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Jensen Huang’s scandal blew up: Nvidia’s board opened a probe after he admitted an affair with an alleged Chinese spy, Rubio’s memo surfaced, and shell firms got H200 approvals. Also, I covered Apple’s John Ternus pushing Siri toward agents. Sources: US officials believe Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, who they allege was recruited to spy for China’s top spy agency, MSS (Financial Times) Nvidia’s board launched a probe into whether Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign spy plot, after he admitted to the board he’d been intimate with an executive US intelligence determined to be a Chinese spy; Huang apologized and will keep leading Nvidia during the inquiry (The New York Times) Jensen Huang’s scandal poses a rare crisis in US corporate history, given the national security stakes, his centrality to Nvidia, and its role in the AI race (Semafor) Sources: John Ternus wants more urgency in Apple’s AI efforts, pushing Craig Federighi to move beyond Siri AI tweaks to agentic and other advanced capabilities (Bloomberg) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

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Investors grew skeptical Anthropic’s IPO could land a $1.5T valuation after a brutal chip selloff. Thinking Machines unveiled Inkling 2 Small, Tesla announced it would wind down the Cybertruck, and Anthropic launched Personal Finance in Claude. Plus, Microsoft’s buyouts. Sources: major investors are increasingly skeptical Anthropic’s IPO can proceed at a $1.5T valuation after a market selloff; one says it could be closer to $1T (WSJ) The Nasdaq 100 fell 6% on Thursday, losing a record $2.3T in value, as the Philadelphia chip index fell 12% and vol control funds were expected to sell about $135B of US equity futures (Bloomberg) Thinking Machines Lab debuts Inkling 2 Small, a MoE model with 594B total and 17B active parameters, and plans to release weights next week after safety testing (Thinking Machines) Inkling 2 Small scored 31 on Artificial Analysis’ Intelligence Index, an 18-point jump, but used roughly four times as many output tokens per task; Thinking Machines is reportedly nearing a $5B round led by Accel (TechStrong.ai) Elon Musk says Tesla plans to wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas Gigafactory around mid-2027 “to make room for increased Cybercab production” (Financial Times) Anthropic launches Personal Finance in Claude, letting users connect bank and credit card accounts via Plaid with read-only access to analyze spending trends (ZDNet) Longreads How employees at Microsoft, long known for its stability in the tech industry, are grappling with its decision to offer buyouts to 60,000 people as AI spending grows (The New York Times) AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

OpenAI pledged to rethink data center deals, dropping NDAs, after the blue wave rattled AI. Motorola launched a $1,599 flagship, OpenAI released GPT-6 Cyber, and Apple’s touchscreen MacBook Pro reviews said the screen’s gorgeous, but you don’t have to touch it. OpenAI pledges to change how it handles data center deals, including avoiding NDAs and lowering power usage during peak times, after Democrats’ midterm wins (Bloomberg) AI’s biggest names watched Figaro at the San Francisco Opera on election night as results turned against the data center build-out; OpenAI leaders weighed resetting next year’s capacity expectations, CoreWeave fell nearly 10%, and Brad Gerstner says 25% to 35% of next year’s US build-out could be at risk (WSJ) Motorola launches the $1,599+ Signature 27, featuring a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset, a 6.8-inch Tandem OLED display, and seven years of OS updates (9to5Google) Motorola’s Signature 27 is its first all-out slab flagship, matching the Galaxy S26 Ultra at $1,599 with 512GB and 12GB of RAM and adding GrapheneOS support, but it lacks built-in Qi2 magnets and $1,600 is a steep hill to climb (The Verge) OpenAI launches GPT-6 Cyber, which it says outperforms GPT-6 Astra on cyber benchmarks, is better at finding vulnerabilities, and is less likely to go rogue (The Verge) MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display review: gorgeous screen, touch is useful, strong performance and speakers, and a Dynamic Island, but pricey and no Face ID (Tom’s Hardware) The Verge gives the PROLED MacBook Pro a 9 out of 10: touch is nearly unusable as a touch-first experience, with no onscreen keyboard and no Apple Pencil support, so it’s a laptop that happens to have a touchscreen, but it’s the one to get if you’re coming from an M1-era Mac (The Verge) The PROLED display is the best you can buy, but touch adds little and there’s no Apple Pencil support; the $400-cheaper M5 Max MacBook Pro performs identically, and the OLED premium may become the only option with the M6 Max (PetaPixel) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

