Become more informed in minutes...

A new Accenture report warns that CFOs are increasingly confronting rapidly rising AI costs as organizations scale their use of generative AI, with token consumption emerging as a major and often poorly understood expense. Accenture's Chief AI and Data Officer, Lan Guan, said many finance leaders lack visibility into what is driving token usage across their organizations, leaving them with unexpectedly large cloud computing bills even when AI initiatives are delivering business benefits. The report notes that Goldman Sachs expects global AI-related spending to exceed $800bn in 2026, while only 23% of executives surveyed by Accenture reported widespread, sustained business value from AI deployments. Accenture recommends that companies treat "tokenomics" as a core financial discipline by improving visibility into AI usage, optimizing workloads across different AI models, and embedding cost management into everyday operations. The firm argues that finance, technology, and cybersecurity teams must work together to monitor AI consumption and prevent efficiency gains from leading to uncontrolled increases in usage and spending. 

 

Fortune

EY has appointed David Leckstein as Americas chief artificial intelligence (AI) and product officer and Americas consulting strategy leader, where he will oversee the firm's AI, product, and platform strategy across the region. Based in New York, Mr. Leckstein will focus on expanding the use of AI, intelligent agents, autonomous workflows, and digital platforms to improve productivity, innovation, and growth for both EY and its clients, while also driving strategy and coordination across the consulting business. Mr. Leckstein joins EY after 28 years at Accenture, where he most recently served as a senior managing director, leading the firm's Americas technology practice, products platform advisory business, and global SAP practice.

 

Consulting

Elon Musk has dismissed as "Absurdly fake news" a Wall Street Journal report that executives at his electric ​vehicle company Tesla have been told to prepare for a separation of its China business ahead of a potential merger with ‌his space exploration firm SpaceX. Separately, a Tesla China representative said the report was “false information.” Tesla advisers have discussed options including a spinoff, sale or closure of the China business, according to another person familiar with the situation, the report said. Separating Tesla’s China operations would be a necessary move before any merger given SpaceX’s work as a major U.S. defense contractor.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. government may have to pay millions of dollars in legal bills to successful challengers of the Trump administration's executive actions and policies. Attorneys have sought fees exceeding $100,000 in at least 10 cases over the past year, totalling more than $2.5m, according to a Bloomberg analysis of court records. Federal agencies can be required to pay attorneys’ fees when they lose in court under the Equal Access to Justice Act of 1980, which entitles “prevailing parties” to recoup legal expenses if the government’s position wasn’t “substantially justified.” Steven Brown, a Houston-based lawyer who is seeking more than $180,000 in fees in lawsuits contesting the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel foreign students’ legal status, observed: “It’s important that when the government can’t justify itself, courts can award costs.”

 

Bloomberg

Anthropic has disclosed that its Claude AI models gained unauthorized access to three outside companies during an evaluation of its cyber-offensive tasks, days after rival OpenAI ⁠revealed a rogue agent had gone on a hacking spree at AI ​firm Hugging ‌Face. “Claude compromised the ​impacted ​organizations’ infrastructure using ​basic techniques, such as ​exploiting ‌weak passwords and ​unauthenticated ​endpoints,” Anthropic said. Two of the organizations were ​unaware of the activity ‌before being contacted, and Anthropic said that ​it was still trying to reach the third. “We discovered these incidents after a proactive review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts,” the company said in a statement.

 

CNBC

Financial Times

The Register

BBC News

The Guardian

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by 9,000 to 197,000 in the week ended July 25, remaining near historically low levels despite a modest uptick from the previous week, according to the Labor Department. The total was below economists' expectations of 207,000, while the four-week moving average fell to 202,750, suggesting layoffs continue to remain limited. Continuing claims, reported with a one-week lag, declined to 1.78m.

 

AP News

Reuters

The Washington Post

Wall Street Journal

Accounting firms are increasingly facing a shortage of experienced managers as offshoring and AI reduce demand for entry-level staff, disrupting the traditional career pipeline. Industry experts warn that while firms have addressed junior staffing shortages, they are now creating a deficit of professionals with the experience needed to manage client relationships, oversee engagements, and eventually become partners. Salary data suggests demand for managers is outpacing supply, with firms paying significant premiums to recruit experienced hires rather than promoting internally. Experts argue firms need to rethink both compensation and training, placing greater emphasis on developing management, communication, and advisory skills instead of routine compliance work. To address the challenge, firms are experimenting with new hiring and training models. Some are recruiting only experienced accountants, while AICPA is developing simulation-based learning tools to accelerate real-world skills development.

 

Accounting Today

The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.5% in the second quarter of 2026, slowing from 2.1% in the first quarter as higher energy prices, supply chain disruptions linked to the conflict with Iran, and persistently high interest rates weighed on activity. Despite those headwinds, the Commerce Department's initial GDP estimate showed consumer spending and business investment remained relatively resilient, supported in part by continued investment in artificial intelligence, although inflation-adjusted incomes and consumer spending have weakened. Economists said the economy continues to show resilience, but warned that higher oil prices, remaining tariffs on imports, and shrinking household savings could curb growth and fuel inflation later this year. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its latest meeting, while policymakers continue to balance inflation risks against economic growth, as strong corporate earnings and AI-related investment offset concerns about softer consumer demand.

