Salesforce reportedly planning $25 billion bond sale to help fund $50 billion buyback
When Salesforce reported earnings last month, it announced a $50 billion share buyback as a show of confidence in its position at a time when investors are questioning AI’s impact on enterprise software. Now, to help fund that buyback, the company is reportedly seeking to sell up to $25 billion in debt — a record sum for Salesforce that could test investor appetite for a more leveraged balance sheet.
Moody’s Ratings called funding the buyback via a bond sale “a material shift in financial policy” and downgraded Salesforce’s credit rating to A2. S&P Global Ratings also lowered its outlook to negative.
Moody’s Ratings called funding the buyback via a bond sale “a material shift in financial policy” and downgraded Salesforce’s credit rating to A2. S&P Global Ratings also lowered its outlook to negative.
Yann LeCun raises $1 billion for his Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, breaking European records
One of the esteemed pioneers of generative AI, Yann LeCun, has raised $1.03 billion in a seed funding round for his company Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, the largest seed round for a European company. This give AMI Labs a pre-money valuation of $3.5 billion.
The company said the round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions. Nvidia, Dassault Group, and global investment firm Temasek are also listed as investors.
After recently leaving Meta, LeCun is making a bold bet that “world models” — which understand how physical objects interact with their environment — are the key to AI’s next big breakthrough, rather than large language models.
The EU is eager to build out its own bench of AI startups as it seeks to build a “Euro stack” that lessens the region’s dependence on American tech companies. The Paris-based AMI Labs will instantly become one of the most important tech companies working on AI in the EU.
The company said the round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions. Nvidia, Dassault Group, and global investment firm Temasek are also listed as investors.
After recently leaving Meta, LeCun is making a bold bet that “world models” — which understand how physical objects interact with their environment — are the key to AI’s next big breakthrough, rather than large language models.
The EU is eager to build out its own bench of AI startups as it seeks to build a “Euro stack” that lessens the region’s dependence on American tech companies. The Paris-based AMI Labs will instantly become one of the most important tech companies working on AI in the EU.
Nvidia partners with Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab for 1 gigawatt of Rubin GPUs
Nvidia announced a “long-term” partnership with AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati.
The deal involves an investment from Nvidia and a commitment to provide 1 gigawatt’s worth of the company’s next-gen Vera Rubin processors to the startup.
Thinking Machines Lab has raised at least $2 billion for a reported valuation of $50 billion.
In January, two of the cofounders of Thinking Machines Lab left for OpenAI, and another left for Meta. The company’s only product is Tinker, a tool that helps developers train AI models.
Thinking Machines Lab has raised at least $2 billion for a reported valuation of $50 billion.
In January, two of the cofounders of Thinking Machines Lab left for OpenAI, and another left for Meta. The company’s only product is Tinker, a tool that helps developers train AI models.
Report: Meta has acquired Moltbook, the AI-only social network
Meta has acquired the startup Moltbook, which is a viral social network where humans are allowed to read, but only AI agents are allowed to post, according to a report by Axios.
Moltbook’s founders, Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr, will join the Meta Superintelligence Lab, which is run by Alexandr Wang, formerly of ScaleAI.
AI super-users are currently obsessed with OpenClaw (formerly named both Clawdbot and Moltbot), a free tool that lets users run AI agents privately on their home computers that can be interfaced via chat apps, like Slack, WhatsApp, or Telegram. The agents are given wide access to users’ data to allow them to take on a wide variety of tasks like managing emails, organizing files, and controlling home automation. The founder of OpenClaw was recently hired by OpenAI, and the project will be reportedly be open-sourced.
A Meta spokesperson told Axios, “The Moltbook team joining MSL opens up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”
It’s not clear if Meta plans on actually doing anything with Moltbook, as it may just be an “acquihire.” Before the acquisition, Schlicht and Parr worked together at Octane AI, an AI e-commerce platform, where Schlicht was CEO and Parr was cofounder and president. Integrating AI features into e-commerce — both for customers and online retailers — has been an area of intense focus recently for AI companies, which are hoping that shoppers will hand off purchases to bots and that sellers will integrate agents into their customer service and back-end processes.
