Robots are everywhere, even making their debut at the world's premier lawn tennis championship Monday. Wimbledon's smartly dressed line judges, fixtures for 148 years, have been replaced by technology.

The growth of robots and artificial intelligence has been a boost for the stock market. Nvidia has led the charge, closing at a record high on Monday and nearing the first-ever $4 trillion market valuation. Meta Platforms stock has also reached new heights, lifted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg's AI hiring spree. Relative laggard Apple is now considering turning to AI start-ups Anthropic and OpenAI to update its Siri digital assistant, according to a Bloomberg report.

But it's a different story for workers. Amazon has more than one million robots in its facilities and they're taking humans' jobs -- the average number of Amazon employees per facility in 2024 was its lowest in the past 16 years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees last month that AI will lead to a smaller workforce.

OK, most jobs will not be as susceptible to automation as a line judge or warehouse worker. But the advance of AI threatens white-collar workers, too, with areas such as customer service and software development particularly vulnerable.

Is there any hope for the human worker? A recent study by Apple researchers concluded AI models offer the "illusion of thinking" and fail to solve the most complex tasks. Top-performing employees are still safe for now.

However, that barrier might not last. Meta's Zuckerberg is assembling a team to push AI to the next level, with his new "Superintelligence" unit at the social-media company. The Facebook founder has outlined an expansive vision of AI where it fully automates business tasks and people even have virtual friends.

As the robot revolution plays out on Centre Court, the top-seeded tech companies will be those that serve up more AI gains, such as Meta and Nvidia.

-- Adam Clark

***

Trump and Musk Reignite Feud Over Tax Bill

They are clashing again. President Donald Trump hit back at Elon Musk early Tuesday, suggesting the DOGE department he once ran should review government subsidies handed out to the Tesla CEO's companies. That was in response to Musk venting against Trump's tax and spending bill Monday.

   -- Musk called the legislation "utterly insane and destructive." He also 
      promised to launch a new political party if the bill passed, adding that 
      those in Congress who vote for it will lose their primary next year "if 
      it's the last thing I do on this Earth." 
 
   -- The president responded by hinting that the Department of Government 
      Effiency -- which Musk helped run until the end of May -- should 
      investigate its former leader. "No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or 
      Electric Car Production and our Country would save a FORTUNE," he added. 
      "Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?" 
 
   -- Trump and Musk publicly fell out in an escalating war of words on social 
      media last month just days after the Tesla CEO left his role in 
      Washington. Tesla stock plunged 14% on June 5 and was under pressure 
      again after the pair resumed their hostilities Tuesday. 
 
   -- A marathon session in the Senate entered a second day Tuesday as 
      Republicans worked to secure enough votes to pass Trump's signature bill 
      by their self-imposed July 4 deadline. 

What's Next: Tesla investors have plenty to navigate right now, including the recent robo-taxi launch and upcoming second-quarter deliveries data this week. But how the bitter feud between Musk and Trump develops in the coming days could end up being the most important factor for the stock.

-- Callum Keown

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Stocks End First Half at Records. Tariffs Could Be Next Catalyst.

Markets ended the quarter and first half of the year by rising to record levels for the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, overcoming a rocky patch around April, when investors were worried about tariffs. The sentiment has shifted amid optimism the Trump administration's trade policy will be milder than feared.

   -- The S&P 500 marked its best quarterly performance since the fourth 
      quarter of 2023, and the Nasdaq had its best quarterly performance since 
      2020's second quarter. Both indexes closed at records on Monday and are 
      up more than 5% this year. 
 
   -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best quarter since last year's 
      third quarter and is now just 2% off its December record. But it has 
      lagged behind the other two indexes, rising just 3.6% so far this year. 
 
   -- After rebounding from tariff fears, stocks have rallied on catalysts such 
      as the Republican tax and spending megabill, which is making its way 
      through the Senate ahead of a Friday deadline, and a cease-fire between 
      Israel and Iran. 
 
