It was encouraging to learn that Apple(AAPL 0.43%) plans to launch a revamped version of Siri — its virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI) — later this year. However, the market still views the consumer technology company as an afterthought in the AI race, especially since its peers are spending so much money to expand their technical infrastructure.
But Apple isn’t ignoring the trend. Here’s one metric showing that it’s definitely focused on AI.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
During its fiscal 2026 second quarter (ended March 28), the company reported year-over-year revenue growth of 16.6%. This was the fastest top-line gain since the 2021 fourth quarter.
The company’s research and development (R&D) expenses soared at a faster clip, rising 33.6% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year. This isn’t a new occurrence, but spending is accelerating. Between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2025, Apple’s R&D expenses grew by 84.2%, while revenue was up 51.6%.
Today’s Change
(-0.43%) $-1.28
Current Price
$293.02
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$4.3T
Day’s Range
$292.95 – $299.70
52wk Range
$199.26 – $317.40
Volume
25.9K
Avg Vol
47.6M
Gross Margin
47.86%
Dividend Yield
0.36%
CEO Tim Cook, who will step down from his role in September, said this on the second-quarter earnings call in response to an analyst’s question about Apple’s AI investment strategy: “We are investing in products and services, and we see opportunities in both. We could not be more excited about how the future is playing out.”
Chief financial officer Kevan Parekh added: “From the start, we have believed AI is a really important investment area for Apple, We are going to be doing that incrementally on top of what we normally invest in our product road map.”
Apple’s advantage comes from its more than 2.5 billion active devices scattered around the globe. Its incredible distribution means the company’s AI strategy rests solely on its ability to drive greater product and service revenue, further strengthening its powerful ecosystem.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The US-Iran conflict could be about to crash stocks. The stock market doesn’t know how to react right now but is about to selloff and the stocks that have done well are NOT the stocks you should be buying now. I’ll show you the stocks to buy right now along with the stocks to watch that will surprise everyone.
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Joseph Hogue, CFA spent nearly a decade as an investment analyst for institutional firms and banks. He now helps people understand their financial lives through dividend stocks, investing and ways to make more money. He has appeared on Bloomberg and on sites like CNBC and Morningstar. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a veteran of the Marine Corps.
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Deezer has launched a new feature, initially in its home market of France, that lets users remix tracks from participating artists.
The streaming service says it is the “first” music streaming platform to offer a remix feature developed “with full rights compliance and in agreement with the artists”.
The launch follows a move from rival Spotify in May, which announced licensing agreements with Universal Music Group to let fans create AI-powered covers and remixes.
YouTube‘s Dream Track tool, powered by Google DeepMind‘s Lyria model, already lets US creators use AI to restyle licensed songs via text prompts, generating 30-second snippets for YouTube Shorts.
A representative for Deezer told MBW that the Remix Lab feature is “not AI-powered” and that it lets users modify the audio stems from the recording (i.e., it doesn’t generate new audio).
They added that the platform’s technology works by playing four concurrent stems (a “battery stem, bass stem, voice stem, and ‘others’ stem”) for each track, and applies each user-requested modification at the stem level.
Remix Lab offers five types of modification: a genre or style change, tempo adjustment, pitch adjustment, reverb, and an equalizer.
Deezer developed an open-source tool called Spleeter back in 2019, which uses machine learning to split recordings into vocals, drums, bass and other stems.
When asked if the tech referenced in relation to the stems was Spleeter, a rep for the platform told MBW that Spleeter was the original version, but confirmed that it is using the same technology.
“This feature focuses on simplicity and accessibility, and in just a few clicks, users can reimagine and rediscover a track they already know and love, by applying either simple effects such as increasing the speed or adding reverb, or more elaborate transformations such as changes to musical genre and style,” said Pierre Trochu, Head of Product at Deezer.
The remix feature launched first in France, with Deezer saying it could be extended to other countries in the coming months.
Fans take part through contests, which they can find in the Deezer Club or on an artist’s page within the app.
Participants add their own changes to a track, and the resulting remix can be streamed, added to playlists, and shared, available exclusively on Deezer.
“TRUE TO OUR DNA, THESE FEATURES ARE MADE POSSIBLE WITH FULL PARTICIPATION OF THE ARTISTS, FULLY RESPECTING RIGHTS, AND MAXIMIZING EARNINGS FOR EACH TRACK.”
ALEXIS LANTERNIER, DEEZER
At launch, fans can remix tracks including Céline Dion‘s J’irai où tu iras, Tiakola‘s Meuda, Alonzo‘s 18 carats and Alain Souchon‘s J’ai 10 ans.
Other tracks available to remix include Ronisia‘s Solide, Mosimann‘s Soon featuring Gaëtan Roussel, and Zaho‘s Comme Caroline.
