Balance of Power

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There was a revealing moment during President Donald Trump’s recent state visit to the UK.

At a business roundtable including several titans of tech who’d announced investments in Britain, Trump broke off to address Nvidia chief Jensen Huang.

His company — the most valuable on Earth due to its AI computer processors — is taking over the world, Trump said with a laugh.

“I hope you’re right,” the president added, turning to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “All I can say is we both hope you’re right.”

Despite being made in jest, the comment was an open acknowledgment that the rush to develop artificial-intelligence infrastructure carries risks.

Beyond the hype, there’s growing uncertainty over the vast sums being ploughed into AI and the data centers that drive it. That’s an issue for governments rushing to lure them for fear of missing out on an era-defining technology — Trump’s Stargate AI project alone is valued at $500 billion.

For one, data centers require huge amounts of power and water while yielding few concrete jobs beyond the initial phases of construction. It’s why researchers have suggested that regions risk becoming data-center farms for tech giants to reap.

Visitors play Delta Force using AMD Ryzen processors at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, in August 2024. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

More immediately, warnings are proliferating that the AI business model is built on a speculative bubble.

To be clear, the questions are less about the potential AI holds for humankind than the fever surrounding a technology that’s yet to prove itself financially.

Just yesterday, ChatGPT originator OpenAI struck a monster deal with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices — adding more than $60 billion to AMD’s market value in a single day.

That followed September’s $100 billion deal between Nvidia and OpenAI to build data centers.

As my colleague Ian King wrote, these agreements are part of an unprecedented gamble by big tech “that runaway demand for power-hungry AI tools will continue unabated.”

Governments worldwide should be asking: what if the bet goes wrong? — Alan Crawford

WATCH: AMD CEO Lisa Su and OpenAI President Greg Brockman discuss the deal.

Global Must Reads

French President Emmanuel Macron gave outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu until tomorrow evening to find a path out of a political impasse and assemble a cabinet that can secure backing for next year’s budget. Successive governments have struggled to hold on to power since Macron’s gamble on snap elections split the National Assembly into blocs, and he may be forced to call a fresh vote that could give the poll-leading far-right National Rally a chance of forming an administration.

With today marking two years since the Hamas attack on Israel, Trump is pressing both sides to secure a settlement to the conflict that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized the Middle East, with the warring sides starting mediated negotiations in Egypt. A key sign of progress will be whether Hamas frees all the roughly 20 of its live hostages — plus the remains of those who have died — in return for Israel releasing about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Demonstrators at an anti-government rally in Tel Aviv on Sept. 27. Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Trump said he would negotiate with Democrats over health-care subsidies, a move that could open the door to resolving the US government shutdown that has stretched into a second week. The comments appeared to be a shift for the White House and Republican leaders, although hours later the president added he’d be willing to talk only after the government reopened.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te urged Trump to continue supporting the self-governing democratic island, which China claims as its territory, amid mounting concerns over whether the US leader could sacrifice its interests in order to engage with Beijing. Lai’s appeal on a conservative radio show underscores the tricky situation facing Taiwan as Washington seeks deals with China and expresses skepticism about foreign entanglements.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s call yesterday with Trump — which the US leader described as “very good” — avoided any mention of Jair Bolsonaro, a source told us. Lula’s team saw the absence from the discussion of the South American nation’s former president, whose trial for plotting a coup prompted 50% US tariffs on many Brazilian goods, as a sign that Trump may be willing to turn the page on his ally and shift the focus to areas of economic policy where there’s room to cut a deal.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Photographer: Ton Molina/Bloomberg

The Japanese ruling party’s new secretary-general, Shunichi Suzuki, attempted to quell concerns his Liberal Democratic Party may leave a quarter-century coalition with junior party Komeito as it tries to navigate new partnerships.

Starmer will lead a delegation of more than 100 British business, academic and cultural leaders to India, seeking to deepen commerce between the two countries after signing a long-awaited free-trade agreement.

Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina named a military general as the new prime minister as anti-government protests entered a third week.

The Irish government is to deliver its toughest budget in years in a bid to shield its economy from the threat of declining investment from US firms.

Russia appears to be stepping up its hybrid attacks on European countries. Join Bloomberg reporters at 8 a.m. Eastern Time as they break down what’s happening — and how Europe can respond.

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Chart of the Day

In pacifist nation Japan, opinion surveys show public support growing for stronger defense. The new leader of the ruling LDP, Sanae Takaichi, is a security hawk who’s called for more military spending, as have fast-growing smaller right-leaning political parties. The US, Tokyo’s only security-treaty ally, has pushed Japan to rely less on American protection and the Asian nation has earmarked billions of dollars to help build a stronger domestic-defense industrial base.

And Finally

On a warm spring day last month, more than 6,000 Afrikaners marked the 200th birthday of nationalist icon Paul Kruger within sight of the seat of South Africa’s Black-majority government, with memorabilia commemorating White rule on open display. The authorities made no attempt to interfere with the celebrations of a group that ranks among the country’s wealthiest, a signal that belies claims by Trump that they are being subjected to genocide.

Cannons fired smoke in the colors of the old Transvaal Republic flag at the gathering. Photographer: Lourens Reyneke

Global Must Reads

Chart of the Day

And Finally

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