Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and making news.
Monday dot com is cutting twenty percent of its workforce, framing the decision around what it calls an AI-driven growth strategy. The move reflects a broader reckoning across the software sector, where fears of a so-called SaaSpocalypse are mounting as AI tools erode demand for traditional project management platforms. Shares have been under pressure for months.
Shifting to geopolitics and tech, the White House is sharpening its rhetoric against Chinese AI. Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, accused Moonshot AI of stealing from Anthropic to build its Kimi K three model, claiming the administration holds direct evidence of distillation. The comments mark a notable escalation in Washington's posture toward Chinese AI development.
And on the dollar, the greenback is drifting modestly lower today as the yen stages a recovery from a thirty-nine-year low. Traders are pricing in the possibility of faster rate hikes from the Bank of Japan, which is giving the yen some room to breathe and nudging the dollar index fractionally into the red. Losses remain contained for now.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