Deezer says every remix is created with the explicit agreement of the artist, and that streams of remixed versions are attributed to the original work.
The company says artists are compensated for those streams in line with the rights owed to them.
Deezer framed the feature as a response to the habits of a new generation, saying that Gen Z fans are no longer passive listeners.
The company said that 30% of tracks shared on TikTok are already modified by users, without that systematically generating revenue for artists and rightsholders.
Younger generations are already co-creating, Deezer said, and the platform is giving them an “ethical framework” in which to do so.
Contest winners will be announced in early September and featured in a dedicated Deezer playlist.
Each winner will also receive two tickets to a Deezer Purple Door event in September, along with merchandise from the artist whose track they remixed.
France is Deezer‘s largest market, with 3.8 million direct subscribers there at the end of the first quarter of 2026.
The company reported 8.9 million total subscribers worldwide in the quarter, across direct sign-ups and partnership bundles.
The company has also pressed for transparency around AI-generated music, reporting in April that around 75,000 fully AI-generated tracks were being uploaded to its platform each day.
Spotify‘s recently-announced AI remix tool, set to launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium subscribers, had not gone live at the time of Deezer‘s announcement, with no price or launch date confirmed.
Spotify said its feature would share revenue with participating artists, whose permission is required for their music to be used.
“This remix tool perfectly embodies our vision of offering a product that enriches the listening experience for fans, by allowing them to participate in the creative process and create a deeper connection with their favourite music, directly in the Deezer app,” said Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer.
“True to our DNA, these features are made possible with full participation of the artists, fully respecting rights, and maximizing earnings for each track.”Music Business Worldwide
A long-stalled bill to cap federal student loan interest at 2% is getting a procedural push just as payments climb for millions of borrowers.
A bipartisan group of House members has filed a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the Affordable Loans for Students Act, a bill that would cap the interest rate on federal student loans at 2%. The petition is a procedural tool that lets rank-and-file members bypass House leadership and bring a stalled bill to the floor if 218 members sign on.
Federal student loan interest rates currently ranges from roughly 6.52% to 9.07%, and undergraduate rates rose this year.
At these levels, interest can outpace what borrowers pay each month, leaving balances unchanged or growing years after graduation. The petition forces members from both parties to put their position on student loan affordability on the record rather than letting the bill sit.
Runaway interest has turned federal student loans into a debt trap. Borrowers who are trying to repay what they owe deserve a fair shot to actually pay down their principal, not spend years feeding the government interest.
We’ll email this article to you, so you can come back to it later!
The Details
The Affordable Loans for Students Act (PDF File) was introduced by Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL). Beyond the 2% cap, the bill would:
Apply the lower rate retroactively to outstanding loans.
Let the Department of Education adjust rates and refinance loans automatically, with no borrower opt-in required (borrowers can opt out).
Allow consolidation of multiple Direct Loans after the change.
Require annual reporting on how many borrowers had loans modified and how many are delinquent.
The original bill is backed by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the American Council on Education, and the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
The Timing
The push lands as several One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes take effect.
Starting July 1, new borrowers choose between a standard plan and the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), Grad PLUS loans end for new borrowers, and Parent PLUS borrowing is capped at $20,000 per year and $65,000 lifetime per child.
The backdrop is rising distress: as of early 2026, about 1 in 4 borrowers were behind on payments and nearly 9 million were in default, a record.
In response to this effort, Protect Borrowers Executive Director Mike Pierce said in a statement, “One year ago, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was rammed across the finish line gutting the financial support millions of families depend on to pay for college. Since then, costs keep climbing and a decent life has slipped further out of reach for working class and middle class families—including the nearly 9 million student loan borrowers who have fallen behind under Trump’s watch. This bipartisan effort to deliver student debt relief recognizes this new economic and political reality: families are under extreme financial pressure and something has to give. Making sure student loan borrowers are not being gouged on interest rates while the system is in chaos is the bare minimum.“
How This Connects
We’ve covered how the One Big Beautiful Bill creates winners and losers. Despite the repayment plan changes and caps, interst rate reform has largely gone unchanged.
A 2% cap would cut the cost of carrying federal debt across the board, but it does nothing about the loan limits and repayment overhaul already on the books.
It’s also important to note that interest rate reform doesn’t impact borrowers’ monthly payments who use income-driven repayment plans, and it will only have minimal impact on future RAP plan borrowers – since unpaid interest is waived each month. It does have some effects on the potential for a future tax bomb for existing IBR plan borrowers.
Discharge petitions rarely reach 218 signatures, so the odds of a floor vote are still long. The more immediate effect is political pressure, forcing members to take a public stance as borrowers feel the squeeze. Watch the signature count and whether leadership responds with its own student loan proposal.
