Billions

Largest for-profit hospital system and operator in the US reported $6.8bn in profits, while employees find it difficult to make ends meetUnion workers with HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit hospital system and operator in the US, are holding picket protests across the country as they push for pay and staffing increases in a new contract.The hospital system has over 300,000 employees in the US and the UK, with 22,000 US workers represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who are in contract negotiations with HCA. Workers are asking for a pathway to a $25 an hour minimum wage, improved wage scales and raises that match the increased cost of living, along with benefits including paid vacation, sick time and bolstered work protections. Continue reading...

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicts a 5-10x increase in computing demand driven by the emergence of 100 billion AI agents and billions of robots. • To support this growth, Huang is pursuing massive strategic investments, including a $500 billion deal with SK Group and a $1 billion bet on Naver. • This expansion signals a shift toward a future where autonomous agents and robotics require significantly more processing power than current LLMs.

• Microsoft and French AI startup Mistral announced a multi-billion-dollar strategic partnership on July 21 to expand Europe's sovereign AI infrastructure. • Mistral's latest models, "Medium 3.5" and "OCR 4," are now available on the Microsoft Foundry development platform. • The Medium 3.5 model has been integrated into Microsoft Copilot Studio, enabling corporate customers to build and deploy customized multilingual AI agents.

• Microsoft is investing billions of dollars to expand the AI infrastructure of Mistral AI, a French artificial intelligence company, across Europe. • The partnership aims to scale Mistral's capabilities and increase the availability of high-performance AI models within the European market. • This strategic move allows Microsoft to strengthen its presence in Europe while providing Mistral with the massive computing power needed for advanced model development.

• Big Tech giants including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Oracle issued a combined $159 billion in debt during the first five months of the year to fund expansive AI projects. • According to Bank of America, Big Tech's share of the total US corporate bond market reached a record high of over 8% by the end of May. • This surge in borrowing is driven by the massive capital requirements of AI infrastructure, with SemiAnalysis estimating the AI debt market could swell to $7 trillion by 2029.

The NHS will divert billions of pounds from essential services to pay for new medicines, under the terms of the US-UK trade deal agreed in December, which could lead to more than 200,000 excess deaths, analysis has found.Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports avoid US tariffs and giving patients access to vital medication, but critics accuse the Labour party of caving into pressure from Donald Trump.Lucy Hough speaks to columnist Aditya Chakrabortty – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

• A new study suggests Earth may have been sending microbes to Venus for billions of years through asteroid impacts. • Researchers found that these microbes could survive the journey to Venus and end up in its clouds. • If life is detected on Venus in future missions, it may have originated from Earth rather than Venus itself.

• Amazon has announced a $13 billion investment dedicated to expanding its AI infrastructure and developing new data centers. • The funding aims to strengthen the company's leadership position in the competitive cloud computing and artificial intelligence sectors. • Industry experts note that the AI race has shifted from mere algorithm development to a battle for "hard infrastructure," including specialized chips and advanced servers.

• Major Asian stock indexes, including the Nikkei, Kospi, Hang Seng, Taiex, and Shanghai composite, experienced a massive sell-off on Friday. • The plunge was triggered by a rush to cash out on AI-related gains following significant losses on Wall Street. • This "bloodbath" wiped out billions in market value as traders reacted to volatility in the high-growth artificial intelligence sector.

• Global companies are investing billions of dollars into India's AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and data centers, reflecting strong confidence in the nation's digital expansion. • Despite this trend, HSBC Private Bank's latest Asia investment roadmap prioritizes high-conviction bets on China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore over India. • This divergence highlights a gap between long-term infrastructure growth in India and the immediate strategic investment preferences of major global financial institutions.

Jim O’Neill, a former chief economist at Goldman Sachs, says government should spend more on major projectsThe man tapped by Andy Burnham to be his chief economic adviser has called for billions of pounds more borrowing to pay for investment in infrastructure, in a sign of how Burnham may seek to break from the policies pursued by Keir Starmer.Jim O’Neill, an economist and former minister, said he wanted the government to create an independent body for infrastructure spending along the lines of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which could be freed up to spend significantly more on major projects. Continue reading...

Albanese government under pressure to wind back fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners as analysis shows cost to budgetGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCoal companies could receive an extra $6.2bn in taxpayer refunds for the diesel they use if the Albanese government greenlights just half the mine developments up for approval.The finding, in an analysis released by activist group Lock the Gate, comes as the government faces an internal campaign before next month’s Labor party national conference to commit to winding back a fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners. Continue reading...

