Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Global Markets & AI Tech Stocks

A global sell-off in AI-related tech stocks spread from Wall Street to Asia, with South Korea's Kospi index plunging 10% amid investor doubts over the sustainability of massive AI infrastructure spending, before chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix helped the market recover some ground. The Guardian Business Insider MarketWatch

Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 29, a move that pivots the index further towards technology and reflects the growing influence of tech giants. CNBC The Motley Fool

Cerebras Systems saw its stock fall 10% after its first earnings report since IPO, despite soaring first-quarter revenue, as the chipmaker forecasted negative full-year margins, indicating the tough choices AI demand is forcing on companies. WSJ CNBC

FedEx posted strong fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, marking its last quarter to include the freight business before its planned spin-off. CNBC

AI Policy & Development

The NSA lost access to a powerful AI model from Anthropic amid a dispute, underscoring the Trump administration's increasing reliance on advanced AI for cybersecurity while battling leading US developers over access and control. The New York Times Bloomberg

Federal officials are pressing Meta to agree to government safety evaluations of its AI models, making it the lone major tech company holdout, weeks after ordering Anthropic to pull its latest model due to security concerns. The New York Times Reuters

AI memory startup Engram raised $98 million to cut token costs, entering a market where the AI industry faces rising expenses from increasingly complex models. CNBC

Digital health startup Cadence secured $100 million at a $1.23 billion valuation to expand its chronic disease management program, which leverages regulated AI to automate care. STATnews

A proposed "billionaire tax" in California has garnered more than double the necessary signatures to qualify for the ballot, despite opposition from tech moguls, though its ultimate inclusion for voters remains uncertain. The Guardian

US Politics & Governance

Congress passed the most expansive affordable housing legislation in decades, sending the bill aimed at lowering costs for homebuyers and reining in private equity to the President's desk for signature. NPR CNBC

The Trump administration announced $17.5 billion in loans to accelerate the deployment of 10 new large nuclear reactors, aiming to "unleash the next American nuclear renaissance" and bolster the US nuclear power supply chain. Fox Business The New York Times

President Trump's nominee for chief counsel at the IRS, James R. Gadwood, works at Miller & Chevalier, a firm that has represented the President in tax matters, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest. The New York Times

The CFTC sued Kentucky over the state's efforts to regulate prediction markets, asserting its exclusive jurisdiction over the platforms after Kentucky's Attorney General sued Kalshi and Polymarket. The Hill

SpaceX launched a $25 billion notes offering to fund debt repayment and AI expansion, less than two weeks after its IPO. Reuters CNBC

Global Tech Race & Cybersecurity

China's LineShine supercomputer debuted at number one in the Top500 rankings, displacing the US's El Capitan and marking the first time since 2017 a Chinese machine has been ranked the world's fastest. The Guardian Al Jazeera

The White House drastically shortened the deadline for federal agencies to transition away from quantum-vulnerable cryptography, citing national security risks if post-quantum cryptography is not adopted in time. Ars Technica

Alibaba sued the Pentagon, asserting it has no ties to China's military and accusing the US government of violating the law by making that claim. The New York Times

Quick Shots

• ⛽ President Trump announced the US will probe petrol price gouging claims, even as global oil prices have fallen but remain higher than before the US-Israel war with Iran. BBC News
• 🗳️ Democratic socialist candidates backed by New York City Mayor Mamdani swept key primaries, ousting two sitting congressmen and raising questions about the Democratic party's future. Al Jazeera
• 🇬🇧 Andy Burnham is now likely to replace Rachel Reeves if he becomes Prime Minister, according to sources close to him. BBC News
• 🎬 Hollywood appears hesitant to distribute director Luca Guadagnino's biographical drama about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, with Amazon MGM unexpectedly pulling out, suggesting a reluctance to tell critical stories about Big Tech. The Verge
• 🧠 Superhuman acquired AI detection startup GPTZero, integrating its technology into a broader effort to identify AI-generated content. TechCrunch