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Consumer sentiment dips, especially among Republicans

Data: University of Michigan; Note: August 2026 number is preliminary; Chart: Neil Irwin/AxiosPublic opinion about the economy appears to be souring further this month, per the preliminary release of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index.By the numbers: Overall sentiment fell 8% in the early days of August, after two consecutive months of improvement.The index fell t

Ahunna Eziakonwa: Time to dismantle Africa's risk premium

The online shopping trend where you buy nothing

On South Korea’s “dopamine sites,” the pleasure comes from aspirational shopping rituals like browsing, curating, and tracking — not from a delivery.

Launch of DeepSeek’s Harness marks its strategic pivot towards autonomous agentic AI

Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek is venturing into a new battleground beyond large language models, launching a developer preview of its long-anticipated Harness – a software framework that helps developers turn AI models into autonomous agents. The release on Thursday marks a strategic pivot as DeepSeek moves to build foundational digital scaffolding for AI agents – systems capable of using AI models to operate external software, run code, and complete complex jobs on their...

Zhipu launches flagship model GLM-5.3 as China seeks Mythos-level edge in cyber defence

Chinese artificial intelligence firm Zhipu, also known as Z.ai, has unveiled its flagship GLM-5.3 model, saying it beat Anthropic’s frontier Mythos 5 model in a key cybersecurity test, as China races to counter Western advances in AI defence. Beijing-based Zhipu said GLM-5.3 achieved a success rate of 84.5 per cent on CyberGym, a benchmark that measures whether models can identify and validate security flaws from source code. That was above Anthropic’s Mythos at 83.8 per cent and OpenAI’s...

OpenAI sheds senior execs in pre-IPO refresh

A wave of top OpenAI executives — including Sam Altman's top deputy, a longtime chief operating officer and the chief revenue officer — has left in the span of a month as the company retools its leadership ahead of an expected IPO.Why it matters: Co-founder Greg Brockman is getting more involved across every level of the company to build out a leadership t

America has more majority-minority rural counties than urban and suburban ones

Data: U.S. Census, USDA; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsThe U.S. is projected to become majority-minority in 2046, but hundreds of

China’s richest province taps Alibaba to power its AI and chip push

China’s richest province has deepened its partnership with technology giant Alibaba Group Holding, eyeing a broad digital upgrade spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and smart public services. Under a strategic cooperation framework agreement signed on Thursday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province in southern China, the Hangzhou-based firm planned to increase its investments in computing power, AI models and digital services, according to a report by local state media...

Data center backlash echoes fossil-fuel politics

Willie Nelson has become an unlikely barometer of America's biggest infrastructure fights. He once protested the Keystone XL pipeline and fracking. Today, he's fighting data centers.Why it matters: The American icon's latest cause underscores how <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/07/18/how-data-c

AI scrambles the political map

The search for a winning message on AI is pushing candidates and lawmakers into unexpected political territory.Why it matters: With the midterms approaching, AI is creating alliances across party lines while opening fissures within them.Here are three ways AI is scrambling the poli