Luke Vargas

Here is your morning brief for Thursday, January 29th.

I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.

We start in Georgia, where FBI agents have searched the main election office in Fulton County, seeking records related to the 2020 presidential election.

The Trump administration is stepping up efforts to reexamine the president's loss to Joe Biden, with Trump promising last week that, quote, people will soon be prosecuted.

Gold has hit another high, topping the $5,500 mark for the first time as the rush to precious metals continues.

After recording its strongest annual performance since 1979 last year, the World Gold Council said that global demand for the safe haven asset is expected to remain strong this year, driven by lower interest rates and persistent geopolitical risks.

Other metals are also hitting new records this morning, including silver, copper, and palladium.

And Samsung has joined other chipmakers this week in reporting blockbuster earnings amid relentless demand from tech giants investing in the AI build-out.

Meta and Microsoft shares diverged overnight as investors punished Microsoft for its massive outlays while boosting Meta for its monetization of AI-generated ads.

With Apple due to report after markets closed today, investors will be looking to see if the strategy to integrate Alphabet's Gemini into its Siri assistant is more cost-effective than the tech companies betting on building their own AI models.

Meta's off-hours rally has helped to push U.S.

stock futures higher this morning following similar gains in Europe, while Asian stocks ended the day mixed.

And we've got a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast.

You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

FBI agents search a Georgia election office, part of a push to re-examine Trump's 2020 loss.

Plus the backstory on the medals rally that just won't quit.

And investors reward Meta for growing its digital ad revenue as big tech's AI costs pile up.

It's Thursday, January 29th.

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.

Gold has hit another record high, topping the $5,500 mark for the first time as the rush to precious metals continues.