AI super-users are currently obsessed with OpenClaw (formerly named both Clawdbot and Moltbot), a free tool that lets users run AI agents privately on their home computers that can be interfaced via chat apps, like Slack, WhatsApp, or Telegram. The agents are given wide access to users’ data to allow them to take on a wide variety of tasks like managing emails, organizing files, and controlling home automation. The founder of OpenClaw was recently hired by OpenAI, and the project will be reportedly be open-sourced.
A Meta spokesperson told Axios, “The Moltbook team joining MSL opens up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”
It’s not clear if Meta plans on actually doing anything with Moltbook, as it may just be an “acquihire.” Before the acquisition, Schlicht and Parr worked together at Octane AI, an AI e-commerce platform, where Schlicht was CEO and Parr was cofounder and president. Integrating AI features into e-commerce — both for customers and online retailers — has been an area of intense focus recently for AI companies, which are hoping that shoppers will hand off purchases to bots and that sellers will integrate agents into their customer service and back-end processes.
Reuters: SpaceX wants a Nasdaq listing — with early Nasdaq 100 access
SpaceX is leaning toward listing what’s potentially the biggest IPO of all time on the Nasdaq, Reuters reports, contingent on early inclusion on the exchange’s Nasdaq 100 Index. Typically companies have to wait up to a year before being considered for inclusion in indexes like the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100, but Nasdaq recently proposed a change that could decrease that wait time to under a month for megacap companies.
SpaceX is reportedly aiming for a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation and could go public as soon as June. Getting into a major index would spark automatic buying from index funds, lifting demand and liquidity while expanding its investor base. The listing would be a major win for the Nasdaq, reinforcing its dominance in Big Tech IPOs and driving billions in index licensing and trading revenue.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s rocket company has yet to make a final decision on which exchange it will list on, and the New York Stock Exchange is also competing for the listing, Reuters said.
SpaceX is reportedly aiming for a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation and could go public as soon as June. Getting into a major index would spark automatic buying from index funds, lifting demand and liquidity while expanding its investor base. The listing would be a major win for the Nasdaq, reinforcing its dominance in Big Tech IPOs and driving billions in index licensing and trading revenue.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s rocket company has yet to make a final decision on which exchange it will list on, and the New York Stock Exchange is also competing for the listing, Reuters said.
Apple manufactured 55 million iPhones — about 25% of its global production — in India last year, Bloomberg reports. That’s up from about 36 million in 2024, as the company has been trying to decrease reliance and avoid tariffs on China.
That share would put the iPhone maker ahead of Wall Street’s schedule. At the start of 2025, analysts predicted Apple’s iPhone production in India would reach 25% by 2027.
“The vast majority of the iPhones sold in the US, or the majority, I should say, have a country of origin of India,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company’s fiscal Q3 2025 earnings call.
“Tesla killer” Slate Auto switches CEOs ahead of launch later this year
Just months before the expected launch of its $25,000 truck, so-called “Tesla killer” Slate Auto has swapped out its CEO. Former Amazon Marketplace Vice President Peter Faricy is the new leader of the Jeff Bezos-backed company, while the previous CEO, Chris Barman, one of the electric truck maker’s first employees, is now president of vehicles.
“ The marketplace component is really important to us. Being able to understand how to sell things in the 21st century is really important because we're gonna be direct to consumer, without dealerships,” Jeff Jablansky, head of communications at Slate, said of the change. “The way Chris put it is, we are adding horsepower at a critical moment when people are going to be able to actually order their trucks.”
In a social media post just last month, then CEO Barman said the company would unveil the exact price tag for its Blank Slate, which goes on sale late in 2026, in June, but reaffirmed it will be in the mid-$20,000s.
