Category: Semafor

Reed’s view Hollywood shouldn’t worry too much about generative AI — the transformer architecture that underpins AI models that can build images, videos, and songs from a single text prompt. While film executives may not like to say it out loud, AI is already being used to bring down costs ...

The AI buildout is reshaping global energy grids. In the US, data centers are boosting energy demand faster than the power network can keep up, according to ING analysis. But the Dutch bank said that the data center buildout could be “a new grid asset” — developers are having to ...

Europe’s ongoing heat wave is piling pressure on its electricity system. Surging demand for air conditioning, with temperatures staying high into the evening when solar output falls, combined with the high-pressure system behind the heat wave stilling the air and limiting wind generation, have forced power networks to scramble. Britain’s ...

Tankers crept through the Strait of Hormuz, despite a new vessel attack rattling an already unsettled energy market. Traffic through the waterway has more than tripled since a US-Iran interim peace deal, but remains far below prewar levels. A key test of the truce is looming today as four empty ...

The White House asked OpenAI to limit the release of its next model to government-approved users, cementing the Trump administration’s shift toward AI interventionism. It started out laissez-faire on AI, removing Biden-era rules requiring safety reviews of frontier models. But it has rapidly changed direction, getting into a legal tussle ...

A tech stock sell-off saw Asian markets tumble, with Wall Street set to follow. South Korea’s benchmark index triggered an automatic suspension of trading before closing down 5.8%, while markets in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan also slumped. It has been a volatile week for tech stocks: Shares in memory ...

Apple’s stock sank Thursday after the company raised prices across its flagship products to offset soaring costs caused by the AI-fueled global memory chip shortage. “The memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” CEO Tim Cook said, arguing Apple could no longer protect consumers, as it hiked prices of ...

The UK saw its two hottest June days, and France its hottest day ever, as Europe continues to swelter. Researchers estimate British hospitals could cancel up to 4,000 surgeries over the four hottest days this week, as some MRI machines stopped working, with many hospitals lacking air conditioning. French teachers’ ...

Countries everywhere are feeling inflationary pressures from the Iran war, but Americans and Europeans are coping differently. Rising energy prices pushed US inflation in May to its highest level in three years, but Thursday’s data showed that consumer spending remained resilient, thanks in part to larger tax refunds and rising ...

The deadly earthquakes in Venezuela will test the Trump administration’s disaster relief response after it dismantled USAID. Wednesday’s earthquakes, described as the “strongest in a century,” have triggered frantic search-and-rescue efforts. President Donald Trump said the US was “ready, willing, and able to help,” reflecting “a degree of diplomatic realignment” ...