June 25, 2025 • 21 mins
Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
(1) American airstrikes had only a limited impact on Iran’s nuclear program, according to early US intelligence findings, as the United Nations watchdog urged fresh inspection of the sites.
(2) Donald Trump ensured that NATO’s high-stakes summit would be a nervy affair to the end as he flew in to The Hague fueling doubts about whether the US remains fully committed to defending its allies.
(3) The European Union plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports, including on Boeing aircraft, if President Donald Trump puts a baseline levy on the bloc’s goods as many expect.
(4) Chinese companies are ramping up shipments to Britain to levels not seen in years, a possible sign that the Asian factory powerhouse is finding export markets unimpeded by high tariffs like those President Donald Trump has imposed.
(5) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had plenty of opportunities Tuesday to tell lawmakers definitively the central bank will cut interest rates soon. He didn’t take any of them.
(6) Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded to his upstart rival Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary in the race to become mayor of New York City after the 33-year-old Queens lawmaker racked up commanding leads across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.
Podcast Conversation: Elite Dating Services Are Thriving as Love Defies Economic Woes
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is the Bloomberg DAYBAQT podcast, available every morning on Apple, Spotify,
awherever you listen. It's Wednesday, the twenty fifth of June
in London. I'm Caroline Hepke and.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I'm Stephen Carroll coming up today. An early US intelligence
report shows American air strikes have only had a limited
impact on Iran's nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The EU warns it will impose tariffs on American imports
if the White House keeps a baseline levy on its goods.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Plus struggling to work it out, chat GPT's appeal to
office workers presents a growing problem for its biggest backer Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
America's unprecedented air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities had only
a limited impact, according to early US intelligence findings. A
report by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency says the bombing
likely didn't cripple the core components of Iran's program, including
its centrifuges. According to people familiar with the assessments, the
(01:07):
US strikes are likely to have set Tehran's plans back
by several months to as much as a year. US
President Donald Trump's team dismissed the reports, which cast doubt
on his claim that the strikes totally obliterated their targets.
White House Press Secretary Carlin Levitt posted on x that
the intelligence finding of limited impact was flat out wrong
(01:29):
and quote a clear attempt to demean President Trump. Despite
the White House's pushback comments, the assessment will likely only
intensify calls from the United Nations Nuclear watchdog for renewed
inspections of the targeted sites. This as a ceasefire Trump
broker to end the twelve day conflict between Israel and Iran,
(01:50):
appears to be holding after twenty four hours.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Meanwhile, President Trump has cast doubt on NATO's founding principle.
As he arrived at the Military Aunts annual summit here
in Europe, Trump was asked by reporters on Air Force
one if he was still committed to Article five of NATO,
which says that allies will come to the aid of
a country under armed attacks.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Numbers definition, So Article five you know that, right, But
love committed to confer help friends with Many of those
leaders have committed.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
To helping, So the US president's comments, it depends on
your definition. It comes as NATO's other leaders try to
keep America engaged by promising to ramp up defense spending,
so the UK says that it would buy at least
twelve new US made F thirty five A fighter jets
in an attempt to curry favor, and NATO Sexuary General
(02:48):
Mark Rutter texted the US President to say, quote, Europe
is going to pay in a big way as they should,
and it will be your win.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
The European Union has planned retaliatory tariffs if the White
House keeps its baseline levies on EU goods. Bloomberg has
learned the European Commissioner is preparing a list of American
imports worth ninety five billion euros to tax on top
of its existing duties. Officials told Bloomberg they expect certain
US tariffs will remain in place even if trade talks
go well, and the EU will respond to those. The
(03:21):
US has just two weeks left before President Trump's self
imposed pause on tariff's elapses, with only the UK securing
any deal on paper so far.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Chinese companies are ramping up shipments to Britain in a
sign of how US tariffs are reshaping global trade data
from Britain's Office for National Statistics shows goods imports from
China climbing to six billion pounds in April. That's up
eleven percent on a year earlier and the highest in
more than two years. Bloomberg's James Walcock has more Now.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
Good things are increasingly coming in small packages. Imports of
low value Chinese goods in small all parcels were up
sixty six percent in May compared to the previous year,
hitting a UK record. It's the kind of deliveries she
In and Timu specialize in, and economists say, although trade
data is volatile, it's a sign higher US tariots maybe
(04:17):
driving cheap goods elsewhere. Although the shift could put downward
pressure on prices, it also has the UK government on
watch for unfair competition in London. James Wilcock Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
The Prime Minister Kris Starmer says he will push ahead
with controversial cuts to UK disability benefits despite a brewing
rebellion within his labor party. Poomberg's Even Parts has the details.
