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Weekly Reading

Goldman Sachs Analyzes Signs of Slowing U.S. Consumer Spending: While U.S. consumer spending is showing signs of slowing, Goldman Sachs Research views this as more of a normalization rather than an indication of a looming downturn, citing factors such as relatively high levels of employment, household wealth, and low debt levels that support a healthy consumer outlook.

Meta Releases Llama 3.1: The World’s Largest Open Source Language Model: Meta has publicly released Meta Llama 3.1 405B, which they believe is the world’s largest and most capable openly available foundation model, rivaling top AI models in general knowledge, steerability, math, tool use, and multilingual translation. The model is available for immediate development on a broad ecosystem of partner platforms, and Meta hopes it will ignite new applications and modeling paradigms, including synthetic data generation and model distillation.

Trump Promises to Fire SEC Chair and End ‘Persecution’ of Crypto Industry: Donald Trump has pledged to terminate the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and end what he describes as the “persecution” of the cryptocurrency industry if he is re-elected. Speaking at a Bitcoin conference, Trump emphasized his intention to create a regulatory environment favorable to crypto enthusiasts, asserting that regulations would be crafted by those who support the industry rather than oppose it.

Kamala Harris Raises $200 Million in First Week of Presidential Campaign: Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has raised an impressive $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers within the first week since she became the Democratic Party’s nominee. This strong fundraising effort comes as polls indicate a close race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, highlighting the competitive nature of the upcoming election.

VIX Volatility Gauge Reaches Highest Level Since April Amid Tech Stock Selloff: The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has surged above 17 for the first time since April, reflecting increased investor anxiety as a tech-led stock selloff caused the Nasdaq Composite to drop over 3%. The S&P 500 also experienced a decline of 1.6%, with significant losses in the tech sector following disappointing earnings reports from major companies like Alphabet Inc. and Tesla Inc.

Wall Street Raises Concerns Over Sustainability of AI Gold Rush: A growing group of Wall Street analysts and tech investors is beginning to question the sustainability of the AI boom, with concerns that the billions being invested into the technology may not generate the expected returns, as evidenced by reports from investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Barclays warning about the potential for an “AI bubble” and the risk of over investing in a technology that may not yet be mature enough to deliver on its promises.

China Is Closing the A.I. Gap With the United States: China is rapidly advancing in artificial intelligence, showcasing technologies that rival those of the United States, such as an AI video generator from Kuaishou (Kling) that is already available to the public. While American companies remain cautious about releasing AI technologies due to potential risks, Chinese firms are more willing to share their innovations openly, allowing for faster development and broader access to advanced AI solutions.

Wiz Rejects $23 Billion Takeover Offer from Alphabet, Aiming for IPO Instead: Israeli cyber-security firm Wiz has declined a $23 billion (£17.8 billion) takeover bid from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which would have been its largest acquisition to date. Instead, Wiz aims to achieve $1 billion in revenue and is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), believing it can thrive independently in the competitive cyber-security landscape.

Ukraine Receives F-16s Amid Ongoing Aerial Challenges: As Ukraine welcomes its first F-16 fighter jets from NATO allies, President Volodymyr Zelensky underscores their critical role in combating Russian air superiority. Despite this advancement, Ukraine continues to confront significant threats from Russian drone surveillance and missile strikes targeting its airfields, complicating the effective deployment of these new aircraft.