“ The marketplace component is really important to us. Being able to understand how to sell things in the 21st century is really important because we're gonna be direct to consumer, without dealerships,” Jeff Jablansky, head of communications at Slate, said of the change. “The way Chris put it is, we are adding horsepower at a critical moment when people are going to be able to actually order their trucks.”
In a social media post just last month, then CEO Barman said the company would unveil the exact price tag for its Blank Slate, which goes on sale late in 2026, in June, but reaffirmed it will be in the mid-$20,000s.
Amazon’s autonomous ride-hailing service now testing in 10 markets
Amazon self-driving subsidiary Zoox announced Monday that it’s testing in two additional markets, Phoenix and Dallas, bringing its total to 10 US markets. The company will begin by mapping select neighborhoods using retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs with safety drivers behind the wheel, before progressing to autonomous testing and eventually rolling out its steering-wheel-less, purpose-built vehicles for public users.
The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.
Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.
Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.
The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.
Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.
Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.
Microsoft will use Anthropic’s Claude to power “Copilot Cowork”
Microsoft is partnering with Anthropic to power its new agentic offering, Copilot Cowork. The AI world is abuzz with agents that can do your busywork for you, and Anthropic’s Claude Cowork is one of the most prominent and capable offerings in the field.
The tech giant wrote:
“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”
Microsoft listed some examples of how Copilot Cowork could help with common tasks such as rescheduling meetings, sending emails, researching companies, working with spreadsheets, and making presentations.
It’s worth stepping back to note how wild it is that Microsoft, the productivity software behemoth that has absolutely dominated the business world for decades, has had to turn to an AI startup to control those apps.
“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”
Microsoft listed some examples of how Copilot Cowork could help with common tasks such as rescheduling meetings, sending emails, researching companies, working with spreadsheets, and making presentations.
It’s worth stepping back to note how wild it is that Microsoft, the productivity software behemoth that has absolutely dominated the business world for decades, has had to turn to an AI startup to control those apps.
China’s smartphone slump could strengthen Apple
China smartphone shipments fell 22% year over year in January, according to a new Bernstein research note. The drop was partly due to the timing of Lunar New Year and tough comparisons with last year, when government subsidies boosted sales, but rising memory costs are also weighing on demand — especially in the lower-end segment dominated by Chinese brands.
Low-tier shipments fell 37%, hitting brands like Honor and Vivo particularly hard, while high-end sales from Apple and Huawei held up better. Overall average selling prices rose 13%.
That could be good news for Apple, which sits at the more price-insulated upper end of the Chinese market and has been making a comeback in the country. Apple’s market share grew to 18% in January — in line with Huawei — from 14% a year earlier, while the rest of the market fell 2 percentage points to 65%.
With its scale and industry-leading margins, the iPhone maker is better positioned to absorb higher memory costs. To wit: it recently unveiled the $599 iPhone 17e, which keeps its entry price steady with its predecessor while doubling storage.
OpenAI reportedly delaying erotica feature to focus on “gains in intelligence”
OpenAI is delaying its planned “adult mode,” as it seeks to shore up ChatGPT’s core capabilities before the chatbot can generate erotic content.
A source within OpenAI told tech news site Sources that the company will miss its Q1 target for launching the feature:
“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”
The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.
“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”
The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.
Anthropic will sue the Pentagon over supply chain risk designation, Amodei says
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a public post that the company will sue the Pentagon after receiving a letter from the Department of Defense officially designating Anthropic as “a supply chain risk to America’s national security.”
Amodei says that the effect of the unprecedented designation for an American company is more narrow than originally described, and that most of its customers would not be affected.
“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”
Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”
The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.
“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”
Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”
The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.
SoftBank is going to great lengths to double down on OpenAI — including taking on significant debt. After completing a $40 billion investment to become one of the ChatGPT maker’s largest backers, the Japanese conglomerate is now seeking a roughly $40 billion loan with a 12-month term, Bloomberg reports.
