Bloomberg Businessweek

The people, companies and trends shaping the global economy.
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Intel Corp., trying to promote the use of its technology in data centers, said Alphabet Inc.’s Google has committed to using future generations of its Xeon processors and other chips.

As part of the multiyear agreement, announced Thursday, the search engine giant will customize Intel’s IPUs, or infrastructure processing units. These chips handle functions such as networking, security and storage. The companies didn’t disclose financial details or purchase commitments.
The deal is part of a push by Intel to better capitalize on the build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Getting a bigger slice of data center spending is critical to a comeback bid under Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan.Intel’s stock rose as much as 3.6% in New York trading, adding to a rally of about 20% this week. The shares have also benefited from an announcement that the chipmaker will help Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc., SpaceX and xAI.

Xeon once commanded a market share of more than 99%, making it the chief source of profit for what was then the world’s largest semiconductor maker. In the last few years, Intel has lost ground to rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and in-house efforts by customers — including Google.

One trend is working in Intel’s favor: Central processing units, its hallmark product, are increasingly seen as critical to artificial intelligence computing. Though Nvidia Corp.’s AI processors are still the workhorses of this infrastructure, there’s growing demand for general-purpose CPUs to help everything run smoothly.

Today's show features:
Ian King, Bloomberg News US Semiconductor Reporter
Ed Fishman, Columbia University Senior Research Scholar and Professor
Jeff Mason, Bloomberg News Washington and White House Correspondent
Michael McKee, Bloomberg TV and Radio International Economics & Policy Correspondent
Sarah Hunt, Alpine Saxon Woods Chief Market Strategist
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Following Bloomberg Intelligence's list of 50 Companies to Watch in January, Tim Craighead, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior European Strategist and Director of Research-Content discusses 10 names you should know—for better or worse—in the second quarter. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts have identified the most interesting names from their group of high-confidence Focus Ideas. Spanning sectors and regions, each scenario outlines a catalyst in the next few months that supports our case.
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The people, companies and trends shaping the global economy.
Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

A growing number of Federal Reserve officials worried the Iran war could further stoke inflation and wanted to make clear following their March meeting that the central bank may have to consider raising interest rates.

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s March 17-18 meeting, released Wednesday in Washington, showed policymakers wrestled with starkly differing scenarios for the US economy following the outbreak of the Iran war, and the policy reactions that might follow.
Most officials worried a protracted war could hurt the labor market and warrant lower interest rates. At the same time, many policymakers highlighted the risk to inflation that might ultimately warrant rate increases.

Officials in the latter camp appeared to become more strident, urging their colleagues to consider adding language to their post-meeting statement that raised the scenario of hiking rates under certain conditions.

“Some participants judged that there was a strong case for a two-sided description of the committee’s future interest-rate decisions in the post-meeting statement, reflecting the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation were to remain at above-target levels,” the minutes said.
Echoing those concerns, the minutes noted the “vast majority” of officials thought it may take longer to return inflation to the Fed’s 2% goal.

At the meeting, officials held the Fed’s benchmark policy rate in a range of 3.5% to 3.75% at that gathering.

Today's show features:
Michael McKee, Bloomberg International Economics and Policy Correspondent, breaks Fed Minutes
Matthew Luzzetti, Deutsche Bank Chief US Economist and Head of US Economic Research
Dr. Ed Husain, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
Michelle Gass, Levi's President & CEO on Levi Boosts Outlook as Direct-to-Consumer Strategy Pays Off
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DraftKings and FanDuel are thriving—but lax regulations, understaffed “responsible gambling” departments, and lack of resources for gambling addicts can make sports betting platforms uniquely insidious. For many users, this new 'vice' has cost them thousands, sometimes millions, while other profit. Danny Funt, Sports Journalist and author of 'Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling' discusses the unsettling truth about America's sports betting boom and how it can cost people everything they have.
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The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that’s expected to halt the American-Israeli military campaign in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump announced the agreement Tuesday on social media hours after Pakistan, a mediator in talks, implored the US leader to back off his deadline to unleash massive devastation on Iran if it did not meet his demands. The deal buys time for the two sides to reach a longer agreement to end the six-week-old war, which has killed thousands of people and sparked a global energy crisis.
Trump said he had agreed “to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” as long as Iran agrees to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

For instant reaction and analysis, Bloomberg Radio host Doug Krizner speaks with:

Bloomberg State Department and Foreign Policy Reporter Eric Martin
Bloomberg This Weekend co-host Christina Ruffini
Bloomberg White House and Washington correspondent Jeff Mason
Terry Haines, founder of Pangea Policy
Daniel Byman, Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center
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