Bullish Exchange (NYSE: BLSH) announced that SoFiUSD, a U.S. dollar payment stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, N.A. (NASDAQ: SOFI), is now available for trading on its platform. This move positions Bullish as the first centralized cryptocurrency exchange to list the token, extending its reach beyond SoFi’s consumer banking app into institutional digital asset markets.
SoFiUSD represents a key step in blending traditional banking with blockchain technology. Issued by a U.S. national bank, it stands out as the first stablecoin of its kind from such an entity.
The token maintains a one-to-one peg to the U.S. dollar and is fully backed by reserves, allowing holders to redeem it directly for fiat currency.
SoFi introduced SoFiUSD to its nearly 15 million members in May 2026, shifting the product from enterprise-focused infrastructure toward broader everyday use in consumer banking.
The listing occurs against the backdrop of the GENIUS Act, enacted in 2025.
This legislation created the first comprehensive federal framework for U.S. dollar payment stablecoins, enabling regulated banks and qualified issuers to bring digital dollars to market under clear oversight and reserve requirements.
Institutional-grade liquidity and trading infrastructureBullish’s central limit order book, combined with its proprietary automated market maker, powers the trading experience.
This setup generates numerous bids and offers from the platform’s own liquidity sources, helping minimize price slippage and maintain tight spreads even during volatile periods.
The system operates independently of external oracles, supporting consistent depth across different market conditions.
Institutional clients gain access to a regulated venue where customer assets are held in a 1:1 ratio and kept fully segregated from the exchange’s own holdings.
Bullish maintains proper hardware, software, and operational protections to safeguard funds.
In May 2026 alone, the platform recorded $30 billion in total spot trading volume, underscoring its capacity to handle significant activity.
Bullish CEO Tom Farley called the development a defining moment for the broader market.
He noted that regulated institutions are moving beyond observation and actively building within the digital asset space, expressing pride in partnering with SoFi to become the first exchange to offer SoFiUSD.
SoFi CEO Anthony Noto highlighted the launch of SoFiUSD as providing users with a trusted method to engage with digital dollars backed by the strength and regulatory oversight of a US national bank.
He described the Bullish listing as an exciting milestone that broadens access and expands the token’s utility across the digital asset ecosystem.
Noto expressed enthusiasm for continued collaboration to increase availability of regulated and transparent stablecoins for both institutional partners and SoFi members.
Eligible institutional customers interested in trading SoFiUSD on Bullish can reach out to sales@bullish.com for onboarding.
The token trades on the exchange’s high-performance matching engine.This development marks Bullish as SoFi’s first centralized exchange partner.
It facilitates smoother integration between established financial institutions and on-chain markets, potentially improving price stability and execution efficiency for larger trades.
Bullish itself operates under multiple regulatory licenses and registrations, including oversight from the New York State Department of Financial Services, Germany’s BaFin, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, and Gibraltar’s Financial Services Commission.
In the U.S., its operations fall under NYDFS regulation and FinCEN registration as a money services business.
By bringing a bank-issued stablecoin to a professionally oriented trading venue, the listing underscores growing convergence between traditional finance and digital assets.
It offers institutions a new option for holding and transacting in a regulated, fully reserved dollar equivalent while leveraging blockchain’s efficiency. As adoption of such instruments expands under clearer regulatory guardrails, platforms like Bullish are positioned to play a central role in bridging these ecosystems.
Maybe the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is the ticket to lower mortgage rates.
After all, that is essentially what caused them to jump about 75 basis points since the end of February.
There was really no other explanation for the abrupt rise in mortgage rates over the past few months.
So if we’re able to unravel that move via normal transit through the key waterway, mortgage rates should logically go back to those levels.
If that’s indeed the case, we could eventually get back to a sub-6% 30-year fixed again.
Lower Oil Prices Give Mortgage Rates a Push Down
Thanks to the accord in the Middle East, oil prices are now back to pre-war levels.
Brent crude futures fell to below $74 per barrel, which is the lowest levels since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February.
Similar drops were seen with WTI oil futures, though that didn’t stop President Trump from complaining on social media that oil companies haven’t lowered gas prices quickly enough.
And that actually brings up a good point. It’s going to take time for the multi-month disruption to work itself out.
The Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed for about 3 and ½ months during the conflict.
There’s a lot of backlog and logistical stuff that needs to be sorted out to get us back to square one.
Even then, there might still be a premium baked in to oil prices and mortgage rates to account for the new risk of future closures.
In other words, while it’s good news that things are normalizing and oil prices are down, mortgage rates might not return to those low levels seen at the end of February.
As it stands, the 30-year fixed is priced around 6.50% thanks to today’s move lower, but remains about 50 basis points (bps) above the pre-war lows.
Is Oil the Only Key Factor for Mortgage Rates?
