Business
One of the most critical AI companies in the world just said it ‘cannot confirm’ growth in 2026, wiping out $30 billion

Shares of ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant, tumbled 11% on Wednesday after the company announced it could no longer confirm that it will grow in 2026. The drop wiped out over $30 billion in market value and sent shockwaves through global tech markets, as investors digested the implications for the broader semiconductor and AI industries.
The selloff followed ASML’s second-quarter earnings report, which beat expectations on revenue and net profit, with robust bookings of $6.4 billion. However, CEO Christophe Fouquet’s comments overshadowed the strong results: “While we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage,” he said, citing escalating macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, especially the threat of new tariffs on semiconductor equipment.
Smart money watches ASML for signals on the tech cycle’s health; a growth warning here may be the market’s early clue that the AI and semiconductor supercycle is reaching a plateau—or at least preparing for turbulence.
Why ASML’s outlook matters more than most
This isn’t just a company-specific event—it could be a canary in the coal mine for the global tech and AI ecosystem. Why? ASML is the world’s exclusive supplier of EUV lithography machines—the ultra-precise fabrication equipment that makes cutting-edge semiconductors possible. Every state-of-the-art AI accelerator, every data-center chip that powers generative AI, traces its technological lineage back to ASML’s tools.
So when ASML tells the market it “cannot confirm” growth for 2026—despite beating on current earnings—it’s signaling not just caution about its own pipeline, but a potential inflection point in the most future-critical segment of the electronics supply chain. In other words: if ASML’s order book slows, it means that downstream chipmakers may anticipate softer demand, have rising uncertainty about capex returns, or are bracing for policy headwinds.
The context matters: This is a moment when AI demand has been surging, but in 2025 it’s now colliding with macro uncertainty, particularly driven by U.S.-EU tariff threats, China export restrictions, and capex fatigue after a historic tech investment wave. ASML’s lead times are 12 to 18 months—with orders today reflecting confidence in global chip demand well into 2026. If that confidence is wavering, it ripples through the entire innovation economy.
ASML is not just another tech stock—it is the linchpin of the global semiconductor supply chain. The company is the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, the critical technology that enables the production of the most advanced chips used in everything from AI accelerators to smartphones and data centers.
What’s behind the growth warning?
Several factors converged to cloud ASML’s outlook. One was tariff uncertainty. President Trump’s threat of 30% tariffs on European imports, including semiconductor equipment, has rattled ASML’s customers. The company warned that tariffs on new systems and parts shipped to the U.S., as well as possible retaliatory measures, could directly hit its gross margins and delay customer investment decisions.
Ongoing trade disputes and export controls, especially involving China and the U.S., have made it harder for ASML to forecast demand. Clients are increasingly cautious, with some potentially postponing or scaling back orders. While Q2 bookings were strong, Barclays analysts noted ASML would need to double its current order pace to meet previous 2026 growth forecasts. The backlog coverage for 2026 is at its lowest in three years, raising doubts about near-term momentum.
Market reaction
The market’s response was swift and severe as ASML shares fell 11%, their steepest single-day drop since October 2024, when a disappointing third-quarter earnings report led to the stock price falling 16%. Wednesday’s selloff dragged down the broader European tech sector and hit U.S. semiconductor equipment peers such as Lam Research and Applied Materials.
In contrast, AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD rose, buoyed by positive news on U.S. export policy to China, highlighting a divergence between chip designers and the equipment supply chain.
Business
How AI is changing the news, and what businesses need to know

