Traders slashed odds that the Supreme Court will uphold President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs after justices on Wednesday signaled doubts about the legality of the administration’s sweeping trade powers.

On Kalshi, contracts tied to whether the court would rule in favor of Trump’s tariffs slipped to around 30% from nearly 50% before Wednesday’s hearing.

A similar contract on platform Polymarket dropped to about 30% from more than 40% earlier in the week, reflecting traders’ growing belief that the justices may strike down the policy.

The moves came after several conservative justices joined their liberal colleagues in expressing unease about the broad authority Trump claimed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imports. They sharply questioned Solicitor General D. John Sauer on the Trump administration’s legal justification of the tariffs, which critics say infringes on the power of Congress to tax.

Lower federal courts have ruled that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners, and fentanyl tariffs on products from Canada, China and Mexico.

Prediction markets, which allow traders to bet on real-world events, often react swiftly to perceived signals during high-profile court hearings. Wednesday’s shift suggested that traders viewed the justices’ tone as an indicator of headwinds for the president’s trade agenda.

The Supreme Court will not issue a decision in the case on Wednesday. It is not clear when the court will release its ruling.

Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis on Wednesday braced staff for more job cuts and said the carrier plans to slash its schedule in November to reduce costs weeks after declaring its second bankruptcy in less than a year.

The airline is planning its November schedule and Davis told employees in a memo, which was reviewed by CNBC, that they will see a 25% cut in capacity over 2024 “as we optimize our network to focus on our strongest markets.”

The carrier’s capacity was down a similar degree from when it came out of bankruptcy in March through the end of June, and the new cuts point to how the airline is thinking about its near-term schedule as it seeks to reduce costs. The struggling discount carrier is in negotiations with vendors and aircraft lessors, and is evaluating its fleet size, as it tries to shrink itself to find more stable footing, Davis said.

“These evaluations will inevitably affect the size of our teams as we become a more efficient airline,” Davis wrote in his note to employees. “Unfortunately, these are the tough calls we must make to emerge stronger. We know this adds uncertainty, and we are committed to keeping you as these decisions are made.”

When asked how many of its employees would be affected, Spirit told CNBC in an email: “We have engaged our labor unions to discuss the impacts of the network and fleet adjustments on our Team Members, and we will share more as these discussions progress.”

The airline has already announced furloughs and demotions of hundreds of pilots. Some flights attendants have already taken voluntary unpaid leaves of absence.

“Although management has not yet indicated they will seek to make changes to our [collective bargaining agreement], our bankruptcy attorneys working alongside our AFA legal department are prepared for any next steps management may take,” Spirit flight attendants’ union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told staff in on Wednesday. “Again, this bankruptcy will be much more difficult than the last one and we must be prepared to act to protect our interests as Flight Attendants.”

Davis said the company is also planning to meet with the airlines’ union leaders in the coming weeks. The airline has already announced furloughs and demotions of hundreds of pilots. Some flights attendants have already taken voluntary unpaid leaves of absence.

Spirit, known for its bright yellow planes, low fares and myriad fees, had been successful but high costs, shifting travel preferences and increased competition from larger rivals threw the airline off course. A failed acquisition by JetBlue Airways left the carrier on its own.

When Spirit emerged from bankruptcy in March, its leaders were hoping to find more stable financial footing. But the carrier avoided big changes in the process and instead focused on a deal with its bondholders, which exchanged almost $800 million in debt for equity, and it was greeted after bankruptcy with persistently higher costs and weaker-than-expected domestic travel demand.

It reported that it lost nearly $257 million since March 13, after it exited Chapter 11, through the end of June.

Earlier this month, Spirit announced flight cuts to 11 destinations and said it wouldn’t start a 12th as planned, while competitors like United Airlines, Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways have unveiled plans for new flights to try to win over Spirit customers.

BEIJING — Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group is using both Chinese and U.S.-made semiconductors for building more efficient artificial intelligence models, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The combination of chips not only reduces the time and cost of training AI models, but also limits reliance on a single supplier such as Nvidia, the source said, noting the industry trend of tapping multiple networks, known as mixture of experts — a technique that allows models to be trained with much less compute.