Speaker 6 (04:41):
Kirs Starmer says there is a clear moral case to
reform the welfare system, signaling he's not going to back
down in the face of what could be the biggest
parliamentary rebelly in his government has faced. Some one hundred
and eight members of Parliament have put their names to
an amendment that would sink a key part of the
Chancellor's fiscal plans. That number is more than enough to
override the government's sizeable Commons majority, risking a humiliating defeat.
(05:04):
At issue is the five billion pounds of cuts to
the burgeoning bill for disability and sickness related benefits. Last month,
the government announced a dramatic reversal on plans to cut
the heating payments for pensioners. Kase Darman now signing he's
not planning a second big U turn this year in London,
I'm une pots Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, let's turn our attention to the Federal Reserve chair
Jerown Powell, who says that higher inflation is keeping rates
on hold for now. Speaking to a Congressional panel yesterday,
the central bank chief repeated his view that there is
no rush to adjust policy.
Speaker 7 (05:38):
If it turns out that inflation pressures do remain contained,
then we will get to a place where we cut
rates sooner rather than later. But I wouldn't want to say,
I wouldn't want to point to a particular meeting.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I don't think we need to be in any.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Rush because the economy is still strong, the labor market
is strong.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Palell's comments counter President Trump's calls for an immediate FED
cut and recent statements from Governors Chriusopher Walla and Michelle
Bowman signaling willingness to lower borrowing costs. In July, Powell
also maintained that the FMC should remain cautious whilst the
impact of President Trump's economic policy becomes clear. The news
zo comes after policymakers voted to leave interest rates unchanged
(06:19):
in a range of four quarters to four and a
half percent last week, and.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
The former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded to
younger rival Zora and Mumdani in a stunning upset of
the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. According to preliminary results,
Mumdani garnered forty three point five percent of the vote
and Cuomo just over thirty six percent. Here's bloombergs Denise Palegrini.
Speaker 8 (06:40):
The race is not officially called yet because no one
has fifty percent to the vote, but sixty seven year
old former governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded to thirty three
year old Democratic socialist Zoran Mumdani.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Tonight was not our night.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Tonight was Assemblyman Mundi, and he put together a great
care paign.
Speaker 8 (07:04):
I'm Doney, backed by young supporters attracted to his promises
of rent freezes and freeze city buses. Under New York
City's Rank Choice, the votes for other candidates start to
get redistributed until the candidate gets fifty percent of the vote.
And this race is being widely watched as an indicator
of future direction of the Democratic Party in New York.
Denise Pelgridy, Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
Right in the markets, this cease far between Israel and
Iran seems to be holding. Oil prices are up by
one point two percent for brank Ree futures this morning,
but we're still treading on the sixty seven hand or
sixty seven ninety eight, so there.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Is relief there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Also, we saw the Nasdat rising one and a half
percent on Tuesday, notching up another record high versus February.
So we've seen a huge rebound for the Nasdaq, something
like thirty percent. The S and PFI found it also
climbed to one point one percent yesterday. Stop futures this
morning are positive up to for the U stocks fifty
futures this morning is interesting though. The markets took Pal's
(08:04):
testimony the first day of it yesterday as as Darvish,
which I thought was a little bit strange given that
he reiterated this idea of no rush to cut interest rates.
But markets did boost bets on a reduction. They're looking
at July, it would seem, so let's see if that
changes again today. The other thing to think about too,
(08:25):
so European stocks yesterday really rallied one point one percent
of the close for the US stock six hundred, lifted
by airline stocks, and then just looking at the bond
markets tenny US eels a four point three percent In.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
A moment, more on that US intelligence report on the
effect of US strikes on Iran, plus the rivalry, the
curious rivalry between two artificial intelligence names for the battle
for the office the workplace? Who's using AI at work?
A word first? Though, on another story that's caught or
I this morning, dating apps are out, matchmakers are in.
(09:00):
I really like this story at what point. Could we
have told this story over the past twenty years.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Well, yes, but I think it's the cost of the
matchmakers that has surprised me. And also so this is
Blinberg's ignacive Gonzalez and Lara Sally have been writing about dating.
I did not know that match Group, which owns Tinder,
has been seeing the number of paying clients online decline
for eight consecutive quarters. Actually, yes, the apps are grimm
(09:30):
they are becoming less popular. Apparently Match Groups of business
isn't expected to return to revenue growth until twenty twenty seven.
