Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the needle right now.
The Pentagon's technology chief Emil Michael told the Wall Street Journal's tech conference that the United States was caught flat-footed on drone warfare, acknowledging the military is playing catch-up. He did offer one point of confidence, arguing the country maintains a meaningful lead over China in artificial intelligence.
Shifting to markets, Agility Robotics begins trading on Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker AGLT, becoming the first humanoid-focused company to go public in the United States. The numbers are sobering — just one point eight million dollars in revenue against a one hundred thirty-eight point one million dollar loss in twenty twenty-five, giving Wall Street its first honest look at how far this industry still has to travel.
And design software company Figma is feeling pressure after its stock slipped as investors wrestled with a familiar tension in the AI trade — usage is climbing, but so are costs. The expense of building out AI models and agents is proving steep, raising questions about whether the revenue growth can keep pace with the spending required to generate it.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
