ai_investment

Andreessen Horowitz hauls in one of the largest funds since the downturn in the tech sector, stocks from China’s state-owned enterprises are faring well compared with the wider market, and the IMF says that the US is on track to grow at double the rate of any other G7 country this year. Plus, a full-scale conflict has depleted Ukrainian defences. Israel could face a similar plight despite the weekend’s successful interceptions.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Andreessen Horowitz raises $7.2bn and sets sights on AI start-ups

Beijing reforms unloved state-owned enterprises to win back investors

US to grow at double the rate of G7 peers this year, says IMF

Ukraine’s air defence struggle shows risks to Israel

The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help by Katya Kumkova, Josh Gabert-Doyon, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) There’s a new sense of optimism in the UK as a global investment destination ahead of a general election later this year. A two-month investigation by Bloomberg Radio's Caroline Hepker has many of London's business elite increasingly upbeat about the future of the economy.

(2) China set its annual growth target at around 5%, raising expectations for the nation’s top leaders to unleash more stimulus as they try to lift confidence in an economy hampered by a property slump and entrenched deflation.

(3) JPMorgan Chase's chief market strategist Marko Kolanovic joins in a chorus of rapidly piling up warnings from Wall Street that are hearkening back to the dot-com boom of the late-1990s, or the post-pandemic mania of 2021, when stock prices quickly ballooned and then burst.

(4) A bank group spearheaded by Morgan Stanley held discussions with Elon Musk and his team about refinancing a roughly $12.5 billion debt package that supported the tech billionaire’s take-private of the social media platform X, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

(5) The US Supreme Court said Donald Trump can appear on presidential ballots this year, putting an end to efforts nationwide to ban him under a rarely used constitutional provision barring insurrectionists from holding office. 

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US mortgage rates have soared to a 21-year high, US retailer earnings reports send mixed messages on consumer spending, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are buying up thousands of the high-performance Nvidia chips crucial for building artificial intelligence software. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

Walmart sales rise as inflation keeps consumers hunting for bargains

Target sales hit by Pride backlash and consumer caution

Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions

‘People were losing their mind’: Russia’s bootleg Barbie viewings

FT Weekend festival promo code: FTPodcast

The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Josh Gabert-Doyon, Monique Mulima, Monica Lopez, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.