In its latest quarterly assessment released on Monday, the IMF increased its 2026 global growth forecast to 3.3% from 3.1%, while cautioning that higher tariffs and geopolitical frictions could hinder that expansion. The fund highlighted heavy investment in artificial intelligence and elevated equity valuations as key vulnerabilities, warning that even a moderate stock market decline could drag growth down to 2.9%. It also upgraded projections for the United States, China and India, and stressed that central banks should safeguard their independence and cut interest rates only when inflation expectations remain firmly anchored.

NASA conducted a blockchain experiment with an Alta-X drone at its Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley to protect aircraft-to-ground communications from cyberattacks. The system distributed flight data across multiple platforms so that each interaction was logged and verified, aiming to keep information tamper-resistant while the drone flew under normal conditions. Researchers believe this decentralized approach could later support safer autonomous aircraft, delivery drones, and urban air mobility operations.

On January 15, the China Securities Regulatory Commission outlined steps to curb speculation and, last week, lifted margin funding requirements on all mainland exchanges to 100% from 80%, with the change effective on Monday. The adjustment covers only new contracts and follows early‑2026 gains led by AI and space themes, with mainland tech shares trading about 40% above Nasdaq 100 peers.

Software stocks have dropped 15% since the start of January 2026, marking their weakest year-opening performance since 2022. A new AI product from Anthropic unveiled on January 12 triggered renewed concern over disruption, hitting names like Intuit, Adobe, Salesforce and widening the gap with surging chipmakers that are forecast to deliver far stronger profit growth.

French President Emmanuel Macron intends to ask the European Union to trigger its anti-coercion instrument after US President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on products from eight European nations starting February 1. Trump has also warned that tariffs could rise to 25% in June unless a deal is reached for the purchase of Greenland, putting the recently finalized but not fully approved EU-US trade agreement in jeopardy. EU ambassadors and European political leaders are now weighing potential responses, including possible countermeasures against the United States.

Lumen Technologies' stock climbed 46.3% in 2025 versus the S&P 500's 16.4%, aided by August and October partnerships with the Pac‑12 broadcaster and Palantir ($200 million). Early 2026 shares are up about 8.8%, with earnings due February 3, 2026. Lumen targets 47 million total fiber miles by end‑2028, while analysts' median price target stands at $7.56.

On January 18, 2026, Tencent Holdings urged major tech firms to collaborate on improving chatbots and digital assistants for seniors, left-behind children, and other vulnerable users. The company's research team is developing specialized training data and reports that leading Chinese and U.S. models, including Hunyuan, underperform on sensitive topics such as sex education.

On January 18, 2026, Chartbeat data covering 2,756 news sites, including 797 in the U.S., showed a sharp year-over-year drop in Google search referrals: down 33% worldwide and 38% in the United States. The analysis also flagged declines from Google Discover, Facebook, and X, while Google disputed the methodology and highlighted recent product adjustments.

On January 17 2026, California's financial regulator ordered Nexo to pay a $500,000 penalty for issuing more than 5,456 crypto-backed loans in the state without a license. The action requires the company to transfer California customer funds to a licensed U.S. affiliate within 150 days and has cast doubt on Nexo's plans to resume operations in the American market.