But the organizations that are making money and apparently growing
are these matchmaking services that cost thousands, if not tens
of thousands of pounds, slush dollars, slush ears.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well, this just feels like one of those moments where
you have sort of a cyclical turn in an industry
where all of a sudden, dating apps were huge for
a certain other time, and maybe this is the move
on to the next phase, going back to in person connections.
But a very interesting read from our colleagues talking through
speaking to those matchmakers and some of the people that
(10:08):
use them, and what they expected of and whether or
not they think it's good value for money. Yeah, so
interesting find Well, I mean that's the point. But then
if you don't, are you going to be annoyed that
you spent thousands of dollars on a service that didn't
yield results? And as was, what's the science behind it?
Really interesting story. We'll put a link to it in
our show notes and you'll find it, of course on
bloomberg dot com and on the terminal.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Now, there is a c star holding between Israel and Iran,
but Bloomberg has learned that US intelligence assessments show only
limited impact from US air strikes on Teyran's nuclear program.
This is despite President Trump saying at the weekend that
the strikes totally obliterated their targets joining US. Now, as
Bloomberg's EMBA News director ros In matheson Good Morning of OZ,
(10:49):
what do we actually know about the damage done to
Iran's nuclear program? We have this assessment from the Pentagon
and also the IAEA. They clash with President Trump's view.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Well, that's it's actually interesting to see the White House
actually criticizing its own intelligence findings, because, as you say,
the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon has found at
least an initial assessment is it's unlikely that the US
bombing crippled the cork parts of Iran's nuclear facilities below
(11:20):
the ground, of course, they're deep underground, including their centrifugures.
And on the back of that you've got the IAEA,
of course, the un energy monitors who've been saying for
days it's very unclear what's going on, but they doubt
that these strikes set back around atomic ambitions significantly.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You know, could it be months, could it be years.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And of course the question above all is where is
this uranium that's enriched already to a sixty percent level
that the IAEA has lost track of. So those bits
of evidence in the sunlight images that we've got suggest
that it's unlikely that significant damage was caused to these
to these sites. Of course, the view from the White
(12:02):
House is that they've been totally obliterated, and that's the
line they're sticking to and in line with the Israelis
who have said that a keep part of their goal
in their own strikes against Israel was to destroy these facilities.
And so the question really is as the dust clears
metaphorically and literally, do we get a better sense of
(12:24):
those facilities, but without enough IAEA monitors on the ground,
and there are limited numbers there, it's very hard to
verify exactly what's going on.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Ross this as the course, as we're watching for further
developments out of the Middle East as well. We've had
some comments from the Ranian president, Massive Pozaskian as well,
talking about the great wounds that were inflicted by the
strikes from Israel as well and claiming that Israel's failed
to achieve its goals in Iran. This twenty four hours
on does appear to be holding.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It does appear to be holding, although it's very fragile,
even as we saw yesterday. It's of an extraordinary twenty
four to forty eight hours, and we had at least
a little bit of concern that the CEESPI, which we
weren't quite sure when it was going to take effect,
having an early wobble with a strike from Iran and
(13:17):
then Israel feeling the need to respond to that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
So it's incredibly fragile.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I mean, these are two countries who've been barring missiles
and drones at each other only days ago, and getting
the two countries to stand down is very difficult given
their history. Given of course, the weakening that Israel has
done against Iran through its proxies Hesbillah in Lebanon. It's
continuing warring Gaza against Hamas. There's a lot of complexity there.
(13:46):
So it's very difficult to get a sea spa and
make it stick. And beyond that, it's really hard to
get a path towards some kind of more stable diplomacy.
Of course, we've seen many rounds of talks to try
and get some kind of deal over Iran's nuclear program.
Those talks have gone nowhere. Maybe now they've got a
small window. I mean, Iran has obviously seen that Israel
(14:08):
in the US mean business, so that might prompt something.
But how or when diplomacy can get a chance here
that is also very unclear.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Meanwhile, NATO, the NATO gathering the Sextuary, General Mark Rutter
has dialed up the flattery of President Trump to kind
of warp speed the present. Though on board Air Force One,
you heard him. They're kind of crackly talking about collective defense.
