Category: 3. Business

King Abdulaziz International Airport received the first direct British Airways flights coming from Heathrow Airport in London, as the company began operating its flights between the two airports at a rate of (6) flights per week, giving travelers additional options for traveling between the two destinations.

Eng. Mazen bin Mohammed Johar, CEO of Jeddah Airports Company, praised this cooperation with British Airways to operate regular flights between London and Jeddah, pointing out that this coincides with the growing demand for travel between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, and the selection of King Abdulaziz International Airport as a preferred international destination for major global airlines, as it is a hub airport linking East and West, thanks to its distinguished geographical location and the capabilities it provides to provide a comfortable travel experience that exceeds travelers’ expectations.

Jawhar pointed out that this step comes as part of Jeddah Airports’ strategy to increase the number of travel destinations linked to King Abdulaziz International Airport, in implementation of the national strategy for the aviation sector, which is in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The strategy aims to connect the airport to 150 international destinations, serve 114 million passengers, and handle 2.5 million tons of cargo by 2030.

For his part, Neil Shernoff, Executive Director of Planning and Strategy at British Airways, said: “We are excited to be operating the air route to King Abdulaziz International Airport again within our network, having last operated a scheduled flight in 2021.

He pointed out that British Airways has a long history of facilitating travel for families, friends, and businesses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to and from Heathrow Airport in the capital.

Lucia Soares had been working for Carlyle for four years when the private equity giant’s CEO called to ask if she would take on a new role.

“I originally focused on using tech to create portfolio value,” she told Business Insider, referring to the companies Carlyle controls. “Then, two years ago, our new CEO called me and said, ‘Can you please do what you’re doing for our portfolio companies but for our own company internally?’

Now, Soares — as Carlyle’s chief information officer and head of technology transformation — is taking on a new challenge: Bringing artificial intelligence to the investment giant’s 2,300 global employees.

She spoke with Business Insider about the rollout, including the successes, the pitfalls, and how the company is implementing checks and balances. She explained where the company is already seeing cost savings, for example.

She also walked us through her life as a bicoastal tech executive — and how she learned to hustle from a young age, helping her immigrant parents sell plants at the flea market on weekends. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are your tech goals for Carlyle?

In my 27 years in technology, I’ve learned that you can’t start with technology itself as the goal. People said that e-commerce is the goal, or that digital is the goal. Now, they say AI is the goal. And actually it’s not.

Instead, we start with our business goals: we want to grow, create efficiencies, and build a strong tech foundation. AI and other technologies are levers to achieve these goals.

Tell us about Carlyle’s AI rollout.

Increasing our employees’ AI fluency is a strategic priority. They get AI training from the day they start at Carlyle, and are introduced to a wide range of tools they can use.

Now, 90% of our employees use tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot. We also have an AI champions’ council where early adopters can play around with tools and eventually share best practices.

We’re using AI to transform our workflows through Project Catalyst, which automates processes. We’re also developing custom tools that leverage proprietary data to deliver insights instantly—saving investors from sifting through endless materials. Today, Carlyle’s credit investors can assess a company in hours using generative AI, instead of spending weeks on research.

How is AI impacting the average worker at Carlyle? Are they required to use the technology?

It depends. Some business leaders have made it a requirement to put all investment committee memos in an AI tool for them to review. Others are not so direct about it, but everybody is seeing how it can make their jobs easier and challenging their teams in meetings to talk about the value they are deriving from AI tools.

As a firm, we have a return-on-investment strategy, and my team aims to deliver a certain amount of ROI every year.

We’re not eliminating people’s jobs, but we believe that it can help reduce dependency on outside services costs. For example, we can use AI to review legal invoices and catch errors that will reduce our costs. We’ve seen real savings as a result.

How do you balance autonomy with the risks of adoption?

I think a lot about that. I worry about kids in school using a tool to write an essay and not being able to think. But you have to wonder how people felt when the calculator came out, and if they thought no one would ever be able to do math on their own again.

We never allow AI to make a final decision. There’s always a human in the loop, and someone needs to be accountable for the final results.

For example, when employees use AI to write a report, we have employees write a final paragraph summarizing the output to ensure they’re thinking critically about it.

