American payments giant embedding card network into AI shopping
Global markets face a sustained AI-driven rally that has drawn in banks, chipmakers, and tech giants. Q2 earnings show a windfall for underwriting and trading, while investors watch chip prices and capex, with earnings momentum remaining a focal point for the AI trade.
Visa and OpenAI are integrating payments tools into OpenAI’s agent system, enabling AI agents to complete purchases on behalf of users. The move follows OpenAI’s earlier Instant Checkout trial and aims to create trusted, secure transactions with guardrails. Mastercard and other players are pursuing similar AI-shopping capabilities.
IBM has reported a revenue of $17.2 billion for Q2, up 1% and below estimates, with infrastructure revenue down 7%. CEO Arvind Krishna says the shortfall reflects clients reprioritizing capex toward servers, storage, and memory ahead of price increases, while the company continues to invest in quantum and AI initiatives.
Meta has faced a federal lawsuit alleging its internal AI systems and monitoring tools discriminated against workers on legally protected leave in a May layoff round totaling about 8,000 jobs. The suit seeks an injunction to pause separations and an independent audit of the selection process while claims proceed in arbitration.