It depends on your definition. This will surely alarm Europeans.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, it certainly will, because they were, you know, spent
months and months preparing the ground for this meeting, this
summit of NATO leaders, and the idea being to basically
avoid Donald Trump saying or doing anything that might cost
furthered doubt or NATO so careful preparations to get you know,
people to agree to this five percent defense spending, and
(15:00):
of course Spain not yet there, which is awkward for
UTA and NATO as a whole, other countries dragging the
chain also arguably on that and trying to avoid Trump
again putting the question mark over Article five, which is
this framework really under which NATO operates, the idea that
you defend each other when needed. Article five is pretty
(15:24):
clear on that, but Donald Trump already on the plane
over musing.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Aloud about what it might mean.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
And that's really what we've been we've been, We've been
expecting the idea that for Europe at least, this has
all been a significant wake up call, you know, for Europe,
when you're thinking about the future, you've got to presume
that the US may not be there even despite the
you know, Article five existing, or coming to aid in
a different way than you'd expect, different kinds of assistance.
(15:53):
And that's certainly the parameters that Donald Trump now seems
to be laying out, so whether he commits to something
at the end of this remains to be seen. We'll
see in a press conference later today, but certainly it's
off to a bit of a webblue start.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Okay very emy AI's director Raslin Mathison, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Now. As more people start using artificial intelligence tools at work,
competition is heating up for enterprise contracts. So Microsoft, the
dominant supply of workplace software, seeing its AI assistant co
pilot lose out to open AI's chat GPT. The behind
the scenes dog fight is complicating and already fought. Relationship
(16:31):
between Microsoft and open ai are reported to what Adabaio
is here with more on this too. A good morning.
How big do you think the rivalry between Microsoft and
open ai is?
Speaker 9 (16:42):
Well, the answer is is pretty big. It's certainly very lucrative,
and it's actually still growing. It's something of an unlikely situation, actually,
given that Microsoft has invested nearly fourteen billion dollars in
open ai since twenty nineteen, so you'd think they might
be all in on the firm, But actually also in
that time, Microsoft has backed other rival AI startups, They've
(17:04):
built their own models, and they've stalled open AI's restructuring plans,
so the relationship is slightly fraught. On the other side
of that equation, you have open Ai. They've signed deals
with rival cloud computing partners, so Microsoft rivals, and for example,
they've recently agreed to acquire AI coding assistant Windsurf, which
(17:26):
directly competes with Microsoft's GitHub copilots. So the two seem
to be the frenemies in the tech world at best,
but they're also of course competing for market share in
the corporate world. Open ai says it has three million
paying business users, whilst a Microsoft spokesperson said Copilot is
(17:48):
being used by seventy percent of the Fortune five hundred
and their page users have tripled compared with this time
last year. So it does seem that Microsoft is slightly
edging ahead in that core raised for now, but as
our reporting shows, that could all be about to change.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So why are they competing on and I suppose what
are the selling points for each of these companies with
their products.
Speaker 9 (18:10):
Well, that's the thing, Steven, They're quite similar. So both
companies are essentially pitching AI assistance that can help with
the sort of labor intensive administrative tasks in the workplace,
so writing research, analyzing data, and they're saying that they
can free up workers to focus on more meaningful challenges.
And it gets worse because both chatbots are largely based
(18:32):
on the same open AI models, so very similar offering
on both sides. A Microsoft spokesperson is quoted in our
really detailed story about this on the terminal and they
say that what sets them apart is fine tuning the
technology for business use. So, after all, Microsoft has been
in the corporate space for much longer. Programs like Outlook
(18:54):
and Excel, for example, their workplace staples, so they know
what's going on. And whilst chat GPT dominates the consumer space,
Microsoft says their in tune with business needs and that's
why they have Barclays and Accenture, for example, as clients.
But our reporting is showing that many office workers are
convinced that chat GBT is the better product after using
(19:14):
it in their personal lives, and so now they're actually
convincing their bosses to make the switch over to open AI.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So in terms of the border effects then on the
use of AI on the workplace, I mean, I must
admit I've been messing about with AI, but it is
much more at home to the things for things outside
of work, it's obviously going to be coming to workplaces
in a big way.
Speaker 9 (19:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's been a number of reports saying
that there are benefits of using AI in the workplace
in terms of productive capacity and also really speeding up
those menial tasks. For example, this week there's new research
from MIT that says AI agents can raise worker productivity
by sixty percent. So AI agents being complex sort of
(20:01):
artificial intelligence models that can work autonomously and can actually
be fine tuned to employee personality types as well, So
some pretty high level things going on. Some are really
just banking on this technology for a breakthrough. We heard
from Andrew Bailey recently Governor of the Bank of England,
who suggested that AI could be used to sort of
(20:22):
counter the collapse in the UK's long term growth rate
by really boosting productivity. But having said that, there are
concerns about the potential for AI use at work to
lead to job cuts, especially when it comes to junior roles.