The financing would be SoftBank’s largest-ever dollar-denominated deal. The AI investment has helped lift profits, but it is also pressuring SoftBank’s credit profile.
OpenAI releases GPT-5.4 with more “professional work” skills
Feeling the heat from Anthropic’s success with enterprise customers, OpenAI released GPT-5.4, a new model that excels at “professional work.”
OpenAI says the new model has improved capabilities for “professional tasks involving spreadsheets, presentations, and documents. The result is a model that gets complex real work done accurately, effectively, and efficiently — delivering what you asked for with less back and forth.”
The company says the model has advanced computer use skills and supports up to 1 million tokens of context — a measure of the maximum amount of information that can be read and accessed when generating a response, allowing for more complex tasks.
The company says the model has advanced computer use skills and supports up to 1 million tokens of context — a measure of the maximum amount of information that can be read and accessed when generating a response, allowing for more complex tasks.
Report: Amodei told staff that Anthropic was targeted for lack of “dictator-style praise” for Trump
More details are leaking out from Anthropic about how CEO Dario Amodei explained the company’s dramatic schism with the Pentagon over its AI terms of use.
The Information shared details from a leaked 1,600-word memo to employees that Amodei reportedly sent on Friday after the Trump administration attacked the startup.
Per the report, Amodei told his staff that the reason the company was on the outs with the Trump administration was the fact that it had not given “dictator-style praise” to President Trump, “(while Sam has),” referring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Amodei also noted that OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife donated $25 million to the MAGA Inc super PAC, which likely put their competitor in the good graces of Trump and co.
Per the report, Amodei told his staff that the reason the company was on the outs with the Trump administration was the fact that it had not given “dictator-style praise” to President Trump, “(while Sam has),” referring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Amodei also noted that OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife donated $25 million to the MAGA Inc super PAC, which likely put their competitor in the good graces of Trump and co.
“Fortnite” returning to the Play Store worldwide after Google lowers fees and opens Android
After years of fighting with “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, Google is hitting reset on Android — cutting Play Store fees, loosening its grip on billing, and making it easier for rival app stores to set up shop on millions of devices.
The move could also dent one of Google’s lucrative businesses: Play Store commissions.
In a blog post Tuesday, Google said it will let developers use their own billing systems alongside Google Play’s, link out to external purchase pages, and distribute apps through third-party app stores that meet Google’s safety standards. The company is also lowering Play Store fees in key markets, with billing fees around 5% for developers that use Google’s system, service fees roughly 20% on new installs, and subscription fees around 10%. The changes will roll out on a staggered schedule, beginning mid-2026.
In a corresponding post, Epic said “Fortnite” would expand worldwide on Google Play. “These changes will evolve Android into a true open platform,” the company wrote. “Fortnite” returned to the Play Store in the US in December after the two companies reached a settlement following years of antitrust battles.
In a blog post Tuesday, Google said it will let developers use their own billing systems alongside Google Play’s, link out to external purchase pages, and distribute apps through third-party app stores that meet Google’s safety standards. The company is also lowering Play Store fees in key markets, with billing fees around 5% for developers that use Google’s system, service fees roughly 20% on new installs, and subscription fees around 10%. The changes will roll out on a staggered schedule, beginning mid-2026.
In a corresponding post, Epic said “Fortnite” would expand worldwide on Google Play. “These changes will evolve Android into a true open platform,” the company wrote. “Fortnite” returned to the Play Store in the US in December after the two companies reached a settlement following years of antitrust battles.
Apple debuts $599 Google Chromebook competitor
Apple’s latest product announcement this week is an opening salvo against Google’s ubiquitous Chromebook. On Wednesday, the iPhone maker unveiled the MacBook Neo, which starts at $599 — or $499 for students — the lowest price ever for a MacBook. Apple typically skews to the high end of the market.
The Neo is still more expensive than typical Chromebooks, which are hugely popular in schools, but it’s less stripped down, with a sharper display, aluminum case, and a more powerful processor than many Chromebook models.
