Alphabet Q2 Surprise · KOSPI Tops 7,100 Intraday

Google launched Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber on July 21. Gemini 3.6 Flash cuts output token usage by 17% versus its predecessor and scored 49% on the DeepSWE coding benchmark, up from 37%.

At the IMO 2026 held in Shanghai (July 13-21), GPT-5.6 Pro reportedly solved all six problems on the first attempt without human assistance — a level achieved by only a handful of human participants worldwide.

Meta has replaced roughly 50% of human content review requests with LLMs and plans to expand to 90% in some categories by year-end. AI adoption reportedly blocked an additional 5,000 fraudulent accounts per day and reduced celebrity impersonation reports by over 80%.

Kimi K3, released by Moonshot AI on July 16, ranked first on the LMArena Frontend Code Arena. It features a 1 million-token context window and native vision, with open weights scheduled for release on July 27.

OpenAI announced ChatGPT for Small Businesses on July 22, powered by GPT-5.6. It integrates with Slack, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams to automate multi-step tasks and is offered at approximately $25 per month.

Alphabet reported Q2 2026 earnings after market close on July 22, posting roughly a 95% EPS beat. Revenue also exceeded consensus by approximately 2.9%, and shares rose more than 10% in after-hours trading.

Following the antitrust ruling in the Epic Games case, Google from July 22 allowed US users to install competing app stores directly through the Play Store without side-loading.

Apple partnered with BNPL fintech Klarna to launch Apple Upgrade, a lease-to-own program for iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch, in the US on July 28. The existing iPhone Upgrade Program will stop accepting new sign-ups.

NVIDIA introduced a revenue-sharing financing model allowing AI cloud startups to secure infrastructure without upfront GPU costs. Initial partners Sharan AI and Permer Technologies will receive approximately 210,000 GB300 GPUs.

OpenAI and Anthropic spent a combined $3.17 million on federal lobbying in Q2 2026, a record high. Anthropic spent $1.97 million and OpenAI $1.20 million, a 23% increase from the prior quarter.

AI-powered cross-border commerce platform Sajwo secured ₩29.5 billion total, combining a ₩15.2 billion Series A led by Japan Post Capital and Suzuyo with additional Japanese financial institution funding. Naver D2SF also joined as a strategic investor; monthly transaction volume grew roughly 7x in the past six months.

Global VC Antler Korea invested ₩2.5 billion total in nine early-stage startups through its 8th program, including music royalty recovery service Handa and logistics AI firm MJ Corporation. Founders came from 14 countries, with over 60% having global experience.

B2B financial AI agent company Webcash, in consortium with LG CNS and Finger, won a ₩8.72 billion contract on July 22 for the Phase 1 rebuild of IBK's i-ONE Bank Global platform and introduction of AI banking services.

Agentic AI startup 42Maru, in consortium with Klabi and GT One, officially launched a project to upgrade the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation's data management system and build generative AI services. Key deliverables include a chatbot upgrade and a data catalog.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups officially opened the RIST Advanced Manufacturing Incubating Center in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on July 22 — the first public-private regional manufacturing startup hub, supporting startups in fields such as secondary battery recycling with cleanrooms and process engineering.

S&P 500 closed at 7,509 on July 22, ending a three-session losing streak. A surge in Korean semiconductor exports and better-than-expected Taiwan export orders lifted tech stocks. Nasdaq rose 1.93% and VIX fell 8.58%.

Brent crude rose 3.43% on July 22 to $94.13 per barrel. Yemen's Houthi rebels intensified threats to supply routes, sustaining upward pressure on energy prices.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said tightening may need to resume in the near term if inflation data comes in hot. CME FedWatch shows the probability of a 25 bps hike at the July 29 meeting rose to 46.5%; the current rate stands at 3.50-3.75%.

In its July World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF maintained the 2026 global growth forecast at 3.0% while revising its inflation projection up to 4.7%.

FactSet data as of July 17 shows S&P 500 Q2 blended net income growth at 24.7%. Of companies that reported, 88% beat EPS consensus with an average beat of 16.4%. Revenue growth of 12.8% is the highest since Q2 2022.

KOSPI surged 5.85% on July 22, hitting an intraday high of 7,166. Samsung Electronics rose 5.98% and SK Hynix climbed 8.01%, driving the index and triggering a buy sidecar. Foreign investors net bought ₩1.9125 trillion on the Korea Exchange.

