Tonight's Highlights | Major U.S. Equity Futures Edge Higher; AMD Surges up to 15% Pre-market
U.S. equity futures edged higher on Tuesday, rebounding slightly after a "doomsday" report on the economic impact of AI triggered a broad market sell-off. Major European indices also tracked higher in early trade.
Yesterday, all three major U.S. indices slid more than 1% as a report from Citrini Research detailed a scenario where AI severely disrupts the global economy, further heightening the "AI panic" that has gripped the market.
As Tuesday unfolds, traders are focusing on a major event hosted by Anthropic, the developer of the Claude LLM. The company is expected to unveil new products and showcase Claude's latest capabilities. Anxiety surrounding this event and its potential to disrupt incumbents contributed to the software sector's decline on Monday.
Mizuho Securities traders noted: "No one wants to bet ahead of another AI product launch. Every piece of news from Anthropic is viewed as 'incremental competition' for existing software firms, whether fair or not. Investors prefer to sit on the sidelines rather than speculate on the outcome."
Meanwhile, President Trump’s 10% global tariff took effect on Tuesday. Following the Supreme Court’s block of his prior large-scale measures, Trump vowed to utilize alternative legal authorities for the levies. While he indicated over the weekend that he intended to raise the rate to 15%, the officially confirmed rate currently remains at 10%.
In individual movers, AMD shares surged as much as 15% in pre-market trading following the announcement of a multi-year partnership with Meta. As of press time, gains have moderated to under 10%. Under the deal, Meta will deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs in its AI data centers. Furthermore, Meta will invest in AMD through performance-linked warrants, allowing for the purchase of up to 160 million AMD shares.
Corporate News
AMD to Supply Meta with Up to $60B in AI Chips
Reports indicate that Meta and AMD have entered a massive procurement agreement for AI equipment. In addition to the deployment of 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, the deal is valued at up to $60 billion. AMD has also agreed to issue performance-based warrants to Meta Platforms for the purchase of up to 160 million shares of AMD common stock.
Musk Envisions Electromagnetic Launch of AI Satellites from the Moon
Elon Musk is reportedly exploring the use of electromagnetic catapults on the moon to deploy data center satellite networks dedicated to AI. According to *Futura-Sciences*, Musk intends to build a lunar assembly plant and a giant catapult to launch satellites into Earth's orbit.
SpaceX recently applied to the FCC to deploy a system of up to 1 million satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to support high-performance computing needs for AI.
FedEx Sues U.S. Government for Full Tariff Refund
On February 23, FedEx filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade against U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the federal government. The company is seeking a full refund of import tariffs collected under the *International Emergency Economic Powers Act* (IEEPA), which was recently ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.
Ford Recalls Over 450,000 Vehicles in the U.S.
According to notifications from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on February 24, Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 450,000 vehicles in the United States due to various safety concerns.