Democrats swept Texas, Georgia and Ohio governorships on data center moratorium pledges, putting AI buildout billions at risk. Apple opened Siri AI to every developer, Google said it would turn K-12 AI off by default, and Revolut cut coding costs 90%. Democratic gubernatorial wins from Texas and Georgia to Ohio and Pennsylvania are set to expose 50% of AI data center proposals to more scrutiny and pushback (Bloomberg) Democratic gubernatorial candidates who pledged to halt data center development swept Texas, Georgia and Ohio, threatening billions in planned AI investment and rebuking Trump’s endorsement of the AI building spree (Financial Times) The Texas results could be awkward for Elon Musk, who reportedly gave nearly $450 million to Republican midterm candidates and has bet big on the state with SpaceX, Tesla and the planned Terafab chip complex (The Information) Apple opens Siri AI to all developers, letting any app on iOS 27.3 beta and other 27.3 OS betas bring its content and actions into Siri AI by using App Intents (Apple Developer) Apple’s new “app skills” let any app build Siri AI integrations for the first time, and teach Siri to coordinate complicated multi-step actions, testable now in the iOS 27.3 betas (9to5Mac) Google says AI tools for K-12 students will be off by default in 2027; schools that block AI entirely will lose Search, as “Search and AI are deeply integrated” (The New York Times) Revolut says it cut AI coding inference costs by ~90% in less than a year by making self-hosted GLM models its default over commercial tools like Claude Code (The Register) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

Apple beat estimates in John Ternus’s first earnings call, but memory costs loomed. Investors told Anthropic to price its IPO near $1.5T. Google banned a TV box maker for preloading malware. Binance detailed its $6.3B hack. Anthropic said RSI might be imminent. Apple reports Q4 revenue up 12% YoY to $114.48B, above $113.39B est., China revenue up 21% to $17.5B, below $18.9B est., in John Ternus’ first earnings report (Business Wire) Apple guided Q1 sales up 7–10% YoY, above the 6% Wall Street expected, but shares slipped ~3% after-hours on a 45–46% margin forecast and Ternus calling memory pricing “unprecedented” (FT) Opinion: Ternus’s tight-lipped first earnings call missed a chance to talk up the iPhone Duo, Apple’s AI-agent moat, and capex at just 6.5% of Meta’s (Bloomberg) Sources: institutional investors told Anthropic that its IPO valuation should be ~$1.5T to $1.6T, below the $2T range, citing factors like a tech stock selloff (WSJ) Google severs ties with and bans Android TV box maker Videostrong after finding it intentionally preloaded malware to open a backdoor to control the XCPE botnet (9to5Google) Binance says North Korean hackers stole $6.3B through a months-long scheme with fake LinkedIn job interviews and an ad campaign to deliver malicious software (Fortune) S-1: Anthropic says it may “imminently meet” its RSI threshold and may not identify “a significant acceleration” in its development until after it has occurred (TechCrunch) Anthropic’s internal data shows Claude went from leading 1% of its AI R&D work in March to 26% by August; co-founder Jack Clark now thinks RSI arrives in 2027, not 2028 (WSJ) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

OpenAI cut its funding round to about $20B at a $1.25T valuation as the AI selloff spooked investors. Anthropic’s S-1 showed nearly $17B in quarterly revenue, Marvell agreed to buy Lumentum for $115B, and Claude Code got game-cloning limits. Sources: OpenAI now seeks ~$20B at a $1.25T valuation for its latest round, from $30B at a $1.4T valuation, as some investors cut commitments amid an AI selloff (Financial Times) Anthropic’s updated S-1 shows Q3 revenue of nearly $17B, up from $1.4B a year ago, and a $23.3B net loss, as it plans to spend more than $895B in the years ahead (Bloomberg) Sources: neoclouds CoreWeave, Nebius, and Nscale have effectively been shut out of the bond market in recent weeks as lenders and investors demand tougher terms (WSJ) The cost of insuring against debt defaults at hyperscalers Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle has hit its highest level since 2021, as investors and tech executives turn to options and credit-default swaps for protection (WSJ) Marvell agrees to acquire optical components maker Lumentum in a $115B all-stock deal, as it aims to rival Broadcom; Nvidia invested $2B in each company in 2026 (Reuters) Marvell shareholders get 67% of the combined company in the all-stock deal, which isn’t expected to close until the first half of 2028, and shares of both companies slid on the news (Bloomberg) Anthropic confirms new Claude Code limits “to steer it away from recreating someone else’s specific game”, saying IP infringement violates its usage policy (Tom’s Hardware) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. AvidXchange is a licensed money transmitter for B2B payments in the United States, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have a license.