Based on Korea Customs Service preliminary data, exports for July 1-20 reached $54.9 billion, up 52.3% year-on-year — the highest on record for that period. Semiconductor exports surged 180.6% to $22.1 billion, accounting for 40.3% of total exports.

The Bank of Korea will release the Q2 2026 real GDP growth flash estimate on July 23. Market consensus stands at around 0.4% quarter-on-quarter. Governor Shin Hyun-seung said the figure will be a key basis for deciding on any further rate hikes.

GM Korea management and union reached a tentative agreement in the 17th wage talks on July 22. The deal includes a ₩92,000 base wage increase and a ₩15 million performance bonus, with the successor model to be finalized by Q3 2027. A ratification vote is set for July 27-28.

Samsung Electronics announced plans to establish the first domestic production line of German HVAC firm Flakt Group — acquired last year — at a roughly 33,000 sq meter site within Gwangju's Green City 3 Campus. The new line targets growing demand for cooling equipment for AI data centers.

Regional mediators proposed a 10-day ceasefire to the US and Iran, but US forces conducted additional airstrikes on Iran while Iran attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The two sides remain at odds over passage rights through the strait.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media the dismissal of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and the appointment of 43-year-old General Mykhailo Drapatyi as his successor.

Yemen's Houthi rebels declared a total blockade of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait for vessels using Saudi ports. A Chinese VLCC immediately turned back in the Red Sea after the announcement; the US and Pakistan jointly condemned the Houthis on July 22.

President Trump on July 20 invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for the first time ever, imposing a 50% additional tariff on Canadian imports including automobiles, alcohol, and dairy products. Tariffs take effect on August 19, 2026.

The US government removed Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. Around the same time, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made his first White House visit carrying a Hezbollah disarmament plan.

WTI crude rose 2.98% to $86.85 per barrel on July 22, while Brent gained 3.43% to $94.13. Continuous US airstrikes on Iran and resumed attacks on the Caspian pipeline stoked supply fears.

The IEA's July report forecast that Hormuz blockade effects will reduce global oil demand by 1 million barrels per day year-on-year in 2026. June supply rebounded but remained 9.4 million b/d below pre-war levels.

Under the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill, wind and solar projects breaking ground after July 5 are no longer eligible for federal production or investment tax credits. Projects that began before the cutoff retain credits if operational by end of 2027.

World Weather Attribution analysis found the heat index during the June-July 2026 North American heat wave would be virtually impossible in a climate 1.4°C cooler. At least 44 people died in the US and Canada, with hundreds of thousands losing power due to grid overload.

Columbia University's Climate School released a study on July 22 linking extreme heat events to worsening neurological and psychiatric symptoms and increased hospitalization rates.

Samsung Biologics announced on July 19 a tender offer for Swiss contract manufacturer PolyPeptide at CHF 1.46 billion in full cash. The goal is to build GLP-1 and peptide drug production capacity — the largest overseas acquisition by a Korean biotech company.

Bristol Myers Squibb announced on July 20 an AI infrastructure expansion based on NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD. The system delivers up to 10x better performance per megawatt versus prior infrastructure and has already cut drug candidate clinical preparation time by 20-30%.

Eli Lilly announced on July 16 it will acquire AtaiBeckley for up to $3.8 billion. The lead asset is BPL-003, a DMT-based nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression currently in Phase 3 trials.

Biogen presented Phase 2 CELIA trial results for diranasen at AAIC on July 14. The CDR-SB primary endpoint was not met, but the 60 mg cohort showed a 50-65% reduction in CSF tau protein and other biomarker improvements.

Celcuity announced on July 14 that gedatolisib received FDA approval for adults with PIK3CA-mutation-negative hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer — the first approved pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibitor.

SpaceX set the relaunch of Starship Flight 13, which auto-aborted on July 16, for 6:45 PM EDT on July 23. At least three Raptor 3 engines on Booster 20 were replaced, and a propellant loading test was conducted at the launch pad on July 22, per Space.com.

Starship Flight 13 plans to deploy 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites into orbit for the first time. The satellites will deploy solar panels and antennas and attempt high-capacity laser links with a South African ground station, per Space.com.

