Category: Semafor

Global governments lack the fiscal capacity to deal with the economic fallout of the Iran war, analysts warned. The conflict’s consequences are still reverberating worldwide, and fears of stagflation are growing; several nations are rolling out measures to grapple with an expected cost-of-living crisis. But most economies are still dealing ...

The ceasefire deal in Iran has offered a respite for Tehran’s population, even if few there believe the conflict is truly over. Many of the Iranian capital’s 10 million people have emerged from hiding to a radically changed city: Numerous shopping streets and public squares have been obliterated by US ...

The war in the Middle East, home to some of the world’s largest air travel hubs, has upended the global aviation industry, driving carriers to new routes. British Airways said it would suspend some flights to the region through July, while opening more direct routes to Africa and India. Chinese ...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused the opposition of “colluding” with foreign forces ahead of weekend elections that polls indicate he will likely lose. The longtime leader — whom critics accuse of undermining democracy and whose government has been reported to have worked closely with Moscow to undermine European sanctions ...

Slightly more American Gen Zers are using AI, but they’re also growing more uneasy about it, new data showed. According to a Gallup report, the percentage of respondents feeling hopeful or excited about AI has declined steeply over the past year, even as more than half of Gen Z now ...

The UK’s top diplomat on Thursday rejected Iran’s toll plan for the Strait of Hormuz, characterizing the effort as a “hijacking” of the crucial transit route. Iran is reportedly planning to charge firms in cryptocurrency to pass through the strait — $1 per barrel of oil — a move that ...

OpenAI is pausing its UK data center project, citing high energy costs and regulatory conditions. The multibillion-dollar Stargate project is part of the ChatGPT maker’s expanding AI infrastructure buildout, but the pullback marks a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to make the UK a global AI hub. One ...

China’s microdrama industry is booming thanks to AI. The short-form videos — essentially “soap operas rebuilt for smartphone attention spans” — started taking off in China in recent years, but AI has allowed the industry to launch about 470 new titles daily in January alone, the Hello China Tech newsletter ...

US tech giants are doubling down on massive AI spending despite lingering concerns of a bubble and energy shocks stemming from the Middle East conflict. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy dismissed concerns about the company’s projected $200 billion in capital expenditure this year — mostly on AI buildout — telling investors ...

The Scoop SpaceX’s IPO is primed to be the biggest in history. Its bankers are worried about what comes next. At a $2 trillion valuation, the listing could raise as much as $75 billion for Elon Musk’s rocket company. The problem is what happens months later, when early investors start ...