Consumer Tech (Oct 19-23): OpenAI Reportedly Seeks $30 Billion, Tesla Cuts 2026 Capex Forecast, Anthropic Commits To Over $600 Billion & More

U.S. restrictions on high-bandwidth memory and semiconductor manufacturing equipment are limiting China’s ability to produce advanced AI chips, but experts warn the measures could also accelerate Beijing’s efforts to replace American technology.

President Donald Trump considered adding the Atlantic Ocean to his growing list of American-named geographic features, but said Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai discouraged the idea.

Software & Semiconductors

li>SK Hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY) said it has put on hold a planned U.S. listing of its Solidigm chip unit, citing capital market conditions and share price trends, in another sign that market volatility is chilling the IPO market./li> li>Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)/a> posted first-quarter earnings of $4.64 per share, topping the Wall Street estimate of $4.06, according to Benzinga Pro data. Revenue came in at $4.38 billion, above the $4.14 billion analysts expected./li> li>Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)/a> became the Official AI Fan Experience Partner for BWT Alpine Formula One Team. The global premium partnership aims to reshape fan experiences by bringing together AI-powered content creation with deep data insights, driving visibility across AI search and providing fans design tools to create shareable content./li> li>Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) grew revenue 26% in the third quarter and beat its own forecast. It also spent more money than it brought in, a first in more than a decade of quarterly cash flow data./li> li>Meta plans to create a new class of non-voting shares it can use to raise capital, pay employees and buy other companies as it pours money into AI. A close read of the company’s filing, however, turns up two drawbacks./li> li>Meta has struck an agreement designed to keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg in California, addressing the possibility that a proposed billionaire wealth tax could prompt him to relocate. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the company can reach superintelligence by scaling up its models, with larger ones already in training that he expects to be far more capable./li> li>Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said the U.S. must treat China as a major rival in chips, AI, and research while competing globally through innovation and infrastructure./li> li>Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai says artificial intelligence is still far from independently building more powerful versions of itself, even as Google increasingly relies on AI to develop its next models. Sundar Pichai says Google is giving up potential Cloud revenue to prioritize AI research, even as customers struggle to secure computing capacity./li> li>Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) just posted its fifth straight record quarter, with sales up 54% and profit margins at all-time highs. Investors responded by wiping about $24 billion off its value before Thursday’s opening bell./li> li>Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates and issuing upbeat fourth-quarter guidance./li> li>Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is rejecting an advanced memory architecture gaining attention after Chinese rival ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) reported progress./li> li>QuantumScape Corp. (NASDAQ:QS) posted its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results after Wednesday’s closing bell. The company reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and announced plans for a new production line targeting demand for solid-state batteries across sectors such as AI data centers, aerospace and defense./li> li>International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM)/a> posted third-quarter revenue of $17.10 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $16.82 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.95 per share for the quarter, beating estimates of $2.86 per share./li> li>Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) reported stronger pricing for computing capacity, signaling resilient demand despite growing concerns over debt-funded AI infrastructure spending./li> li>Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares are trading higher on Wednesday, ending an 11-session losing streak after the company unveiled an AI factory deployment model with NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) at GTC Berlin./li> li>Amkor Technology Inc (NASDAQ:AMKR) shares are trading higher on Wednesday after it secured a new $1.3 billion agreement with NVIDIA to expand semiconductor packaging capacity in South Korea./li> li>Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)/a> now expects first-quarter revenue of $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion, up from its previous forecast of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion./li> li>Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) unveiled long-term financial targets and new artificial intelligence-powered products at its Zoomtopia event./li> li>Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is reportedly preparing to cut jobs globally following its annual employee performance reviews, as the semiconductor company seeks to strengthen its performance culture amid slowing smartphone demand./li> li>Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Braze Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) for approximately $5.66 billion in enterprise value, expanding its artificial intelligence and customer engagement capabilities./li>

Retail, Entertainment, Telecom & Energy

li>Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance./li> li>Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) is embracing the rise of AI agents, betting that integrations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) Muse and other assistants will expand access to its music catalog without weakening its relationship with listeners./li> li>Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings Thursday as growing demand from artificial intelligence and cloud customers boosted data-center networking sales, offsetting sluggish spending by traditional telecom operators./li> li>Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is buying billions in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI hardware, but some new server racks are sitting in warehouses because its data centers lack the electricity to run them, Business Insider reported Tuesday./li> li>Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) says membership gains, pricing and advertising could sustain double-digit revenue growth into 2027, despite slower-than-desired viewing growth. CFO Spencer Neumann said Tuesday that the streamer wants faster view-hour growth and is not happy with where it stands, and the company has Brad Pitt‘s return as Cliff Booth, Narnia, and NFL games lined up to help lift it./li>

br>Airlines, Automobiles, & Satellites

li>American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) CEO Robert Isom reaffirmed his commitment to Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) Starlink satellite internet service despite questions about disrupted Ukrainian military communications, arguing that passengers deserve the best available in-flight connectivity./li> li>Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) is announcing its newest air-taxi network expansion, with three locations planned in Texas, adding to its growing list of locations across the United States./li> li>A potential merger of Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) will require approval from controlling investor Elon Musk, even though he has recused himself from talks over conflicts of interest./li> li>Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) lowered its 2026 capital expenditure outlook by 20% to about $20 billion from $25 billion, prompting GLJ Research CEO Gordon Johnson to question whether the spending reduction carries broader implications for the AI investment cycle./li> li>Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Megapack battery storage systems are nearly sold out through 2027, highlighting surging demand for its energy business as Tesla races to expand production and capitalize on improving profitability./li> li>Space Exploration Technologies sees a path to $1 trillion in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2027, but his CFO’s near-term forecast suggests a very different scale of business./li> li>Elon Musk touted explosive growth in the company’s autonomous driving operations, saying its Cybercab fleet in Austin expanded tenfold within roughly a month as weekly driverless mileage climbed at an extraordinary pace./li> li>Elon Musk said some humanoid robot demonstrations rely on pre-programmed tasks and he aims to release footage of Optimus working without a script in a month or two, ahead of its first deliveries to other companies late next year./li> li>United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) CEO Scott Kirby says that the flight carrier is already seeing positive results from its deal with Space Exploration to provide Starlink internet on its flights./li> li>AEVEX Corp. (NYSE:AVEX) shares are trending after the company pushed back on reports about its Navy drone program./li> li>Redwire Corporation (NYSE:RDW) shares rose on Wednesday after the company signed a memorandum of understanding with EnduroSat to pursue European government, defense and commercial space infrastructure projects./li> li>General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)/a> expects Super Cruise penetration across its full-size truck portfolio to increase four to five times in 2027, CEO Mary Barra said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call./li>

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

li>OpenAI is reportedly seeking about $30 billion in fresh funding at a valuation near $1.25 trillion, reducing its earlier target./li> li>Anthropic PBC has signed up for more than $600 billion in long-term computing capacity, and its own draft IPO prospectus says the company still cannot get as much as it wants./li>