Can you give examples of success and failure in Carlyle’s tech transformation?

Let’s start with success.

When investors invest with us, we can at times receive up to 80-page documents with questions about everything from our employees to cybersecurity training. It’s very manual.

We had one team decide they’d try to use AI to make investor diligence easier. Despite having just one technologist, this team found a solution to automate the process, which we’re launching later this year.

We seek to empower people to solve things themselves, with embedded technologists across the organization.

We experienced more challenges dealing with regulatory restrictions on large language models globally. We learned the hard way that these regulatory hurdles require a lot of evaluation. We’re launching solutions, but it’s taking longer than expected to deploy.

You might think you can go fast with AI, but it doesn’t always work that way, especially in today’s global climate.

Has any single piece of career advice stuck with you over the years, and what is it?

Early on, I was advised to always raise my hand for the extra hard assignments. In other words, take a risk and bet on yourself.

My parents are immigrants, and I learned work ethic, courage, and audacity from them. But when I entered the workforce, I had impostor syndrome. With blue-collar parents, the office environment was completely different for me.

By taking on difficult assignments, I created relationships and visibility and was able to learn and grow more.

Tell me about your parents.

They are from the Azores Islands in Portugal. They came to the US during the dictatorship years. My dad only went to school up until the age of 10, because his family could not afford to pay for more education. He can add, subtract, and multiply, but was never taught how to divide.

He came to the US after serving in the Portuguese Army to give his family a better future. He knew no English.

He became a custodian, cleaning schools, and had a side hustle selling house plants at a flea market on the weekends. We all helped cultivate and sell the plants. I learned a lot from my parents.

What does your morning routine look like?

I am bicoastal: I spend one week a month in DC and also time in New York, but I live on the West Coast and work out of our Menlo Park office.

On the East coast, I might start my day — work permitting — listening to news podcasts, going for a run, meditating, and eating a healthy breakfast.

At home, I start really early in the morning. I don’t always get that workout in, but I start with some early calls, and then take a break to drive my daughter to school before heading to the office.

When I get to my desk, I write down the day’s priorities. I’ve done this my whole career, and try not to let constant fire drills overtake those priorities. When you’re driving transformation, you have to keep strategy at the forefront.

What are the most important meetings of your week?

The most important meetings are the unplanned ones. For example, I run into a coworker, and we start talking about our kids. Then they bring up a company we should partner with. Or I run into an administrative assistant, and they show me new ways they’re using Copilot. I get inspired by solving problems with people in real time.

The second most important meetings are the ones where we drive strategy and brainstorm. As technologists, you can fall into the Dilbert category of employees, where you just work through problem resolutions. So I force strategy onto the calendar to ensure we think big and ambitiously about tech transformation.

Transcarent contracts with employers to provide health navigation and virtual care to employees. The startup looks a lot closer to an exit after a big acquisition earlier this year.

The startup bought the public health benefits company Accolade in a $621 million deal that closed in April. The acquisition looks to have significantly increased Transcarent’s customer base and thus made a big contribution to its top line — before the Transcarent deal, Accolade said it contracted with over 1,400 employers and health plans, and the company reported $414 million in revenue in the fiscal year 2024. Now, with Accolade on board, Transcarent says it works with over 1,700 employers and health plans. Transcarent hasn’t publicly shared its revenue.

The Accolade acquisition was financed by Transcarent investors including General Catalyst and CEO Glen Tullman’s 62 Ventures, cash on Transcarent’s balance sheet, and debt provided by JP Morgan. Transcarent has raised about $450 million since its 2020 founding, including $126 million in a Series D funding round in May 2024 at a $2.2 billion valuation.

Tullman has by far the most experience with taking companies public of the CEOs on this list. Before Transcarent, he led three companies through public listings — Livongo, Allscripts, and Enterprise Systems. His success with Livongo, the diabetes care company he founded, stands out as a rare example of blockbuster digital health returns; Livongo went public in 2019 at a $2.5 billion valuation, before being acquired by Teladoc the next year for $18.5 billion, at the time the biggest deal ever in the digital health market.

