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Banks and building societies have started relaxing affordability rules and becoming more creative with productsFor many first-time buyers, getting their foot on the property ladder can feel like an impossible dream. However, the good news is that there are a growing number of mortgage deals that require only a small deposit, or no deposit at all.Metro Bank is the latest high street lender to launch a deal that allows eligible first-timers to borrow up to 100% of the value of a property. Home loans that let people borrow 100% have been making a bit of a comeback – they were once fairly commonplace but were axed after the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading...

• Palantir CEO Alex Karp warned in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner that AI is creating a widening wealth gap in the United States. • Karp argued that the primary financial gains from AI are currently concentrated among those developing the technology, rather than being distributed across society. • This growing economic inequality is described by Karp as "America's biggest problem," suggesting that the technology is being oversold as a universal benefit.

• A new report indicates that American and European companies are increasingly replacing high-end US AI models with more affordable Chinese alternatives to reduce operational costs. • Major global brands, including Silicon Valley startups like DoorDash and Airbnb, as well as the German engineering firm Siemens, have reportedly adopted these Chinese AI tools. • This shift highlights a critical economic challenge for US AI labs, as the high cost of running sophisticated models is driving businesses toward cheaper competitors.

• Singaporean businesses are facing increasing pressure to demonstrate that their significant investments in artificial intelligence are translating into measurable economic outcomes. • The region is seeing a strategic shift in industrial operations, with mass production moving to Malaysia while research, development, and quality control remain centered in Singapore. • Local corporate activity remains diverse, featuring the launch of a new "Thick Crunch" pizza range and Monday.com selecting Singapore as its hub for Southeast Asian expansion.

• 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.

• OpenAI is launching three new tiered models—Sol, Terra, and Luna—this coming Thursday. • The Terra model is generating significant developer interest by offering performance comparable to GPT-5.5 at roughly half the cost, priced at $2.50 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. • In contrast, the high-end Sol model is priced higher at $5 and $30 per million tokens, respectively.

• Retail investors in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are increasingly using leverage to bet on AI-driven stock rallies, significantly amplifying market volatility. • This trend is driven by a surge in retail participation in high-growth tech sectors, leading to higher risk profiles across major Asian equity markets. • The rise in leverage is concerning for regulators and analysts as it increases the potential for sharp, systemic corrections if AI sentiment shifts.

• Europe's defense industry is facing a critical structural bottleneck due to its inability to produce the semiconductors required for modern weaponry at scale. • The shortage impacts the production of essential military technology, including drones, missiles, radar systems, communications, and electronic warfare tools. • Despite rising defense budgets across the EU, the region remains heavily dependent on foreign microelectronics, limiting its ability to convert spending into actual military capability.

• Reddit has developed new internal tools powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) to combat the increasing volume of spam on its platform. • The initiative is a direct response to the rise of AI-generated spam, which is often created using the same LLM technology the company is now employing for detection. • This "fight fire with fire" strategy highlights the growing necessity for social platforms to use advanced AI to maintain content quality against automated bots.

• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued a warning in its 2026 report regarding a potential AI bubble burst and escalating risks within private credit markets. • The report highlights concerns over the rapid growth of debt-funded capital expenditures (capex) used to build AI infrastructure. • This trend is significant as it could trigger a systemic credit event, potentially fueling inflation and exacerbating existing fiscal instabilities.

• A new Large Language Model (LLM) called Flint has been developed to combat "groupthink" by providing a wider variety of responses to open-ended questions. • Unlike mainstream LLMs that often produce predictable or obvious answers, Flint is specifically trained to offer more diverse and creative suggestions. • This development matters as it pushes chatbot technology away from homogenized outputs, potentially improving the utility of AI for brainstorming and discovery.

Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in BeijingChinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems.The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June. Continue reading...

• ServiceNow and Accenture have launched a joint AI-powered offering designed to migrate enterprises from fragmented legacy cybersecurity and risk platforms to integrated managed services. • The solution utilizes the ServiceNow AI Platform and AI agents to monitor regulatory changes and automate responses, shifting the focus from simple alert generation to proactive risk management. • This partnership addresses a critical gap in enterprise risk management by connecting security signals to specific owners, controls, obligations, and remediation steps.

• Stock markets in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan experienced extreme volatility last week, swinging between record highs and sharp selloffs. • The instability is being driven by a "leverage problem," as retail investors increasingly use borrowed funds to speculate on AI-related stocks. • This trend matters because high leverage amplifies market swings, creating a fragile environment where small price drops can trigger massive forced liquidations.

• India's AI progress is currently hindered by a significant funding gap in research and development (R&D) and limited capital for startups. • The country's gross expenditure on R&D is only 0.64% of GDP, trailing far behind China (2.6%) and the US (3.6%), with private industry contributing only 36% of total R&D funds. • This disparity highlights a systemic reliance on public funding compared to the US, China, and South Korea, where private sector investment exceeds 70%.

