Senator McCormick's Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit Fact Sheet of Deals Announced

From the Senator's office via Public, July 15:

David McCormick

07/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2025 13:19

FACT SHEET: MORE THAN $90 BILLION IN INVESTMENTS ANNOUNCED AT SENATOR MCCORMICK’S PENNSYLVANIA ENERGY AND INNOVATION SUMMIT

Pittsburgh, PA - Top executives in energy and AI, leading global investors, key representatives in labor and trade, and top government officials have joined Senator Dave McCormick and President Donald J. Trump at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. At this first-of-its-kind summit, companies announced over $90 billion of investments in data centers, energy and power infrastructure, and workforce and AI training projects. These commitments will create tens of thousands of construction jobs and thousands of permanent jobs, signaling Pennsylvania's readiness to power the AI and energy revolution, further strengthening America's resilience and independence.

Investments announced at today's Energy and Innovation Summit include:

• Anthropic committed $1 million over three years to support the PicoCTF program that provides cybersecurity education to middle and high school students. In addition, they announced $1 million over three years to support energy research at Carnegie Mellon University.
• Blackstone announced a $25 billion investment in data center and energy infrastructure development in Northeast Pennsylvania along with a new joint venture with PPL Corporation for power generation. This investment is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs along with 3,000 new permanent jobs.
• Brookfield announced a 20-year, $3 billion deal with Google to repower two hydropower facilities and generate 670 megawatts of power. Brookfield estimates 300 new jobs to be protected.
• Capital Power announced $3 billion over 10 years to upgrade and expand a gas facility in Shamokin Dam, PA, including $2 billion of Pennsylvania gas purchases. More than 30 full-time jobs are expected to be created as a result of this investment.
• Constellation Energy will create 3,000 jobs per year as a result of a $2.4 billion investment to uprate the Limerick nuclear power plant. As a result, Pennsylvania should receive an additional 340 megawatts of power capacity, contingent upon customer commitments.
• CoreWeave announced a $6 billion investment to develop an up to 300-megawatt data center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This new data center is expected to create 600 new construction jobs and 175 full-time operational jobs.
• Energy Capital Partners announced a $5 billion plan to develop a data center at the York II Energy Center. This project is expected to create 2,500 new construction jobs. In addition, Energy Capital Partners plans to develop 51 community solar projects designed to power 24,000 homes.
• Energy Innovation Center Infrastructure Academy plans to build a first-of-its-kind regional training facility for energy and AI infrastructure workers with the potential to impact more than 7,000 jobs across southwest Pennsylvania.
• Enbridge will invest $1 billion to expand their gas pipelines into Pennsylvania with projects to be announced over the next six to 18 months.
• Equinor announced an investment of $1.6 billion, generating 1,000 direct and indirect jobs per year, to boost natural gas production at Equinor's Pennsylvania facilities and explore opportunities to link gas to flexible power generation for data centers.
• First Energy will invest $15 billion to expand power distribution, strengthen grid infrastructure, and operate the enhanced grid, supporting 56 of the 67 Pennsylvania counties. In partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, First Energy will also expand an apprenticeship program, creating opportunities for more than 40 new hires across dozens of Pennsylvania's counties.
• Frontier Group announced plans to invest $3.2 billion to transform the former Bruce Mansfield coal powerplant into a natural gas power station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. This project is expected to create 15,000 construction jobs and over 300 permanent jobs.
• GE Vernova announced up to $100 million of investment in Pennsylvania facilities, including creating 250 new jobs by expanding a power grid equipment manufacturing plant in Charleroi, PA.
• Google announced a new 20-year deal with Brookfield to repower two hydropower facilities, Safe Harbor Hydro Facility and Holtwood Hydro Facility, resulting in 670 megawatts of power generation to support the state. Google has also launched a new "AI Works for PA" initiative offering free training for one million Pennsylvania small businesses and Pittsburgh residents and awarded a grant to the electrical training ALLIANCE to training electrical workers and new apprentices using AI through an AI-integrated curriculum.
• Homer City Redevelopment announced an agreement in principle to purchase $15 billion of Pennsylvania natural gas to support over 4 gigawatts of power generation at the Homer City Redevelopment site.This project is expected to create 1,000 onsite jobs in addition to 10,000 new construction jobs.
• Meta announced$2.5 million as part of a partnership program with the Schwartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University to support startups in rural Pennsylvania communities in addition to community accelerator training for small businesses.
• PA Data Center Partners and Powerhouse Data Centers revealed plans to develop a $15 billion, 1.3 gigawatt, three-campus data center hub near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
• PPL Corporation will invest $6.8 billion through 2028 to expand grid capacity and modernize transmission across multiple Pennsylvania counties to support the growing power demand of data centers. The projects are expected to create 3,400 new jobs in Pennsylvania. PPL also announced a joint venture with Blackstone to develop, own and operate combined-cycle gas generation capacity.
• TC Energy announced plans to invest $400 million to modernize its gas pipeline network in Pennsylvania.
• Westinghouse Electric Company is working to have 10 new, large nuclear power plant reactors under construction by 2030, generating what is currently estimated to be $6 billion in economic impact and 15,000 new jobs in southwest Pennsylvania.

Contact: Katy Montgomery, Jake Murphy

###

David McCormick published this content on July 15, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on July 15, 2025 at 19:19 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io

Earlier:
"A look at the blockbuster deals announced at the Pa. Energy and Innovation Summit" 

"A look at the blockbuster deals announced at the Pa. Energy and Innovation Summit"

It looks like the $70 billion in pre-announced deals might end up closer to $89 billion. 

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 15:

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said Tuesday during the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh that companies are planning to invest more than $90 billion in data centers, energy and power infrastructure, and workforce and AI training projects across Pennsylvania.

Fifteen of the companies plan to invest at least $1 billion in Pennsylvania, according to a fact sheet provided by McCormick’s office. Here’s a look at those planned investments:

Blackstone

Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative investment firm with more than $1 trillion in assets under management, announced a $25 billion investment to develop data centers and natural gas plants in Northeast Pennsylvania, along with a joint venture with PPL Corporation for power generation. The investment is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs, McCormick’s office said.

“What we’re thinking about and what makes us so excited about the area is the idea you can co-locate the data centers right next to the source of power,” Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said. “And that’s really the special sauce here.”

Homer City Redevelopment Group

McCormick’s office said Homer City Redevelopment Group has reached an agreement in principle to buy $15 billion of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to support over 4 gigawatts of power generation at a proposed redevelopment site in Indiana County.

TribLive reported Tuesday that developers will present plans Wednesday for a $10 billion, 3,200-acre, natural-­gas power plant at the Homer City site.