How AI is changing the news, and what businesses need to know
Artificial intelligence has moved beyond being just a productivity tool — it’s changing the way people find and consume news.
This shift is already reshaping how organizations approach public relations, investor relations and corporate communications, Notified reports.
According to Mary Meeker’s 2025 State of the Internet report, ChatGPT is already handling an estimated 365 billion searches annually — a growth rate more than five times faster than Google in its early years. At the same time, Google’s AI Overviews are taking center stage in search results, often giving users summarized answers before they ever visit a website.
The impact is clear — traditional pathways for discovering news are breaking down, and AI-generated summaries are quickly becoming the first point of contact between companies and their audiences.
The Urgency Behind the Shift
The speed of AI adoption has caught many industries off guard and has begun to overwhelm professionals. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, over half of respondents said AI training feels like a second job.
At the same time, newsrooms continue to shrink, people are turning to AI tools instead of traditional search, and generative platforms are pulling together information from press releases, filings, and media stories into single, summarized narratives.
For businesses, this creates a new reality: investors, customers, journalists and employees often see AI-generated answers before they reach the original source. If that content isn’t clear, consistent, and reliable, a company’s story that circulates could be incomplete — or worse, misleading.
How AI Is Changing the Way News Is Found
This transformation has significant implications for visibility, credibility and influence with three major trends already redefining how news reaches the public:
- AI-driven search is replacing traditional clicks — Instead of scanning dozens of headlines, scrolling through feeds, or visiting multiple outlets, more audiences are turning to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews to get direct, synthesized answers. This “one-stop” model is efficient for readers, but it also means fewer direct visits to websites and less visibility for bylines. As a result, brands and media outlets need to think not only about crafting compelling stories but also about how those stories are structured for AI discovery.
- Original sources are carrying more weight — Press releases, SEC filings, earnings summaries and other primary documents increasingly serve as the backbone of AI-generated answers. For example: Because AI systems pull heavily from authoritative, structured sources, organizations that prioritize accurate, well-formatted and timely releases stand to gain more exposure. This dynamic underscores the growing importance of getting the official record right — the closer your content is to the primary source, the more likely it is to be amplified through AI-driven channels.
- Narratives are merging — In the AI-driven ecosystem, content silos are disappearing. Investor updates, press coverage and thought leadership blogs are no longer consumed in isolation; they are aggregated by machines and presented as one cohesive narrative. For communicators, this blurring of boundaries means that every piece of content, whether intended for shareholders, reporters, or the public, has the potential to shape broad perception. Managing message consistency across formats is no longer optional; it’s essential to ensure an organization’s story is represented accurately when AI delivers it back to the world.
3 AI Tips Business Leaders Need to Know
Whether it’s shaping brand perception, managing investor confidence, or ensuring accurate media coverage, the way content should be published today will directly affect how it appears in tomorrow’s AI-driven summaries.
To stay ahead, here are three essential practices to prioritize:
1. Make Content Clear and Reliable
AI tools work best with structured information. Press releases, earnings updates and official statements should be easy to read, consistent and free from gaps that could be misinterpreted. If the details aren’t clear, the story AI presents may not be accurate.
2. Keep PR and IR on the Same Page
The line between media coverage and investor communication has all but disappeared. A single inconsistency across channels can create confusion once AI systems pull everything together. Business leaders should ensure their communications teams are working together to deliver one unified narrative.
3. Write for People — and Machines
Today’s audience isn’t just human. Algorithms are scanning content, too, and shaping how information is shared. That means businesses need to publish content that answers questions directly and holds up as a trusted source when AI tools summarize it (think FAQs).
The Strategic Advantage of Adapting Early
While the AI landscape will continue to change, the companies that respond early will have the edge. By making content structured, consistent and ready for both people and algorithms, they’ll reduce the risk of being misunderstood and strengthen trust with investors, customers and the media.
This isn’t just about keeping up with technology. It’s about protecting reputation, ensuring accuracy and making sure your story is the one that gets told.
This story was produced by Notified and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Business
AI for Business Conference coming to central Alberta put on by CAF partnership

(ID 126397652 © Kasto80 | Dreamstime.com)
By
BREWD regional partnership
Sep 4, 2025 | 2:06 PM
The Central Alberta First (CAF) partnership has released its final Business Retention, Expansion and Workforce Development (BREWD) and BREWD Community Data Summary Reports ahead of an October conference focused on artificial intelligence in business.
The AI for Business: Tools, Tactics, Transformation Conference is set to take place Oct. 22, 2025 at the Olds College Alumni Centre. It is the first of a series of AI awareness workshops to be implemented under the BREWD regional strategy.
The one-day event will bring together industry leaders, innovators, and technology experts to explore ways how AI can improve businesses.
The BREWD initiative is one of the largest business engagement projects that’s been done in the central Alberta region, which includes over 700 businesses that represent all sectors of the economy.
Business
Jaguar Land Rover staff to stay home after cyber attack

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has instructed factory staff to stay at home until at least Tuesday as the company continues to grapple with the fallout from a cyber attack.
The attack at the weekend forced the company to take vital IT systems offline, which has affected car sales and production.
Production remains halted at car factories in Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull in the West Midlands, as well as at its engine manufacturing centre in Wolverhampton.
The situation remains under review and output could remain suspended for longer.
Car sales have also been heavily disrupted, although the BBC understands some transactions have been able to take place.
The company, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, shut down its systems on Sunday in order to limit potential damage from the cyber attack.
It is now working to restore them in a controlled manner, but this is understood to be a highly complex process. It is also introducing work-arounds for systems that remain offline.
The attack occurred at what is traditionally a popular time for consumers to take delivery of a new vehicle. The latest batch of new registration plates became available on 1 September.
The disruption extends well beyond JLR’s own production lines, with its network of parts suppliers also forced to restrict their operations. Some have complained of a lack of transparency from the company.
On Wednesday a hacker group which was also responsible for a highly damaging attack on Marks and Spencer earlier in the year said it had infiltrated JLR’s systems.
The group of young English-speaking hackers – who are thought to be teens calling themselves “Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters” – told the BBC how they allegedly accessed the car maker but have not revealed if they successfully stole private data from JLR or installed malicious software onto the company’s network.
The group posted two images, which showed apparent internal instructions for troubleshooting a car charging issue and internal computer logs.
A security expert said those screenshots suggested the group had access to information they should not have.
JLR says it is investigating the hack, but there is no evidence at this stage any customer data has been stolen.
In 2023, as part of an effort to “accelerate digital transformation across its business”, JLR signed a five-year, £800m deal with corporate stablemate Tata Consultancy Services to provide cybersecurity and a range of other IT services.
The halt in production is a fresh blow to the firm which recently revealed a slump in profits attributed to an increase in costs caused by US tariffs.
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