Lead story

Apple loses nearly $500 billion in market value as AI data centers squeeze the chips it needs for iPhones

The AI buildout has finally reached into the pockets of the world's most valuable consumer company.

Apple's June quarter was strong. Its forecast was not. The company guided to revenue growth of between 9 percent and 11 percent in the current quarter, short of Wall Street's roughly 12 percent estimate, after Chief Executive Tim Cook called component shortages "very significant" and said Apple has limited options to address them. Cook tied the squeeze to AI data center demand, which is straining the same global supply chain Apple depends on for parts. Shares fell more than 7 percent on Friday, cutting nearly $500 billion from the company's market capitalization.

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Tech & AI →

Samsung posts a record quarter on AI memory demand

Memory boom Samsung reported second-quarter revenue of 171.5 trillion won and operating profit of 89.5 trillion won (about $62 billion), against 4.68 trillion won a year earlier, and shipped the industry's first HBM4E samples.

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Brussels staffs up as AI Act enforcement powers begin

New watchdogs The European Commission added 38 people to its AI Office to monitor model makers from startups to OpenAI and DeepSeek, with powers to fine firms or cut their access to the EU market starting Sunday.

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Business & Markets →

Wall Street closes a volatile July higher

Green finish The Dow ended Friday at 52,485.03, up 276.97 points or 0.53 percent, the S&P 500 at 7,489.72 and the Nasdaq at 25,373.85, up 1.00 percent, even as the 10-year Treasury yield touched 4.73 percent.

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Amazon lifts 2026 capital spending to $220 billion, blaming memory costs

Still not enough Amazon raised its 2026 capital spending guidance from $200 billion to $220 billion on higher memory costs, as AWS grew 37 percent to $42.2 billion, and Chief Executive Andy Jassy warned it still would not cover demand.

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Science →

IBM and Chicago researchers report a verified quantum advantage

Checkable at last The team ran 70 logical qubits through 2,415 logical two-qubit operations and 468 logical T gates in about 15 minutes, on a structured task that permits error detection while staying beyond practical classical simulation.

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UN chief says a strengthening El Nino is adding fuel to a planet on fire

Uncharted territory Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the climate crisis is "in overdrive" as the World Meteorological Organization forecast sea-surface temperatures averaging 3 degrees Celsius above normal.

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Letters to the King

They sang that Saul had slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. What did fame do to you, and what would you warn us about it?

From the Baker's own shelf

Ah, that song. I heard it first with a boy's grin, dust still on me from the valley, and I have heard it since in every room where a man is weighed. It did two things, and I will name them both honestly. It lifted me, for the love of the people is real bread and I ate it gladly. And it hunted me, for the same verse that crowned me put Saul's eye upon me from that day forward, and I spent long years in caves learning that the applause of the morning buys no supper at night. So here is my warning, friend. Fame is a mirror held up by a crowd, and a crowd has many hands and no memory. It will tell you that you are ten thousand when you are one man, and one man is what you must answer for in the end. Keep some work you do where nobody counts it. Keep one friend who will say the hard thing to your face. Keep a harp, and sing to the One who knew your number before the women ever thought to count. Then let them sing whatever they please. You will still know your own name.

– David, King in Jerusalem

Mail carried to the throne by the Baker – leave your own letter at the chronicles.

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