Amazon is heading back to the bond market as spending on the AI buildout piles up. The company plans to borrow $25 billion or more, adding to a flood of AI-related borrowing. Big Tech companies have hit the limits of their cash flows — no small feat, as these are ...
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Cloudflare puts prices on AI scrapingCloudflare puts prices on AI scraping
As AI bots take over the internet and displace human eyeballs, one of the biggest web-infrastructure companies has an idea about how to charge them. Cloudflare recently rolled out what is essentially a bot paywall that would allow its customers to charge AI models for scraping its customers’ content. Online ...
Honeywell bets its breakup will generate huge valueHoneywell bets its breakup will generate huge value
Honeywell is betting its breakup will generate huge value like GE’s did, but that’s not a guarantee. The empire’s first move since splitting into three pieces came this week when Honeywell’s former chemicals and polymers arm, now called Solstice Advanced Materials, announced a $14.5 billion takeover of chip-materials maker Element ...
AI investors chase the chokepointAI investors chase the chokepoint
Investors pursuing AI riches keep chasing the chokepoint. First they backed the models themselves (OpenAI), then the chips and compute (Nvidia, CoreWeave) that power them, then the dirt and steel that house them (data center stocks). The “picks and shovels” approach to investing then turned sleepy utilities into AI plays, ...
Sanders ends his silence on Platner’s implosionSanders ends his silence on Platner’s implosion
The News As progressives fought on Tuesday to salvage some validation from the wreckage of Graham Platner’s Senate bid, his most important endorser on the left broke a conspicuous silence to try to nudge him out of the race. Sen. Bernie Sanders backed Platner nearly a year ago and elevated ...
‘FOBO’ is driving China’s AI anxiety‘FOBO’ is driving China’s AI anxiety
Andy’s view China has long been a nation of techno-optimists, and not just because software and engineering — from smartphones to high-speed trains to drone deliveries — have radically improved life across the country in the span of a single generation. Faith in technology as a force for progress is ...
UN warns of ‘catastrophe’ unfolding in SudanUN warns of ‘catastrophe’ unfolding in Sudan
The UN warned of a “catastrophe” unfolding in el-Obeid, Sudan. The Human Rights Council passed a motion condemning escalating violence and setting up an inquiry; its chief said the besieged town has been subject to “relentless” drone strikes as well as executions, torture, abductions, and sexual violence. Save the Children ...
Iran strikes two tankers in Strait of HormuzIran strikes two tankers in Strait of Hormuz
US officials said Iran had struck two tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz, testing a ceasefire that has helped almost halve oil prices from their recent April peak. While some Gulf countries have ramped up oil shipments to near pre-Iran war levels — Saudi Arabia has exported 34 million barrels ...
Le Pen’s presidential bid hangs in the balanceLe Pen’s presidential bid hangs in the balance
A French court will rule today on whether the hard-right leader Marine Le Pen can run in next year’s presidential elections, a decision that will reverberate well beyond Paris. Le Pen is appealing a 2025 conviction for embezzling public funds, resulting in a jail sentence and a five-year ban on ...
NATO is falling behind in global arms raceNATO is falling behind in global arms race
War has changed, and NATO is struggling to keep up. Apart from the need to bolster European leadership as the US backs off, the alliance “has the wrong technology” and its “doctrine is outmoded,” analysts told the Financial Times. “Our tactical/operational conceptual thinking rather stopped in about 1991,” a NATO ...