CNBC Daily Open: Tim Cook’s last WWDC, tech IPOs and Middle East tensions

Tensions in the Middle East still continue to simmer as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war “has not yet ended”

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  • Apple CEO Tim Cook attends his last WWDC as CEO
  • OpenAI confidentially files for IPO.
  • Israel claims war against Iran and proxies “has not yet ended.”
  • Alibaba, Baidu and BYD added to U.S. list of companies believed to be aiding Beijing’s military.

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Monday, June 8, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

Tim Cook teared up as he attended his last Worldwide Developers Conference as CEO, while Apple did what appears to be the fashionable thing these days — slapped an AI label on Siri.

Tensions in the Middle East still continue to simmer as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war “has not yet ended” after a cessation of hostilities between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

What you need to know today

An emotional Tim Cook signed off his last WWDC as Apple CEO, while the company rebranded its virtual assistant and chatbot as Siri AI, saying that it will become a “profoundly more capable assistant.”

Apple also unveiled more customization options to the widely panned Liquid Glass interface, saying that it will allow users to adjust settings including transparency, text labels and toolbars.

Elsewhere in the tech space, OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, after rival Anthropic did the same last week and as Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to be listed.

The artificial intelligence company, which is valued at more than $850 billion, has been gearing up to go public as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

While the tech space seems to be ushering in optimism, helping to keep the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite in the green on Monday, geopolitical realities continue to murky the waters for investors.

On Monday, Iran told CNBC that it had ceased strikes against Israel, but will resume hostilities if the Israel Defense Forces continue to attack Lebanon. Tel Aviv upped the ante, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the war against Iran and its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah “has not yet ended.”

These developments sent oil prices higher, with international benchmark Brent up 1.25% to $94.25 a barrel on Monday, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were marginally higher to $91.34 in early Tuesday trade.

A key factor in oil prices being under $100 is China, analysts said, with a rapid reduction in Chinese crude imports helping to contain price rises. Beijing’s move to cut crude imports from 11.7 million barrels a day in February to just under 9 million a day by late May has reduced demand, helping to ease the Strait of Hormuz supply shock.

In Asia, Chinese companies face more scrutiny from the U.S. as Washington expanded its list of firms it believes are aiding Beijing’s military, including tech giant Alibaba, automaker BYD and internet search provider Baidu.

Inclusion in the list means that the U.S. military will not be contracting directly with the named companies, and buying their services and products starting from 2027.

— Lim Hui Jie

And finally…

Airline profits set to halve this year as fuel costs jump by $100 billion: IATA

The International Air Transport Association warned that global airlines can expect to see profits plunge by half in 2026 as the rising cost of jet fuel continues to squeeze the industry.

Oil prices jumped and jet fuel costs soared after the U.S.-Iran conflict began on Feb. 28, noted IATA’s outgoing director general Willie Walsh, adding to the challenges he said airlines have faced in recent years from the Covid-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine.

“As a result, we expect average jet fuel prices to be 70% higher year-on-year,” Walsh said in a report on the State of the Global Air Transport Industry published Sunday. “That will add $100 billion to our collective fuel bill this year.”

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

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