NASA awarded contracts totaling approximately $590 million to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines for four lunar cargo landing missions carrying navigation, dust, and radiation instruments to support lunar base construction planned for late 2028.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope used its NIRSpec infrared spectrograph to discover a third exoplanet in the Beta Pictoris star system. The research team confirmed the planet by analyzing the system's chemical composition, per Space.com.

The NASA Exploration Science Forum at Ames Research Center (July 21-23) featured invited talks and poster presentations on the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and Mars moons. Lunar surface resource utilization and next-generation exploration mission directions were discussed, per NASA SSERVI.

Bitcoin opened roughly 2% higher at $66,508 on July 22 but gave back some gains intraday. Ethereum also started at $1,928 before retreating to around $1,918. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows for six consecutive trading days.

US spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $105 million in net inflows for the week of July 13-17, surpassing Bitcoin ETFs' $75.67 million over the same period. BlackRock's ETHA led with $135.31 million in solo inflows.

Kraken launched USD cash-settled European-style Bitcoin and Ethereum options through Kraken Pro on July 19-20. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual expirations are available, settling in dollars without physical coin delivery.

Movement Labs, once eyeing a $3 billion valuation, filed Chapter 11 in Delaware bankruptcy court on July 15. The crisis was triggered when 66 million MOVE tokens were mass-sold under a market maker agreement, crashing the price.

Reports on July 22 indicated growing likelihood that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could pass the US Senate before the August recess after ethics-related disagreements were resolved. The bill establishes a regulatory classification framework for crypto assets.

Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in Q2, up 25% year-on-year and a quarterly record. Model 3 and Y accounted for 467,762 units. Energy storage deployments reached 13.5 GWh, up more than 40% year-on-year.

BYD's luxury brand Denza unveiled the Z9S. The three-motor configuration produces a peak 890 kW (1,194 hp), while the single-motor version offers 920 km of CLTC range on a 102 kWh battery. Body length is 5,090 mm with a 3,025 mm wheelbase.

BYD sold 557,090 battery electric passenger vehicles in Q2 2026, surpassing Tesla's 480,126. BYD has also outsold Tesla for several consecutive months in the European market this year, cementing its position as the global EV sales leader.

Tesla announced an expansion of its robotaxi service to Tampa and Orlando, Florida. The Cybercab is a two-seat vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, produced at Gigafactory Texas since February 2026 and currently operating in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Shanghai authorities convened 15 automakers — including Tesla, BYD, SAIC, Xiaomi, and NIO — and over 80 dealers on July 22 to urge price compliance and restrain false online marketing, ordering self-inspections.

Netflix original occult period drama 'Crown Prince' (starring Nam Joo-hyuk) ranked first in Good Data Corporation's integrated TV-OTT drama buzz chart released on July 22. Nam Joo-hyuk also topped the cast buzz ranking.

'Crown Prince' and variety show 'Born Single But Want to Date 2' ranked first in the drama and non-drama buzz charts respectively in week 3 of July. Netflix last swept both categories simultaneously 27 weeks ago with 'Lady Dua' and 'Solo Hell 5'.

Universal's Christopher Nolan film 'Odyssey' maintained its box office lead with approximately $263.7 million in global cumulative gross. Its US single-day revenue of $18.67 million on July 20 was the highest Monday figure of 2026, surpassing Toy Story 5.

Masters of the Universe, co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel, began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on July 22, just 47 days after its theatrical debut.

In Soompi's K-pop music chart for week 3 of July 2026, CORTIS's 'REDRED' held the top spot for a fifth consecutive week. aespa's 'LEMONADE' ranked second and ILLIT's 'It's Me' placed third.

Coupang ranked first in monthly estimated payment volume in the first half of 2026, with Naver and Naver Pay trailing at a 96.5 index relative to Coupang. By number of paying customers, GS25 led with 34.24 million users.

Squarespace unveiled new tools for selling limited-edition products, including a cart reservation feature with a countdown timer, purchase quantity limits, and scarcity-signaling badges to support small business drop strategies.

UK sales of GLP-1 injectable weight loss drugs are up more than 5x versus July 2024, with 6.3% of UK households now using them. Users are increasing spending on clothing and sportswear while sales of plus-size apparel are declining.

PayPal launched 'Pay in 30 Days' for approximately 30 million UK customers, allowing full repayment up to 30 days after purchase. There are no interest charges, fees, or sign-up costs, applicable to purchases between £1 and £900.

