Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Tue 13 Oct · At a glance
Tuesday, 13 October 2026
AI spending keeps the world growing, as chip shares fall and power grids run short
302 stories in 12 beats
Signals: what moved across the beats
- Money pouring into AI computersHigh ↑ · 4 beats
- AI doing work people used to doBuilding ↑ · 2 beats
- Governments short of moneyBuilding ↑ · 3 beats
- Emergency oil stores running downHigh ↑ · 3 beats
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Money pouring into AI computers
Seen in 4 of the 12 beats
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Finance
The IMF says spending on chips and data centres kept the world economy growing through the oil shock. Then South Korea's main share index fell more than 6%, and SK Hynix, which makes memory chips for AI, fell more than 8%.
The Finance stories →Climate
PJM, the biggest US power grid, expects data centres to need about 29 gigawatts by 2030, and asked to cut their power first in a shortage. The US regulator said no: only the states may decide whose power goes off.
The Climate stories →Tech
Microsoft, Intel and AMD all showed chips built to answer AI questions more cheaply, not to build bigger AI models.
The Tech stories →Gaming
Money spent on game consoles fell 12% from July to September, the steepest drop in two years. Polygon, a games news site, says a shortage of memory chips has pushed console prices up.
The Gaming stories →AI doing work people used to do
Seen in 2 of the 12 beats
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Finance
Kroger, a big US grocery chain, will cut 3,000 office jobs, more than a third of its office staff. US finance, information and professional firms produce 16% more than in 2022 with 2% fewer staff.
The Finance stories →Gaming
Epic Games, which cut more than 1,000 jobs in March, told the team on its delayed Disney game to stop writing code by hand. AI is to write the code and make the art.
The Gaming stories →Governments short of money
Seen in 3 of the 12 beats
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Finance
The IMF says government deficits around the world are the biggest since Covid. That is the gap between what governments spend and what they collect.
The Finance stories →Money
The IFS, a UK research group, says the chancellor must find about 35 billion pounds to keep his spending promises. English county councils expect their debts for special school support to reach 10 billion pounds by 2028.
The Money stories →Climate
UK ministers plan to take hundreds of millions of pounds from grants for heat pumps, which heat homes with electricity, to help pay for defence.
The Climate stories →Emergency oil stores running down
Seen in 3 of the 12 beats
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Climate
In March, the rich countries in the IEA agreed to release 400 million barrels of emergency oil, and an internal document says about 326 million have gone out. The IEA has now asked each country whether it can release more diesel, and how soon.
The Climate stories →Finance
The IMF warns that emergency oil stocks are shrinking. A barrel of oil rose to about $106 on Monday after attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The Finance stories →Money
The UK will make rules for sellers of heating oil, the fuel 1.5 million homes burn, after its price nearly doubled in a year. There is no price cap and no start date yet.
The Money stories →The day, beat by beat
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World · 51 stories
Britain says Iran's Revolutionary Guards almost certainly directed the plot at RAF Fairford, and sanctions two Iranians
- EU adds 1,600 names to its Russia sanctions
- Russia hits six energy sites after a truce
- NATO's top general sets out a war plan
Finance · 32 stories
The IMF raises its 2026 world growth forecast to 3.1% as AI spending offsets the war, and warns that emergency oil stocks are running down
- Chip shares fall from New York to Seoul
- Chip bosses say money may run short for AI
- Rich families bet on AI while expecting a bubble
Tech · 31 stories
Meta releases Muse Wonder, the first model it says matches OpenAI's and Anthropic's best, and keeps the strongest version for paying users
- Microsoft's own AI chip to take over
- China's CXMT shows a denser memory chip
- Chip bosses say money may run short
Mind & body · 15 stories
Menopause changes bone, liver and blood fat tests in one sudden step, not a slow slide, a study of 300 million lab tests finds
- Lancet panel names 17 threats to health
- Migraine jabs linked to more miscarriages
- Anti-vaccine group targets measles doctors
Climate · 32 stories
US regulator rejects a plan to switch off new data centres first in a power shortage, and tells the states to decide who is cut
- UK may cut heat pump grants for defence
- The IEA asks members for more diesel
- Batam's taps run dry beside data centres
Space · 9 stories
SpaceX is due to launch the space station's last two new solar arrays today, to give more power to a station whose first solar wings are wearing out
- NASA offers $150,000 to stop Moon static shocks
- A black hole's jets came 300 days after it fed
- Water clings more in Moon gravity
Biotech · 14 stories
Bristol Myers Squibb's lung-scarring drug passes its final trial, but only the lower of its two doses worked
- Merck's eye drug loses ground in full data
- Tezspire puts 7 in 10 into remission
- First drug for Alexander disease approved
Money · 15 stories
UK ministers promise rules for heating oil, the fuel 1.5 million homes burn, after its price nearly doubled in a year
- UK chancellor promises families 'breathing space'
- Parking apps add fees the sign leaves out
- One UK mortgage under 4% is left
Sports · 37 stories
Women's football heads for $1bn a year, but Fifpro finds the typical top-flight player earns $1,669 a month
- England's football regulator finds 94% of clubs lose money
- Europe's golf tour shuts its door to LIV players
- England hand out a record 39 contracts
Gaming · 22 stories
Epic Games tells the team on its delayed Disney shooter, with Marvel and Star Wars characters, to go 'AI first': no more code written by hand
- Dragon Quest's creator makes a game in 30 minutes
- Console sales fall the most in two years
- Nintendo says it will keep selling game cards
Food · 26 stories
Fire destroys the Marche des Enfants Rouges, Paris's oldest covered food market, and all 17 of its stalls
- Famine risk rises in western Sudan
- Ethiopia's war and its coffee
- EPA plan to protect crop fuel is ready
Cyber · 18 stories
Hackers heat the fridges in hundreds of French supermarkets to 50C, and the shops throw the food away
- Ahold Delhaize takes systems offline
- Criminals used Claude Code against Ukraine
- Gangs still use a Palo Alto flaw fixed in May
That's the day at a glance.
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