1. Iran Fires 200 Missiles at Israel
2. Surge of Buyers Returns to Manhattan Housing Market
3. Tesla Sees First Quarterly Sales Increase in 2024
4. Nike Withdraws Revenue Forecast, Stock Plunges
5. AI May Only Replace 5% of Jobs, Says MIT Economist
6. OpenAI Raises $6.6 Billion
7. Nvidia Partners With Accenture
1. Iran Fires 200 Missiles at Israel
On Tuesday night, Iran launched approximately 200 missiles at Israel, escalating tensions between the two nations and raising the risk of a larger-scale Middle East war.
The Israel Defense Forces stated that most of the missiles were intercepted, with only one fatality reported. U.S. aircraft carriers also assisted in intercepting a large number of missiles, and officials noted the attack had limited effectiveness.
However, this strike was considered more dangerous than the one in April, as many missiles penetrated deeper into Israeli cities.
Last Friday, Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Iran’s attack was seen as retaliation.
来源：Bloomberg – Israel Vows Retaliation for Massive Iranian Missile Attack
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2. Surge of Buyers Returns to Manhattan Housing Market
According to Douglas Elliman, sales of Manhattan co-op and condo apartments increased by 6.7% quarter-over-quarter as of the end of September.
The share of buyers using mortgages rose, while all-cash buyers dropped to a two-year low, benefiting from declining mortgage rates.
Jonathan Miller, Chairman of Miller Samuel, said that cash deals no longer dominate the market as they did in the past two years, and more people may return to buy homes using loans.
In September, Manhattan apartment sales jumped 75% year-over-year, with Brooklyn also seeing a 12% increase.
Notably, sales of homes priced under $1 million surged, indicating that first-time buyers are entering the market.
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3. Tesla Sees First Quarterly Sales Increase in 2024
In Q3, Tesla delivered 463,900 electric vehicles globally—a 7% year-over-year increase and the first quarterly sales growth this year.
China, the world’s largest EV market, increased incentives for trading in old cars for EVs, boosting Tesla’s demand in recent months. Strong performance in China helped offset weaker sales in Europe and the U.S.
To surpass its 2023 total of 1.8 million vehicles sold, Tesla still needs to accelerate deliveries.
Elon Musk said automation in production is improving and new products will be launched soon.
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4. Nike Withdraws Revenue Forecast, Stock Plunges
On Tuesday, Nike announced it was withdrawing its full-year revenue forecast due to an upcoming CEO transition at the end of October.
The company also postponed its Investor Day to give incoming CEO Elliott Hill more time to outline a turnaround strategy.
Shareholders hope Hill can repair relations with retail partners and rebuild employee morale, but his most crucial task will be revitalizing product innovation.
In fiscal Q1, Nike’s revenue declined by 10% to $11.59 billion, with North America and Europe seeing the sharpest drops.
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5. AI May Only Replace 5% of Jobs, Says MIT Economist
MIT economist Daron Acemoglu said in an interview that, based on his calculations, AI technology may only be capable of replacing 5% of jobs over the next decade.
Acemoglu noted that tech companies have invested billions in AI, but the economic returns may not justify the costs.
He believes Wall Street and corporate leadership are overly invested in the AI hype. In contrast, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims that companies and governments must invest $1 trillion annually to upgrade hardware to support AI growth.
While AI development costs are rising much faster than revenues, tech giants remain willing to foot the bill.
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6. OpenAI Raises $6.6 Billion
OpenAI revealed it raised $6.6 billion in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $157 billion. This substantial round highlights investor confidence and enthusiasm in the AI sector.
OpenAI is now one of the top three largest VC-backed startups in history, alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ByteDance.
The round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others.
The funds will be used to accelerate AI research and expand computing capabilities.
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7. Nvidia Partners With Accenture
Nvidia has entered a strategic partnership with consulting giant Accenture. Accenture will launch a new subsidiary to help clients integrate generative AI technologies, further driving sales of Nvidia products.
Accenture has trained 30,000 employees who will support clients in deploying Nvidia’s technology and leveraging AI for operational efficiency.
Nvidia currently dominates the AI hardware market, with most buyers being major data center operators like Microsoft, Amazon AWS, and Google.
Analysts caution that although these companies have invested billions in infrastructure and hardware, meaningful economic returns have yet to materialize.
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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.