Federal Reserve Beige Book: Moderate Economic Growth, Data Center and AI Investments Act as Key Pillars of Support

Brent crude oil prices have surged past $102 per barrel, reviving concerns over a prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict. Bloomberg reported that Iranian senior officials stated that with the U.S. continuing its attacks on Iranian territory, Iran has no intention of backing down and is prepared to further escalate its counterattacks. U.S. President Trump meanwhile said the war could last until after the November midterm elections, and gasoline prices are unlikely to drop significantly in the short term, further dimming expectations of an early de-escalation of the conflict. Brent crude has risen nearly 70% so far this year, with its Wednesday physical benchmark price hitting $114 at one point. Meanwhile, U.S. diesel prices are approaching $6 per gallon, and gasoline and diesel prices in Europe have also continued to climb, further intensifying energy inflationary pressures. Market analysts noted that if the conflict further disrupts oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices could continue to rise. Currently, the U.S. is squeezing Iran’s oil exports via maritime blockades, while White House advisors have discussed scenarios where the war could last through the end of Trump’s term. Additionally, a rebound in crude oil purchases by Asian countries has further tightened global supplies, though high oil prices may force some refineries to cut processing volumes. U.S. diesel inventories are projected to fall to their lowest level in over 20 years this month.

According to a Reuters report, two people familiar with the matter said the White House has not yet made a decision on refined copper tariffs. Officials are weighing the potential downsides of rising copper prices pushing up manufacturing costs against the benefits of encouraging domestic mining. This hesitation comes as the administration increasingly focuses on affordability ahead of the November midterm elections, with Trump and Republican lawmakers facing pressure to prove their economic policies are lowering rather than raising costs for U.S. consumers and businesses. Due to expectations that Trump will impose tariffs on refined copper products such as cathode copper and mine-produced copper concentrates, copper prices have surged to record highs. Traders and industrial buyers are scrambling to build up inventories in the U.S. to stockpile ahead of any new tariffs, forming one of the world’s largest copper stockpiles. A White House official stated that the administration has not made a final decision on the tariffs, and confirmed the Commerce Department submitted an update to Trump by the June 30 deadline set by the White House. The official said: "The administration continues to evaluate all options to bring copper and other critical manufacturing back to the U.S." These remarks indicate the tariffs are not a done deal, despite market expectations that the U.S. may expand existing tariffs to cover refined copper.

Recently, Deepcoin has launched global stock perpetual contracts, further advancing its multi-asset trading infrastructure. Users can trade popular individual stocks and index ETFs including NVIDIA, Tesla, Pop Mart, and Unitree on the platform 24/7. Meanwhile, Deepcoin has also rolled out a sector narrative tool that aggregates hot events, market data, and sentiment information, helping users quickly grasp the market’s main trends and sector dynamics to enable the "understand first, trade later" approach. Through the centralized presentation of market hotspots and sector information, users can more intuitively understand the market background and changes of related assets. In conjunction with the launch of stock perpetual contracts, Deepcoin has launched a series of supporting activities: newly launched stock perpetual contracts offer a limited-time 25% fee discount, alongside three concurrent initiatives—the Stock God Contest, Sector Trading Challenge, and Stock Signal Provider Trading Ranking—further enriching the trading and interactive scenarios for stock perpetual contracts.

Beating AI News Flash: OpenAI is pushing for the establishment of unified mandatory national AI safety rules in the U.S., calling on Congress to directly regulate the most cutting-edge AI firms. The proposed rules cover unified testing, independent security assessments, cybersecurity requirements, and reporting of major incidents. OpenAI hopes the government will further set unified safety thresholds, clarify when AI development must slow down or even halt, and advocate for similar standards to be adopted by other countries. This regulatory framework targets only a small number of major companies developing the most powerful models, excluding regular startups and small-scale developers. Additionally, OpenAI announced its support for four AI safety bills in California, some of which it had not backed previously. The company noted that its stance has shifted amid the rapid advancement of model capabilities.

Beating AI Express News reports that tech industry user Leo posted on X, stating that per his knowledge, OpenAI is very close to verifying the Hodge Conjecture, while either OpenAI or Anthropic may also be near solving the Birch-Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture. The user stressed that the relevant information is currently just a rumor with unconfirmed authenticity, but if proven true, it would mean three Millennium Prize Problems could be solved in just one month. Both the Hodge Conjecture and the Birch-Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture remain unsolved Millennium Prize Problems. Prior AI breakthroughs in mathematics have drawn market attention, and prediction markets now rank the two conjectures as the next Millennium Prize Problems that AI may solve.

Beating AI News Flash: OpenAI has brought former alignment research lead Paul Christiano back to its board. Christiano led alignment research at OpenAI from 2017 to 2021 and contributed to the foundational work of RLHF. After leaving, he founded the Alignment Research Center. This time, he is joining the board of the OpenAI Foundation and its Safety & Security Committee, while also joining the board of the for-profit entity OpenAI Group as an observer. In his first public statement after taking office, he directly named OpenAI. Christiano warned that automated AI development could soon lead to rapid acceleration in model capabilities. If superintelligence is developed before the alignment problem is solved, humans could lose control permanently, resulting in "most people likely dying". He also stated that the entire AI industry, including OpenAI, has not yet reduced this risk to an acceptable level.