The former Homer City Generating Station, once a coal-fired plant, is being proposed to provide the electricity required for AI and high-performance computing.

First Energy....

....MUCH MORE 

Previously:

• "Trump to unveil $70B in AI and energy investments" (GEV; PWR)
• Infrastructure: "Blackstone to invest $25 billion in data centers and natural gas plants, COO says" (BX)
• Update: Blackstone's Pennsyvania Electricity Project Will Be A Joint Venture With PPL (BX; PPL)

Here are the bios of the attendees/speakers/panelists via Senator McCormick's office, who himself is not your average U.S. Senator.

And when you get the CEO of the UAE's Mubadala swinging by, you are talking to the people who can cut the check.

Update: Blackstone's Pennsyvania Electricity Project Will Be A Joint Venture With PPL (BX; PPL)

From Reuters, July 15:

Blackstone and US utility PPL to build gas power plants in JV partnership 

Pennsylvania electric and gas utility PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure have formed a joint venture to build natural gas generation stations to power data centers under long-term energy services agreements, the companies said on Tuesday.

"We're excited to leverage the powerful expertise that PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure possess to bring much-needed new dispatchable generation online in Pennsylvania to match new data center load," said PPL President and CEO Vincent Sorgi in a statement....

....MUCH MORE 

PPL will own 51% of the j.v. 

Earlier: Infrastructure: "Blackstone to invest $25 billion in data centers and natural gas plants, COO says" (BX)

AI: "Meta Plans to Abandon Llama 4 Behemoth. But Why?" (META)

From the always interesting Analytics India, July 15:

The company is reportedly focusing on building a closed source model instead.  

Meta has reportedly considered abandoning the Llama 4 Behemoth, according to a July 14 report by the New York Times. The report indicates that a small group of senior staff at Meta’s newly announced superintelligence lab are now believed to be developing a closed-source model instead. 

The Llama 4 Behemoth is currently the company’s biggest and most powerful AI model that has been announced.  

According to the NYT report, Meta has completed training the Behemoth model but delayed its release due to ‘poor internal performance’. And after Meta announced the superintelligence lab last month, teams working on the model stopped running tests on it. 

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the tech giant delayed the rollout of the model, ‘prompting concerns about the direction of its multi-billion dollar AI investments.” These individuals also told the publication that Meta’s engineers and researchers were concerned that its performance would not match the public statements made about its capabilities. 

The model was expected to be released later this year. However, recent updates suggest that a release is now unlikely anytime soon. 

If Meta develops a closed-source model, it would represent a significant departure from the company’s long-standing approach of creating open-source AI models. 

In April, the company introduced the Llama 4 family of AI models, which includes three variants: Behemoth, Maverick, and Scout. The Behemoth is the largest, with a total of 2 trillion parameters. Meta dubbed the model as one of the most innovative AI models in the world....

....MUCH MORE 

 If interested see also July 13's:

ZuckAI: "Meta Superintelligence – Leadership Compute, Talent, and Data" (META) 

Former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati Raises $2 Billion At $12 Billion Valuation From Jane Street, A16Z, Nvidia

She was in charge of the teams that developed ChatGPT and DALL·E.  

She's 37 years old. 

I hate her.

From CNBC, July 15:

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati raises $2 billion for new AI startup Thinking Machines Lab

• Mira Murati said that her new AI startup Thinking Machines Lab has raised $2 billion in fresh capital.
• Murati previously worked as the chief technology officer of OpenAI, and she was named interim CEO of OpenAI after Sam Altman was briefly ousted.
• Thinking Machines will announce its first product “in the next couple months,” Murati said. 

Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI, said Tuesday that her artificial intelligence startup Thinking Machines Lab has raised $2 billion in fresh capital and will announce its first product “in the next couple months.”

Murati rocketed into the spotlight in 2023 when she was named interim CEO of OpenAI after Sam Altman was briefly ousted by the company’s board.

She left OpenAI in September and launched Thinking Machines in February, though she has not shared many details about the startup publicly.

In her first post on X since February, Murati said Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z led Thinking Machines’ funding round. Additional investors included Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO and Jane Street....

....MUCH MORE

I don't really hate her. But I do wonder how much Zuckerberg offered her to come to META. 

$500 million? A billion? 

And I wonder what she said when she turned him down. 

Infrastructure: "Blackstone to invest $25 billion in data centers and natural gas plants, COO says" (BX)

These private equity firms have something on the order of a trillion dollars they have to deploy.

Sure, it's a bubble but what a magnificent bubble it is.

Lifted in toto from Reuters via MSN, July 15: 

-Asset management firm Blackstone will announce on Tuesday a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said at a panel at the Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh.

Gray said Blackstone had identified several sites to build large data centers and would also later be announcing with a Pennsylvania utility a plan to build a number of natural gas generation plants.

This is the get-together we posted on yesterday: "Trump to unveil $70B in AI and energy investments" (GEV; PWR)

And as noted introducing May 20's "Infrastructure: Blackstone Is Buying An Electric Utility (BX; TXNM)":
This is something we will see more of, private equity in regulated utilities. It's hard to asset-strip the darn things due to said regulators but boy-oh-boy do they cash flow. Just ask Warren Buffet....

Inflation: June Consumer Price Index (headline) UP 0.3%, seasonally adjusted, UP 2.7% over the last 12 months

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 15:

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in June, after rising 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The index for shelter rose 0.2 percent in June and was the primary factor in the all items monthly increase. The energy index rose 0.9 percent in June as the gasoline index increased 1.0 percent over the month. The index for food increased 0.3 percent as the index for food at home rose 0.3 percent and the index for food away from home rose 0.4 percent in June.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in June, following a 0.1-percent increase in May. 
Indexes that increased over the month include household furnishings and operations, medical care, recreation, apparel, and personal care. The indexes for used cars and trucks, new vehicles, and airline fares were among the major indexes that decreased in June.

The all items index rose 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending June, after rising 2.4 percent over the 12 months ending May. The all items less food and energy index rose 2.9 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index decreased 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending June. The food index increased 3.0 percent over the last year....

....MUCH MORE, including narrative and tables.

That uptick in food bears watching. Food was the "tell" for the 2021 inflation and has a history of leading the general price level. As noted a few times, 2021 - 2024:

....And the reason we harp on food inflation? First and most importantly it is the inflation that messes earliest with peoples lives—housing inflation does as well but it takes a while before the precariat become homeless. With food, one bad season can have people deciding between food, heat and medicine.

Secondly because, of all the leading indicators of future general inflation, food seems to be the most accurate. At least it allowed us to stay off team transitory 2021 - 2023.

We first posted this research in December 2020 after the UN's FAO Food Price Index had printed higher for six consecutive months. The correlation with coming CPI prices apparently held.