That experience could set Transcarent up to pursue an IPO when market conditions look favorable. Tullman told MedCity News in May 2024 that he had “no interest” in selling the company, but would consider an IPO in the future.

Transcarent will have to separate itself from previous care navigation IPOs, however, including Health Catalyst, whose stock has declined more than 85% since its 2019 IPO. It’ll also need to contend with Accolade’s cash burn, since the health benefits company reported a net loss of $100 million in the fiscal year 2024.

In a statement to BI, Tullman said Transcarent is focused on integrating its solutions to bring its AI-powered platform, called WayFinding, to more members and employers to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

“At Transcarent, our priority is meeting the needs of our Members and delivering measurable results for our clients. If we do those things well, the rest will follow,” Tullman said.

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(TheNewswire)

Vancouver, British Columbia, July 3rd, 2025 TheNewswire – Prismo Metals Inc. (the ” Company “) (CSE: PRIZ) (OTCQB: PMOMF) is pleased to announce that it has signed option agreements to acquire 100% interest in two historic high-grade precious and base metal mines — the Silver King and Ripsey mines — both located in Arizona’s prolific Copper Belt near its flagship Hot Breccia project.

Additional information on the Silver King and Ripsey mines as well as Prismo’s other projects (Hot Breccia and Palos Verdes) is available on Prismo’s Youtube channel at:   

  Exceptional Grades and Untapped Potential  

Discovered in 1875, the Silver King mine is one of Arizona’s most important historic producers, yielding nearly 6 million ounces of silver at grades of up to 61 oz/t. Remarkably, selected samples from small-scale production in the late 1990s returned grades as high as 644 oz/t silver (18,250 g/t) and 0.53 oz/t gold (15 g/t), indicating that high-grade mineralization remains. Additionally, the presence of freibergite (AgCuSbS) suggests a potential for antimony, a critical mineral with growing strategic demand.

The Ripsey mine, located 20 km west of Hot Breccia, is also an historic gold-silver-copper producer with significant upside. Historic sampling has returned up to 15.85 g/t gold and 276 g/t silver, yet no modern exploration has been conducted.

  Strategic Location — World-Class Neighbors  

The Silver King mine sits only 3 km from the main shaft of the Resolution Copper project — a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP and one of the world’s largest unmined copper deposits with an estimated copper resource of 1.787 billion metric tonnes at an average grade of 1.5% copper (1) . This unique land position is fully surrounded by Resolution Copper’s claim block, offering strategic upside.

“The Silver King and Ripsey mine projects are exciting additions to our Arizona portfolio. We see an opportunity to create near term value through immediate exploration on a historic high-grade silver producer with antimony potential that has seen limited modern exploration by drilling both laterally and at depth into a prospective source formation, said Gordon Aldcorn, President of Prismo. “We look forward to getting our exploration team back in the field, advancing our exciting projects and revitalizing investor interest in the Company.”

The Silver King mine was discovered in 1875 and produced ore with as much as 10,000 ounces per ton silver in near surface workings (2) . Underground production through 1889 is estimated at almost 6 million ounces of silver at grades of between 61 and 21 ounces per ton. During a second period of production from 1918 to 1928, 230,000 ounces were produced at a grade of 18.7 ounces per ton.  No significant production has occurred after 1928.

The orebody at Silver King is a steeply west-dipping pipelike stockwork and breccia zone that was mined on eight levels to about 300 meters depth below a glory hole at the surface. The pipe is described as a dense stockwork with local breccia zones and a quartz core (3) .  Records indicate that due to variations in mineralogy, much of the upper portion of the body was evidently not mined. The current owners (the ” Optionor “) rehabilitated the main shaft in the late 1990s, opened the upper levels of the mine and produced a small tonnage. Assay certificates from this period show selected samples with 400 to 600 ounces per ton silver with 0.2-0.5 oz/t gold and some base metals. Virtually no modern exploration has been carried out at the mine providing significant exploration upside and multiple drill targets.