Those are the ones that usually comprise of more of
the administrative tasks, and they're largely taken up by graduates
(20:43):
who are already facing a difficult job market, so some
concerns there. It's not all positive news when it comes
to AI in the workplace, but it's certainly making an
impact so far.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe. You're morning brief on the
stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple,
Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
You can also listen live each morning on London Dab Radio,
the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
I'm Caroline Hepka and I'm Stephen Carol. Join us again
tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start
your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is the Bloomberg DAYBAQT podcast, available every morning on Apple, Spotify,
awherever you listen. It's Wednesday, the twenty fifth of June
in London. I'm Caroline Hepke and.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I'm Stephen Carroll coming up today. An early US intelligence
report shows American air strikes have only had a limited
impact on Iran's nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The EU warns it will impose tariffs on American imports
if the White House keeps a baseline levy on its goods.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Plus struggling to work it out, chat GPT's appeal to
office workers presents a growing problem for its biggest backer Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
America's unprecedented air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities had only
a limited impact, according to early US intelligence findings. A
report by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency says the bombing
likely didn't cripple the core components of Iran's program, including
its centrifuges. According to people familiar with the assessments, the
(01:07):
US strikes are likely to have set Tehran's plans back
by several months to as much as a year. US
President Donald Trump's team dismissed the reports, which cast doubt
on his claim that the strikes totally obliterated their targets.
White House Press Secretary Carlin Levitt posted on x that
the intelligence finding of limited impact was flat out wrong
(01:29):
and quote a clear attempt to demean President Trump. Despite
the White House's pushback comments, the assessment will likely only
intensify calls from the United Nations Nuclear watchdog for renewed
inspections of the targeted sites. This as a ceasefire Trump
broker to end the twelve day conflict between Israel and Iran,
(01:50):
appears to be holding after twenty four hours.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Meanwhile, President Trump has cast doubt on NATO's founding principle.
As he arrived at the Military Aunts annual summit here
in Europe, Trump was asked by reporters on Air Force
one if he was still committed to Article five of NATO,
which says that allies will come to the aid of
a country under armed attacks.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Numbers definition, So Article five you know that, right, But
love committed to confer help friends with Many of those
leaders have committed.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
To helping, So the US president's comments, it depends on
your definition. It comes as NATO's other leaders try to
keep America engaged by promising to ramp up defense spending,
so the UK says that it would buy at least
twelve new US made F thirty five A fighter jets
in an attempt to curry favor, and NATO Sexuary General
(02:48):
Mark Rutter texted the US President to say, quote, Europe
is going to pay in a big way as they should,
and it will be your win.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
The European Union has planned retaliatory tariffs if the White
House keeps its baseline levies on EU goods. Bloomberg has
learned the European Commissioner is preparing a list of American
imports worth ninety five billion euros to tax on top
of its existing duties. Officials told Bloomberg they expect certain
US tariffs will remain in place even if trade talks
go well, and the EU will respond to those. The
(03:21):
US has just two weeks left before President Trump's self
imposed pause on tariff's elapses, with only the UK securing
any deal on paper so far.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Chinese companies are ramping up shipments to Britain in a
sign of how US tariffs are reshaping global trade data
from Britain's Office for National Statistics shows goods imports from
China climbing to six billion pounds in April. That's up
eleven percent on a year earlier and the highest in
more than two years. Bloomberg's James Walcock has more Now.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
Good things are increasingly coming in small packages. Imports of
low value Chinese goods in small all parcels were up
sixty six percent in May compared to the previous year,
hitting a UK record. It's the kind of deliveries she
In and Timu specialize in, and economists say, although trade
data is volatile, it's a sign higher US tariots maybe
(04:17):
driving cheap goods elsewhere. Although the shift could put downward
pressure on prices, it also has the UK government on
watch for unfair competition in London. James Wilcock Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
The Prime Minister Kris Starmer says he will push ahead
with controversial cuts to UK disability benefits despite a brewing
rebellion within his labor party. Poomberg's Even Parts has the details.
Speaker 6 (04:41):
Kirs Starmer says there is a clear moral case to
reform the welfare system, signaling he's not going to back
down in the face of what could be the biggest
parliamentary rebelly in his government has faced. Some one hundred
and eight members of Parliament have put their names to
an amendment that would sink a key part of the
Chancellor's fiscal plans. That number is more than enough to
override the government's sizeable Commons majority, risking a humiliating defeat.
