JPMorgan reported its biggest quarterly equity‑trading revenue ever, $6.03 bn, pushing total trading revenue to a record $12.1 bn. The surge shows how a risk‑on market is fattening banks’ desks, but CEO Jamie Dimon warns underlying geopolitical and inflation risks could soon bite.
F/m Investments built WarshGPT, an AI chatbot that combs through 1,800 Fed‑Chair Kevin Warsh statements to infer his policy leanings. With the Fed cutting back public guidance, firms are betting on AI to fill the intel gap and gain a trading edge. The tool cost under $1,000 to develop.
The Kauffman 2025 report shows 6.6 million American adults started a business last year, 360 new entrepreneurs per 100,000 adults each month, matching pre‑COVID activity. Opportunity‑driven startups now make up 83 % of new firms, signaling rising confidence and potential job growth.
GE Appliances and other U.S. manufacturers turned to an app‑based, part‑time schedule system after COVID‑driven labor shortages left plants empty. The model lets workers pick four‑hour shifts and roles, drawing retirees and casual workers back onto the line and easing the staffing crunch.
The five biggest U.S. banks posted a record $114 billion in capital‑markets revenue for H1 2026, a 31.5% jump driven mainly by AI‑fueled equity trading and dealmaking. Analysts warn the surge ties earnings to a volatile AI wave, raising questions about sustainability as the tech spending cycle matures.
Meta is negotiating a potential $10 billion, two‑year lease of its AI data‑center capacity to Anthropic, giving the chatbot maker a crucial chip supply. The deal would be Meta’s first step into selling cloud compute, opening a new revenue stream as the firm seeks returns on its massive AI‑infrastructure spend.
The Atlantic warns that massive AI models are gobbling 70% of high‑end memory, driving hardware prices up 50% and sparking a looming shortage of affordable computers. Data‑center expansion to power these models also threatens electricity demand, raising questions about the sector’s scalability and long‑term economics.
As AI drives a boom in U.S. data centers, power companies are using eminent domain to acquire land for transmission lines that feed them. With 70% of Americans opposing local data center projects, more than 45 states have enacted reforms, turning the legal battle over 'public use' into a new front in the AI infrastructure race.
An internal memo shows Meta will move its custom Iris data-center AI chip into production this September. The move is part of a compute plan that aims to double total capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027, reducing reliance on external suppliers and sharpening its AI advantage for ads and recommendations.
NPR reports that Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, both young billionaires, are locked in a public rivalry that extends to legal battles and brand wars. Their clash over regulation and market positioning could determine how the emerging prediction‑market industry navigates U.S. oversight and scales to mainstream finance.
You’re caught up.
That was all 10 stories in the 19 July issue.