Big Tech AI Spending, Gold Records, and UK-China Relations | Bloomberg Daybreak Europe

Big Tech's AI Investment Surge

• 🚀 Meta plans to spend up to $135 billion this year on AI, aiming to frontload computing capacity and enhance internal AI tooling.
• 💡 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg anticipates AI will dramatically change work by 2026, enabling individuals to achieve more with AI-native tools.
• 📈 Microsoft announced a 66% increase in capital expenditure for the second quarter, totaling over $37 billion, despite a slowdown in cloud services growth.
• 💰 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes AI expenditure will significantly expand the Total Addressable Market (TAM) across the tech stack.
• 🤝 Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon are reportedly in discussions to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI.

Gold and Market Dynamics

• 🥇 Gold has surged to a new record above $5,500 an ounce, driven by a weaker dollar and investors moving away from sovereign bonds and currencies.
• 📊 A lack of liquidity has accelerated a nine-day rally in gold prices.
• 📉 Treasuries are down amid concerns that rising commodity prices could contribute to inflation.
• 📈 US and European stock futures show positive movement, with NASDAQ futures reaching a four-month high.

Corporate and Geopolitical Developments

• 🏦 Deutsche Bank announced a 1 billion euro share buyback alongside pre-tax profits exceeding two billion euros for the fourth quarter, following a raid by German authorities related to a money laundering probe.
• ☁️ Europe's largest software company, SAP, forecasts cloud revenue growth of at least 23% in 2026 and announced a share buyback of up to €10 billion.
• 🇨🇳 UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, advocating for a more sophisticated relationship and meaningful dialogue on areas of disagreement.
• 🇺🇸 President Donald Trump warned Iran against delaying a nuclear deal, threatening military strikes.

London's Airspace Development

• 🏙️ Developers in London are increasingly buying up airspace above existing buildings to construct penthouses.
• 💰 Prices for these airspace sites can reach hundreds of thousands of pounds, such as £320,000 for airspace in Muswell Hill.
• 🏘️ This trend aims to address London's housing shortage, though concerns exist about the integration of new structures with existing neighborhoods and potential impacts on city density.