| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a catalytic categorization of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Japanese cats have captivated global business for decades. Hello Kitty! has generated more than $80 billion for Sanrio Co. Ltd. in the last half century. Meanwhile, the maneki-neko — beckoning cats — that emerged in 17th-century temples in the islands entice customers with their waving paws into Chinese restaurants everywhere. Ironically, cats play an ambiguous role in Japanese culture. In a country that values unstinting devotion, neko never had the prestige of inu (dogs), as embodied in Hachiko. That would be the dog who went each day to Shibuya station to wait for his owner to return — and continued to do so a decade into the death of his human. Cats cast duplicitous shadows: suspected of shape-shifting abilities and crossing into supernatural dimensions. Or they are simply pretentious. Natsume Soseki's famous novel I Am a Cat (吾輩は猫である, pronounced Wagahai wa neko de aru) features a pompous feline narrator who uses a first-person pronoun — wagahai — that works somewhat like the royal we. But over the last 10 years, cats have come to rule Japan. More people own cats than dogs. February 22 is celebrated as neko no hi (or Cat Day) partly because the numbers 2-2-2 of the date sound like how cats mew in Japanese. Gearoid Reidy writes, "The ubiquitous convenience store chains compete to see who can sell the most themed desserts and merchandise, this year featuring paw-shaped puddings." One professor, who puts out a yearly report called "Nekonomics," says the cat industry in Japan is worth 3 trillion yen ($19.5 billion) annually. Cats have also claimed the hearts (and homes) of the current emperor and the new prime minister. Why the change from dogs to cats? Gearoid notes that "An aging population and increased flow of people to cramped urban centers means less time and space to keep dogs that need to be walked." But demographics can cut both ways. As the human population shrinks, so has the number of pets, including cats. Sic transit gloria mewndi. Will India Get Its DeepSeek Moment? | This week, India and its prime minister Narendra Modi played host to Silicon Valley titans who'd assembled in New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit — the first in the global south following meetings in the UK, South Korea and France. Catherine Thorbecke was there for the show. "The South Asian nation," she notes, "is now the second-largest userbase of ChatGPT after the US. It also leads the world in generative AI app downloads, growing 207% year-over-year in 2025, compared with 63% in the US." But this doesn't mean that India is an AI powerhouse. She wonders "why India, with undeniably deep tech talent, has never had a 'DeepSeek moment,'" — citing China's low-cost AI breakthrough last year. "If the summit was meant to showcase India as an AI builder, [it] also exposed why so many of its best and brightest are seeking opportunities elsewhere." The summit panoply seemed just as much a celebration of Modi as it did of AI. "AI's promises and hypocrisies were on open display in Delhi," she observes. "Under a banner of 'democratizing AI,' hotel rooms went for as much as $33,000 a night while homeless people were forcibly moved along the road to the venue." She says, "India is a test case for whether AI diffusion empowers everyday people or widens inequality." "Artificial intelligence fears have ripped through stock and bond markets, but investors in loans and private credit are still playing catch-up. Part of the problem is working out which areas of the debt market are exposed to disruption and which aren't. Because fund managers apply industry categories in varying ways, some companies that are really software sellers are misclassified as anything from retailers to food producers. … Different business models within the software industry — whatever their labels — will prove more or less vulnerable to AI disruption. Investors in loan-focused mutual funds, collateralized loan obligations, business-development companies and private-credit funds all have work to do to comprehend their holdings." — Paul J. Davies in "Private Credit Should Worry About a Singularity in Software Debt."  "For the last few years, the energy market has weathered multiple Middle East crises. In 2020 the US military killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military leader. In 2024 Tehran fired missiles at Tel Aviv. Last June, Trump bombed Tehran's nuclear installations. On each occasion, oil prices barely moved. With hindsight, every oil-price rally was an opportunity to bet on it falling back again. It required nerves of steel, but short selling crude while the bombs and missiles were flying was a winning trade. And that's what many oil traders did. But I worry Washington is lulling itself into a false sense of security." — Javier Blas in "The White House Is Too Sure About Iran and Oil Prices." What Mountbatten-Windsor must answer for. — Rosa Prince The US navy's ambitious battle plan. — James Stavridis Walmart's real deals versus AI obsession. — Andrea Felsted Trump's fossil fuel buddy in Tokyo. — David Fickling AI panic is running on vibes — Parmy Olson Following the money … out of the US. — Marcus Ashworth Walk of the Town: Up the Hudson | This week, I wrote a lament on restaurants that have suffered through physical and financial cataclysm. I am grateful that one of my favorite restaurants has survived the traumas of the last couple of decades — and is as exquisite an experience as it ever was, if not more. That would be Blue Hills at Stone Barns, which has been around since 2004. It's not practical to walk all the way there. I usually take a 45-minute train ride up to Tarrytown along the east side of the Hudson River, and then a 15-minute cab to the farm where chef Dan Barber operates the pioneering farm-to-table restaurant. It's particularly beautiful on a recent Sunday for lunch, its interior illuminated by winter light.  The approach into Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Barber and his culinary style are also survivors of years of criticism and barbs (for example, he is both blamed and credited for the popularization of kale). But he remains one of the most consistent and enthusiastic collaborators with farmers in the pursuit of flavor and innovative cooking.  Presenting the monkfish of which the jowl would be served. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg The lunch I had there in early February ranged from land to sea — plus experiments in the breeding of chilis and beets. It consisted of 30 courses and took six hours. But it was a constant conversation about what was on the dish and how it got there, including misadventures along the way. It remains one of the most profound experiences in the world of fine dining. Beware of waggily tails.  "Down, boy. You are not a dog and I am not your best friend." Illustration by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Notes: Send feedback — but no pet peeves — to Howard Chua-Eoan at hchuaeoan@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and find us on Bluesky, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads. | 
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