The Ripsey mine is a historic gold-silver-copper producer located about 20 km west of the Hot Breccia project. Historic mine workings consisting of tunnels and shafts on several levels were developed along a vein over about 400 meters of strike length and 160 meters vertically. A small tonnage of mineral was produced by the Optionor in the late 1990’s. Sampling by Dr. Craig Gibson from the mine workings has yielded 15.9 g/t gold and 275 g/t silver over 0.75 meters and 8.7 g/t gold, 181 g/t silver, 3% copper and 9% zinc over 1 meter. No modern exploration has been carried out at the project, providing significant exploration upside and multiple drill targets.

The Company plans to conduct a detailed mapping and sampling program at both projects at surface exposures and in accessible workings.  A drill program is planned for Silver King, with about 1,000 meters initially. The Silver King drill program is designed to test the mineralized body at four elevations as well as lateral to the pipelike body. De-watering of the Silver King shaft to gain access to the upper levels may also be undertaken as submersible pumps are in place.

“This is a fabulous opportunity for the Company. Both projects are high-grade and are easily accessible and may be associated with porphyry copper mineralization. We also look forward to evaluating the potential for antimony at Silver King. We’re excited to begin exploration immediately to test the Silver King’s pipelike mineralized body at multiple depths and laterally,” said Dr. Craig Gibson , Chief Exploration Officer. “This region is world-class for porphyry systems and base and precious metals, and we believe these mines have significant untapped potential.”

    
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Location of the Company’s projects withing the Arizona Copper Belt

    
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Land map of the Silver King mine.

    
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Drone view of the Silver King mine.

The Silver King mine in the late 1800’s.

    
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Small scale mining in the upper levels of the Silver King mine in the late 1990’s.

  Deal description  

Prismo has the option to acquire a 100% interest in both the Silver King and Ripsey mines. Prismo can earn a 100% interest in the Ripsey mine by issuing one million shares to the Optionor, paying the Optionor US $10,000 within six months of the signing of the option agreement (the ” Effective Date “), US $10,000 on each anniversary of the Effective Date and US $1 million to the Optionor within five years of the Effective Date. Prismo does not have minimum work commitments as part of the Ripsey option agreement.

Regarding the Silver King mine, Prismo can acquire a 100% interest in three stages. Prismo must issue one million shares to the Optionor, pay the Optionor US $10,000 within six months of the Effective Date, and US $10,000 on each anniversary of the Effective Date. To earn a first 50% interest, Prismo must incur no less than US $500,000 in expenditures on or before the first anniversary of the Effective Date, incur no less than an additional US $2.5 million expenditures on or before the third anniversary of the Effective Date and issue to the Optionor two million shares. Prismo can acquire an additional 30% interest by incurring no less than an additional US $3 million in expenditures, paying the Optionor US $1 million and issuing to the Optionor two million shares before the fifth anniversary of the Effective Date. Prismo can elect to form a joint venture at anytime after earning it initial 50% interest. The option agreement and joint venture agreement terms and conditions contain standard buyout and dilution terms regarding the final 20% interest.

  Private Placement  

Prismo is also pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the ” Private Placement “) of five million units of the Company (” Units “) at an issue price of $0.05 per Unit for minimum gross proceeds of $250,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (a ” Share “) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a ” Warrant “). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Share for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of issue at an exercise price of $0.10.

The Private Placement will also be made available to existing shareholders of the Company who, as of the close of business on July 1st, 2025, held Shares (and who continue to hold such Shares as of the closing date of the Private Placement), pursuant to the existing securityholder exemption set out in BC Instrument 45-534 – Exemption From Prospectus Requirement for Certain Trades to Existing Security Holders (the ” Existing Securityholder Exemption “). The Existing Securityholder Exemption limits a shareholder to a maximum investment of CAD$15,000 in a 12-month period unless the shareholder has obtained advice regarding the suitability of the investment and, if the shareholder is resident in a jurisdiction of Canada, that advice has been obtained from a person that is registered as an investment dealer in the jurisdiction. If the Company receives subscriptions from investors relying on the Existing Securityholder Exemption exceeding the maximum amount of the Private Placement, the Company intends to adjust the subscriptions received on a pro-rata basis.

The Units issued pursuant to the Private Placement and the Existing Securityholder Exemption will be subject to a four-month hold period from the closing date of the Private Placement under applicable Canadian securities laws, in addition to such other restrictions as may apply under applicable securities laws of jurisdictions outside Canada.  