Chinese silk e-commerce company LilySilk opened its first European physical store on the second floor of Munich's Oberpollinger department store, showcasing silk bedding, women's clothing, loungewear, and fashion accessories.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and KDI held an international conference titled 'Reimagining Economic Education in the AGI Era' at Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel on July 22. Over 350 participants from OECD, the US, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and other countries shared their national approaches.

CJ Olive Young launched a recruitment drive for AI-native talent from July 20 to August 9, introducing an 'AI task' assessment for experienced developer candidates to evaluate AI-powered problem solving. Roles include commerce, core platform, and AI recommendation systems.

The Bipartisan Policy Center's AI Skills Dashboard released in July found AI-skill job postings increased 144% year-on-year. Demand has spread beyond tech into accounting, finance, and staffing, with Microsoft Copilot skill demand in accounting surging 85%.

A bill was introduced in the US House to provide tax credits to companies investing in AI workforce training. Survey data showing AI utilization rates rising to 76% and higher employee loyalty among AI-trained staff were cited as justification.

OECD Employment Outlook 2026's Korea chapter notes strong STEM education but lower alignment between university curricula and AI-era labor market needs versus key competitors. South Korea scored 93.4 to rank 6th in the QS World Future Skills Index.

A federal court issued a temporary restraining order in a suit brought by 12 state attorneys general; the EU and UK review deadline was set for July 22. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for August 3. The DOJ had already approved the deal.

The FTC published a policy statement indicating that AI systems modifying accurate answers without notifying users may constitute deceptive practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act, seeking public comments by July 31.

Apple was reported on July 17 to have submitted multiple settlement proposals to the DOJ in the iPhone antitrust case filed in 2024. No trial date has been set.

According to a Transparency Coalition report, 84 AI-related laws were enacted across 27 states in the first half of 2026. Child safety, chatbot regulation, and healthcare AI oversight emerged as the leading legislative areas.

The South Korean government announced major policy changes from H2 2026 including free menstrual products at public facilities, 24-hour foreign exchange trading, expanded parental leave, and enhanced student support, publishing detailed guidelines.

Microsoft patched 570 vulnerabilities in its July Patch Tuesday. SharePoint Server (CVE-2026-56164) and Active Directory Federation Services (CVE-2026-56155) were actively exploited, while a BitLocker bypass bug (CVE-2026-50661) was also publicly disclosed.

Security researcher Nightmare Eclipse published a PoC for new Windows privilege escalation zero-day 'LegacyHive' immediately after Microsoft's July Patch Tuesday. Attackers can gain administrator privileges even on fully patched Windows systems.

Threat actors exploited zero-day vulnerabilities CVE-2026-15409 (CVSS 10.0) and CVE-2026-15410 in SonicWall SMA 1000 series VPN appliances from June 22 — before public disclosure — executing arbitrary commands and deploying custom malware.

A critical pre-authentication remote code execution vulnerability dubbed 'wp2shell,' exploiting a SQL injection chain in REST API batch processing, was disclosed. Attackers can fully compromise a WordPress site without authentication; over 500 million sites are estimated to be exposed.

Hackers carried out a cyberattack on July 21 that deleted the entire land registry database of an unidentified European country, paralyzing all real estate transactions. Recovery operations and damage assessment are ongoing.

Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in Q2 2026, setting an all-time quarterly record. Model 3 and Y accounted for 467,762 units, up 25% year-on-year. Energy storage deployments reached 13.5 GWh, up over 40% year-on-year.

FactSet data as of July 17 shows S&P 500 Q2 blended net income growth at 24.7%. Of reporting companies, 88% beat EPS consensus with an average beat of 16.4%. Revenue growth of 12.8% is the highest since Q2 2022.

South Korea's exports for July 1-20 reached $54.9 billion, up 52.3% year-on-year — the highest on record for that period. The previous peak for the same period was $36.9 billion in 2024.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis released the final Q1 2026 real GDP growth figure at an annualized 2.1%, revised up 0.5 percentage points from the second estimate, primarily due to a downward revision to imports.

The Bipartisan Policy Center's AI Skills Dashboard released in July found AI-skill job postings increased 144% year-on-year. Demand has spread beyond tech into accounting, finance, and staffing sectors.