(05:04):
At issue is the five billion pounds of cuts to
the burgeoning bill for disability and sickness related benefits. Last month,
the government announced a dramatic reversal on plans to cut
the heating payments for pensioners. Kase Darman now signing he's
not planning a second big U turn this year in London,
I'm une pots Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, let's turn our attention to the Federal Reserve chair
Jerown Powell, who says that higher inflation is keeping rates
on hold for now. Speaking to a Congressional panel yesterday,
the central bank chief repeated his view that there is
no rush to adjust policy.
Speaker 7 (05:38):
If it turns out that inflation pressures do remain contained,
then we will get to a place where we cut
rates sooner rather than later. But I wouldn't want to say,
I wouldn't want to point to a particular meeting.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I don't think we need to be in any.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Rush because the economy is still strong, the labor market
is strong.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Palell's comments counter President Trump's calls for an immediate FED
cut and recent statements from Governors Chriusopher Walla and Michelle
Bowman signaling willingness to lower borrowing costs. In July, Powell
also maintained that the FMC should remain cautious whilst the
impact of President Trump's economic policy becomes clear. The news
zo comes after policymakers voted to leave interest rates unchanged
(06:19):
in a range of four quarters to four and a
half percent last week, and.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
The former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded to
younger rival Zora and Mumdani in a stunning upset of
the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. According to preliminary results,
Mumdani garnered forty three point five percent of the vote
and Cuomo just over thirty six percent. Here's bloombergs Denise Palegrini.
Speaker 8 (06:40):
The race is not officially called yet because no one
has fifty percent to the vote, but sixty seven year
old former governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded to thirty three
year old Democratic socialist Zoran Mumdani.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Tonight was not our night.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Tonight was Assemblyman Mundi, and he put together a great
care paign.
Speaker 8 (07:04):
I'm Doney, backed by young supporters attracted to his promises
of rent freezes and freeze city buses. Under New York
City's Rank Choice, the votes for other candidates start to
get redistributed until the candidate gets fifty percent of the vote.
And this race is being widely watched as an indicator
of future direction of the Democratic Party in New York.
Denise Pelgridy, Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
Right in the markets, this cease far between Israel and
Iran seems to be holding. Oil prices are up by
one point two percent for brank Ree futures this morning,
but we're still treading on the sixty seven hand or
sixty seven ninety eight, so there.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Is relief there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Also, we saw the Nasdat rising one and a half
percent on Tuesday, notching up another record high versus February.
So we've seen a huge rebound for the Nasdaq, something
like thirty percent. The S and PFI found it also
climbed to one point one percent yesterday. Stop futures this
morning are positive up to for the U stocks fifty
futures this morning is interesting though. The markets took Pal's
(08:04):
testimony the first day of it yesterday as as Darvish,
which I thought was a little bit strange given that
he reiterated this idea of no rush to cut interest rates.
But markets did boost bets on a reduction. They're looking
at July, it would seem, so let's see if that
changes again today. The other thing to think about too,
(08:25):
so European stocks yesterday really rallied one point one percent
of the close for the US stock six hundred, lifted
by airline stocks, and then just looking at the bond
markets tenny US eels a four point three percent In.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
A moment, more on that US intelligence report on the
effect of US strikes on Iran, plus the rivalry, the
curious rivalry between two artificial intelligence names for the battle
for the office the workplace? Who's using AI at work?
A word first? Though, on another story that's caught or
I this morning, dating apps are out, matchmakers are in.
(09:00):
I really like this story at what point. Could we
have told this story over the past twenty years.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Well, yes, but I think it's the cost of the
matchmakers that has surprised me. And also so this is
Blinberg's ignacive Gonzalez and Lara Sally have been writing about dating.
I did not know that match Group, which owns Tinder,
has been seeing the number of paying clients online decline
for eight consecutive quarters. Actually, yes, the apps are grimm
(09:30):
they are becoming less popular. Apparently Match Groups of business
isn't expected to return to revenue growth until twenty twenty seven.
But the organizations that are making money and apparently growing
are these matchmaking services that cost thousands, if not tens
of thousands of pounds, slush dollars, slush ears.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well, this just feels like one of those moments where
you have sort of a cyclical turn in an industry
where all of a sudden, dating apps were huge for
a certain other time, and maybe this is the move
on to the next phase, going back to in person connections.
But a very interesting read from our colleagues talking through
speaking to those matchmakers and some of the people that
(10:08):
use them, and what they expected of and whether or
not they think it's good value for money. Yeah, so
interesting find Well, I mean that's the point. But then
if you don't, are you going to be annoyed that
you spent thousands of dollars on a service that didn't
yield results? And as was, what's the science behind it?