Overnight brought the biggest heist in crypto history, as hackers drained $6.3 billion from Binance. Amazon’s AI spending soared while retail growth stalled, Spotify eyed a $5-a-month AI remix tool, and longreads covered El Niño forecasting and old-time fiddlers. Binance says initial investigation suggests a compromised DevOps laptop may have enabled a ~$6.3B hack; Tether froze 1.5B+ USDT and Circle froze 800M+ USDC (The Block) Binance raced to cover losses from the biggest crypto heist ever; freezes recovered ~$3B, leaving hackers — attributed to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group — with ~$3.3B, against a $1.23B SAFU reserve plus company funds (WSJ) An EIP-7702 permission let the attacker point Binance’s busy “Binance 14” hot wallet at a sweeper contract via 50 signed authorizations, draining $2.5B on Ethereum alone (CoinDesk) Amazon reports Q3 revenue up 12% YoY to $201.94B, vs. $202.31B est., net income down 2% to $20.7B, forecasts Q4 revenue below est. (Business Wire) Amazon spent $77B+ on property and equipment in Q3 to meet AI demand, while online sales grew just 2%, the slowest since early 2023, and shares fell on the results (Bloomberg) Sources: Spotify aims to launch an AI product in Q1 2027 that lets subscribers create their own remixes and covers for ~$5 per month, pending licensing deals (FT) Longreads AI’s ability to forecast extreme weather faces a major test in the coming months amid a historic El Niño, as some scientists question the tech’s accuracy (FT) In a southwest Virginia fairground, thousands of musicians gather every August to keep the centuries-old tradition of fiddling from flickering out (Longreads) Subscribe to the ad-free feed.

I covered the NYT report that US officials think Megaspeed’s Alice Huang is a Chinese asset who cozied up to Jensen Huang, the leak of 41,000 DHS workers’ data, DoorDash’s $17B Instacart grab, and Alphabet’s ugly free cash flow. US officials believe Megaspeed executive Alice Huang is a Chinese asset who maintained a close relationship with Jensen Huang to pass intelligence to Beijing (The New York Times) Hackers leak the personal data of 41,000+ DHS employees and contractors, including CBP and ICE agents; DDoSecrets says the data came from DHS’ Okta login system (Wired) DoorDash agrees to acquire Instacart in a ~$17B deal, paying $65 per share, a 26% premium to its October 22 close, as the platform delivery market consolidates (Reuters) DoorDash agrees to buy Instacart for $17B with both boards signing off; it plans to keep Instacart’s brand, enterprise tech, and app, and says grocers could build their own ordering and ad businesses (TechCrunch) Alphabet reports Q3 negative free cash flow of $9.07B, worse than expected, capex of $51.36B, below $55.09B est., and keeps its FY capex forecast at $195B-$205B (CNBC) Alphabet’s ad machine misses Q3 estimates as search revenue growth slows to 12% from 17%, even with cloud beating at $30.7B; shares fall about 10% after hours (WSJ) Google expands ads in AI Mode to international markets, adding multi-turn ads in the US, betting generative AI can open new revenue as core search ad growth slows (TechCrunch) Subscribe to the ad-free feed.

Apple unveiled a touchscreen MacBook Pro, finally ditching Jobs’s stance. Then Amazon unloaded gadgets: a $500 Echo Show 16, the Echo Time alarm clock, an Alexa Photo Frame, and an Echo Studio with a camera. Not one AI story all day. Apple unveils a touchscreen MacBook Pro with a 14" or 16" PROLED XDR display, a light-up Apple logo, Dynamic Island, M5 Pro and M5 Max, for $2,899+ and $3,399+ (Apple) The new touchscreen MacBook Pro has a tandem OLED “PROLED XDR” display with up to 2,000 nits and 120Hz, a Dynamic Island, a glowing Apple logo on the lid, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and up to 24 hours of battery (The Verge) New CEO John Ternus introduced the touchscreen MacBook Pro on stage, reversing Steve Jobs’ long-held opposition to touch Macs, which Tim Cook once compared to merging a fridge and a toaster (Bloomberg) Amazon unveils the $500 Echo Show 16, the $200 Echo Time alarm, and the $200+ Alexa Photo Frame, raises smart speaker prices, and previews Alexa Home Map (Bloomberg) Panos Panay spent about 45 minutes introducing five new Echo speakers and displays, plus a “new brain” for Alexa Plus that can do “deeper research” and a Card interface that collects each chat (The Verge) Hands-on with the Echo Show 16: customizable Screen Styles could make it the versatile family hub Alexa users have wanted, but at double the price of the Echo Show 11 it may be too expensive (The Verge) Amazon debuts the Alexa Photo Frame and Echo Time smart clock, plus other upgraded devices (TechCrunch) The $199.99 Echo Time smart alarm has a 3.2-inch round touchscreen, a screen that dims below 0.3 nits, and opt-in sleep sensing that wakes you up to an hour early at the optimal point in your sleep cycle (The Verge) Amazon’s new Echo Studio speaker has a camera (The Verge) The $249.99 Echo Studio with Home Camera lets you ask Alexa about objects in the room, doubles as a home video feed, and handles video calls, though visual information is processed in the cloud (Gizmodo) Subscribe to the ad-free feed.