which a testing model submitted visa applications, according to a State Department spokesman, spurred the task force’s first “action.”
Trump weighs Guilfoyle’s future
Kimberly Guilfoyle’s future as US ambassador to Greece is in question following critical reporting.
Why would anyone want this job?
Would-be presidential candidates have reason for pause.
Swing-district Democrats keep focus on high prices
Controversies arpimd the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and foreign lobbying aren’t steering Democrats away from talk of affordability.
More anti-Trump billboards hit the heartland
Home of the Brave is nearly doubling its billboard campaign in Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa.
Trump faces Russia diesel deal blowback
The US president defended his deal with Moscow to suspend export sanctions on Russian fuel, calling it “the right choice.”
Obama cuts ad in Mississippi Senate race
Democrats are hoping nominee Scott Colom delivers an upset in the deep red state in the November midterm elections.
Hack reveals Netanyahu campaign’s media ties
The latest breach comes from the Whatsapp account of Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich.
Business
Volta’s $5 billion debt deal is a pulse check on the AI-financing boom
Debt marketed this week for an Anthropic-backed project in Norway shows lenders’ skittishness; high interest rates and a credit-rating provision.
Leah Millis/Reuters
US house sales drop to 12 year lows as borrowing costs spike
Increasing energy prices and higher-for-longer inflation expectations have sent mortgage rates to recent records.
AI is an inflation problem, Fed’s Goolsbee says
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warns of “spillover” from AI price spikes into unrelated parts of the economy.
New report shows US chip industry’s reliance on China
More than 5% of equipment and materials supplied to US chipmakers originate in China, which also possesses some 90% of the rare earths required to manufacture semiconductors.
Meta has reached AI ‘frontier,’ Zuckerberg says
Mark Zuckerberg said Meta had reached the “frontier” of AI capabilities with the release of its latest Muse model.
Technology
Key watchdogs signal they will step up AI regulation
Banking regulators on both sides of the Atlantic were increasingly asking questions of institutions’ use of AI models.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Tech stocks slide as investors fret AI overspending
South Korea’s market — heavily exposed to chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix — sold off sharply, leading a decline in Asian tech shares.
Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters
AI spending to drive global growth higher, IMF forecasts
The marginal upgrade in the IMF’s outlook nevertheless represents a slowing in the pace of overall expansion.
Meta has reached AI ‘frontier,’ Zuckerberg says
Mark Zuckerberg said Meta had reached the “frontier” of AI capabilities with the release of its latest Muse model.
AI infrastructure investments to drive Asia economic boom
JP Morgan said Asia’s expansion was “broadening from an overwhelmingly tech-led export boom towards more balanced growth from tech.”
Data centers emerge as attractive targets in war
Russia and Ukraine have traded strikes on digital infrastructure in recent weeks, triggering major outages on both sides.
Energy
Saudi attacks shake the confidence of foreign investors
International energy bosses were largely absent from this week’s World Petroleum Council Energy Congress, held in Riyadh, after the Houthi attack.
Social Media/Reuters
Trump’s Russian energy strategy could backfire
The contradictory tangle of energy policy actions taken by Trump toward Russia risks repeating mistakes that he often slammed his predecessor for.
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
Power firms cut waste and modernize systems to meet surging demand
Companies are positioning their commercial offerings for the huge demand growth of the coming decades.
Shelby Tauber/Reuters
Gulf
A pioneering Jeddah schoolhouse show reaches Frieze Masters in London 58 years later
In 1968, two female artists hung their paintings in the Dar Al-Tarbia Al-Hadetha school, among the first exhibitions women had ever held in Saudi Arabia.
Courtesy of Athr Gallery
How the Houthis’ Zaydi heritage influences their strikes in Iran
The Houthis are heirs to a 1,000-year-old Zaydi imamate that ruled northern Yemen on and off until the modern state was established in 1962.
UAE and Saudi Arabia account for almost 90% of $2.98 billion of startup capital raised in 2026
The two countries were also responsible for every round of $100 million or more. Regional funding fell 7%, and the number of deals dropped by a third.
The IMF cuts its 2026 growth forecasts across the Gulf
The Middle East and North Africa is now expected to be the only region to shrink this year. In April, the IMF forecast Saudi Arabia and the UAE would grow.
Saudi minister says kingdom is fearless after deadly Houthi strikes
Back-to-back Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s airport have threatened the kingdom’s economic ambitions.
China
Xi’s ‘death watch’ will become a global spectacle
China’s internal risks are now the world’s risks.
Florence Lo/Reuters
New report shows US chip industry’s reliance on China
More than 5% of equipment and materials supplied to US chipmakers originate in China, which also possesses some 90% of the rare earths required to manufacture semiconductors.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
China, EU reach agreement to reduce Chinese hybrid vehicle imports
The EU and China reached a deal Friday to reduce China’s shipments of hybrid vehicles to Europe by half.
Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
Africa
Ecobank agrees to join Chinese payment platform
The move follows increasing demand from African businesses to settle deals using China’s currency.
Stringer/Reuters
Mercenaries suffer losses in DR Congo
A battlefield clash highlights the role of US private security contractor Erik Prince as his country seeks greater access to minerals.
Blackwater founder Erik Prince. Santiago Arcos/Reuters.
OPay readies $4B New York IPO
The fintech firm has seen its lending business overtake payments as its revenue more than doubled in the first half of the year.
Tanzania seeks investment to tackle youth job pressure
Efforts to partner with private companies are part of a bid to create jobs, said the country’s prime minister.
Dangote’s Kenya refinery triggers political battle
President William Ruto lauds the benefits of this huge investment but opponents see it as part of a pattern of opaque deals.
AI’s uncertain opportunity for Africa
The absence of African languages from large language models has become a major concern for the continent’s policymakers and tech leaders.
Security
Cyberattack destroys food at hundreds of French grocery stores
A cyberattack affected at least 400 French supermarkets overnight, raising refrigerator temperatures to more than 122°F (50°C) in some cases.
Stephane Mahe/Reuters
Trump faces Russia diesel deal blowback
The US president defended his deal with Moscow to suspend export sanctions on Russian fuel, calling it “the right choice.”
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
Global oil buffers weaken as global conflict expands
Goldman Sachs over the weekend raised its forecast for average year-end oil prices, warning of “the high sensitivity of interest rates to oil prices.”
Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters
Media
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.
Fred Greaves/Reuters
Hack reveals Netanyahu campaign’s media ties
The latest breach comes from the Whatsapp account of Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich.
ABC News offers contradictory explanation for vanishing Anduril story
Emails between ABC News and its subjects, provided to Semafor, show the network seeking to downplay its errors by misrepresenting its own processes.
New Skydance CEO Kreiz will be Ellison’s enforcer
Investors are warily eying Skydance’s freshly downgraded debt, and layoffs are coming.
Marc Elias’ Democracy Docket sees Trump 2.0 success
One of the Democratic Party’s most prolific lawyers also is becoming one of its most prolific posters.
CEO Signal
The CEO who put Canary Wharf back on the map
Shobi Khan’s success in filling the east London site is tempting him to think about international expansion.
‘It’s not about the champagne:’ Why VistaJet thinks the private flights boom can last
Founder Thomas Flohr is keeping IPO options open as he expands his global fleet.
How Greg Jackson runs Octopus Energy with no HR, no bonuses, and no succession plan
The serial founder relies on “family dinners,” accessibility, and a disdain for bureaucracy.
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