We reposted in September 2021.

Reminder: "St. Louis Fed: Food Prices As An Indicator Of Future Inflation"
A repost from December 29, 2020:
St. Louis Fed: Food Prices As An Indicator Of Future Inflation

An interesting commentary, especially in light of the generations of Econ profs admonishing against putting much weight on headline inflation, as food and energy prices are volatile and should be stripped out to reveal core CPI and PPI trends.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, January 1, 2002:

Predicting Inflation: Food For Thought

"When I was your age, I walked 20 miles uphill in the snow to get to school and a gallon of milk only cost a nickel."Who doesn't remember grandparents and relatives sharing similar stories with us at family get-togethers? Today, a gallon of milk at the grocery store will cost more than a nickel, as will other goods that our grandparents paid considerably less for in their day. The overall rise in prices is known to economists as inflation.

Over the long run, inflation is caused by too much growth in the money supply. Monetary inflation is bad because it obscures the price signals that make our market system work efficiently. The job of monetary policy is to supply just the right amount of money so that the average price level remains stable.

Over short periods, however, inflation can be influenced by large changes in the market for particular goods and services. Because these bouts of inflation tend to be short-lived and self-correcting, the proper monetary policy response is to ignore them. The problem for the Federal Reserve is to know when inflation is due to excessive monetary growth (requiring a policy response) and when it is due to transitory market fluctuations. To sort out the short-run real effects caused by disruptions to particular markets from the long-run monetary effects caused by Federal Reserve policy, economists have developed techniques to filter the inflation news. Traditionally, economists have excluded food and energy prices in their filtering process, but we find that by filtering out food prices, we might be losing valuable information about inflation.

What's in the Basket?

Economists looking at inflation generally track a price index, which is the average price of a consistent "basket" of consumer goods. The two major price indexes are the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI).

The CPI, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was created for the specific purpose of adjusting veterans' pension benefits for inflation following WWI, while the PCEPI, reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, is used to compute the nation's Gross Domestic Product. Both indexes measure the rate of inflation faced by consumers, but the PCEPI is more comprehensive.

Approximately 25 percent of the items in the PCEPI basket are excluded from the CPI basket. A guiding principle for deciding whether an item belongs in the CPI basket is whether it is paid for "out of pocket." The main items in the PCEPI that are not included in the CPI are things that consumers get but don't pay for out of pocket, such as free checking, employer-funded medical care and medical services paid through Medicare and Medicaid. Also, the CPI is an index of inflation for urban dwellers; so, it excludes spending by rural households.

The PCEPI, then, is a larger and broader index that includes a more varied bundle of goods than the CPI does. Although both are valid for gauging inflation, in 2000 the Federal Reserve began reporting its inflation forecasts in terms of the PCEPI instead of the CPI. Because of the PCEPI's wider basket of goods and the Fed's focus on it, we'll look only at the PCEPI, although our conclusions also apply to the CPI.1

When tracking inflation, people monitor data releases to predict the underlying inflation trend, which is driven solely by monetary policy. However, information about the inflation trend has been compared to a radio signal that is obscured by static. Just as noise filters are used to remove the static in radio signals, economists filter inflation data to remove the static caused by supply and demand changes. One way to filter the inflation news is to measure the change in prices over a long period, such as a year, to eliminate the short-run fluctuations. But then, the useful information is delayed for a year.

Another way that economists filter out the static is to delete the items in the price index that are sensitive to large, frequent disturbances to supply and demand and, therefore, have highly volatile prices. After deleting these items, what is left is core inflation, that is, inflation in the basket of goods excluding the more volatile components. Since the 1970s, core inflation has typically been measured by excluding food and energy from the basket of goods. This is because the early 1970s saw highly volatile food prices and, soon afterward, a rapid rise in the prices of gas, oil and other energy products.

The core measure of inflation, the PCEPI excluding food and energy, has been less sensitive to temporary shocks to the economy and has seemed to have been a better barometer of the underlying trend in inflation than the all-item PCEPI. Looking at Figure 1, we see that the rate of inflation measured by the PCEPI excluding food and energy has been less volatile than with the all-item index. During times of high inflation, such as the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the PCEPI excluding food and energy did not increase nearly as much as the all-item PCEPI.When inflation dropped considerably in the middle of 1986, the index excluding food and energy did not show the same massive drop.

Let's take a closer look at the changes in the prices of components excluded from the core: food and energy. From Figure 2, we see that inflation in energy prices indeed has been very volatile, increasing and decreasing much more than the food component or the all-item PCEPI. We also see that food prices have become increasingly stable recently, while energy prices continue to fluctuate significantly.

What has caused the recent increase in the stability of food prices? Improvements in technology and a change in consumer eating habits have both contributed.2 Major advancements in the food distribution system have led to shorter lag times between picking produce at the farm and getting it into the hands of urban consumers. It is not unusual, as it once was, for a shopper in a supermarket in Chicago to be buying fresh produce grown in South America. As technological advances have reduced the cost of air freight and refrigeration, their use has become widespread and commonplace in the food industry, increasing the geographic size of the market for food and reducing the volatility of food prices.

Another change in the food distribution system is that many more people now buy their food from large grocery store chains. These large chains have an advantage over smaller specialty retailers in that they have the ability to stock larger quantities of many more different types of items. Large supermarkets purchase food directly from the producers in huge quantities, cutting the cost to themselves and their consumers.

Eating habits of the American consumer also have changed. With the hectic schedule many Americans have, people are less inclined to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry that may go bad in their refrigerators or require time and energy to prepare. People are much more likely to buy prepared meals at the grocery store or to eat at restaurants. The prices that consumers pay for these meals are largely expenditures on the labor used to prepare and serve the food. The price of these labor services is less volatile than is the price of the raw food products.

Should We Put Food Back into the "Core" Basket?

Because volatility in food prices has dropped in recent years, does it still make sense to exclude food from our measure of core inflation? Are we losing information about the underlying trend in inflation by removing such a stable component from the core? Indeed, by excluding food prices in our traditional analysis of core inflation, we lose more knowledge about the trend in inflation than we gain....

....MUCH MORE 

Brookfield Asset Management To Sell Google $3 Billion Of Hydro Generated Electricity (BAM; GOOG)

Well speak of the devil (no, not Google, BAM, see below)

Via Quiver Quantitative, July 15:

Brookfield Asset Management and Google Sign World's Largest Hydro Framework Agreement for Over $3 Billion in Renewable Energy Contracts 

Brookfield and Google signed contracts for 670 MW of hydroelectricity, part of a $3 billion agreement for 3,000 MW capacity.

