Wall Street’s 48-hour whiplash lays bare a deeper fault-line: investors no longer doubt AI’s eventual ubiquity, they doubt its near-term economics. A $900 bn vaporization of Big Tech market value earlier in the week, led by Microsoft’s 18 % slide, followed Amazon’s vow to pour an eye-watering $200 bn into AI and robotics this year. Cumulatively, the “Magnificent Four” now pledge $660 bn of 2026 capex—60 % above 2025 and larger than Switzerland’s GDP. (ft.com)

The snap-back rally that pushed the Dow through 50,000 and trimmed the Nasdaq’s weekly loss to ­1.8 % feels less like vindication than exhaustion. Retail dip-buyers chased Nvidia’s 7.9 % rebound and a 12 % bitcoin snap-back after Thursday’s 13 % plunge, but breadth remained thin and safe-haven metals kept sliding. The pattern echoes late-1999: liquidity masks valuation angst until it doesn’t. (ft.com)

History suggests capital-spending manias flip when cash flow lags narrative; the railroads of the 1870s and telecoms of 2000 wrote that script. Unless AI productivity gains surface quickly, today’s spree risks the same capital overhang and deflationary bust. As analyst Benedict Evans warns, “Every technology wave overestimates the short term and underestimates the long term—but the bills arrive on time.”

— The Gist AI Editor

Digital Discourse Disturbed

President Trump’s Truth Social account shared and later deleted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, triggering sharp, bipartisan condemnation (AP). Initially defiant, the White House dismissed the reaction as “fake outrage” before removing the post and attributing it to a staffer’s error (AP). The incident injects fresh volatility into the political landscape, highlighting the recurrent tension between inflammatory social media tactics and mainstream political decorum. From a libertarian standpoint, while speech should remain broadly unregulated, the strategic calculation behind such posts—and their swift removal under pressure—reveals the practical limits and market-driven consequences of controversial expression.

Weight-Loss Drugs: Innovation Meets Regulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on compounded weight-loss drugs, targeting telehealth innovators like Hims & Hers (Reuters). Hims recently offered a pill with the same active ingredient as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy for as low as $49 a month, a stark contrast to the brand-name starting price of $149 (Reuters, Fierce Pharma). This move pits consumer demand for affordable access against the FDA’s mandate to ensure drug safety, as compounded medications are not federally approved for quality or effectiveness. Following the FDA’s announcement, shares in Hims fell over 14% in after-hours trade, while Novo Nordisk’s stock rose over 7%, underscoring the market’s sensitivity to regulatory enforcement in the multi-billion dollar obesity drug market.

Stay tuned for the next Gist—your edge in a shifting world.

Trump removes racist post about Obamas after fierce backlash
— Financial Times

Tech wreck signals a market reset
— Financial Times

US announces crackdown on copycat weight-loss drugs
— Financial Times

China Forex Reserves Rise in January
— Wall Street Journal

Opinion | Trump’s New Start on Nuclear Weapons
— Wall Street Journal

Oil Futures Settle Higher As U.S.-Iran Talks Get Under Way
— Wall Street Journal

State Transparency, Private Pain

The US Justice Department’s release of millions of new documents in the Epstein scandal has backfired, exposing sensitive, private data of victims through shockingly negligent redactions (ZDF). Far from delivering justice, this bureaucratic failure has publicly exposed the names and faces of the abused, compounding their trauma. It’s a stark illustration of the state as a clumsy, ineffective guardian of its citizens’ most private information. The pursuit of transparency against perpetrators cannot come at the cost of the victims’ fundamental right to privacy. This incident is a serious blow to institutional trust and will have a chilling effect, likely deterring other victims of heinous crimes from coming forward for fear of similar public violation by the very system meant to protect them.

When Biology Defies the Law

New research is demystifying Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS), a rare disorder where gut bacteria ferment carbohydrates into alcohol, causing intoxication without drinking (El Pais). By identifying the specific bacteria responsible, science is solidifying ABS as a diagnosable medical condition, not a convenient excuse. This has profound implications for our legal systems. How can laws based on standardised blood-alcohol limits contend with an individual whose body is an internal brewery? This scientific breakthrough challenges the very foundation of evidence used in driving-under-the-influence cases, which could have significant legal repercussions. It underscores a crucial point: as our understanding of human biology deepens, our rigid social and legal frameworks must become more adaptable.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Epstein-Files: Sensible Opferdaten landen im Netz
— ZDF

The rise and fall of Alex Saab, financial shark of the Bolivarian Revolution
— El Pais

When your body becomes a brewery
— El Pais

Felix Loch: “Rodeln macht mir mehr Spaß als je zuvor”
— ZDF

Die Wiedergeburt der New England Patriots
— ZDF

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy calls for faster action to boost air defences as Trump hails ‘very good’ peace talks
— The Guardian