 

ABC News

CNN

Bloomberg

New York Times

U.S. inflation slowed in June, with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rising 3.7% year over year, down from 4.1% in May, while monthly prices slipped 0.1%, the weakest reading since April 2020. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, increased 3.3% annually and 0.1% from the previous month, reflecting a temporary decline in oil prices during a short-lived U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Economists cautioned that the easing is unlikely to last, as renewed conflict in the Middle East has pushed Brent crude back above $90 a barrel and U.S. gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, increasing the risk of renewed inflationary pressure. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at 3.50%–3.75%, although three policymakers favored a rate hike, and markets expect borrowing costs to rise as early as September. Meanwhile, consumer spending rose 0.3% in June, personal income increased 0.2%, and the household saving rate fell to 2.7%, its lowest level since June 2022, raising concerns that consumer spending could weaken later this year as tax refund benefits fade.

 

Reuters

The Senate Finance Committee has unveiled a bipartisan draft of the Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act (TAS Act), a comprehensive tax administration bill that would represent the biggest overhaul of IRS operations since the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. The legislation is scheduled for committee markup this week and aims to modernize taxpayer services, strengthen IRS administration, and improve compliance across the tax system. A key focus of the bill is tax preparer oversight. It would require paid, non-credentialed preparers to complete up to 18 hours of annual continuing education, undergo background and tax compliance checks, and meet competency standards. The proposal also introduces tougher penalties for PTIN fraud, including felony charges for willfully using invalid or another person's Preparer Tax Identification Number. The legislation would also improve practitioner access to IRS client accounts, establish programs allowing preparers to correct certain filing errors before penalties are imposed, and expand penalties for preparers who improperly alter tax returns. Beyond preparer regulation, the bill includes measures to enhance taxpayer services, strengthen the Taxpayer Advocate Service and IRS Appeals Office, and improve whistleblower protections.

 

Accounting Today

Apple has reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results, with revenue rising 16% to $109.4bn and net income increasing to $29.8bn, driven by resilient demand for the iPhone and Mac despite an industry-wide decline in smartphone shipments. iPhone revenue climbed almost 22% to $54.3bn, ahead of forecasts, while Mac sales rose to $10.4bn, benefiting from Apple maintaining prices as rivals raised prices in response to soaring memory chip costs. The company also continued its recovery in China, where revenue increased 22% to $18.8bn, while gross margin reached 50%, helped by around $1bn of U.S. tariff refunds following the reversal of tariffs imposed last year. Product gross margin of 40% also exceeded expectations despite significant supply chain pressures. However, services revenue of $30.7bn fell slightly short of forecasts, and shares declined in after-hours trading as investors looked ahead to the impact of higher component costs and potential iPhone price increases later this year.

 

CNBC

Financial Times

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Amazon has reported second-quarter revenue of $200.6bn, ahead of expectations, while net income surged to $62.6bn from $18.2bn a year earlier, helped by a $53.4bn pre-tax gain on its investment in AI company Anthropic. Amazon Web Services (AWS) delivered stronger-than-expected growth, with revenue rising 37% to $42.2bn - its fastest expansion since 2021 - reflecting robust demand for AI infrastructure, while advertising revenue increased to $19.8bn. The company has raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $220bn, up from $200bn, citing higher memory costs and continued investment to meet surging AI demand. Capital expenditure reached $54.2bn during the quarter, up from $32.1bn a year earlier, contributing to a trailing 12-month free cash outflow of $7.6bn.

 

CNBC

Reuters

The Seattle Times

Wall Street Journal

Microsoft has reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results, with revenue rising 18% to $90bn and net income increasing 31% to $35.8bn, as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) services continued to drive rapid growth in its cloud business. Revenue from the Intelligent Cloud division increased 32% to $39.3bn, while Azure revenue grew 43%, with chief executive Satya Nadella revealing the platform has generated more than $100bn in revenue over the past year and Microsoft 365 Copilot has surpassed 30m paid users. The company continued to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, with quarterly capital expenditure rising 70% year-on-year to $41bn, as part of its previously announced $190bn investment plan for 2026. Although investor concerns over rising AI spending have weighed on Microsoft's shares this year, the better-than-expected results saw the stock gain in after-hours trading. 

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Wall Street Journal

The EU's comprehensive AI law launches on Sunday to ensure Europeans immediately know whether the online content they see is real or fake. Companies must make sure their AI systems, including chatbots, make it clear to users they are AI. When an image or text has been created using AI, it must be labeled as such - for example, by integrating watermarks and other markers to enable the easy detection of AI-generated content. Firms face large fines if they don't comply. An EU official said that since AI is "making it increasingly difficult for all of us to distinguish what is real from what is synthetic," the rules seek to "preserve citizens' ability to trust what they see, hear, and read." Karen Massin, who leads Google's Government Affairs & Public Policy team in Brussels, warned of "regulatory complexity" that could prove counterproductive, and "risks confusing the people these rules are meant to help."

 

Le Monde

Israeli manufacturers are finding it difficult to attract skilled foreign workers to maintain imported machinery amid heightened criticism of the country by some international governments after three years of war, which has strained business links with foreign companies and partners. Companies are increasingly saddled with imported machinery that has stopped functioning or can’t be installed, and they require foreigners to attend to it. Ron Tomer, the owner of Israeli pharmaceutical company Unipharm, which has invested in a €20m ($17m) European-produced machine, observes that unions with certain political affiliations have banned their members from traveling to Israel.

 

Bloomberg

The co-founder of AI startup LemonLime has apologized after offering instant job interviews to networking event attendees who agreed to get inked with a company logo. Jordan Zietz, posting on LinkedIn, said the idea was to “meet exceptional people, and find out which of them are just as crazy as we are,” adding that he had brought a tattoo artist along to the event. Seven people, he wrote, took him up on the offer. The Wall Street Journal reports that “online outrage erupted almost instantly.” Mark Pincus, the former CEO of game company Zynga, observed: “It’s novel, but I don’t like it . . . You’re asking somebody to get the tattoo before we even know if we’re going to hire them - that’s not OK.” 

 

Wall Street Journal