Exclusive: devolving tax is part of plans to give local areas more power in areas including justice, health and educationMinisters are considering handing over billions of pounds raised by business rates to regional mayors as part of one of the biggest shake-ups of the English tax system in recent years.Steve Reed, the local government secretary, said the government was working on plans to devolve the tax, which has been the subject of recent protests by pubs and other hospitality businesses. Continue reading...

Opposition and Greens could team up to extend inquiry into changes but health minister ‘utterly convinced’ federal government’s plan is rightFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMark Butler has doubled down on his plans to pass contentious NDIS changes as early as this month, warning the opposition against using the bill as a “pawn in a bigger game of chess” as they consider a potential deal with the Greens.The Coalition and the Greens have criticised Labor’s truncated timeline to pass NDIS, negative gearing and capital gains changes, and have signalled they could team up against the government in the Senate to extend inquiries into the bills. Continue reading...

• London Tech Week 2026 featured massive infrastructure investments, including a £1.1bn UK hardware plan and multi-billion pound pledges from AMD (£2bn) and Nebius (£1.7bn). • The event saw high-profile appearances from the Prime Minister, the Mayor of London, and Prince William, who hosted his first Homewards panel. • These investments signal a significant expansion of US tech giants and AI hardware capabilities within the British ecosystem.

• The UK government has pledged billions of pounds toward the development of sovereign AI to coincide with the opening of London Tech Week 2026. • This strategic investment focuses on establishing domestic AI capabilities to enhance national data governance, security, and eDiscovery frameworks. • The move signals Britain's ambition to reduce reliance on foreign technology and secure a competitive edge in the global AI landscape.

• Nscale, a crypto-mining spinout from Arkon Energy, has emerged as a leading provider of AI data center infrastructure in Europe. • The company has raised nearly $4 billion from major industry players, including Nvidia, Dell, and Nokia, recently closing a $2 billion Series C round. • This funding has propelled Nscale to a $14.6 billion valuation, marking one of the largest Series C rounds for any European company.

• SoftBank is investing billions of dollars to construct multiple AI data centers in France, targeting a total capacity of up to five gigawatts. • The initiative leverages France's existing technology ecosystem, accelerated government approval processes, and strategic access to the European electricity grid. • This move is significant as it aligns SoftBank with Mistral, a leading European AI company developing its own powerful foundation models.

• A French consortium of technology, telecom, and infrastructure companies is seeking billions in funding from a European data center fund to build a large-scale AI facility. • The project aims to establish high-capacity computing infrastructure within France to support the growing demands of artificial intelligence. • This initiative is critical for reducing European reliance on non-EU cloud providers and enhancing regional digital sovereignty.

• Republicans are using a legislative maneuver that would bypass a Senate filibuster to send billions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to POLITICO reports from Washington on May 1, 2026. • The move is intended to strengthen ICE enforcement capacity amid President Trump’s fixation on keeping a Republican House majority in the upcoming midterms and comes as the administration faces criticism over border and deportation policies. • Critics warn the approach could cement highly restrictive immigration enforcement for years, while the GOP argues it will bolster security and hold the administration to its campaign promises.

• The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a Senate-approved budget resolution on April 29, 2026, enabling billions in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). • Republicans utilized a filibuster-skirting procedure to advance the blueprint, criticized by Democrats like Congresswoman Doris Matsui as prioritizing enforcement over other needs. • This move supports Trump administration immigration policies amid ongoing border security debates and midterm election pressures.

‘Partnership’ on drug pricing also gives patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending treatments British drug exports to the United States will escape tariffs imposed by Donald Trump as part of a controversial UK-US medicines deal that critics fear will mean less money for the NHS.The deal will also give patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending drugs because the rules have been relaxed to allow the NHS to pay more for particular treatments. Continue reading...

Progressive and green groups join call for tax on major fossil-fuel companies to help offset rising living costsWith big oil companies poised to reap billions of dollars in profits from the war in Iran, Democratic lawmakers and progressive groups are calling for a windfall tax on major fossil fuel companies.The US-Israeli strikes on Iran have triggered the largest ever disruption to fuel supply, according to the International Energy Agency, sending crude costs surging over $100 per barrel in recent days. Those high prices have hit US pocketbooks, with average domestic gas prices topping $3.70 a gallon, and Americans spending more than an additional $2bn to fill their tanks in the past fortnight according to one estimate. Continue reading...

The discovery of bright yet stable pigments is vanishingly rare, making them hugely valuable. Now chemist Mas Subramanian is unpicking the atomic code of colour and homing in on our most-wanted hue