While I’ve argued that the rise in mortgage rates this year has pretty much boiled down to one thing, the war, things are always in flux.
Mortgage rates don’t exist in a vacuum and can be affected by myriad factors, which are constantly changing.
Case in point, while the war was going on, there were growing concerns that the tech industry has overheated.
We’ve seen stocks surge despite the war and the $100 per barrel oil, seemingly ignoring geopolitics in favor of massive returns.
This has caused many to sound the alarm that things are getting frothy again, with valuations rivaling the dot com boom and bust era.
There are certainly some parallels between now and the late 1990s. Back then, the Fed began a hiking campaign in mid-1999 to cool things off.
They raised the fed funds rate six times, including a 50-basis point hike in May 2000 after the stock market had peaked.
Perhaps that will happen again this cycle, though as it stands, there’s only one possible 25-bp hike on the table for the year.
Still, that puts some upward pressure on mortgage rates beyond just the energy crisis that’s apparently sorting itself out.
So taken together, we’ve got some upside risk due to sky-high tech valuations, along with some baked in risk associated with geopolitics.
That could make it difficult for the 30-year fixed to get back to below 6% again anytime soon.
Though if the peace deal holds up and we can at least move on from Iran, that could get mortgage rates on the right side of 6.50% again.
Read on: Try out my mortgage rate calculator to compare different rates and payments fast!
Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 20 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.
It’s an increasingly common tale within corporations today: The AI project performs admirably in testing during the pilot phase, gets the green light for a broader rollout…and then stops working properly; Or it fails to deliver the expected business results.
Finger pointing, recriminations, and embarrassment ensue.
The problem is not always the technology. In fact, the fault is often in the planning, processes, and expectations that companies have established—or not established—around their AI projects, according to business leaders who spoke at a roundtable discussion at Fortune Brainstorm Tech this month.
For starters, not every AI project deserves to be rolled out widely, said Amgen Chief Technology Officer Sean Bruich.
“It’s so easy with a pilot to let a thousand flowers bloom,” he said. That’s not a bad thing, since it encourages experimentation. But, he said, “the key to making pilots scale successfully is actually having a wide number of ideas, but a very tight governance on which pilots are actually greenlit.”
A key criteria before taking the next step, said Salesforce Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lashonda Anderson-Williams, is understanding the intended outcome of the project. Too many companies are focused on the successful implementation of AI features—the technological bells of whistles—instead of the business outcome, she says.
That mentality is a recipe for disappointment: The AI features work great, but the new technology isn’t driving meaningful business results.
Agents needs a map
When it comes to agentic AI, Anderson-Williams noted, a detailed understanding of the workflow—which individuals, groups, or touch points are necessary to complete a task— is critical. What a lot of companies are finding, she said, is that documentation of the workflow either doesn’t exist or is poorly documented: “When you put AI on top of that, the expectation is you’re going to see some magic, and there’s no magic there.”
Access to data is a particularly common stumbling block that AI projects encounter in the transition from the pilot phase to full deployment. With data often scattered in different silos throughout an organization, and with all that data governed by different access privileges and by varying privacy and security considerations, things can get complicate fast. It’s important to map out the contours of the AI project and all the potential data that will be required ahead of time, the panelists stressed. “The earlier we can uncover that in discovery, the better we’ll be set up for success,” Thomson Reuters Chief Data Officer Caitlin Halferty said.
That also means getting buy-in from the right groups and stakeholders within the organization. “Is there some element of PII (personally identifiable information) or confidential data that’s going to trigger privacy?” Halfery said. If the answer is yes, then the right people need to be part of the project. “Is there a cyber element? Let’s get security on board,” she said.
Amgen’s Bruich echoed the importance of broad buy-in, noting that an AI project that is transformational to the company will by necessity involve leaders in finance, technology, HR, and other groups across the organization. A truly impactful AI project, he said, needs to do more than just make work processes more efficient for a small group of employees. It needs to deliver “an outcome that matters to the enterprise.”
Starting a technology company in today’s world is fundamentally different from doing so a decade ago. Innovation cycles have accelerated and go-to-market execution has become more complex. Buyers are flooded with competing solutions, and founders face a level of skepticism and noise that traditional sales methodologies were not designed to address.
In 1924, Edgar Lawrence Smith published an empirical study showing that an equity premium had been consistently realized in history. The now-familiar idea that stocks will outperform bonds over the long run was at that time a startling rejection of conventional wisdom. Smith’s contemporaries expected bonds to have outperformed under the deflationary conditions that prevailed in the later 19th century. Using recently compiled data, I revisit the question of whether history shows an unconditioned equity premium. US and UK data show the historical equity premium to be contingent on the absence of deflation. US and Japan data show that disinflation has effects similar to deflation. The paper concludes by developing the implications of accepting a contingent equity premium.