Quiver AI Summary

Brookfield Asset Management, along with Brookfield Renewable and Google, announced the signing of a groundbreaking Hydro Framework Agreement (HFA) aimed at delivering up to 3,000 megawatts of carbon-free hydroelectric power across the U.S. This agreement represents the largest corporate clean power deal for hydroelectricity globally, with initial contracts worth over $3 billion related to the Holtwood and Safe Harbor hydroelectric facilities in Pennsylvania, accounting for 670 MW of capacity. The collaboration supports Google’s goal of utilizing 24/7 carbon-free energy while enhancing Brookfield's commitment to clean energy solutions. The Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) will focus on the PJM electricity market, with the potential to expand to other regions. Key executives from both companies emphasized the importance of hydropower in meeting growing energy demands sustainably.

Potential Positives

• Brookfield has signed the world’s largest corporate clean power deal for hydroelectricity, securing over $3 billion in contracts, which enhances its position as a leader in renewable energy.
• The Hydro Framework Agreement (HFA) allows Brookfield to showcase its capability in delivering large-scale carbon-free energy solutions, aligning with market trends toward sustainability.
• This partnership with Google reinforces Brookfield’s strategic focus on sustainable infrastructure, enabling expansion into significant electricity markets across the U.S.
• The 20-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) provide long-term revenue stability for Brookfield from reliable energy sources, thereby benefiting financial performance.

Potential Negatives...

....MUCH MORE

July 12 - Infrastructure: "Where Will Brookfield Asset Management Be in 10 Years?" (BAM)

"OpenAI Rival Anthropic Courts Finance Industry With New AI Tools"

From Bloomberg, July 15:

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is launching a package of new software services aimed at streamlining work for financial analysts, joining a growing number of AI companies vying to win business from Wall Street professionals.

The new offering, called Claude for Financial Services, is designed to help analysts conduct market research, handle due diligence and make investment decisions, Anthropic said on Tuesday. The product pairs Anthropic’s core enterprise and coding AI tools with information from third-party financial data providers, including FactSet, PitchBook and Morningstar, for customers with subscriptions to those services.

“This is the missing piece between an AI tool that’s interesting and cool, and one that’s deeply useful,” said Mike Krieger, chief product officer at Anthropic and co-founder of Instagram. “Right now, there’s a real moment of: If we don’t adopt these tools, we’ll be left behind by people who are doing it.”

OpenAI and Perplexity AI have also added features in recent months to attract customers in the financial services sector, with the goal of expanding the business uses of AI and boosting sales. While Anthropic is smaller than OpenAI, its revenue is growing at a fast clip. The startup’s annualized revenue increased from $3 billion to $4 billion in the past month, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly on private matters.

Anthropic is looking to further its sales momentum with a new hire. The company has recruited Paul Smith, a former executive at ServiceNow Inc., to join as its first chief commercial officer later this year, the person said....

....MORE 

July 14 - "Goldman Sachs launches AI tool — fueling fears that ‘rise of the machines’ could hit jobs"

We happened to catch ServiceNow as it was transitioning from cloud software toward a more AI-centric company.

November 17, 2020 -  Investor's Business Daily on Artificial Intelligence Stocks

There is a definitional problem with the term "AI stocks [or companies]" in that AI is a tool. Much as the (over) hyped nanotechnology revolution didn't produce "nanotech stocks" but instead became incorporated into processes and procedures that give companies employing same an incremental edge rather than epochal shifts.*

However, if there is an AI "company" Nvidia would deserve the moniker as much as anyone.

From Investor's Business Daily, November 16:

Artificial Intelligence Stocks To Buy And Watch Amid Rising AI Competition 

Artificial intelligence stocks are rarer than you might think. Many companies tout AI technology initiatives and machine learning. But there really are few — if any — public, pure-play artificial intelligence stocks.

The "AI" stock ticker, though, has been claimed. Startup C3.ai, which sells AI software for the enterprise market, filed on Nov. 13 for an initial public offering.
Thomas Siebel, who started Siebel Systems and sold it to Oracle for nearly $6 billion in 2006, founded Redwood City, Calif.-based C3.ai.
Further, the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. In the year ended April 30, C3.ai said revenue rose 71% to $157 million, with a net loss of $69.4 million.

In general, look for companies using AI technology to improve products or gain a strategic edge, such as Netflix (NFLX).  Intel (INTC), Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google and Microsoft (MSFT) in 2019 made the most investments in AI startups, said a CB Insights venture capital report.

Microsoft, Nvidia Among AI Plays On Leaderboard

Microsoft belongs to the IBD Leaderboard. Further, the Leaderboard is IBD's curated list of leading stocks that stand out on technical and fundamental metrics.

Chip maker Nvidia (NVDA), a leader in artificial intelligence, also belongs to the Leaderboard. Nvidia in September agreed to buy Arm Holdings from Softbank for $40 billion.
In a report to clients, RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves said that: "Nvidia will extend its architecture and offer artificial intelligence or 'acceleration in a box' for all ARM-based chips. He added: "Instead of looking at ARM as a potential CPU play alone, we think the bigger picture is that 22 billion-plus ARM chips can be accelerated with AI."

Square Capital, part of digital payment processor Square (SQ), provides loans to merchants. Square Capital uses an AI-driven credit assessment platform in granting new loans.

Software Companies

Aside from chip makers, some software companies are among artificial intelligence stocks to watch. Many software-as-a-service companies use AI tools. Further, Workday (WDAY) showcased its AI and machine learning product innovation at a digital transformation investor event on Oct. 20.

San Mateo, Calif.-based Coupa (COUP) on Nov. 3 agreed to buy Llamasoft, a provider of AI-powered supply chain software, for about $1.5 billion. Llamasoft's customers include Boeing (BA) and Home Depot (HD).

Enterprise software maker ServiceNow (NOW) has been making AI acquisitions. Under new Chief Executive Bill McDermott, ServiceNow in January acquired two AI companies, Passage AI and Loom Systems.
In addition, ServiceNow owns a Relative Strength Rating of 90 out of a possible 99. Further, ServiceNow stock belongs to the IBD Leaderboard.

DocuSign (DOCU) on Feb. 27 agreed to buy Seal Software for $188 million. The startup uses artificial intelligence for contract analytics.

Intel on Dec. 16 acquired Israel-based Habana Labs for $2 billion. Also, Intel in 2016 bought Nervana Systems in an earlier move to take on AI chip leader Nvidia.

In addition, analysts expect the battle in AI chips for data-center applications to heat up in 2020.

AI technology uses computer algorithms. The software programs aim to mimic the human ability to learn, interpret patterns and make predictions. "Machine learning" is the most widely used form of AI deployed in industries. Machine learning systems use huge troves of data to train algorithms to recognize patterns and make predictions.

