AI to market

Since ChatGPT was released in 2022, a long list of artificial intelligence startups have begun building generative AI services for consumers and businesses, raising billions of dollars from venture capital firms and big tech companies in the process. Now there’s increasingly clear demand on Wall Street for these firms to go public, and several of them are apparently looking into it. “I’d say that the majority of the companies that are truly pure-play, AI-focused are still mostly financing themselves in the private markets,” Michael Harris, global head of capital markets at NYSE, said on Tuesday. “But we have seen a handful of companies that are at least exploring going through the process.” —David E. Rovella

Jamie Dimon, like so many before, just compared the transformational impact of AI to the steam engine. The metaphor has not only become a cliché, Parmy Olson writes in Bloomberg Opinion, but paints an oversimplified and overly-rosy picture of how this technology will reshape society. The effects of perfecting steam power pale in comparison with the changes that the next technological development will bring, she says. For an apt comparison, there’s a very different revolution to look at.

US Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic reiterated his expectation for one interest-rate cut this year, but added he’s open to changing his view to later or additional rate reductions should the economic picture change. However, he also said signs of weakness in the jobs market would prompt him to consider earlier and more cuts than he is currently expecting. In other words, it could go either way.

Ukrainian military intelligence was responsible for an attack on a Russian naval missile carrier in the Baltic Sea, according to an official familiar with the operation. Such an attack, which couldn’t be independently confirmed, would be the first by Ukrainian forces in the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, an exclave wedgedbetween Poland and Lithuania. At the same time, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned that Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian oil refineries risk impacting energy markets.

A new era of global rearmament is gathering pace, and it will likely mean vast costs and tough decisions for western governments. Despite world defense spending reaching a record $2.2 trillion last year, European Union nations have only just begun to consider what 21st-century security will require with an aggressive Russia stirring on their eastern borders. This is the pricetag.

The day after Donald Trump said he favors state regulation of abortion rights, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that criminalized nearly all abortions in the state. The ruling follows a similar decision in Florida last week. Arizona is a key swing state in the November election. President Joe Biden pounced, calling the 1864 law a “cruel ban” while Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement blaming Trump for the decision.

The Bank of Japan will likely consider raising its inflation forecast at a policy meeting later this month after surprisingly strong results from annual wage negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter. The central bank will probably discuss revising up its projection for growth in consumer prices excluding fresh food from the current 2.4% for the fiscal year that started this month, the people said.

Turkey’s decision to restrict exports to Israel for rejecting its proposal to drop aid over the Gaza Strip drew a swift retaliatory response, further straining tense relations between the one-time military allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, facing growing criticism at home for maintaining trade ties with Israel, on Tuesday imposed restrictions on the export of dozens of items to Israel. Israel’s foreign minister answered with a threat to block the import of other Turkish products.

Across America, some 24 states have decriminalized marijuana to various degrees, with many jurisdictions stipulating it cannot be smoked on public streets and sidewalks or in parks—leaving people to smoke at home. But there’s a hitch: Apartment-dwelling smokers who indulge indoors, be it for pleasure or as a medical measure, may find the herb’s pungent presence causes friction with neighbors. In the wake of the ongoing wave of cannabis legalization, a vexing question—and litigation—is wafting across the urban policy space: What to do about the smell?

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