AI-driven shopping assistants are projected to influence $263 billion in global online holiday sales, representing 21% of seasonal e-commerce. Retailers including Walmart, Target and Etsy are enabling purchases via ChatGPT, while AI-referred traffic in the U.S. shows higher conversion, longer browsing, and greater revenue per visit.

On December 10 2025, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point for the third meeting in a row, prompting public pushback from several officials. Two regional presidents voted against the move and, according to internal projections, six of 19 policymakers would have preferred to leave rates unchanged. The Fed board also moved on December 11 2025 to reappoint 11 regional bank presidents ahead of schedule, a step that may shape the central bank's stance on inflation and future policy into 2026.

Broadcom is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday after the close, following a fiscal fourth quarter that ended on October 31. The stock has climbed more than 180% since April 4 and now trades at about 42 times forward earnings versus a 10-year average of 17. Analysts expect earnings per share of $1.87 and roughly $17.5 billion in revenue, with the AI business projected to generate about $6.2 billion. That AI contribution would represent growth of around 68% year over year, according to analyst forecasts.

OpenAI said on December 11, 2025 that its next‑generation models may reach high cybersecurity capability, enabling functional zero‑day exploits and complex attacks. The company cited a capture‑the‑flag performance jump from 27% (GPT‑5, August 2025) to 76% (GPT‑5.1‑Codex‑Max, November 2025). It introduced Aardvark, trusted defender access, and a Frontier Risk Council.

Intel on Monday outlined plans to manufacture chips in India, followed on Tuesday by Microsoft pledging $17.5 billion over four years and on Wednesday by Amazon announcing more than $35 billion in fresh investment. The commitments focus on cloud and AI infrastructure, with Microsoft and Amazon’s combined pledges topping $50 billion within a 24‑hour period.

Tether Holdings plans to significantly expand its commodities financing operations following an initial deployment of approximately $1.5 billion into the sector. The stablecoin issuer will provide loans in both USD and USDT to traders dealing in oil, cotton, wheat, and other agricultural products. CEO Paolo Ardoino stated the company has been extending credit and described the team as "super bullish" on expansion.

Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to $103,952 on Tuesday as investors pulled back from risk assets amid mounting concerns over artificial intelligence stock valuations. Ether declined 2.5% to $3,503, bringing its two-day losses to over 10%. A $100 million security breach at Ethereum-based protocol Balancer added to selling pressure.