Breakfast News: Can Intel's Chip Win The AI Race?

Breakfast News: Can Intel's Chip Win The AI Race?

June 17, 2026

| Tuesday's Markets | | --- | | S&P 500 7,511 (-0.57%) | | Nasdaq 26,376 (-1.15%) | | Dow 52,000 (+0.64%) | | Bitcoin $65,701 (-1.27%) |

Source: Image created by Jester AI.

1. Intel's Most Advanced Chip Now in Production

Intel (INTC 2.40%) revealed the start of production of its most-advanced chip node at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu on Tuesday. Named 18A-P, the new chip generation is still at the early "risk production" stage, and aims to help Intel regain its position as a serious competitor in manufacturing chips for third-party customers – following May's announcement of a deal to make chips for Apple (AAPL 0.37%).

• Higher performance for AI workloads: Intel says the 18A-P is also more energy efficient than the previous 18A, while also being compatible so 18A customers won't face any chip redesigns.
• "The sentiment around this stock has absolutely shifted": Fool contributing analyst Travis Hoium recently noted the market is "starting to think about this company completely differently." The stock fell 8.45% Tuesday, but recovered some of those losses in early trading today – and it's soared over 400% over the past 12 months.

2. SpaceX Soars Past Amazon's Market Cap

SpaceX (SPCX 4.51%) jumped for a third straight day Tuesday, closing with a market cap of $2.66 trillion and up 49% from its IPO offer price. That makes it more valuable than Amazon (AMZN 0.73%) and just short of Microsoft (MSFT +0.15%) – which it briefly surpassed – to make it the world's fourth most valuable company, during the day. Retail investors are competing for just 4.2% of SpaceX shares available for trading following the IPO.

• "AI will achieve Stockfish-level coding and generalized computer use": After SpaceX announced the all-stock acquisition of AI coding start-up Cursor for $60 billion, CEO Elon Musk spoke of ambitions for AI to beat humans at producing computer code – using a reference to the world's current strongest open-source chess engine.
• "I am not involved with SpaceX now. Neither short nor, ahem, long": Michael Burry cast doubt on SpaceX's valuation, describing the company as "fundamentally a small space company, a niche telecom, a bedeviled social media company, and a CoreWeave (CRWV 0.87%) light." But he says bearish options are currently too highly priced.

3. Report: Amazon Under FTC Investigation

Amazon – a Stock Advisor Foundational Stock from Team Rule Breakers – could face penalties reaching billions of dollars over claims of misleading advertisers, says Bloomberg. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating claims Amazon might not have properly disclosed terms and pricing for sponsored listings and sponsored ads.

• "Amazon is the third-largest online advertising company": The report points to the $68.6 billion in advertising revenue Amazon earned last year as evidence of the growing ad impact on future growth for the online giant.
• Amazon shrugged: The stock showed little reaction, essentially unchanged in pre-market trading today – just as it was barely affected by last fall's $2.5 billion settlement over the Prime subscription cancellation process.

4. Kevin Warsh Takes the Hot Seat

Today's Federal Reserve interest rate decision is the first test for new chair Kevin Warsh, as he faces the challenge of "demonstrating that his decisions are grounded in economic fundamentals rather than political considerations" according to Greg Daco of EY-Parthenon. After May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) saw year-over-year inflation hit 4.2%, analysts expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged.

• Losing the dot plot?: The Fed's quarterly chart showing where policymakers expect future rates to go, known as the dot plot, is keenly anticipated. But Wall Street expects Warsh not to take part, possibly because he hasn't been in office long enough or just because he reportedly doesn't like it.
• How will retail sales impact inflation?: Prior to the meeting, we'll have the retail sales print for May. Forecasts suggest a modest 0.5% month-over-month rise, and 0.6% excluding auto sales.

5. Today's Take: Volatile Stock or Risky Stock?

A high-risk company frequently exhibits high volatility, but the inverse is not always true. Crucially, when volatility is high but fundamental risk is low, investors encounter compelling opportunities..-- Sanmeet Deo Team Rule Breakers

6. Your Take

Today we're asking whether you'd rather start a position in **The Progressive Corporation **(PGR +0.47%) or **CarMax **(KMX +4.86%) – both reporting before the opening bell – and why? And remember, you can't choose both or neither in this hypothetical game!

Debate with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!