Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday briefing on the stories moving the conversation.
America's artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out is showing its first serious cracks. The Financial Times reports that the ten trillion dollar bet on AI's physical backbone — data centers, power grids, cooling systems — is colliding with the hard limits of construction costs, energy supply, and capital discipline. The economics of the real world, it turns out, don't bend for ambition.
And yet the broader AI story remains one of optimism. A Financial Times survey of ninety-four economists points to an AI-driven surge in global growth, with benefits projected to extend well beyond the United States and China. The consensus is cautiously bullish — productivity gains appearing more durable and geographically distributed than earlier models suggested.
Turning to France, where what began as organized demonstrations over the cost of living has deteriorated into something far more volatile. Protesters took to the streets of Paris over the weekend, but the marches gave way to smashed storefronts, burning vehicles, and clashes with police. Students and workers had been building pressure for weeks, and Saturday marked a significant and troubling escalation.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