   -- Coinbase Global, the crypto exchange operator, was the biggest gainer in 
      the S&P 500 during the quarter, up more than 106%. NRG Energy gained 72%. 
      The worst performer in the quarter was UnitedHealth Group, which fell 41%, 
      followed by green energy stock Enphase, down 37%. 

What's Next: The next major test for markets could be tariff negotiations. President Donald Trump has recently ratcheted up his tariff rhetoric, saying Monday that Japan will likely get a letter from him setting a tariff level. The sustainability of the market's recovery may hinge on him bluffing on such threats.

-- Connor Smith and Mackenzie Tatananni

***

Moderna Gets News That Could Lead to MRNA Combo Shot

Moderna's messenger-RNA seasonal-flu vaccine achieved promising results in a late-stage trial, potentially paving the way for a combination flu-and-Covid shot, according to CEO Stéphane Bancel. But the news comes as vaccine policy is undergoing big shifts, and producing the first vaccine of its kind won't be easy.

   -- The mRNA-1010 flu candidate showed positive results compared with a 
      licensed standard dose seasonal-flu vaccine. Its efficacy was 26.6% 
      higher among adults 50 and older, and 27.4% higher among those 65 and 
      older, compared with the licensed vaccine. 
 
   -- Moderna is targeting older adults who typically have weaker immune 
      systems that make them more susceptible to flu viruses. Subsequent 
      analyses showed similar results across age groups, risk factors, and 
      previous flu-shot status. Bancel said this past flu season underscores 
      the need for more-effective vaccines. 
 
   -- President Trump called mRNA vaccines the gold standard at the height of 
      the Covid pandemic. But the technology has become the target of 
      increasing scrutiny during his second term, and the regulatory 
      environment around vaccines is still taking shape. 
 
   -- Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has 
      repeatedly called mRNA vaccines unsafe and says they don't work. HHS 
      canceled a $590 million contract awarded to Moderna to develop an mRNA 
      vaccine against bird flu, saying the technology "remains under-tested." 

What's Next: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 27,000 to 130,000 flu-related deaths have occurred in the U.S. since October. Moderna says it plans to work with regulators on filing submissions for mRNA-1010.

-- Mackenzie Tatananni and Janet H. Cho

***

Google Makes Big Power Bet on Untested Fusion Technology

Alphabet-owned Google is betting big on an untested energy source: nuclear fusion. It will buy power from a planned nuclear fusion plant in Virginia developed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, using technology based on MIT research. Google is an existing backer of Commonwealth.

   -- Google says it will buy 200 megawatts of power from a plant that 
      Commonwealth plans to build in Chesterfield County, Va., and begin 
      supplying power to the grid by the early 2030s. Google didn't disclose 
      the size of the investment but also said it was increasing its investment 
      in Commonwealth. 
 
   -- Nuclear plants around the world now use fission reactions, which generate 
      energy by splitting the nucleus of an atom. Instead, fusion works by 
      combining two nuclei, similar to how the sun produces energy. Like 
      fission, fusion reactors aren't expected to release carbon dioxide, the 
      culprit for climate change. 
 
   -- More electricity production is needed to feed the massive demand for 
      artificial-intelligence data centers and electric vehicles. The 
      International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that a fusion reactor could 
      generate four times as much energy as a fission one and many more times 
      that from burning oil or coal. 
 
   -- Other tech companies are putting money into fusion. In 2023, Microsoft 
      agreed to buy 50 megawatts of power from Helion by 2028, assuming Helion 
      can get a plant working by then. Helion is also backed by Sam Altman, CEO 
      of OpenAI. And Google has put money into Chevron-backed TAE Technologies. 

What's Next: Fusion still has skeptics. Michael Underhill, chief investment officer at Capital Innovations, said in an interview that he has spoken with scientists about fusion technology and they estimate it will be 15 to 30 years before it is commercially viable.

-- Avi Salzman

***

Comcast's Love Island USA Changing How Streamers Look at TV

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