AI Stocks: Chipmakers Nvidia, Intel Battle

All AI software needs computing power to find patterns and make inferences from large quantities of data. The race is on between Intel, Nvidia and others to build AI chips for data centers, self-driving cars, robotics, smartphones, drones and other devices.....

"BlackRock's assets hit record $12.53 trillion on second-quarter market rally" (BLK)

This is such a jolly market.* 

From Reuters via MSN, July 15:

BlackRock's assets under management hit a new high in the second quarter as global markets rallied on the prospect of trade deals and rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve, brushing aside earlier tariff-related jitters.

A robust labor market, a healthy consumer and hopes that President Donald Trump would ease some of his harsher trade measures pushed major U.S. indices to all-time highs through the end of June. 

That marked a sharp reversal from early April, when tumult in U.S. trade and geopolitical policy battered confidence and fueled recession fears, concerns that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink echoed at the time.

The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 10.57% in the second quarter of 2025 after escaping bear market territory.

BlackRock's assets under management rose to $12.53 trillion in the quarter ended June 30, from $10.65 trillion last year. However, long-term net inflows fell to $46 billion in the quarter, down 9.8%....

....MORE 

*Bringing to mind a story told by the great George Goodman writing as Adam Smith in The Money Game that we've visited a few times over the years. Here's the version from our March 2012 post

 "'Transports, Small Caps Hit New Highs' (Quick! Hire a kid!)":

There's an interesting dichotomy developing in the markets, one that we've seen before.
The old pros are cautious, befuddled and a bit scared. Folks with less than a decade at the market are making money.

Adam Smith noted it in the 'sixties bull market (The Money Game):

There is one wonderful chapter where the consummate pragmatic speculator, the Great Winfield, is lamenting his performance problems in a wildly speculative bull market.

“My boy,” said the Great Winfield over the phone. “Our trouble is that we are too old for this market. The best players in this kind of a market have not passed their twenty-ninth birthdays. Come on over and I will show you my solution.”

So Adam Smith goes over and finds three new faces in the Great Winfield’s office. 

My solution to the current market,” the Great Winfield said. “Kids. This is a kids’ market. This is Billy the Kid, Johnny the Kid, and Sheldon the Kid.” The three Kids stood up without taking their eyes from the moving tape, shook hands, and called me “sir” respectfully.

“Aren’t they cute?” the Great Winfield asked. “Aren’t they fuzzy? Look at them, like teddy bears. It’s their market. I have taken them on for the duration.”

Winfield then describes how much money Billy the Kid is making in computer leasing stocks like Leasco Data Processing and Randolph Computer that he has heavily leveraged with bank borrowing....

And the really spooky bit, for me anyway, SHALE:

...Sheldon the Kid waved his hand for recognition.

“This one will really take you back,” said the Great Winfield. “Sheldon’s Western Oil Shale has gone from three to thirty.”

“Sir!” said Sheldon. “The Western United States is sitting on a pool of oil five times as big as all the known reserves in the world – shale oil. Technology is coming along fast. When it comes, Equity Oil can earn seven hundred and fifty dollars a share.

It’s selling at twenty-four dollars. The first commercial underground nuclear test is coming up. The possibilities are so big no one can comprehend them.”

“Shale oil! Shale oil!” said the Great Winfield. “Takes you way back, doesn’t it. I bet you can barely remember it.”

“The shale oil play,” I said dreaming. “My old MG TC. A blond girl, tan from the summer sun, in the Hamptons, beer on the beach, ‘Unchained Melody,’ the little bar in the Village.”

“See? See?” said the Great Winfield. “The flow of the seasons. Life begins again. It’s marvelous. It’s like having a son! My boys! My Kids!”

The Great Winfield had made his point. Memory can get in the way of such a jolly market, that malaise that comes with the instantly gone, flickering feeling of déjà vu. We have all been here before.

“The strength of my kids is that they are too young to remember anything bad, and they are making so much money they feel invincible,” said the Great Winfield.

“Now you know and I know that one day the orchestra will stop playing and the wind will rattle through the broken window panes, and the anticipation of this freezes us. All of these kids but one will be broke, and that one will be the multi-millionaire, the Arthur Rock of the new generation. There is always one, and maybe we will find him.”...

Capital Markets: "Greenback Slips Ahead of June CPI"

From Marc Chandler at Bannockburn Global Forex:

Overview: The US dollar is trading somewhat heavier against the G10 currencies but the Scandis today, ahead of the US CPI report. Most emerging market currencies are also firmer. The last few CPI readings were softer than expected, but economists continue to look for firmer price pressures. Late yesterday, the US announced a 17% tariff on imports of Mexican tomatoes but apparently has signaled approval of Nvidia selling its H20 chips to China.

That decision helped lift Chinese tech stocks that trade in Hong Kong, but the CSI 300 itself managed only the most minor of gains. Most other bourses in the region rose. Europe's Stoxx 600 is posting a small gain after retreating in the past two sessions. US index futures point to a firm start. European benchmark 10-year yields are mostly 2-5 bp lower today and the US Treasury yield is not quite two basis points lower to slip below 4.42%. Japan's 30-year yield eased slightly while the 40-year bond yield rose 11 bp before settled up five basis points (~3.49%). Gold is firmer near $3355 but has held below yesterday's high (~$3361). August WTI extended its losses to almost $66.25, the lowest level since July 7, but recovered to a little above $66.80.

USD: The Dollar Index extended its advance yesterday. The last session is settled with a loss was July 2....

....MUCH MORE 

"Trump to unveil $70B in AI and energy investments" (GEV; PWR)

Oh good grief, I feel like we're in an Oprah parody: "You get an all-time high and you get an all-time high and you..."
(GE Vernova and Quanta Systems, along with a few score others hit new ATHs today) 

From Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, July 14:

President Donald Trump will announce $70 billion in artificial intelligence and energy investments in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the latest push from the White House to speed up development of the emerging technology.

Trump is expected to share details of the new initiatives at an event outside Pittsburgh, according to an administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning. Investments from a range of companies will include new data centers, power generation expansion and grid infrastructure upgrades, along with AI training programs and apprenticeships, the official added. 

Trump will be joined by Republican Senator David McCormick who’s hosting the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University. AI and energy leaders, including as many as 60 executives, are expected to attend. Among those slated to participate are BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, Palantir Technologies Inc.’s Alex Karp, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Darren Woods and Chevron Corp.’s Mike Wirth, the official said.

Blackstone Inc.’s Jon Gray is expected to announce a $25 billion project for data-center and energy infrastructure development and a joint venture to increase power generation, which is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent jobs, according to Jake Murphy, a spokesman for McCormick....

....MUCH MORE

If you are going to hold an innovation summit Carnegie Mellon is a dandy place to hold it.