The company earlier this month said in a paper it was able to use lower-cost hardware to effectively train its own MoE models, reducing computing costs by 20%.

Ant operates Alipay, one of the two major apps for mobile payments in China. Jack Ma founded the company and its affiliate, Alibaba.

Bloomberg reported Monday, citing sources, that Ant has used chips from Alibaba and Huawei for training AI models. Ant also used Nvidia chips but now relies more on alternatives from Advanced Micro Devices and Chinese chips, according to the Bloomberg report.

Ant did declined CNBC’s request for comment.

The company on Monday announced “major upgrades” to its AI solutions for healthcare, which it said were being used by seven major hospitals and healthcare institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo.

The healthcare AI model is built on DeepSeek’s R1 and V3 models, Alibaba’s Qwen and Ant’s own BaiLing. Ant’s healthcare-specific model is able to answer questions about medical topics, and can also help improve patient services, according to the company statement.

The U.S. has sought to restrict China’s AI development by limiting Chinese businesses’ access to the most advanced semiconductors used for training models. Nvidia can still sell its lower-end chips to China.

Elon Musk’s business empire is sprawling. It includes electric vehicle maker Tesla, social media company X, artificial intelligence startup xAI, computer interface company Neuralink, tunneling venture Boring Company and aerospace firm SpaceX. 

Some of his ventures already benefit tremendously from federal contracts. SpaceX has received more than $19 billion from contracts with the federal government, according to research from FedScout. Under a second Trump presidency, more lucrative contracts could come its way. SpaceX is on track to take in billions of dollars annually from prime contracts with the federal government for years to come, according to FedScout CEO Geoff Orazem.

Musk, who has frequently blamed the government for stifling innovation, could also push for less regulation of his businesses. Earlier this month, Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were tapped by Trump to lead a government efficiency group called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

In a recent commentary piece in the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote that DOGE will “pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings.” They went on to say that many existing federal regulations were never passed by Congress and should therefore be nullified, which President-elect Trump could accomplish through executive action. Musk and Ramaswamy also championed the large-scale auditing of agencies, calling out the Pentagon for failing its seventh consecutive audit. 

“The number one way Elon Musk and his companies would benefit from a Trump administration is through deregulation and defanging, you know, giving fewer resources to federal agencies tasked with oversight of him and his businesses,” says CNBC technology reporter Lora Kolodny.

To learn how else Elon Musk and his companies may benefit from having the ear of the president-elect watch the video.

Dutch challenger bank Bunq told CNBC that it plans to grow its global headcount by 70% this year to over 700 employees, even as other financial technology startups have decided to cut jobs.

Bunq, which operates in markets across the European Union, is looking to expand into new regions including the U.K. and the United States, taking on the fintechs already in those countries, including the likes of Britain’s Monzo and Revolut, and American neobank Chime.

Bunq said it needs corresponding talent in those regions to support its global expansion ambitions. To that end, the firm said it plans to see out the year with 735 employees globally — up 72% from its 427 members of staff at the start of 2024.

“Bunq focusses on digital nomads who tend to roam the world,” Ali Niknam, Bunq’s CEO and co-founder, told CNBC via emailed comments.

So-called “digital nomads” are defined as people who travel freely while working remotely, using technology and the internet to work abroad from hotels, cafes, libraries, co-working spaces, or temporary housing.

“We’d love to be able to service our users wherever they go — given the regulatory environment we’re in, this results in us having to have a lot of extra people to make this happen,” Niknam added.

Bunq is currently in the process of applying for banking licenses in both the U.S. and U.K. Last year, the firm submitted an application for a federal banking license. And in the U.K., Bunq is awaiting a decision from financial regulators on an application to become a licensed e-money institution, or EMI.

The digital bank said it was actively looking to hire across sales and business development, product marketing, PR, affiliate marketing, and market analysis, as well as user support, development, and quality assurance.

Many of these positions will be part of a “tailored digital nomad” program that allows staff to work from anywhere in the world, Bunq said.

However, the firm stressed it’s not closing down office space and that many new hires would work in its offices, including in Amsterdam, Sofia, Istanbul, Munich, Paris, Dublin, Madrid, London, and New York City.