Global markets experienced a selloff on Friday the 13th, with tech stocks and gold taking a hit as investors expressed concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence. Simultaneously, the U.S. tourism industry is bracing for a potential downturn, and ICE activity has increased in Minnesota following a DHS announcement.
The S&P 500 fell 1.57% on Friday, pushing the index into negative territory for the year, according to Fortune. Tech stocks led the decline, with the Nasdaq Composite down 2%. The software sector of the S&P 500 has dropped 27% since October, indicating investor anxieties about AI's potential to disrupt the industry, as reported by the Financial Times. Gold prices also dipped, falling below $5,000 per troy ounce, reflecting a general flight from assets. Asian markets also faced challenges, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 1.21% and China's CSI 300 down 1.25% at the close.
Adding to the economic concerns, the U.S. tourism industry is worried about a potential slump. While global international arrivals increased in 2025, the U.S. saw a 5.4% decrease in foreign tourists, a sharper decline than the one experienced in 2017-18, according to Fortune. This downturn comes despite the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2026, which was expected to boost tourism. Policy stances from the Trump administration, including those on immigration and tariffs, along with currency fluctuations and stricter border controls, have contributed to the industry's concerns.
In other news, ICE activity has increased in Minnesota, particularly in less densely populated areas outside the Twin Cities, according to The Verge. This increase followed a DHS announcement about the end of a surge. The Verge reported that the shift to suburban areas makes it more difficult for protesters and observers to organize.
In technology news, Google Chrome launched WebMCP (Web Model Context Protocol) in early preview, a proposed web standard developed jointly by Google and Microsoft, as reported by VentureBeat. WebMCP aims to transform websites into structured tools for AI agents, potentially ending the need for AI agents to scrape raw HTML and guess at website functionalities.
Meanwhile, in public health, Jim O'Neill, the US deputy health secretary, discussed plans to increase human healthspan through longevity-focused research supported by ARPA-H, according to MIT Technology Review. He also defended the reduction in the number of broadly recommended childhood vaccines, a move that has faced criticism from experts.
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