Really interesting story. We'll put a link to it in
our show notes and you'll find it, of course on
bloomberg dot com and on the terminal.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Now, there is a c star holding between Israel and Iran,
but Bloomberg has learned that US intelligence assessments show only
limited impact from US air strikes on Teyran's nuclear program.
This is despite President Trump saying at the weekend that
the strikes totally obliterated their targets joining US. Now, as
Bloomberg's EMBA News director ros In matheson Good Morning of OZ,
(10:49):
what do we actually know about the damage done to
Iran's nuclear program? We have this assessment from the Pentagon
and also the IAEA. They clash with President Trump's view.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Well, that's it's actually interesting to see the White House
actually criticizing its own intelligence findings, because, as you say,
the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon has found at
least an initial assessment is it's unlikely that the US
bombing crippled the cork parts of Iran's nuclear facilities below
(11:20):
the ground, of course, they're deep underground, including their centrifugures.
And on the back of that you've got the IAEA,
of course, the un energy monitors who've been saying for
days it's very unclear what's going on, but they doubt
that these strikes set back around atomic ambitions significantly.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You know, could it be months, could it be years.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And of course the question above all is where is
this uranium that's enriched already to a sixty percent level
that the IAEA has lost track of. So those bits
of evidence in the sunlight images that we've got suggest
that it's unlikely that significant damage was caused to these
to these sites. Of course, the view from the White
(12:02):
House is that they've been totally obliterated, and that's the
line they're sticking to and in line with the Israelis
who have said that a keep part of their goal
in their own strikes against Israel was to destroy these facilities.
And so the question really is as the dust clears
metaphorically and literally, do we get a better sense of
(12:24):
those facilities, but without enough IAEA monitors on the ground,
and there are limited numbers there, it's very hard to
verify exactly what's going on.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Ross this as the course, as we're watching for further
developments out of the Middle East as well. We've had
some comments from the Ranian president, Massive Pozaskian as well,
talking about the great wounds that were inflicted by the
strikes from Israel as well and claiming that Israel's failed
to achieve its goals in Iran. This twenty four hours
on does appear to be holding.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It does appear to be holding, although it's very fragile,
even as we saw yesterday. It's of an extraordinary twenty
four to forty eight hours, and we had at least
a little bit of concern that the CEESPI, which we
weren't quite sure when it was going to take effect,
having an early wobble with a strike from Iran and
(13:17):
then Israel feeling the need to respond to that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
So it's incredibly fragile.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I mean, these are two countries who've been barring missiles
and drones at each other only days ago, and getting
the two countries to stand down is very difficult given
their history. Given of course, the weakening that Israel has
done against Iran through its proxies Hesbillah in Lebanon. It's
continuing warring Gaza against Hamas. There's a lot of complexity there.
(13:46):
So it's very difficult to get a sea spa and
make it stick. And beyond that, it's really hard to
get a path towards some kind of more stable diplomacy.
Of course, we've seen many rounds of talks to try
and get some kind of deal over Iran's nuclear program.
Those talks have gone nowhere. Maybe now they've got a
small window. I mean, Iran has obviously seen that Israel
(14:08):
in the US mean business, so that might prompt something.
But how or when diplomacy can get a chance here
that is also very unclear.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Meanwhile, NATO, the NATO gathering the Sextuary, General Mark Rutter
has dialed up the flattery of President Trump to kind
of warp speed the present. Though on board Air Force One,
you heard him. They're kind of crackly talking about collective defense.
It depends on your definition. This will surely alarm Europeans.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, it certainly will, because they were, you know, spent
months and months preparing the ground for this meeting, this
summit of NATO leaders, and the idea being to basically
avoid Donald Trump saying or doing anything that might cost
furthered doubt or NATO so careful preparations to get you know,
people to agree to this five percent defense spending, and
(15:00):
of course Spain not yet there, which is awkward for
UTA and NATO as a whole, other countries dragging the
chain also arguably on that and trying to avoid Trump
again putting the question mark over Article five, which is
this framework really under which NATO operates, the idea that
you defend each other when needed. Article five is pretty
(15:24):
clear on that, but Donald Trump already on the plane
over musing.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Aloud about what it might mean.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
And that's really what we've been we've been, We've been
expecting the idea that for Europe at least, this has
all been a significant wake up call, you know, for Europe,
when you're thinking about the future, you've got to presume
that the US may not be there even despite the
you know, Article five existing, or coming to aid in
a different way than you'd expect, different kinds of assistance.