See if interested:

Interview: Manuela Veloso Head of Machine Learning, Carnegie Mellon University

Our readers probably know Carnegie Mellon more for the  top-ranked financial engineering program (Master of Science in Computational Finance) but artificial intelligence was pretty much invented at CMU by Herbert Simon and Allen Newell. Simon received the Nobel in Economics but it actually could have been for any of four or five subjects, he was quite the polymath.

Newell had to settle for the Turing award (along with Simon) from the Association for Computing Machinery, probably the root'in-tootin high-falootinest tchotchke in the computer biz.
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence along with the ACM subsequently named an award in Newell's honor. Ditto for CMU.

The University's machine learning department was the first in the world to offer a doctorate and as far as I know is still the largest.
A department, for one branch of AI.

Carnegie-Mellon used to have a world class robotics Institute but Uber gutted it with a combination of cash and stock options leaving a Dean and a couple robots to rebuild.
One of the robots is said to be in advanced negotiations with the Ube-sters.

Anyhoo....

So You Want To Be A Quant: The Best Schools For Your Financial Engineering Degree
Archaeology: "Previously Unknown Warhol Works Discovered on Floppy Disks from 1985"
You Understand Why Mr. Son and SoftBank Are Circling Uber, Right?
"Uber Is Stealing Scientists, But Only So It Can Lay Off Drivers"
Big Money: Uber Guts Carnegie Mellon Robotics Lab To Hire Autonomous Car Developers
Raising money at a $600 illion zillion fafillion valuation allows you to buy pretty much anything.
The way this is going to pan out is: you won't be able to own the vehicle but its use will be mandated. The car is autonomous but the people aren't....

"Goldman Sachs launches AI tool — fueling fears that ‘rise of the machines’ could hit jobs"

As noted some years ago:

"Commerzbank Replacing Human Research Analysts With Artificial Intelligence"

Sorry, that's a bridge too far, it's time to smash the looms 'puters.
(metaphor party mix)

From the New York Post, June 23 

Goldman Sachs said Monday it will roll out an artificial intelligence tool that could be used to take over tasks traditionally done by junior bankers — fueling ongoing fears the technology could soon eliminate entry-level jobs.

AI will be used to generate efficiency gains in the Wall Street giant’s Investment Banking and Wealth Management divisions by helping employees with everyday tasks, according to an internal memo circulated to staffers viewed by The Post. 

“Today marks an important moment in our AI journey as we are excited to announce the firmwide launch of the GS AI Assistant – the first generative AI-powered tool to reach this scale,” Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti said in the company-wide missive.

The David Solomon-led financial powerhouse had previously rolled out the tech to about 10,000 of its estimated 46,500 global employees.

“Thousands of our people are already using the GS AI Assistant, and I hope all of you will start exploring how the tool can positively impact your daily tasks and boost productivity, from summarizing complex documents. and drafting initial content to performing data analysis,” Argenti said in the memo. 

A Goldman spokesperson declined to say whether the AI adoption will augur future job cuts.

“Our people are our most valuable asset. We view AI powered tools as helping them be more efficient and enabling them to serve our clients even better,” Nick Carcaterra told The Post....

....MUCH MORE, Cliff Asness of AQR does a show-stopping cameo.

We've taken a keen interest in these developments:

Artificial Intelligence and the Role Of the Literary Critic

First they came for the literary theorists and I did not speak out because--well, you know the drill.*  

    *First they came for the journalists and I did not speak out-
    Because I was not a journalist.

    Then they came for the ad agency creatives and I did not speak out-
    Because I was not an ad agency creative. (see below)

    Then they came for the financial analysts and I
    said 'hang on one effin minute'. 

• *"We Trained A Robot To Write Like Tom Friedman"
• The Associated Press Is Leading the Charge to Deploy Robo-journalists
• According to the AP, no journos were harmed in the making of this venture
• Automating the Newsroom: The AP's Robot Copy Editor
• "AP's 'robot journalists' are writing their own stories now"
• Robo-journalists: Beyond the Quakebot
• And Here Come the Robo-journalists "The CIA Invests in Narrative Science and Its Automated Writers"
• Robot Lobbyists Say Robots Good, Create Jobs 
• Sure, MoneyBeat Says Their Posts Are Not Written by Robots But How Can We Know?
• Automation Steals Jobs: Röböts Playing Motörhead
• Washington Post considered using robot sportswriters
• A Deep Dive Into the Future of RoboAnalysts (will entry level hedgies still command $353K to start?)
• A Job the Robots Won't Take: Become a Financial Charlatan
• Robot Writing Moves from Journalism to Wall Street
• "The automation of creativity: scary but inevitable"    

Though, as we saw in 2017:

Still a Few Bugs in the Robo-Journalist Algorithm
From the Los Angeles Times' twitter feed: 

Please note: We just deleted an automated tweet saying there was a 6.8 earthquake in Isla Vista. That earthquake happened in 1925.

— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) June 22, 2017

The comments are surprisingly kind, e.g.

I'm really shaken up by this news.

Who's fault is this?

Richter must be rolling over in his grave.

In a state of after-shock.  

2017, it was a gentler time. 

"Youth Sports Are a $40 Billion Business. Private Equity Is Taking Notice."

This just feels yucky but maybe it's the fact that youth sports are a $40 billion business that is the yucky part. 

From the New York Times, July 9:

An American obsession is attracting investments in baseball fields, volleyball courts and football camps, intensifying the gap between families with means and those without. 

Like many youth sports fathers, Jon Bash can summon his son’s early baseball career on his phone. There are video clips of Jesse as a boy at summer camps and on a road trip to Cooperstown to play in a tournament in the shadow of the Hall of Fame. They show Jesse’s towering home runs in high school, as well as his many hours in the batting cage.

One of Mr. Bash’s most cherished clips is a video of Aaron Judge’s swing coach extolling Jesse’s work ethic to his own social media followers. His son has averaged 70 games a year over the past decade between school and travel teams. To keep playing, Jesse, 19, took a postgraduate year at a Florida sports academy.

The costs of all the training sessions, tournaments and equipment have added up for Mr. Bash, but he has no regrets spending money chasing his son’s baseball dreams.

“He’s my only child, and like most parents, you want to do anything you can for your kid,” said Mr. Bash, who runs a diner on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. 

It’s no wonder that sports dads like Mr. Bash have caught the attention of Wall Street investors.

The private equity titans Josh Harris and David Blitzer are among those who see a big opportunity. Over the past three years, Mr. Harris and Mr. Blitzer used money from their family foundations to start Unrivaled Sports, which has been buying baseball camps, flag football fields and youth leagues to assemble one of the largest collections of youth sports properties in the country. One of their acquisitions is a baseball complex in Cooperstown where 12-year-old ball players flock every summer, as a sort of rite of passage.