• New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin M. Warsh has pledged to restore price stability to combat ongoing U.S. inflation problems. • Internal divisions have emerged within the central bank regarding whether achieving this stability will necessitate higher borrowing costs. • Warsh is currently opposing the practice of sending explicit signals to the public about the future path of monetary policy.

• India's startup ecosystem is shifting its focus from rapid valuation growth toward solving critical real-world challenges through deeptech and innovation. • New ventures are leveraging AI-driven recruitment, climate-risk mapping, EV infrastructure, and space-tech to address systemic gaps in the economy. • This transition matters as it marks the next phase of the country's innovation economy, prioritizing sustainable impact and technical problem-solving over short-term scaling.

• A dispute has emerged on the prediction platform Polymarket regarding a $354 million payout following a reported agreement between the United States and Iran. • While traditional financial markets have already reacted to the news, Polymarket traders remain deadlocked over whether the specific conditions for the event's resolution were met. • This conflict highlights a systemic settlement problem within prediction markets, where subjective interpretations of "truth" can prevent the distribution of massive sums.

• EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen introduced the European Technological Sovereignty Package on June 3 in Brussels to reduce reliance on non-European digital technology suppliers. • The initiative includes the Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act, targeting the EU's deep entanglement with dominant US AI ecosystems. • This move matters as Europe seeks to establish "AI sovereignty" and secure critical infrastructure against the market dominance of foreign players.

Alarm over the judgment and behaviour of the world’s most powerful man, and the consequent risks to the world, can only get worseThe main Nuremberg trial ended, Winston Churchill warned of an iron curtain descending across Europe, It’s a Wonderful Life received its premiere and, at Jamaica hospital in the borough of Queens, New York, Donald John Trump was born.It was 1946, also the birth year of George W Bush and Bill Clinton, but on Sunday the current US president celebrates his 80th birthday in a style uniquely his own. Trump will stage a night of cage fighting on the once-pristine White House south lawn as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence. Continue reading...

Labor talking points this week concede Australians are frustrated with an economy that ‘isn’t working for them’. The goal will be to convince voters One Nation isn’t eitherGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was mid-January when Anthony Albanese publicly admitted his “worry” about the rise of One Nation.The prime minister’s concern was not the political risk to himself or to Labor but rather the threat Pauline Hanson posed to the stability of Australia’s two-party system. Continue reading...

• Investor Manishi Raychaudhuri views the recent sharp sell-off in Asian tech stocks, particularly in Korean and Taiwanese markets, as a strategic buying opportunity. • He argues that the downturn is driven by temporary sentiment rather than fundamentals, as AI capital expenditure demand and semiconductor prices remain strong. • Conversely, Raychaudhuri warns that India faces a more critical issue with declining corporate earnings growth that must be addressed.

• U.S. stock indexes declined and Treasury yields rose on Friday following a surprisingly strong May jobs report. • The robust labor market data has dampened investor expectations for additional interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. • This shift highlights the ongoing tension between strong economic growth and the central bank's efforts to curb inflation through higher rates.

• Japan continues to struggle with a "problematic" press freedom ranking, trailing behind regional neighbors like New Zealand (22nd), Australia (33rd), and South Korea (47th). • While overt government repression is rare, media insiders report that newsroom caution and pressures regarding information access significantly shape reporting. • This trend highlights a culture of self-censorship within Japanese media, contrasting sharply with global leaders like Norway, which topped the rankings for the 10th consecutive year.

• Margarida Ramos argues that the EU's push for "Made in Europe" AI risks incurring unsustainable costs for public budgets, workers, and the environment. • European companies like Mistral are lobbying for "Buy European AI" procurement preferences, tax incentives, and deregulation to drive demand for homegrown systems. • Mistral frames the development of domestic AI as a "collective duty" necessary to ensure technology reflects European values and wins the global AI race.

Company says work on Paul Erdős planar unit distance problem shows advance in AI reasoningOpenAI has claimed a further advance in AI reasoning after its technology successfully tackled an 80-year-old maths problem.The company behind ChatGPT said it had made a breakthrough with a challenge first posed by Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős in 1946: the planar unit distance problem. Continue reading...

Kalshi announces two-year investment to National Council on Problem Gambling ‘focused on trader health and safety’The prediction market Kalshi, which maintains it is not a gambling platform, has announced plans to give $2m to the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) as it continues to ride a nationwide surge.While prediction markets allow users to bet – or “trade” – on the outcome of almost anything, from elections to sports to geopolitical events, the industry has vehemently fought efforts by state officials to regulate its platforms like those of conventional gambling giants. Continue reading...

Health minister issues stern rebuke, saying Greenlanders are not ‘experimental subjects’ of geopolitical interestGreenland’s government has criticised the arrival of a US doctor in Nuuk alongside Donald Trump’s special envoy, Jeff Landry, saying that Greenlanders are not “experimental subjects”.Joseph Griffin said he had joined the delegation as a volunteer to “assess the medical needs” of the Arctic island, which the US president has repeatedly threatened to invade. Continue reading...