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The AI infrastructure buildout is hitting a new wall, and this time it is not chips or power — it is capital. Lenders are tightening terms and demanding stricter conditions as the cost of financing data centers and model development climbs. The era of cheap money underwriting every AI bet appears to be closing fast.
Staying with artificial intelligence, Russian forces are now deploying OpenAI and ByteDance text-to-video tools to fabricate footage of battlefield victories in Ukraine. The deepfakes depict territorial gains that have not occurred, a sharp escalation in information warfare that raises serious questions about the liability exposure of the platforms providing those tools.
And on the consumer side, Shoney's — once a fixture of American roadside dining with roughly thirteen hundred locations across thirty-four states — has effectively collapsed to just forty-five remaining restaurants. The chain's decline reflects a broader pressure on mid-tier casual dining, where value perception has eroded and the buffet model in particular has struggled to survive changing consumer habits and rising food costs.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