“We’re in the early innings,” Mr. Harris and Mr. Blitzer said in a statement. “Our ambition is to build the most trusted, expansive and impactful youth sports platform in the country.” Mr. Harris, one of the founders of Apollo Global Management, and Mr. Blitzer, who is a senior executive at Blackstone, also own professional sports teams like the Philadelphia 76ers.

The youth sports industry, according to the Aspen Institute, generates about $40 billion in annual revenue, dwarfing other forms of entertainment. Last year, for example, the domestic movie box office grossed about $8.7 billion.

About 60 million children play sports, and the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on its child’s primary sport in 2024, a 46 percent increase since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute’s latest parent survey in partnership with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University.

That’s a far cry from the days when youth sports were dominated by locally run offshoots of nonprofit organizations like the Catholic Youth Organization, Pop Warner and Little League Baseball. 

But over the years, youth sports have become more national in scope. Parents watched the emergence of Tiger Woods, whose father, Earl, pushed him to play golf as a toddler, and saw how specializing in a sport was a ticket to admission to a prestigious college, a scholarship or maybe a paycheck.

The entry of big money into youth sports has raised concerns that the cost of playing youth sports could rise further out of reach for many American families. To increase profits for their investors, these firms could raise fees for tournaments, rink time and other assets they’ve acquired.

Unrivaled Sports said that it was mindful of the costs of its offerings and that it provided “free and subsidized opportunities” at its facilities.

For many families, the money they spend on sports is an investment in their child’s future. Roughly two in 10 youth sports parents think their child has the ability to play Division I college sports, and one in 10 thinks his or her child could reach the professional ranks or the Olympics, according to the Aspen Institute survey.

The market has grown to meet these aspirations.

“Money chases money,” said Tom Farrey, founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program. “There is a great demand for kids to play sports, and parents will spend money they don’t have.”

America’s obsession with youth sports is attracting investments from private equity and other large investors across the world. Last year, KKR bought Varsity Brands, which makes sports uniforms and organizes cheerleading competitions, for $4.5 billion. Waud Capital Partners invested in TeamSnap, a platform that coaches, players and parents use to communicate and schedule games, tournaments and payments....

....MUCH MORE 

And why is the Aspen Institute, of all places, the go-to source for much of this story?

Which reminds me, I should tell some Aspen Institute stories. 

Inflation: Ahead Of Tomorrow's Release Of The June CPI Numbers....

...The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast is looking for a month-over-moth uptick.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, updated through today: 

Inflation, month-over-month percent change 

Month          CPI     Core CPI      PCE      Core PCE    Updated 

July 2025     0.16      0.24          0.16          0.22          07/14 

June 2025   0.25      0.23          0.23          0.22          07/14 

Note: If the cell is blank, it implies that the actual data corresponding to the month for that inflation measure have already been released.

....MUCH MORE, including year-over-year guesses nowcasts (2.64% vs last month's 2.4% YoY)

For comparison, the June 11 BLS release of the May numbers had both headline and core printing at a 0.1% increase. (and YoY headline at 2.4%)

"Blame Canada! Measles Edition"

From Marginal Revolution, July 12:

Polimath has a good post on measles. The recent spike in U.S. cases has drawn alarm. As the New York Times reports:

There have now been more measles cases in 2025 than in any other year since the contagious virus was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, according to new data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The grim milestone represents an alarming setback for the country’s public health and heightens concerns that if childhood vaccination rates do not improve, deadly outbreaks of measles — once considered a disease of the past — will become the new normal.

But as Polimath notes, U.S. vaccination rates remain above 90% nationally. The problem isn’t broad domestic anti-vax sentiment but rather concentrated gaps in coverage, often within insular religious communities. These local shortfalls do explain how outbreaks spread once they begin—but how do they begin in the first place, given these communities are islands within a largely vaccinated country? Polimath says blame Canada! (and Mexico!)

The greater concern in my mind is not the problem of low measles vaccination coverage in the United States, but among our immediate neighbors. In Ontario, the MMR vaccination rate among 7-year-olds is under 70%. As in the examples above, this rate seems to be particularly low “in specific communities”, whatever that is supposed to mean. This has resulted in the ongoing spread of measles such that Ontario’s measles infection rate is 40 times higher than the United States. Canada officially “eliminated” measles in 1998. But with vaccine rates as low as they are, it seems like Canada is at risk for losing that “elimination” status and becoming an international source for measles.

Similarly, Mexico is having a measles outbreak that is substantially worse than the US outbreak. Importantly, the Mexican outbreak has been the worst in the Chihuahua province (over 3,000 cases), which borders Texas and New Mexico.

I’m less interested in blame than in the useful reminder that not all politics is American politics. Vaccination rates have dipped worldwide and not in response to U.S. politics or RFK Jr....

....MORE 

He's right about the Polimath post. We highlighted and bolded the hyperlink.

"France to quicken defense-spending boost in bid to be ‘feared’"

Umlauts. Fräncë needs umlauts if they truly intend to inspire dread wherever they turn their Gallic gaze.*

From DefenseNews, Bastille Day, 2025:

 

French military vehicles stand in formation for the annual Bastille Day military parade on the 

Champs-Elysees Avenue with the Arc de Triomphe in the background in Paris on July 14, 2025. 

France will accelerate a hike in defense spending to reach €64 billion (US$75 billion) in 2027, three years earlier than planned, President Emmanuel Macron told troops and military brass ahead of Bastille Day celebrations on July 14.

In the face of the greatest threat to freedom since 1945, France needs to step up, the president said in his traditional speech at the Armed Forces Ministry in Paris the evening before the national holiday. Macron said Europe must be ready to face a permanent Russian threat on its borders, from the Caucasus to the Arctic....

...MUCH MORE
*From January 2014's "After Car Attacked By Paris Taxi Drivers, Uber to Toughen Image With Umlauts ": 

In a move designed to make Uber seem more "bad-assed and scary in a quasi-heavy-metal manner," the Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures and Bezos Expeditions-backed company officially changed it's name to Über on  Monday.

"Much like Mötley Crüe and Motörhead, Über is not to be messed with," said founder Gärrëtt Cämp, né Camp...

"Ödërïnt, düm mëtüänt" (Let them hate so long as they fear) 

"A.I. Drives Job Cuts Across Silicon Valley Giants: By the Numbers"

The canary in the coal mine. 

From Observer, July 8:

Executives say A.I. isn’t just doing the work—it’s reshaping who gets hired, retained or replaced. 

