AI Skeptics Trigger Market Jitters & California Will Vote to Tax Billionaires

“It’s like high consequence meditation.” That is how Diego Poncelet, a 27-year-old Spaniard, describes hurtling down a road in Quebec at 94.3 miles per hour on a skateboard, a new world record for the fastest standing position on a board. He made fifteen attempts this year before finally nailing it last month on the exact same stretch of road in the Charlevoix region where the previous record was set nine years ago—a road that has since deteriorated, forcing him to map every crack in his head and watch film of himself to visualize every inch of the ride.

AI Skeptics Trigger Market Jitters

The AI data center buildout has been the engine of the U.S. economy and the stock market this year. But last week, that engine began sputtering. The S&P 500 posted its worst weekly loss since June, and the Nasdaq had its worst week since April 2025, as Wall Street soured on the very companies that supply and operate data centers. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, home to Micron, AMD, and Nvidia, has now fallen for eight straight trading sessions—its longest losing streak since 2006.