Meta

• Meta's stock price rose 9% following the announcement of a new business venture to sell its excess AI compute power capacity. • The move allows Meta to monetize its massive infrastructure investments, addressing investor concerns regarding the company's high spending on AI hardware. • This strategy leverages the current global shortage of computing power, which has seen demand surge since the 2022 launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

• Meta shares surged 9% following reports that the company plans to offer AI infrastructure services to external users. • The proposed strategy involves selling computing capacity or providing hosted access to Meta's internally developed large language models. • This move could open the ecosystem for developers to utilize Meta's AI tools, including its flagship LLM, Muse Spark, which launched in April.

• The phenomenon known as "cold welding" occurs in space when two clean pieces of the same metal touch and fuse together into a single piece. • Unlike on Earth, where an oxide layer forms on metal surfaces due to oxygen, the vacuum of space prevents this layer from developing, allowing atoms to bond directly. • This process is critical for space exploration as it can cause moving parts or tools to seize up, potentially jeopardizing satellite operations and astronaut missions.

• Meta was reportedly cut off from using Google's Gemini AI tokens in March after consuming an excessive amount of the service. • The incident was revealed via an anonymously sourced report published by the Financial Times. • This highlights the immense computational demand and dependency large tech firms have on external AI infrastructure to scale their models.

• OpenAI has appointed former Uber India chief Prabhjeet Singh as Managing Director for India, which serves as the company's second-largest market. • The move comes as India sees significant adoption of OpenAI's technology, with over 100 million weekly ChatGPT users. • In a separate strategic shift, OpenAI has restricted the rollout of its GPT-5.6 models to selected partners following requests from the US government.

• Germany's DAX 40 closed as the worst-performing major European index on Friday, June 26, 2026, dropping 1.25% to settle at approximately 24,671 points. • The decline was driven by a broader technology sector rout and a significant "overhang" affecting Rheinmetall, highlighting how political and budgetary shifts can disrupt defense procurement investments. • Despite the index loss, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment rose sharply in June 2026, marking its first positive reading since the start of the Middle East conflict.

• Major corporations including Meta, Robinhood, Walmart, and Oracle are leading a wave of job cuts in 2026 as they pivot toward AI-driven operations. • These layoffs are driven by a strategic shift to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, raising concerns regarding automation and previous corporate over-hiring. • The trend underscores a broader workforce transformation, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicting that AI will eliminate entire job categories while simultaneously creating new roles.