Tech layoffs are nothing new in Silicon Valley, a region long shaped by boom-and-bust hiring cycles, speculative investment and shifting economic conditions. But in recent months, executives have offered a different explanation for job cuts: the rapid rise of A.I. So far in 2025, nearly 400 tech companies have announced layoffs, affecting close to 94,000 employees, according to TrueUp’s tech layoff tracker. Many of these roles are expected to be replaced—directly or indirectly—by A.I.-driven efficiencies.

Salesforce, for example, cut 1,000 roles earlier this year, redirecting hiring toward sales roles focused on A.I.-powered products. CEO Marc Benioff said last month that A.I. currently handles 30 to 50 percent of the company’s work, reducing the need for roles in fields like software engineering and customer support. Despite the job cuts, Salesforce remains financially strong, reporting $9.8 billion in revenue for the February-April quarter, an 8 percent year-over-year increase.

Microsoft, the world’s second largest company by market capitalization, has also made significant cuts in 2025. The company laid off around 9,000 employees in July, following a separate round of more than 6,000 in May. Software engineers have borne the brunt of these reductions.

Though Microsoft has not explicitly linked the layoffs to A.I., the technology’s growing role inside the company is undeniable. In April, CEO Satya Nadella disclosed that A.I. now writes about 30 percent of Microsoft’s code—a figure he expects to climb.

Microsoft isn’t alone in its internal shift toward A.I. At Google, well over 30 percent of new code includes A.I. generated suggestions, CEO Sundar Pichai revealed earlier this year. At Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has described developing an A.I. agent with coding abilities comparable to a mid-level engineer as one of the company’s top goals for 2025....

....MUCH MORE 

In the short run the changes aren't really noticeable. 

And in the medium term, there will be attempts to revive the canary and return to the previous equilibrium: 

This device was used to resuscitate canaries in coal mines

....MUCH MORE at Manchester's Science + Industry Museum via MuseumCrush.

In the longer term, say five to ten years, we are going to experience a social problem that may be intractable and probably increasingly violent: an educated and sometimes intelligent population that is unemployable.

"Nvidia and Foxconn Aim to Use Humanoid Robots in AI Server Factory"

In the words of Warren Buffett, "we eat our own cooking." 

From PYMNTS.com, June 20:

Humanoid robots could reportedly begin helping assemble Nvidia artificial intelligence servers at a factory in Houston by the first quarter of 2026.

That is the goal of Nvidia and Foxconn, Reuters reported Friday (June 20), citing unnamed sources. The companies are expected to finalize the deployment within months.

It is not clear what type of humanoid robots would be used, how many would be put to work in the factory or what they would be doing, according to the release. Foxconn has been training them to move objects and do assembly work, it added.

The project would mark the first time Nvidia products were made with the participation of humanoid robots, and the first time Foxconn used such robots on one of its artificial intelligence (AI) server production lines, according to the report.

Nvidia already supplies a platform that helps manufacturers build humanoid robots, and the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, said in March that he expects such robots to be widely used in manufacturing facilities within five years, per the report.

It was reported in December that Nvidia was turning to robotics amid rising competition in the AI chip space and was jockeying to become the top platform in an anticipated robotics boom.

“The ChatGPT moment for physical AI and robotics is around the corner,” Deepu Talla, Nvidia’s vice president of robotics, said at the time.

Humanoid robots, with their human-like form and potential for complex movements, could revolutionize the manufacturing, warehousing and customer service sectors, PYMNTS reported in July. They may be able to perform tasks that are challenging for traditional robots, such as navigating cluttered environments or manipulating objects with human-like dexterity.

Huang said in July: “The next wave of AI is robotics, and one of the most exciting developments is humanoid robots. We’re advancing the entire Nvidia robotics stack, opening access for worldwide humanoid developers and companies to use the platforms, acceleration libraries and AI models best suited for their needs.”....

....MORE 

Best Wishes To Our Friends In France

La fête nationale du 14 juillet

 

The Attempted Murder Of Donald Trump At Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024

The shooter, Thomas Crooks, was able to get off eight rounds before he was stopped, coming very close to accomplishing his goal. 

India's NDTV published this graphic five days after the attempt:

 

 

—Shooter Had Trump's Face Right In Middle Of Crosshairs, Shows New Video 

credit: Daily Mail

Another visualization: 

(Picture: Point Consciousness)

"Bayeux Tapestry to return to UK for first time in almost 1,000 years"

From The Art Newspaper, July 8:

The tapestry will be displayed at the British Museum from September 2026, as part of a bilateral season of culture between the UK and France 

The Bayeux Tapestry will go on show at the British Museum in London next year after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France agreed the historic loan. The display will mark the first time the precious tapestry, which depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings, has been in Britain in almost 1,000 years.

The tapestry will go on show in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery of the British Museum between September 2026 and July 2027. In return, Sutton Hoo treasures and the Lewis chessmen, some of the British Museum’s most important objects, will be loaned to institutions in France.

The cultural partnership and exchange were announced today by Starmer and Macron, who is currently on a State visit to the UK, a move widely seen as re-setting UK-French relations following the tumultuous Brexit years. The loan will form part of a bilateral season of culture in 2027.

In a statement Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the British Museum, stressed how the new France-UK partnership reflects his strategy of working with other museums globally, based on lending or exchanging items. “This is exactly the kind of international partnership that I want us to champion and take part in: sharing the best of our collection as widely as possible and in return displaying global treasures never seen here before,” he said.

Cullinan adds: “The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations. It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum.”....

....MUCH MORE

re: those deep ties, they came to mind in a 2022 post:

 "French Groups Swoop For Depressed British Assets"
Apparently 1066 wasn't big enough in the cross-channel asset-grabbing biz..

In 2024 I explained part of my fascination with the tapestry 

"Israeli hacktivist group brags it took down Iran's internet"

There's a lot of stuff going on in the world, isn't there? And sometimes it seems events are choreographed for our titillation and amusement. 

Of course that comment could reflect either a semi-deep insight or a final psychotic break with reality on the part of yours truly.

This weekend we'll be pulling at different threads in the tapestry to see if we can reduce the seeming complexity of the embroidery to the underlying foundation mesh.

And what, possibly curious reader may wonder, led to this feeble excuse of an introduction?

I was contemplating whether I was going to be around to see the return of Halley's Comet which led to a 2021 post on the French-English Brexit fishing deal which used a panel of the Bayeux Tapestry as a graphic:

"France warns of 'reprisals' over Brexit fishing deal"
Huh. My first thought was to check the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to see if there are any analogs.
And, as a first pass guess, it looks like a no. Halley's comet isn't due until 2061 so the current reprisals probably won't be a re-enactment of 1066.*

***

*On the tapestry the comet flies across the top as the people watch and point:
(segment 32 on the digitized panorama)