Wall Street's latest AI spook, Netflix layoffs, 'good debt' and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Thursday. CNBC's "Halftime Report" and "Closing Bell" will both air live from San Francisco for special "AI in America" shows today. Watch live on CNBC or CNBC+.

Nasdaq futures are lower this morning. The market is coming off a rough day, which we recap below.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

After a quiet start to the week, investors sent stocks sliding in yesterday's session amid worries of artificial intelligence overspending. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each dropped more than 1%, marking their worst days in over two months.

Here's what to know:

• CoreWeave shares led the way, dropping more than 15% for its worst day since February as investors grew concerned tech companies are borrowing too much to fund their AI build-outs. Yields on the company's debt also surged higher.
• As CNBC's Oliver Renick reports, options volume in CoreWeave jumped yesterday as traders loaded up on "bubble puts."
• Dell had its biggest one-day loss in more than a year, leading a group of data center equipment stocks into the red.
• Beyond tech, Bank of America shares lost almost 5% after revenue missed Wall Street's expectations.
• But it wasn't all bad news: Berkshire Hathaway made a $330 million investment in Bending Spoons, sending shares of the serial acquirer surging 41%. Berkshire's Class A shares are riding a 10-day winning streak for the first time since 2018.
• Chip stocks are continuing their sell-off in premarket trading this morning, with Nvidia dropping 1.6%, AMD shedding more than 3% and Micron declining 4.5%. Follow live market updates here.

Yesterday's consumer price index data came in hotter than economists anticipated on a 12-month basis, largely thanks to surging energy prices.

The report marked the 66th straight annual CPI reading above the widely accepted inflation target of 2%, according to a CNBC analysis. That's the longest such stretch in this century. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack warned last week consumers might be starting to accept high inflation as a "fact of life," which could have negative implications for the effectiveness of monetary policy tools.

September's producer price index — which tracks wholesaler inflation — and retail sales data are slated to be released this morning.

Speaking of energy prices: Diesel prices remain elevated in the run-up to the midterm election. CNBC's Gabriel Cortés reports that analysts don't expect costs to come down anytime soon, even with President Donald Trump's recent diesel deal with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also told the Financial Times that Kyiv would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries, saying Moscow didn't hold up its end of the "energy ceasefire" Trump announced on Sunday. The proposed truce was another apparent attempt at lowering diesel and oil prices.

Meanwhile, a container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday as Iran ramps up attacks on commercial vessels in an effort to block crude exports in the passageway.

Netflix said in a memo obtained by CNBC that it will lay off around 6% of its workforce, which equates to about 1,000 employees. The cuts mainly impact the streamer's product, tech, legal and HR teams.

The layoffs come just a few weeks after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that the streaming giant was "not growing as fast as I want." Sarandos and his co-CEO Greg Peters wrote in the memo to employees yesterday that "our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full year forecast."

Mark your calendars: Netflix reports earnings on Tuesday.

Mortgages and student loans have typically been dubbed "good debt." In a new series of articles out this morning, CNBC's reporters examine what that term actually means and what questions to consider before taking "good debt" on.

Experts warn that this rosy label can sometimes mask risk that borrowers may not be able to afford. That's an especially important question for college students and their parents, as the perceived benefits of higher education shift.

Merck CEO Rob Davis told CNBC's Annika Kim Constantino yesterday that he expects manufacturing of the company's breakthrough cancer vaccine with Moderna to get faster over time. Here's what he said:

— CNBC's Michelle Fox, Oliver Renick, Isabel O'Brien, Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Hugh Son, CJ Haddad, Paulina Likos, Lee Ying Shan, Sawdah Bhaimiya, Jeff Cox, Greg Iacurci, Gabriel Cortés, Elsa Ohlen, Spencer Kimball, Catriona Marangi, Sarah Whitten, Jessica Dickler, Annie Nova, Stephanie Dhue and Annika Kim Constantino contributed to this report.

Caleigh Keating assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.