Munich-based Ifo Institute said a June survey of more than 3,000 German companies deploying AI found about half expect wages for employees with under five years’ experience to fall over the next five years as AI adoption expands. Around 40% of firms expect pay declines for more experienced staff, while university-educated employees are markedly more likely to see pay gains than non-degree workers. Ifo researcher Anna Ruffert said AI’s impact will not be uniform, with formal qualifications and gr

Societe Generale strategist Manish Kabra’s team says recent extreme swings in semiconductors and momentum trades reflect concentrated de-leveraging and hedge fund unwind, not a synchronous weakening of AI fundamentals. They assess South Korea’s most acute de-leveraging phase is nearing an end and US momentum strategies have seen large-scale reductions. Hyperscaler cloud businesses remain in a strong upcycle in the latest results cycle; order backlogs are up about 15% and have pushed AI capital spending roughly 10% higher. The team expects AI CapEx to continue accelerating into H2 2026, with a potential peak in H1 2027. Societe Generale advises distinguishing trading-driven de-leveraging—which has cooled—from the still-expanding industrial CapEx cycle; until hyperscaler free cash flow materially improves, hardware, infrastructure and supply-chain suppliers that directly capture AI CapEx are likely more direct beneficiaries than high-spend customers.

Norway's Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) recorded NOK 89 bln of inflows in 1H.