  The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement for general corporate purposes. The Company may pay finder’s fees to eligible finders in connection with the Private   Placement, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and Canadian Securities Exchange policies.  

  The securities being offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons or persons in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.  

  Debt Settlements  

  Prismo also announces that it has entered into debt settlement agreements (the ”   Settlement Agreements   “) with certain creditors of the Company (the ”   Creditors   “) pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue to the Creditors, and the Creditors agreed to accept, an aggregate of 160,000  shares of the Company (each, a ”   Share   “) in full and final settlement of accrued and outstanding indebtedness in the aggregate amount of $11,000 (the ”   Debt Settlement   “).   All securities issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange.  

  Share and Warrants Issuance  

  A private company dealing at arms’ length with Prismo, its officers and directors, had certain rights into the Silver King and Ripsey mines (”   PrivateCo   “). In consideration for PrivateCo relinquishing its rights in the Silver King and Ripsey mines in favor of the Company, Prismo has agreed, subject to regulatory approval, to issue PrivateCo five million units (the ”   Units   “). Each Unit is comprised of one common share (a ”   Share   “) and one share purchase warrant (a ”   Warrant   “). The Shares will become free trading as to 25% every six months from the Effective Date. Two million of the Warrants will be exercisable at $0.10 (”   First Tranche   “) and three million Warrants will be exercisable at $0.15 (”   Second Tranche   “), all for a period of three years. The shares from the exercise of the Warrants will become free trading as to 25% every six months from the Effective Date. In addition, the exercise of the First Tranche is conditional on Prismo having raised $1.5 million from parties introduced to Prismo by the principals of PrivateCo and the exercise of the Second Tranche is conditional on Prismo having raised $3.0 million from parties introduced to Prismo by the principals of PrivateCo.  

  Qualified Person  

   Dr. Craig Gibson, PhD., CPG., a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-01 regulations and Chief Exploration Officer and a director of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release. Other than the sampling conducted by Dr. Craig Gibson as indicated herein, the data presented in this press release was obtained from public sources, should be considered incomplete and is not qualified under NI 43-101, but is believed to be accurate. The Company has not verified the historical data presented and it cannot be relied upon, and it is being used solely to aid in exploration plans.   

  1)     https://resolutioncopper.com/about-us/    

  2)   Galbraith, F, 1935, Geology of the Silver King area, Superior, Arizona, Univ. of Arizona thesis, 153p plus plates.  

  3)   Blake, W.P., 1883, Description of the Silver King Mine, Arizona, New Haven, 48p plus plates.  

  About Prismo Metals Inc.  

  Prismo (CSE: PRIZ) is a mining exploration company focused on advancing its Hot Breccia copper project in Arizona and its Palos Verdes silver project in Mexico.  

  Please follow @PrismoMetals on   ,   ,   ,    Instagram    , and  

  Prismo Metals Inc. ,   1100 – 1111 Melville St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3V6  

  Contact:  

  Alain Lambert, Chief Executive Officer    alain.lambert@prismometals.com   

  Gordon Aldcorn, President    gordon.aldcorn@prismometals.com   

  Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information  

  This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “intends” or “anticipates”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “would” or “occur”. This information and these statements, referred to herein as “forward‐looking statements”, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management’s expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things: the timing, costs and results of drilling at Hot Breccia.  

  These forward‐looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: delays in obtaining or failure to obtain appropriate funding to finance the exploration program at Silver King and Ripsey. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that: the ability to raise capital to fund exploration and the timing of such exploration.  

  Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-   looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.  

  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES
OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES  

Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.

Quantum computers may in the future break today’s widely used encryption. This paper provides a framework to support the financial system in the transition to quantum-safe cryptographic infrastructures. It emphasises the need to start the transition today – with broad awareness and cryptographic inventory as critical foundations. While post-quantum cryptography offers a viable near-term solution, implementation challenges – including performance trade-offs and system integration – require coordinated planning. We caution against regarding this change as simple algorithm replacement. Ensuring the continued security and resilience of the global financial system may involve cryptographic agility, defence in depth, hybrid models and phased migration. Quantum key distribution may hold long-term potential, but several national security agencies note that it still faces infrastructure challenges that limit its immediate applicability.

