Jennifer Johnson

Approaching a major international conflict like a Call of Duty campaign.

Breakingviews - SpaceX’s nascent monopoly faces durability test Achieving a valuation of $1 trln or more is only a first step for the rockets‑and‑satellites group. Post IPO, rivals like Amazon will roll out competing broadband services, threatening its market shar...

Tired: SpaceX will be a $1.5 trillion memestock. To the moon!

Wired: SpaceX is a mostly a satcoms business with a lot of new AI risk (and rivals waiting in the wings).

Here’s my latest for @breakingviews.reuters.com:

Breakingviews - Embattled UK royals could use a financial makeover The scandal-plagued House of Windsor is losing public support. There's a risk that future governments question the monarchy's cost, which critics put at $700 mln a year alongside modest benefits. A cl...

Apropos of nothing, some stats from a Breakingviews colleague:

Tourism's share of the UK economy is low by EU standards. The ONS puts its gross value added at £60bn in 2023, under 3% of the total. France and Germany are ~4% (and neither has a monarchy).

YouTube is eating TV (streamers too) - and there's not much that traditional broadcasters can do about it @jen-johnson.bsky.social www.reuters.com/commentary/b...

At one point, investors may have looked at this and thought: "hmm, perhaps there are some major social and/or governance risks here". Now they can just look forward to the trillion-dollar IPO!

No amount of hospitality can save the American people from the president's desire to make them pay more for imported goods!

The UK really pulled out all the stops for that state visit...and still got tariffed for sending a single military officer to Greenland.

Grok no-brainer is make-or-break for EU tech rules European Union lawmakers agree that explicit images generated by Elon Musk’s chatbot are immoral and illegal. The EU Digital Services Act can ban miscreants or fine them up to 6% of sales. If its wiel...

If regulators won’t enforce their digital safety rules now, when will they? Here’s my take on the Grok issue for @breakingviews.reuters.com

www.reuters.com/commentary/b...

Musk's AI bot Grok limits image generation on X to paid users after backlash Elon Musk's startup xAI has restricted the image generation function on its Grok chatbot on social media platform X to paid subscribers, after the tool's use of AI to create sexualized images sparked ...

Wild that this is now necessary to report accurately on a tech platform and its features:

"A Reuters reporter asked Grok on X to convert a picture of himself into one wearing a bikini, echoing what has become a common request [...] by users."
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

The biggest M&A deal ever. An easier ride for fiscally challenged governments. A crypto bailout.

Those are some of the things Breakingviews columnists predict for 2026 in a new e-book, ‘Far Side of the Boom’.

Access the book 👉 reut.rs/3YDKKwu

Or read articles online 👉 reut.rs/45puKSz

Breakingviews - US raid on Venezuela threatens new global ruptures The Trump administration’s seizure of autocrat Nicolas Maduro risks worsening a refugee crisis that has seen 8 mln flee the South American nation while renewing superpower jockeying in the hemisphere. The rash move promises dire uncertainty and increased risk of global conflict.

From Breakingviews - Breakingviews - US raid on Venezuela threatens new global ruptures reut.rs/4jrILFa

Breakingviews - BBC funding options mostly require it to shrink The public broadcaster is renegotiating the $5 bln Britons pay it annually, amid an impartiality storm. If politicians make this ‘licence fee’ optional, the BBC could try funding itself via advertisin...

Put ads everywhere? Turn the BBC into Netflix? On paper, there are plenty of alternatives to the licence fee. In practice, most roads lead to one destination: a shrunken BBC. I look at the numbers in my latest column. www.reuters.com/commentary/b...

The new season of the White Lotus practically writes itself.

EU M&A rules morph from growth catalyst to weapon Brussels’ overhaul of merger guidelines is ostensibly aimed at enabling growth-enhancing deals within the bloc. But amid US trade tensions, souped-up M&A constraints also offer a way for the EU to push back. American and other foreign firms may soon find their wings clipped.

EU M&A rules morph from growth catalyst to weapon - www.breakingviews.com/columns/cons... @jen-johnson.bsky.social

UK cyber support invites more moral hazard The state is guaranteeing a $2 bln loan to JLR, whose IT systems were attacked. Domestic industries received similar support during Covid-19, but this crisis could have been mitigated with proper cyber insurance. A detail-free bailout may encourage others not to pay for cover.

UK cyber support invites more moral hazard - www.breakingviews.com/columns/brea... @jen-johnson.bsky.social

Pretty sharp reversal given Zuckerberg was (reportedly) trying to entice AI talent with billion-dollar pay packages only a few months ago.

Kids will inevitably use VPNs to dodge online age restrictions. And a generation equipped with privacy tools is a lot harder for advertisers to target.

Here's my piece on the knock-on impacts of online safety laws 👇

Suddenly Blue Origin isn't just the rocket company that did the all-female gimmick spaceflight. It's now the heir apparent to all of SpaceX's government launch contracts.

This is the same guy who claims "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming."

RedBird might have got the Telegraph, but its headaches aren't over. Here's my column on the latest chapter in the broadsheet's sale saga. 👇

Exclusive | What Sam Altman Told OpenAI About the Secret Device He’s Making With Jony Ive The idea is a “chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here,” Altman told OpenAI employees Wednesday.

"The Journal earlier reported that the device won’t be a phone, and that Ive and Altman’s intent is to help wean users from screens."

Think I speak for all millennials when I say I'm not excited about the surveillance Tamagotchi.

Iberia mess places timely focus on grid resilience Spain and Portugal are yet to identify the cause of their mega-blackouts. But the need for major investment in electricity grids, to cope with swings in power supply and demand as the world electrifie...

Armchair energy experts started blaming renewables as soon as the lights went out across the Iberian peninsula. Here's my piece on why the grid deserves more attention, regardless of what caused the blackout.

www.breakingviews.com/considered-v...

How it feels explaining The Formula to people who think the UK got off lightly with a 10% tariff.

Apropos of nothing, I've just remembered that Liz Truss blamed the Bank of England for undermining her policies.

Trump tariffs: List of global responses and countermeasures Governments around the world pledged counter measures on the U.S. after President Donald Trump unveiled on Wednesday a new baseline 10% tariff on goods from all countries plus reciprocal tariffs on those that his administration says have high barriers to U.S. imports.

Understandably, most governments favour a "negotiate first, retaliate later" approach. But there's no way the U.S. can hold talks with ~60 aggrieved trading partners at once. Some will surely have to retaliate before they've had chance to plead their cases.

Can’t stop thinking about the big tariff chart Trump was waving around. Did they get it made at a DC print shop yesterday? Or use one of those online services where you send in your PDF and get the poster board mailed to you?

This has the energy of an unhinged game show.

If I heard correctly, Trump just said the Great Depression was caused by a lack of tariffs?

That's just not true. The Smoot-Hawley tariff made matters worse.

I imagine we're going to see a few more journalists adding their Signal accounts to their bios. Just on the off chance they somehow get looped into a top secret intelligence briefing.

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

Obviously this whole thing is wild. But I can't get over the National Security Council spokesperson saying the thread is "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials". Real glass-half-full thinking there.