Business today turned on power, scale and the scramble for the AI economy. In Washington, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked President Trump from removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a narrow but important signal that the central bank’s independence still has judicial backing even as the broader fight over presidential authority continues. Corporate boards, meanwhile, kept chasing efficiency and reach: BT and Verizon unveiled a 50-50 venture to serve multinationals across 180 countries, while British American Tobacco said it will cut or outsource 9,000 roles as it trims costs and adapts to shrinking cigarette demand. In Asia, the bigger story was industrial ambition, with Samsung and SK Hynix tied to vast South Korean plans for AI chips and data centers, underscoring how national competitiveness is increasingly being measured in semiconductors and compute. That helps explain why markets in China, India and Hong Kong are losing concentration at the top: without clear AI champions, capital is spreading elsewhere.