JEL classification: C19, C63, C8, M15, G1, G17

Keywords: central banking, quantum computing, quantum-safe cryptography, quantum-readiness, cryptographic agility, financial stability, financial system, cyber security

Wall Street really needs AI to live up to the hype.

A lot has been said about the emerging technology’s world-changing potential: Its ability to create stunningly realistic images and videos, ace the LSAT and the MCAT, and complete rote research tasks. You could argue it’s ready to augment — or even replace — entry-level jobs.

These features have investors up and down the Street very excited. Staunch supporters like Fundstrat’s Tom Lee and Wedbush’s Dan Ives say AI could revolutionize the human experience. Research desks from big banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America have given subtler nods to the prospect of AI as a productivity and profit booster, which could provide an undercurrent to stock market success over the next several years.

In fact, analysts are counting on the AI mania to fuel the market even as the White House’s chaotic trade policy eats into corporate America’s profit potential. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are projected to grow 8% this year, a fairly average showing for an anything-but-average year. What is notable is just how much of that growth relies on the tech sector: Silicon Valley companies are expected to boost their earnings by 21% — the highest growth of any sector. By contrast, profits for retailers are forecast to grow a measly 2.5%.

Within the tech sector, semiconductor companies — one of the most globally exposed industries on the stock market — are expected to supercharge profit this year, with a projected climb of 49%. This enthusiasm is a signal Wall Street is betting that demand for AI’s use cases will supersede tariff turmoil or job market wobbles.

AI’s growth has been incredible, and its adoption has been strong enough to leave its fingerprints on economic data sets like business investment and manufacturing spending. Yet no matter how rabid the world is about AI’s possibilities, the amount that investors are relying on the tech to fuel the market’s gains — especially in the face of rising economic uncertainty — feels short-sighted. Tech stocks helped the market recover from its April malaise, yet earnings expectations and economic momentum are even weaker than they were at the lowest point of the sell-off. This combination leaves the stock market in a precarious spot: Either AI needs to live up to the hype, or investors could be looking at a gnarly second half of the year.

One way to tell the story of human history is through our technology — the lightbulb, the calculator, the tractor, the computer all stand as markers to our societal progress and have helped drive the level of efficiency and productivity we enjoy.

Tech has perhaps played an equally prominent role in our investment portfolios. The Magnificent Seven stocks — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, and Nvidia — are collectively worth $18 trillion, or about 33% of the S&P 500’s total market value. Together, their stock prices have increased 330% over the past five years, compared with a 100% rise in the S&P 500.

It makes sense. Big Tech’s products have become deeply integrated into our daily lives, and that level of ubiquity has also captured Wall Street’s attention. Venture capital fundraising reached a record in the first quarter amid a huge appetite for AI investment, and S&P 500 companies mentioned AI more than tariffs on second-quarter conference calls.

The $65 trillion US stock market may be particularly gripped by Big Tech’s ups and downs these days, but it hasn’t always been this way. Tech has averaged about 20% of the S&P 500’s market value over the past decade, including 13% in the five years before COVID. The dominance is not set in stone, and while the wider market’s fortunes are tied to tech now, that may not always be the case.

While the stock market may seem like one big proxy for the tech sector’s explosive growth right now, there is one deeper connection that should draw investors’ attention. Over time, the S&P 500 has been attached at the hip to the fate of the broader US economy. Eight of the past 12 market crashes — S&P drops of 20% or more — overlapped with recessions. No matter how high-flying an industry is, recessions tend to pull stock prices and business hopes back to Earth. The internet revolutionized the world in the late 1990s, and the explosion in social media dominated the 2010s, but the information sector has shed employees and seen share prices fall in the past three recessions.

Given that setup, we’ve set the stage for a portfolio smackdown of the ages. Economists are worried a recession is coming, yet investors are surprisingly upbeat about AI’s prospects — so upbeat that they’ve bid S&P 500 tech stocks to nearly a record high. Sell-side analysts who evaluate company-level trends are similarly optimistic. But in the real economy, layoffs are growing, and hiring has ground to a halt. The sharply diverging views between economists and stock analysts mean someone has to be wrong. The freight train that is AI adoption — a three-year story of rapid innovation and progress — could collide with a massive wall from historic tariffs, high interest rates, and low consumer confidence.

