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Norway’s sovereign wealth fund scales back hiring thanks to AI

18 hours ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers

Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund said it would scale back hiring thanks to improvements in artificial intelligence. The $1.8 trillion fund employs 676 people, a number which has risen in recent years, but CEO Nicolai Tangen told the Norwegian Parliament that its work could be done more efficiently “through more use of technology,” including AI.
International pressure mounts on Moscow to end Ukraine war

19 hours ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers

Russia is under increasing international pressure to take concrete steps to end its war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron promised new sanctions targeting buyers of Russian oil and financial services, a sentiment echoed by the new German chancellor, while US President Donald Trump, who until recently appeared sympathetic to the Kremlin, has grown impatient with Moscow’s intransigence, the Financial Times reported.
Africa looks to unleash local capital as US drives global uncertainty

19 hours ago | semafor.com | Alexis Akwagyiram |Yinka Adegoke

African policymakers and bankers are exploring ways to unlock trillions of dollars tied up in the continent’s institutional funds to build infrastructure amid growing uncertainty around international investment caused by erratic US trade policies.
Trump tames his party’s free traders

1 day ago | semafor.com | Burgess Everett

A 10% universal tariff and 30% levies on Chinese imports would have been a five-alarm fire for Republican free-traders just a few months ago. These days, though, most in the party are just happy those tariffs aren’t several times higher. President Donald Trump’s massive “Liberation Day” tariffs five weeks ago prompted so much unease and confusion that the new US trade baseline of tariffs is borderline placid for many Republicans.
Analysis: Trump’s crude contradictions vexes his Houston oil base

1 day ago | semafor.com | Amena Bakr

Despite covering energy markets for nearly two decades, I’d never been to Houston. Last month, I took the 17-hour flight from Dubai and made my rounds with dozens of investors and drillers in the shale patch. Most volunteered they voted for Donald Trump — and in the same breath expressed disappointment with his policies that are making it harder to boost US oil production. The contradiction was clear from the start: Trump wants lower oil prices while simultaneously growing domestic output.
China develops method to extract uranium from seawater

1 day ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers

Chinese researchers developed an efficient, low-cost way of extracting uranium from seawater, which they hope will boost their country’s nuclear expansion. The oceans are estimated to hold 5 billion tons of uranium, 1,000 times more than can be mined, but the dissolved minerals are dilute and difficult to gather. The new system involves trapping uranium atoms with electric fields: It was 10 times as efficient as physical methods, and 1,000 times cheaper than previous electrical techniques.
Japan’s carmakers report steep losses, job cuts

1 day ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers

Honda and Nissan both reported staggering losses, the latest sign of the Japanese car industry’s woes. Honda’s operating profits dropped 76% in the three months to April, while Nissan — which yesterday announced 20,000 global job cuts — announced record-breaking losses. Rival Toyota already forecast a 21% drop in profits this year, which it blamed on US tariffs.
Dynasty feuds dominate Philippines elections

1 day ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers

A feud between two powerful Philippines dynasties dominated midterm elections this week, with results suggesting a weakening of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s grip on power. Marcosand Vice President Sara Duterte both won in 2022 but have since fallen out spectacularly: Duterte faces impeachment over an alleged assassination attempt, while Marcos had Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, imprisoned for alleged human rights abuses.
How Democrats plan to counterattack Trump’s tax bill

2 days ago | semafor.com | Eleanor Mueller

House Democrats’ top tax writer has a plan for pushing back on the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” — and it mostly involves calling out Republicans’ inconsistency. “They’re wobbly on this stuff,” House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal, D-Mass., told Semafor at his Washington office Monday. “They’re very uncertain of where they’re headed.
The new Republican ‘MAGA Account’ has a surprising architect: Ted Cruz

2 days ago | semafor.com | Burgess Everett

One of the most consequential new proposals in the House GOP’s massive tax plan may carry a Donald Trump-inspired name — but it’s Ted Cruz’s brainchild. The “money account for growth and advancement,” otherwise known as a “MAGA Account,” surprised plenty of tax policy mavens when it appeared in the long-awaited Republican bill released on Monday. It popped up, however, thanks to more than a year of intraparty advocacy by the Texas GOP senator.