Token Costs Have Execs Rethinking AI Rollouts

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Is Hamas ready to lay down arms? Washington says yes. We'll get the latest. Plus, Spain deploys its military after thousands of migrants pour into its territory from neighboring Morocco. And as their employees burn through tokens, executives rethink their AI rollouts.

Dan Diasio (0:51)

82 percent of corporations are now concerned about the token costs that they're seeing inside their business. For many corporations, the era of unlimited AI access is ending.

Luke Vargas (1:05)

It's Friday, July 31st. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

US officials say that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups have agreed to a plan that would see them disarm and cede power in Gaza if Israel withdraws from the enclave and allows in humanitarian aid. The announcement is the culmination of months of diplomacy between the US., Israel, Hamas and Middle East mediators, as well as the Board of Peace created by President Trump to oversee Gaza's transition. However, Journal Middle East reporter Feliz Solomon says that neither Hamas nor Israel has explicitly agreed to the plan.

Feliz Solomon (1:47)

A member of Hamas' negotiating team told the Wall Street Journal that the group had agreed to place its weapons in a storage facility overseen by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is a Palestinian technocratic group that ultimately will be charged with taking over the administration of the Gaza Strip. They didn't say that they had agreed to fully disarm. This is a sticking point because Israel has said that they demand the full disarmament of Hamas before they would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

A lot of the details still need to be worked out, such as when and how the disarmament would take place, how long it would take, what exactly would be handed over, and what would happen to those weapons. The Palestinian police force that is meant to actually collect and decommission the weapons from Hamas has not been fully formed.

The International Stabilization Force, which is a new peacekeeping force that was established by Trump's Board of Peace is also still at very early stages. There are very few members of the ISF so far, and none of them have been deployed to Gaza. And it could actually take many months to stand up the peacekeeping force and the police force that will actually provide the personnel to make this really happen.

Luke Vargas (3:01)

Still, officials said the agreement could mark a new era for Gaza.

Feliz Solomon (3:05)

If Hamas does disarm, it would be a huge development. This has long been a sticking point. They have resisted this from the very beginning because its resistance is the entire ethos and identity of Hamas.

Disarmament would clear the way for the rest of Trump's peace plan to be rolled out. As long as Hamas is still present as a political and military force in the Gaza Strip, the new Palestinian Technocratic Committee that is supposed to come in and govern Gaza cannot come in and begin its work. And as long as that doesn't happen, reconstruction cannot fully begin.

Luke Vargas (3:44)

Mediators say that Israel has yet to approve the agreement and the talks with Hamas will continue today in Egypt. Spain is deploying the military to its North African territory, Ceuta, after thousands of migrants poured across the border from neighboring Morocco yesterday.

Footage showed large crowds of mostly young men climbing over fences and swimming around breakwaters. Authorities say that at least 10 people died trying to reach the tiny enclave by sea.

Margherita Stancati (4:15)

The crisis didn't actually start on Thursday. It started a bit earlier in recent days, following a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court. It basically made it harder for migrants who reach the territory of Ceuta or another similar territory called Melilla to be returned to Moroccan territory.

Luke Vargas (4:31)

Reporter Margherita Stancati says that both countries have since reached a tentative deal to return migrants who entered Spain illegally, but the pressure on the center-left government in Madrid continues to rise.

Margherita Stancati (4:43)

The migrant crisis in Ceuta is a big political problem for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who's been a lot more lenient towards illegal migration than many of his European counterparts. The migrant crisis that is unfolding in Ceuta combined with Sánchez's relatively pro-immigration posture has given political ammunition to the Spanish Premier's political rivals. So we've seen people like Elon Musk commenting on the situation on social media, calling it an invasion. We have the right-wing Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgio Meloni, saying that Italy is actually considering suspending the Schengen Agreement, which essentially allows the free movement of people within Europe because of what's happening in Ceuta.