What’s particularly rich about this is that tech companies are the most exposed sector to global tariffs. They gather the highest percentage of revenue internationally, plus they have the most suppliers and factories outside US borders. In fact, semiconductor companies — the firms providing chips for AI technology — are expected to hit that aforementioned 49% earnings growth despite generating 67% of their revenue abroad and sourcing 70% of their supplies from overseas.

Some analysts believe that if AI hopes can keep the stock market chugging along, maybe it can do the same to the economy. After all, companies invested an inflation-adjusted $2.2 trillion on computers and other processing equipment last quarter, about one-seventh of the $16 trillion Americans spent on goods and services. Investing more in AI does ultimately help boost the economy, but that $2 trillion is peanuts compared with the real engine of the US economy. Americans’ spending accounts for about 70% of GDP — by far the biggest driver of output — and spending has dropped in each of the past nine recessions. If tariffs intimidate consumers and lead to layoffs that decimate American incomes, then the economy is probably bound for a crisis — whether the robots pan out or not. And based on history, an economic crisis could topple the stock market.

The math shows us that AI isn’t much of a match for some effects of tariffs and may not logistically be enough to save the economy from ruin. Your portfolio’s outcome may be a different story, though.

This is when I have to introduce you to one of the most frustrating adages of investing: The stock market is not the economy.

The economy is the value that we create — the hard assets, the cash spent, the paychecks we get. Stocks are an expression of that value, but they use the present reality to project future expectations. AI’s impact on the economy may not bear out through numbers. But in your portfolio, AI’s influence depends on how willing we are to collectively dream up better days ahead in terms of what AI is capable of and how much money AI-dominant firms will amass in the years to come. Dreaming is already a big part of the AI trade. S&P 500 tech companies’ estimated earnings grew about 50% in 2023 and 2024, yet their share prices jumped 112%.

Nothing is cut-and-dried when it comes to the stock market. It is the ultimate tangled web of logic, psychology, and mixed incentives. The stock market’s future depends on investors’ ability to dream, and people are willing to dream when they feel confident in the present moment.

The problem is, investors are awfully confident about tech stocks right now. S&P 500 tech companies made up about 23% of total index profits in the first quarter, yet their shares account for 32% of the S&P 500’s value. To close that gap, tech profits would have to grow 40%, or tech stocks would have to drop 29% from their end-of-June levels.

Stocks can thrive when expectations are higher than reality, but in these conditions, they require reasons to stay hopeful. The problem arises when investors aren’t willing to dream. When they’re too focused on present issues to give compelling stories the benefit of the doubt. Or in big market drops, crushed by financial strain.

Then, the numbers matter. People claw for any concrete evidence of AI’s value. They demand proof of profits, even though companies are spending money on a pivot to the next big thing. Stock prices adjust, and if you hold a swath of US stocks or index funds, your money is probably heavily exposed to this reality check.

This is what happened in 2000. Investors were willing to dream about this brave new technology called the World Wide Web until interest rates climbed too high and the reality of how much computing was needed for Y2K was found to be way overblown. Suddenly, the dream died, and tech stock prices came back down to reality. These days, we all know that dream wasn’t completely off base. Yet share prices took an 80% crash before the promise of the new tech came to fruition.

This is what I worry about the most in the clash between AI and the economy. We’re somewhere between AI saving the world and being an overhyped bust of a technology that can be ripped off by another country. I’m not foolish enough to call this a bubble, and I think AI will eventually deliver benefits for our economy.

We’re not there yet, though, even though investors like to think so. It takes years for big technological trends to take hold, and productivity usually shines through when workers feel empowered and companies feel comfortable expanding. That’s far from the case right now — business confidence is in the dumps, so we’re in the opposite scenario.

When the economy is getting weaker, it’s best to grasp onto what’s real in your portfolio. And there’s a striking gap between AI and reality.

Callie Cox is the chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management and the author of OptimistiCallie, a newsletter of Wall Street-quality research for everyday investors. You can view Ritholtz’s disclosures here.