NYTIMES (Gregory Schmidt) - Bond Yields Jump and Stocks Slip as Iran Stalemate Unsettles Investors
The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond rose to its highest level in nearly 20 years.
AXIOS (Zachary Basu) - DeepSeek's new bargain model accelerates AI's race to zero
Data: Axios research; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Chinese AI lab DeepSeek released a powerful new coding model Friday that charges pennies for vast amounts of code — the latest sign that some of the smartest software on Earth is rapidly becoming a commodity . Why it matters: Tech giants are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the computing infrastructure powering the AI revolution. Yet the intelligence that infrastructure produces is getting cheaper by the week. Zoom in: DeepSeek is the same Chinese startup that ignited a market meltdown last January by showing it could build a world-class AI model with far fewer resources than its U.S. rivals. - Its newest model, V4 Flash, performs close to the level of Anthropic's Claude Opus…
Data: Axios research; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Chinese AI lab DeepSeek released a powerful new coding model Friday that charges pennies for vast amounts of code — the latest sign that some of the smartest software on Earth is rapidly becoming a commodity . Why it matters: Tech giants are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the computing infrastructure powering the AI revolution. Yet the intelligence that infrastructure produces is getting cheaper by the week. Zoom in: DeepSeek is the same Chinese startup that ignited a market meltdown last January by showing it could build a world-class AI model with far fewer resources than its U.S. rivals. - Its newest model, V4 Flash, performs close to the level of Anthropic's Claude Opus…Open
AXIOS (Madison Mills) - Startup bets that investors want to trade compute like a commodity
Ornn, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, raised a $33 million seed round to build a marketplace for trading the computing power that underpins today's AI boom, similar to what exists for oil traders. Why it matters: Investors increasingly want to trade compute like a commodity, betting it could make the historically expensive AI buildout more sustainable and efficient. Catch up quick: Commodity markets let companies use futures contracts to lock in prices for volatile raw materials. - Think airlines locking in jet fuel prices or manufacturers hedging metals prices, which helps them reduce the risk of price fluctuations. - But AI companies don't have an equivalent market for compute, a problem the 20-something founders of Ornn and a…
Ornn, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, raised a $33 million seed round to build a marketplace for trading the computing power that underpins today's AI boom, similar to what exists for oil traders. Why it matters: Investors increasingly want to trade compute like a commodity, betting it could make the historically expensive AI buildout more sustainable and efficient. Catch up quick: Commodity markets let companies use futures contracts to lock in prices for volatile raw materials. - Think airlines locking in jet fuel prices or manufacturers hedging metals prices, which helps them reduce the risk of price fluctuations. - But AI companies don't have an equivalent market for compute, a problem the 20-something founders of Ornn and a…Open
AXIOS (Courtenay Brown) - Americans are still shopping, despite climbing energy costs
Income growth is accelerating — supporting consumer spending — while inflation is rising even beyond the energy-price shock. Why it matters: That combination, shown in new data out Thursday morning, creates a complex reality for Kevin Warsh's young Federal Reserve chairmanship . - It's good news for the economy's underlying resilience, but it raises fresh questions about whether interest rates are exerting as much downward pressure on demand as Fed officials may believe. What they're saying: "The U.S. consumer is not cracking," Olu Sonola, an economist at Fitch Ratings, wrote Thursday morning, adding that the oil price shock has not derailed consumer spending. - "Headline inflation may be nearing a peak as energy prices fall, but…
Income growth is accelerating — supporting consumer spending — while inflation is rising even beyond the energy-price shock. Why it matters: That combination, shown in new data out Thursday morning, creates a complex reality for Kevin Warsh's young Federal Reserve chairmanship . - It's good news for the economy's underlying resilience, but it raises fresh questions about whether interest rates are exerting as much downward pressure on demand as Fed officials may believe. What they're saying: "The U.S. consumer is not cracking," Olu Sonola, an economist at Fitch Ratings, wrote Thursday morning, adding that the oil price shock has not derailed consumer spending. - "Headline inflation may be nearing a peak as energy prices fall, but…Open
NYTIMES (The New York Times) - Oil Rises Amid Uncertainty Over Strait of Hormuz
Modest reactions in the oil and financial markets as Iran and the U.S. met in Switzerland for a first round of talks aimed at making a temporary cease-fire permanent.
NYTIMES (Kailyn Rhone) - Average U.S. Gasoline Price Falls Below $4 for First Time in Months
Drivers are enjoying some relief at the pump after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
NPR (John Ruwitch) - The world is connected by copper. It's a huge target for thieves
The value of copper is rising, and thieves can make money by stripping it from phone poles, streetlights and EV chargers. But those thefts cost the rest of us.
The value of copper is rising, and thieves can make money by stripping it from phone poles, streetlights and EV chargers. But those thefts cost the rest of us.Open
AXIOS (Amy Harder) - AI is turning energy into the hottest business in America
The AI boom is pushing companies across the economy — from tech giants to automakers — deep into the energy business. Why it matters: The scramble for electricity has become the gold rush beneath the AI boom, creating enormous financial value and enormous risk if demand falls short. Driving the news: Electricity — long treated as a cheap, abundant commodity — is suddenly emerging as one of the most valuable strategic assets in business. - "Everyone to some extent is either dependent on energy as a core input or they see energy as a huge opportunity," said Brian Janous, who was Microsoft's first energy hire 15 years ago and is now co-founder of data center developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure. The latest: Ford unveiled earlier this…
The AI boom is pushing companies across the economy — from tech giants to automakers — deep into the energy business. Why it matters: The scramble for electricity has become the gold rush beneath the AI boom, creating enormous financial value and enormous risk if demand falls short. Driving the news: Electricity — long treated as a cheap, abundant commodity — is suddenly emerging as one of the most valuable strategic assets in business. - "Everyone to some extent is either dependent on energy as a core input or they see energy as a huge opportunity," said Brian Janous, who was Microsoft's first energy hire 15 years ago and is now co-founder of data center developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure. The latest: Ford unveiled earlier this…Open
NYTIMES (The New York Times) - Oil Prices Fall as Uneasy Truce Holds Between U.S. and Iran
Oil/Stocks/Gas hed
NYTIMES (Javier C. Hernández and Kiuko Notoya) - The Iran War Is Taking the Color Out of Japan’s Best-Known Snack Bags
The food giant Calbee said shortages of naphtha, a crude-oil derivative used in inks, were forcing it to switch to black-and-white packaging for its salty products.