Alphabet subsidiary Isomorphic Labs, eyeing the crown in the nascent AI-designed drugs sector, announced Tuesday that it raised $2.1 billion.

Now, it just has to make good on the whole promise of completely revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry. No pressure.

Aye, AI, Sir

Isomorphic was founded in 2021 as a spinout of Google DeepMind, the research laboratory responsible for developing the search giant’s AI tools, including Gemini. The CEO and cofounder of both is Demis Hassabis (Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 when it was an independent AI research lab). Isomorphic, which remains under Google parent Alphabet, was cut out to commercialize AlphaFold, a breakthrough tool that can predict a protein’s 3D structure in minutes to hours, something which could previously take years. Hassabis led the development, and if his CV didn’t already make you feel inadequate enough, he and colleague John Jumper won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024 for AI research into protein structure prediction, and he was given a knighthood (making him “Sir” to British subjects).

Isomorphic raised $600 million in external funding last year and, as with that round, Tuesday’s $2.1 billion round was led by NYC’s Thrive Capital, a major investor in OpenAI. While no fully AI-designed drug has been approved for the market yet, developers say the technology will make development faster and cheaper because AI can scan through massive databases of possible molecules to identify potential treatments. Like funders, pharma companies are lining up:

• Isomorphic has already struck partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and Novartis and laid out plans to focus on cancer and immune disorder therapies. The new money, the company said, will go toward developing its drug design engine, IsoDDE, and hiring more engineering and clinical staff.
• Last month, Novo Nordisk said it was partnering with OpenAI to identify drug candidates using AI, while Sanofi has previously teamed with OpenAI and Formation Bio.

Another Spin: Outside funding is not unheard of at Alphabet subsidiaries: Autonomous driving unit Waymo raised $16 billion earlier this year. But Hassabis told Bloomberg News that Isomorphic may end up completely on the outside, saying a full spinoff from Alphabet is “definitely” possible.

A blowout figure for April deliveries isn’t quite enough to lift Boeing, but a ceremonial gift from the Middle Kingdom might do the trick.

Shares of the aerospace giant ticked down slightly on Tuesday after it announced 136 orders in April and 47 deliveries; the former is an impressive figure nearly equal to the orders it had booked in the first three months of the year, while the latter slightly trails expectations. But CEO Kelly Ortberg joining the US delegation to a summit between President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping this week could herald a massive win for the company. After all, being a critical piece on the geopolitical chessboard has its perks.

Overseas Destination

Delivering 47 planes in a single month would’ve felt like a minor miracle for Boeing not long ago: For reference, the company delivered just 24 planes in April 2024. These days, it’s a sign that the company’s turnaround isn’t reaching altitude quite fast enough. Investors were hoping that Boeing would reach 50 deliveries a month, according to FactSet data, and 662 planes total this year. Hitting that mark now will require Boeing to accelerate its deliveries to 59 planes a month through the rest of 2026.

On the other hand, demand remains incredibly strong. Boeing booked 284 net orders in the first four months of 2026, its highest total for the period since 2014. And now, it may be on the verge of landing a very, very big deal:

• Last month, Ortberg said in an interview with Reuters that the company was leaning on the White House to land a major order from China, which had been at least partially contingent on access to spare engine parts that had become ensnared in the trade war.
• Bloomberg, meanwhile, reported that the order could amount to as many as 500 737 Max aircraft, reflecting a strong desire from Chinese airlines to quickly expand their fleets.

Debt Weight: If completed, it would amount to one of the single biggest hauls in aviation history. It could reshape how Wall Street views a company that’s not only recovering from years of high-profile safety issues but also remains saddled with a mammoth $47 billion debt load, as well as tip the balance of its plane-making rivalry with Airbus, which booked about 400 orders from January through April.

You say “to-may-to,” I say “to-mah-to,” Kevin Warsh says “higher for longer?”

Tomatoes have become the new eggs, meaning orange is the new yellow when it comes to surging prices in the grocery aisle. Prices for the fruits (or vegetables — it’s not a debate we’re wading into here) soared nearly 40% in April from a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cold temperatures in Florida, poor weather and diseases in Mexico, where an estimated 70% of tomatoes we eat here in the US are grown, tariffs and the rising cost of jet fuel moving through the supply chain are to blame.

Inflation Figures and the Fed

If only foregoing a BLT and ketchup were all it took to bring down bills. Groceries aside, consumer prices overall jumped 3.8% last month from April 2025, the largest increase in nearly three years. Higher energy costs due to conflict in the Middle East are among the culprits, climbing 3.8% from the previous month and roughly 18% from a year ago. But if you eliminate volatile food and energy prices, it’s still a dreary picture for our wallets: The core consumer price index (CPI) jumped 2.8% in April compared with a year ago, an uptick from 2.6% in March.

“I’m looking for anything where I can say, ‘Here’s some relief,’ and that’s not very easy to do in this report,” Michael Reid, chief US economist at RBC Capital Markets, told The New York Times. “Generally, inflation is moving in the wrong direction.”

So what’s this all mean for the Federal Reserve, whose policymakers are closely watching inflation figures for hints about where interest rates should head next?

• Eric Winograd, chief US economist at AllianceBernstein, said he expects the higher prices will keep the Fed from cutting rates further for the time being, barring a “dramatic change in thinking” spurred by Warsh, who’s expected to become the new Fed chair. “I do not expect him to push for near-term rate cuts and expect the Fed to be on hold for the foreseeable future,” Winograd added.
• Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital, said that the current inflation being driven by oil prices rather than broader economic pressure doesn’t change the fact that consumers are paying the prices. “As a result, we expect the Federal Reserve to be on hold through the summer on interest rates.”

Can of Worms: Meanwhile, manufacturers of tin cans that hold everything from beans to tuna to pineapples are getting hit by tariffs when they import the steel. The result? You guessed it: higher food prices.