(15:53):
And that's certainly the parameters that Donald Trump now seems
to be laying out, so whether he commits to something
at the end of this remains to be seen. We'll
see in a press conference later today, but certainly it's
off to a bit of a webblue start.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Okay very emy AI's director Raslin Mathison, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Now. As more people start using artificial intelligence tools at work,
competition is heating up for enterprise contracts. So Microsoft, the
dominant supply of workplace software, seeing its AI assistant co
pilot lose out to open AI's chat GPT. The behind
the scenes dog fight is complicating and already fought. Relationship
(16:31):
between Microsoft and open ai are reported to what Adabaio
is here with more on this too. A good morning.
How big do you think the rivalry between Microsoft and
open ai is?
Speaker 9 (16:42):
Well, the answer is is pretty big. It's certainly very lucrative,
and it's actually still growing. It's something of an unlikely situation, actually,
given that Microsoft has invested nearly fourteen billion dollars in
open ai since twenty nineteen, so you'd think they might
be all in on the firm, But actually also in
that time, Microsoft has backed other rival AI startups, They've
(17:04):
built their own models, and they've stalled open AI's restructuring plans,
so the relationship is slightly fraught. On the other side
of that equation, you have open Ai. They've signed deals
with rival cloud computing partners, so Microsoft rivals, and for example,
they've recently agreed to acquire AI coding assistant Windsurf, which
(17:26):
directly competes with Microsoft's GitHub copilots. So the two seem
to be the frenemies in the tech world at best,
but they're also of course competing for market share in
the corporate world. Open ai says it has three million
paying business users, whilst a Microsoft spokesperson said Copilot is
(17:48):
being used by seventy percent of the Fortune five hundred
and their page users have tripled compared with this time
last year. So it does seem that Microsoft is slightly
edging ahead in that core raised for now, but as
our reporting shows, that could all be about to change.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So why are they competing on and I suppose what
are the selling points for each of these companies with
their products.
Speaker 9 (18:10):
Well, that's the thing, Steven, They're quite similar. So both
companies are essentially pitching AI assistance that can help with
the sort of labor intensive administrative tasks in the workplace,
so writing research, analyzing data, and they're saying that they
can free up workers to focus on more meaningful challenges.
And it gets worse because both chatbots are largely based
(18:32):
on the same open AI models, so very similar offering
on both sides. A Microsoft spokesperson is quoted in our
really detailed story about this on the terminal and they
say that what sets them apart is fine tuning the
technology for business use. So, after all, Microsoft has been
in the corporate space for much longer. Programs like Outlook
(18:54):
and Excel, for example, their workplace staples, so they know
what's going on. And whilst chat GPT dominates the consumer space,
Microsoft says their in tune with business needs and that's
why they have Barclays and Accenture, for example, as clients.
But our reporting is showing that many office workers are
convinced that chat GBT is the better product after using
(19:14):
it in their personal lives, and so now they're actually
convincing their bosses to make the switch over to open AI.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So in terms of the border effects then on the
use of AI on the workplace, I mean, I must
admit I've been messing about with AI, but it is
much more at home to the things for things outside
of work, it's obviously going to be coming to workplaces
in a big way.
Speaker 9 (19:40):
Yeah, I mean, there's been a number of reports saying
that there are benefits of using AI in the workplace
in terms of productive capacity and also really speeding up
those menial tasks. For example, this week there's new research
from MIT that says AI agents can raise worker productivity
by sixty percent. So AI agents being complex sort of
(20:01):
artificial intelligence models that can work autonomously and can actually
be fine tuned to employee personality types as well, So
some pretty high level things going on. Some are really
just banking on this technology for a breakthrough. We heard
from Andrew Bailey recently Governor of the Bank of England,
who suggested that AI could be used to sort of
(20:22):
counter the collapse in the UK's long term growth rate
by really boosting productivity. But having said that, there are
concerns about the potential for AI use at work to
lead to job cuts, especially when it comes to junior roles.
Those are the ones that usually comprise of more of
the administrative tasks, and they're largely taken up by graduates
(20:43):
who are already facing a difficult job market, so some
concerns there. It's not all positive news when it comes
to AI in the workplace, but it's certainly making an
impact so far.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe. You're morning brief on the
stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple,
Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
You can also listen live each morning on London Dab Radio,
the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
I'm Caroline Hepka and I'm Stephen Carol. Join us again
tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start
your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.