Tech Stocks Slide Amid AI Spending Concerns; Pope Calls for Ban on Lethal AI Weapons

Tech stocks decline as AI spending raises investor concerns, impacting major companies like Alphabet and Amazon. Pope Leo XIV advocates for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons at Geneva talks, emphasizing human oversight. Meta settles with teens over social media addiction claims, while Snap Inc. remains a defendant. Apple acquires Ascend.io to enhance data tooling, and reclaims the title of the world's most valuable company from Nvidia. Publishers push for a shared robots.txt token to manage AI training, with Google and Microsoft planning adoption by 2027. The UK High Court upholds Ofcom's data demands from Meta, TikTok, and X, while Google's Suncatcher tests AI in space.