Surging AI demand is driving cryptocurrency miners to repurpose data centers for AI training and inference.

Global financial markets are trading risk-off amid a tech-led selloff that is rippling across Asia and Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipping sharply as investors pulled back on AI and chip exposure while the Dow held relatively steadier. The day's trading turbulence has a clear equity-market trigger: chipmakers are plunging and leveraged exposure is being unwound, with investors reassessing both semiconductor valuations and crowded trade risk. Aggressive selling tied to leveraged ETF mechanics drove a sharp retreat in Korea's chip complex, with leveraged ETFs dumping $6 billion of Korean chips in Tuesday's rout, intensifying market stress and adding pressure to semiconductor valuations. Crypto is sliding alongside broader risk-off moves as liquidity drains and volatility expectations shift, while oil hovers near recent lows and currency safe-havens draw attention.

China has surged to the top of the TOP500 supercomputer ranking, with a China-built system taking the world's fastest supercomputer slot and underscoring rapid gains in compute capacity that can accelerate AI development. This shift in symbolic technology power highlights the country's growing compute capabilities and momentum on elite infrastructure that underpins AI progress, capturing Beijing's acceleration in building world-leading computational systems.

U.S. policy is hitting energy markets directly as President Donald Trump instructed the Justice Department to investigate oil companies over high gasoline prices, escalating political pressure on the energy sector as crude prices remain under pressure. The focus is on enforcement signals that can raise uncertainty for producers and markets, while oil and LNG logistics are moving again as supply conditions shift and governments signal production normalisation. In a separate policy development, U.S. lawmakers advanced a bipartisan housing affordability package that heads to President Trump for signature, including a ban on CBDC development until December 31, 2030, capturing both affordability focus and cryptocurrency-related language in the legislation.

Cybersecurity and data exposure are escalating as high-impact incidents raise concerns for infrastructure operators and customers, with 6,000+ potentially leaked email accounts at KDDI reported as 14 million accounts affected. Meta and other AI players are pushing into new product fronts while regulators and investors react to the strategic implications, as AI labor demand and operational deployment reshape corporate decisions from humanoid robots to automated workplaces and talent pipelines at banks. The backlash to data centers and power demand is becoming a political and regulatory risk for the AI buildout, while corporate finance stress is showing up in credit markets and private funds as investors seek outflows and deals face pressure. India's central bank governor noted in an ET NOW interview that "It was premature to discuss interest rate hikes at this stage of the policy cycle," reflecting broader caution around monetary policy as tensions persist around the Strait of Hormuz over global trade and energy flows, with lawmakers moving in a rare rebuke to Trump to limit or end Iran-related hostilities.