400,000: More than 400,000 people visited vote.gov after Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris last week and encouraged her fans to register to vote. Swift said she was spurred to make an official endorsement after Trump posted AI fakes on Truth Social showing her and her supporters endorsing him. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter,” she said.
64: Most Americans are skeptical of AI-powered election information, according to a new survey by the Associated Press. Only 5% of respondents said they’re very confident or extremely confident in the answers that AI systems give for political questions, 30% said they’re somewhat confident, and 64% said they’re not very confident or not at all confident in the accuracy of these services.
2.65 billion: Mastercard agreed to buy the threat intelligence company Recorded Future last week from the private equity firm Insight Partners for $2.65 billion. Recorded Future has already partnered with Mastercard, using machine learning to identify when credit cards might be compromised, and Mastercard said the partnership has already doubled the rate at which it can identify compromised cards compared to the year prior.
6: It’s no secret that the US is leading China in the AI race, but by how much? Kai-Fu Lee, founder of the startup 01.AI and former head of Google China, said that China’s large language models are likely six to nine months behind those in the US. “It’s inevitable that China will [build] the best AI apps in the world,” he said at a conference last week. “But it’s not clear whether it will be built by big companies or small companies.” China’s ability to do this depends on its firms’ ability to do cutting-edge research and its access to powerful chips, which despite US restrictions appear to be seepingthroughthe country’s borders.
33 billion: Intel announced Monday that it has delayed its $33 billion chip factory in the German city of Magdeburg amid broader cost-saving measures across the company. The US chipmaker said the project would be delayed by two years as it tries to deliver $10 billion of cost savings in 2025. It’s also postponing plans for a new factory in Poland. Intel had expected to employ about 5,000 people across the two plants.Americans are moving less — and renting more. Cooling migration and rising vacancy rates, especially across the Sunbelt, have flattened rent growth and given renters new leverage. For many lower-income households, that relief is beginning to show up in discretionary spending. Explore what's changing in US housing by subscribing to Bank of America Institute.
1,170: The number of high-rise buildings in Kyiv that were left without heating following a barrage of Russian attacks last night on Ukraine’s capital and its energy facilities, per Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Over the past five years, Haiti has endured extreme political turmoil, escalating violence, and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Microsoft unveiled a new set of commitments guiding its community‑first approach to AI infrastructure development. The strategy focuses on energy affordability, water efficiency, job creation, local investment, and AI‑driven skilling. As demand for digital infrastructure accelerates, the company is pushing a new model for responsible datacenter growth — one built on sustainability, economic mobility, and long‑term partnership with the communities that host it. The move signals how AI infrastructure is reshaping local economies and what people expect from the tech shaping their future. Read the full blog here.