Technology Sector

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase just posted record quarterly revenues—think of them as the toll collectors on the AI highway. Goldman's revenue jumped 39% to $20.3 billion, while JPMorgan hit $58 billion (up 27%), fueled by massive gains in equities trading and investment banking. The banks are profiting from advising on AI deals, financing data centers, underwriting debt and equity offerings, and facilitating trading flows; equities trading revenue alone surged 86% at JPMorgan and 72% at Goldman. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum told reporters that "AI is everywhere in financial markets" with "booming environments" particularly in Asia as investors diversify their AI bets beyond U.S. chip makers. Goldman CEO David Solomon framed this as a "three-to-five year investment cycle" still in its early stages, with "demands on financing in every single financing instrument, in every region of the world." This matters because it shows the AI boom is creating a much broader set of winners than headline-grabbing Nvidia stories suggest—and that includes institutions most retail investors already know.

Twenty-six current and former Meta employees are suing the company, alleging that its AI systems systematically penalized workers on medical or family leave—a troubling sign of how AI hiring and firing tools can accidentally (or intentionally) harm vulnerable workers. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, accuses Meta of using metrics like "token consumption" (basically how much you use AI tools at work) that inherently can't be accumulated by employees on protected leave or with disabilities, violating pregnancy and disability discrimination laws. Meta denies the charges, saying "workforce management decisions were and are made by people, not AI," but the lawsuit echoes a California judge's recent ruling against hiring software vendor Workday for similar AI-driven discrimination concerns. This matters because it exposes a real blind spot in how companies deploy AI for workforce decisions: the algorithms can be neutral on the surface but still produce discriminatory outcomes if they don't account for legitimate absences or limitations.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on Tuesday barring construction of massive new data centers (using 50 megawatts or more of power) for up to a year, making New York the first state to impose such a ban. The move reflects genuine public anger: New Yorkers have seen residential electricity prices surge nearly 68% since 2019, and hyperscale data centers (the massive server farms that power AI training) consume enormous amounts of power and fresh water. Environmental and community leaders celebrated the ban as a shield against "Big Tech's assault," but tech-friendly Republicans and business groups warned it freezes investment and takes local control away from communities. This matters because if other states follow suit—and they likely will as electricity prices keep climbing—it could significantly constrain where companies can build the infrastructure AI development demands, adding cost and complexity to the AI capex super-cycle Goldman's CEO just praised.