Friday, May 8, 2026

Geopolitical Tensions & Trade

A panel of federal judges ruled President Trump's 10% global tariff illegal, finding he lacked the legal authority to impose it on most imports, a decision that could impact ongoing trade policies. New York Times The Guardian Al Jazeera

Developing: Oil prices rose after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, despite President Trump's assertion that a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran remains in place, keeping markets on edge. BBC News Al Jazeera Google News

Shell reported nearly $7 billion in profit for the first quarter, more than double the previous quarter's earnings, as oil prices surged amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict. New York Times Google News

Whirlpool issued a warning of a "recession-level" slump, slashing its earnings forecast and hiking prices by 10% with another 4% increase planned, as the Iran conflict and tariff ruling impact sales. The Guardian

AI Industry & Regulation

The White House is distancing itself from tighter AI regulation, despite earlier considerations of vetting AI models before public release, with officials stating the administration is "not in the business of picking winners and losers." Politico The Hill WIRED

Elon Musk's SpaceX plans a $55 billion investment to manufacture AI chips at a new semiconductor factory called Terafab, signaling his expanding efforts to dominate artificial intelligence. New York Times

Cloudflare announced it is laying off 1,100 employees, approximately 20% of its workforce, citing the "agentic AI era" as fundamentally changing the company's operational needs and causing its stock to sink 18%. Business Insider CNBC

Nvidia is making a major investment in data center operator IREN, aiming to build out a 5-gigawatt global footprint for its AI factory ambitions, causing IREN's stock to soar despite a revenue shortfall. MarketWatch CNBC Reuters

OpenAI rolled out a new model, GPT-5.5-Cyber, in a limited preview for vetted cybersecurity teams, a month after Anthropic's Mythos debuted and was credited by Mozilla for uncovering high-severity bugs in Firefox. CNBC TechCrunch

Tech & Business Developments

Meta announced a major U-turn, removing end-to-end encrypted messages from Instagram DMs starting today, impacting user privacy. BBC News

Google launched the screenless Fitbit Air, which relies on Gemini to function as a personal health coach, positioning it as a direct competitor to Whoop. Gizmodo Bloomberg.com

Prediction market startup Kalshi doubled its valuation to $22 billion in five months after raising a $1 billion Series F round led by Coatue. TechCrunch

Sony announced a $3 billion share buyback program, forecasting lower gaming business sales as memory prices take a toll, despite expecting double-digit earnings growth for the year. Bloomberg.com Reuters

Disney is reportedly exploring the creation of a unified "super app" to streamline its various services, a move emphasized by CEO Josh D'Amaro since taking over earlier this year. TechCrunch

Market Performance & Corporate Earnings

Tech stocks could offer their best value in years, analysts suggest, following a succession of strong earnings seasons that allowed companies to "grow into" their stock prices. CNBC

Datadog's stock soared 31% on blockbuster earnings, raising its annual forecast due to strong cloud security demand and fueling shares of other cloud infrastructure names. CNBC Barron's

Coinbase posted a surprise first-quarter loss and weaker-than-estimated revenue after a slide in crypto prices, causing its shares to fall 4%. CNBC

Kodiak AI raised $100 million at a steep discount, sending its stock tumbling 37%, despite announcing a new commercial contract and pilot program. TechCrunch

CoreWeave's stock sank 10% on weak revenue guidance and an increased spending forecast, as the company continues to raise debt to finance its data center buildout. CNBC

U.S. Politics & Elections

Tennessee Republicans passed a new House map designed to break up the state's lone Democratic seat, marking the first state to redraw a U.S. House map after the Supreme Court weakened Voting Rights Act protections. NPR

The State Department will more strictly enforce a 1996 law, revoking passports of parents who owe child support, a move by the Trump administration. New York Times The Guardian

President Trump exempted some of the nation's biggest polluters from air quality rules via email, according to a report by ProPublica. ProPublica

Democrats are advocating for raising taxes on the wealthy to fund tax cuts for worker incomes, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen explaining the proposal. NPR

Quick Shots

• 🇫🇷 French prosecutors escalated their probe into Elon Musk and X to a criminal investigation, examining whether they were complicit in spreading harmful AI deepfakes. CNBC
• 🇬🇧 Early UK local election results show Reform UK making gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives, indicating a fragmentation of the political landscape. BBC News
• 🇹🇭 The U.S. reportedly suspects Nvidia chips are being smuggled to Alibaba via Thailand, raising concerns about illicit trade. Bloomberg.com
• 🇸🇪 Voi founders' new AI startup Pit raised a $16 million seed round led by a16z, becoming the latest rising star out of Stockholm. TechCrunch
• ☀️ Scientists are exploring how sunburn inspired a new way to store energy using molecules that capture heat, potentially aiding decarbonization efforts. BBC News