Bloomberg (April 10)
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned Wall Street leaders to an urgent meeting on Anthropic.” The AI firm’s new Mythos system is thought to be “capable of identifying and then exploiting vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser.” The leaders, who represented global systemically important banks, were summoned “to make sure banks are aware of possible future risks… and are taking precautions to defend their systems.”
Tags: AI, Anthropic, Bessent, Exploiting, Fed, Future risks, GSIB, Identifying, Meeting, Mythos, Operating system, Powell, Treasury, Urgent, Vulnerabilities, Wall Street, Web browser
Barron’s (March 26)
“The war in Iran and consequent blockage of the Strait of Hormuz offer a stark reminder of a different geopolitical risk, one lurking in tech-heavy global portfolios that are betting on artificial intelligence: Taiwan.” 75% of global foundry revenue originates in the island nation. “Investors often put Taiwan in the ‘too big to fail’ bucket, meaning China wouldn’t dare attack anytime soon because of the cascading ramifications…. But the far-reaching ripples from Iran’s attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, itself once thought to be in the unlikely bucket, is a reminder of the risks to global chokeholds and the potential spillover from geopolitical conflict.”
Tags: AI, Attack, Cascading, China, Foundry, Geopolitical risk, Global chokeholds, Hormuz, Investors, Iran, Ramifications, Revenue, Spillover, Taiwan, War
Fortune (February 16)
“Investors wobbled last week as they worked through the disruption AI is likely to cause across global industries, with further hiccups potentially bubbling through this week.” The rout spread from software to “the legal, IT, consulting and logistics sectors,” with $2 trillion “wiped off software market caps alone.” Investors appear to be abandoning “broad-stroke arguments that the efficiencies offered by AI will result in wins for the vast majority of companies.”
Tags: $2 trillion, AI, Consulting, Disruption, Efficiencies, Global industries, Investors, IT, Legal, Logistics, Market caps, Rout, Software, Wobbled
Fortune (February 6)
“The amount companies are spending on AI infrastructure now rivals that of some of the largest economies in the world and is comparable to the annual GDP of countries like Sweden and Israel.” Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft combined are expected to allocate “more than a staggering $630 billion” to CAPEX in 2026 for “such big-ticket infrastructure items as data centers, servers, and power systems that fuel the AI build-out race.”
Tags: $630 billion, 2026, AI, Alphabet, Amazon, CAPEX, Data centers, GDP, Infrastructure, Israel, Meta, Microsoft, Servers, Staggering, Sweden
MarketWatch (February 4)
“Software ate the world. Now, Wall Street is worried AI will eat software. The selloff of business software continues on Wednesday as investors keep selling shares of companies that look like they could be on the menu.”
Financial Times (February 1)
“Fears of an AI jobs apocalypse are growing. At Davos, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the technology would hit labour markets like a “tsunami.” But much of this is hype or misassigned blame for job losses that really stem from other factors. You shouldn’t “fear the AI ‘jobpocalypse.’ The technology hasn’t yet hit employment notably, and could create more openings.”
Tags: AI, Apocalypse, Davos, Employment, Fears, Hype, Job losses, Labour markets, Misassigned blame, Technology, Tsunami
Wall Street Journal (January 29)
A “deflation doom loop” is “trapping China’s economy.” Despite the nation’s “extraordinary leaps in cutting-edge technology, from artificial intelligence to robotics,” China’s “relentless pursuit of growth through manufacturing has also created a lopsided economy, with much of it stuck in a deflationary spiral. China’s GDP deflator, a broad price gauge, has been negative since 2023, a sign of inadequate demand at home.”
Tags: 2023, AI, China, Deflationary spiral, Doom loop, Economy, GDP deflator, Growth, Lopsided, Manufacturing, Negative, Robotics, Technology
Wall Street Journal (January 22)
“Employees say AI isn’t saving them much time in their daily work so far, and many report feeling overwhelmed by how to incorporate it into their jobs. Companies, meanwhile, are spending vast amounts on artificial intelligence, betting that the technology’s power to speed everything from sales to back-office functions will usher in a new era of efficiency and profit growth.”
Tags: AI, Artificial intelligence, Back-office functions, Daily work, Efficiency, Employees, Jobs, Overwhelmed, Power, Profit growth, Sales, Speed, Technology
Bloomberg (January 18)
“The new year was supposed to bring opportunities for beaten-down software stocks. Instead, the group is off to its worst start in years.” Amid fears that AI will undercut the benefits of software, “valuations for software companies keep getting cheaper. The Morgan Stanley basket is priced at 18 times earnings projected over the next 12 months, its cheapest on record, and well below an average of more than 55 times over the past decade.”
Tags: AI, Beaten-down, Benefits, Cheaper, Fears, Morgan Stanley, Opportunities, Software, Software stocks, Undercut, Valuations, Worst start
Reuters (January 7)
“U.S. job openings dropped to a 14-month low in November while hiring resumed its sluggish tone, pointing to ebbing demand for labor amid policy uncertainty related to import tariffs and the integration of artificial intelligence in some work roles.” Nevertheless, “employers remained hesitant to carry out mass layoffs, keeping the labor market in what economists and policymakers call a ‘no hire, no fire’ state.”
Tags: AI, Demand, Ebbing, Employers, Hiring, Import tariffs, Job openings, Labor market, Layoffs, Low, November, Policy uncertainty, Sluggish, U.S.
