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JPMorgan views aging grid infrastructure as a "national security risk" amid threats including extreme weather and cyberattacks. The bank says investments in grid infrastructure are "increasingly attractive" and a "massive investment opportunity" due to growing energy demand and volatility. “Energy volatility from geopolitics . . . means you may no longer want to rely on oil and gas deliveries from partners in the Middle East and North America and instead want to shift towards building out new renewable technologies that allow for energy self-sufficiency,” explained Sarah Kapnick, JPMorgan’s global head of climate advisory.

 

Bloomberg

Iran-linked hackers have destroyed the data of over 50 small Israeli companies in the past few weeks and compromised dozens of security cameras, according to Yossi Karadi, the director-general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate. He said most of the targeted companies had existing cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and companies with stronger cybersecurity protections weren’t affected. The near-total internet blackout in Iran has not impacted the pace of attacks. “Some of them are using satellite capabilities, but there are also other ways that they can use to continue doing cyberattacks,” Karadi explained.

 

Bloomberg

The New York Stock Exchange is partnering with digital asset ​company Securitize to help create tokenized versions of ‌traditional financial securities. Securitize will serve as the first digital transfer agent eligible to create blockchain-based securities for issuers of corporate and ​exchange-traded funds on an upcoming NYSE-affiliated Digital Trading ​Platform, the company said.

 

CoinDesk

Reuters

A young woman has successfully sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. Jurors in Los Angeles found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, the owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old's mental health. The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m in damages. Jurors found that Kaley should receive $3m in compensatory damages and an additional $3m punitive damages, because they determined Meta and Google "acted with malice, oppression, or fraud" in the way the companies operated their platforms. Meta will be expected to shoulder 70% of Kaley's damages award, and Google the remaining 30%. Meta and Google said they disagreed with the verdict and intended to appeal. The landmark verdict is potentially setting precedent for thousands of other pending lawsuits nationwide, and the case could reshape how tech companies are held accountable for children’s harm from their products.

 

Financial Times

Los Angeles Times

BBC News

Brazil has launched a new law aimed at enhancing online safety for children and teenagers. The Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents requires users under 16 to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian. The legislation prohibits addictive features and mandates robust age verification mechanisms. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said: “Enough of tolerating exploitation, sexual abuse, child pornography, bullying, incitement to violence and self-harm just because it happens in the digital environment.” Guilherme Klafke, a law professor at Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think-tank and university, said the new framework “places more responsibility on those who offer digital products and services that may be accessed by children and adolescents.”

 

U.S. News

Lawyers for Elon Musk want Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick to step back from cases involving the billionaire entrepreneur, after her account “liked” a LinkedIn post celebrating his recent legal defeat.

 

Financial Times

U.S. import prices increased by 1.3% in February, exceeding expectations and accelerating from a revised 0.6% rise in January, driven by higher costs for both fuel and nonfuel imports. Petroleum prices rose 2.5% during the month, while nonfuel imports increased 1.2%, contributing to a year-on-year rise of 1.3%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The stronger-than-expected increase highlights ongoing inflationary pressures in imported goods, excluding tariffs and transportation costs. "It wasn't just an increase in fuel import prices but also non-fuel import prices," said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James. "The fact that non-fuel import prices increased so much is a wake-up call for policymakers and will keep the Fed on ​pause for longer than expected."

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

The U.S. current account deficit narrowed sharply by $48.4bn, or 20.2%, to $190.7bn in the fourth quarter according to the Commerce Department, marking its lowest level since early 2021 and exceeding economists’ expectations. The improvement was driven by a swing to a $23.9bn primary income surplus and a reduced goods trade deficit, with exports rising to a record $563.6bn while imports declined, partly reflecting the impact of tariffs. For full-year 2025, the deficit fell to $1.12tn, 3.6% of GDP, down from 4% in 2024, highlighting a broader easing in external imbalances despite ongoing trade policy volatility.

 

Reuters

A survey of around 750 U.S. chief financial officers, produced with economists from the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond, suggests AI will have a limited overall impact on employment in the near term, with companies expecting headcount to decline by just 0.4% in 2026. However, the effects are expected to be uneven, with AI most likely to displace workers in routine, clerical, and administrative roles, while enhancing productivity in higher-skilled positions such as engineering and technical fields. CFOs were notably more likely to anticipate job cuts in office support functions than in more advanced roles, reflecting a broader shift toward skills-based employment. The findings echo past technological changes, where automation reduced demand for routine work but complemented more educated workers, though economists warn displaced workers may struggle to transition into newly created roles. Larger companies appear more focused on using AI to cut costs, while smaller firms are more inclined to use it to expand and hire technical talent, highlighting a divergence in how businesses are deploying the technology.

 

Wall Street Journal

GM plans to invest $600m in its South Korean unit to upgrade manufacturing facilities and products. The U.S. automaker said it is adding a $300m investment to another $300m spending plan announced in December. The investment plan is good news for the company's Korean workers as they are still worried about a potential GM exit from the Asian country, ​workers' union leader Ahn Kyu-baek ⁠told Reuters.

 

Reuters

A study by Cornell University has found that employees who are impressed by corporate jargon may struggle with effective decision-making. “There's a lot of useful things about the way people in a certain company speak to each other. But it becomes problematic when that turns into nonsense that's used for misleading purposes,” Shane Littrell, a postdoctoral researcher and cognitive psychologist at Cornell University who authored the study, said. “It's the people that can't tell the difference that seem to have the most problems.” The research indicates that those susceptible to corporate jargon often display lower analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. The study highlights the need for awareness of how corporate jargon can mislead even highly educated professionals.

 

The Guardian