📋 Quick Takeaways

• Microsoft suffers $381 billion market cap loss in worst week since March 2020 as Wall Street questions AI investment returns
• Oracle considers laying off 20,000-30,000 employees to fund $156 billion AI data center expansion amid financing crisis
• Meta announces $115-135 billion AI capex for 2026, nearly doubling previous year’s spending
• OpenAI issues internal “code red” as Google Gemini 3 and Anthropic’s Claude Code gain competitive ground
• 45% of Microsoft’s cloud backlog tied to OpenAI, raising concentration risk concerns among analysts
• Anthropic CEO warns of AI existential risks in sweeping 38-page essay on “technological adolescence”
• Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over safeguards on autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance

💥 Market Shockwaves

Microsoft Loses $381 Billion in Worst Week Since March 2020

Market Crisis: Wall Street’s apprehension about the cost of developing artificial intelligence technology boiled over as Microsoft suffered its worst week since the pandemic crash, wiping out $381 billion in market value in just two trading sessions.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announces “largest investment ever” in OpenAI’s $100 billion funding round at $830B valuation
• Amazon in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, potentially becoming the largest single contributor
• China approves DeepSeek, ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent to purchase 400,000+ NVIDIA H200 chips
• Meta surges 8%+ after Q4 earnings, announces $115-135 billion AI capex for 2026
• Big Tech combined AI capex projected at $505 billion for 2026, up from $366B in 2025
• OpenAI preparing Q4 2026 IPO that could value company at $1 trillion

💰 Historic AI Funding & Investments

NVIDIA Announces “Largest Ever” Investment in OpenAI’s $100B Funding Round

Breaking News: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang confirmed on January 31 that the company will participate in OpenAI’s current funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.”

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Meta announces unprecedented $115-135 billion AI capex for 2026, nearly doubling 2025 spending as it pursues “superintelligence”
• Microsoft loses $357 billion in market value after Azure growth slows to 39%, the second-largest single-day loss in U.S. history
• OpenAI targeting Q4 2026 IPO at potential $1 trillion valuation despite not expecting profitability until 2030
• Amazon in talks for $50 billion OpenAI investment, threatening Microsoft’s exclusive partnership
• Tesla confirms Optimus robot production timeline for end of 2026, discontinuing Model S/X to free factory space
• Anthropic engineers report 100% AI-written code, signaling major shift in software development paradigm

🏢 Big Tech Earnings & AI Infrastructure

Meta Announces Record $115-135 Billion AI Infrastructure Spending for 2026

Unprecedented Investment: Meta Platforms revealed the most aggressive AI infrastructure spending plan in corporate history during its Q4 2025 earnings call, forecasting capital expenditures between $115 billion and $135 billion for 2026—nearly double the $72 billion spent in 2025.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Meta announces $115-135 billion AI CapEx for 2026—nearly double 2025 spending—while beating Q4 earnings expectations with $59.9B revenue
• Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon in talks for $60B OpenAI investment as part of potential $100B funding round at $750-830B valuation
• Microsoft stock plunges 10% after Azure growth slows to 39% and guidance points to further deceleration
• Tesla invests $2B in Elon Musk’s xAI and discontinues Model S/X to make room for Optimus robot production
• Google launches Gemini 3-powered “Auto Browse” AI agent in Chrome for autonomous web task execution
• China approves Nvidia H200 chip purchases as geopolitical AI tensions continue

💰 Record AI Infrastructure Investments

Meta Announces $115-135 Billion AI CapEx for 2026

Landmark Spending Commitment: Meta delivered blockbuster Q4 2025 earnings on January 29, beating expectations with $59.9 billion in revenue and $8.88 EPS, while unveiling an unprecedented AI infrastructure investment plan.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• China approves Nvidia H200 chip sales to ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent for 400,000+ units, marking major shift in US-China tech relations
• SoftBank in talks to invest $30 billion more in OpenAI, potentially pushing valuation to $830 billion
• ASML reports record Q4 orders of $15.8 billion, more than doubling analyst expectations amid AI chip demand surge
• Amazon announces 16,000 layoffs, the largest workforce reduction in company history combined with October cuts
• Waabi raises $1 billion and partners with Uber to deploy 25,000 robotaxis
• $700M+ in major AI startup funding across autonomous vehicles, enterprise AI, and cloud infrastructure

🌏 Geopolitics & Semiconductor Trade

China Approves Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent

Major Breakthrough: China granted approval for its three largest tech companies to purchase more than 400,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips, marking a significant shift in Beijing’s approach to balancing AI advancement against domestic chip industry development.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Anthropic closes $10-15B funding round at $350B valuation, with Microsoft and Nvidia potentially adding more; company generated ~$10B revenue in 2025
• Big Tech earnings week begins with Microsoft, Meta, Tesla reporting January 28; hyperscalers expected to spend $470B+ in AI capex for 2026
• AWS signs historic $38B deal with OpenAI for cloud infrastructure, while Amazon explores $10B direct investment
• Global AI spending projected at $2.5 trillion in 2026, with infrastructure spending alone exceeding $1.3 trillion
• Apple-Google Gemini partnership confirmed for major Siri overhaul, pushing Alphabet above $4T market cap
• China AI race intensifies as Moonshot releases new omni-model ahead of expected DeepSeek breakthrough

💰 Major AI Funding & Investments

Anthropic Closes $10-15B Funding Round at $350B Valuation

Landmark Deal: Anthropic has closed its latest funding round above the initial $10 billion target, landing between $10-15 billion at a staggering $350 billion valuation, with potential for additional contributions from Microsoft and Nvidia.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• NVIDIA invests $2 billion in CoreWeave at $87.20/share, becoming second-largest shareholder as AI infrastructure demand surges
• Synthesia raises $200M Series E at $4B valuation led by Google Ventures, serving 70%+ of Fortune 100 companies
• Microsoft wins approval for 15 new data centers on former Foxconn site in Wisconsin with $13B+ taxable value
• CoreWeave stock surges 14% following NVIDIA deal, reaching $53.87B market cap
• Zocks raises $45M Series B for AI financial advisor platform serving 5,000+ firms
• Agentic AI market projected to reach $200B by 2034, up from $5.2B in 2024

🚀 AI Infrastructure & Major Investments

NVIDIA Invests $2 Billion in CoreWeave, Accelerating AI Data Center Buildout

Landmark Deal: NVIDIA announced on January 26 a $2 billion investment in CoreWeave at $87.20 per share, becoming the AI infrastructure provider’s second-largest shareholder and marking the latest example of the circular financing deals driving AI valuations.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang declares AI development requires “trillions of dollars” in infrastructure spending at Davos 2026
• Trump administration commits to nuclear power expansion with 300 GW target by 2030 to fuel AI data centers
• ChatGPT market share plummets from 86.6% to 64.6% while Google Gemini surges to 22% in one year
• Waymo launches Miami robotaxi service, expanding to 6th US city with plans for 20+ cities in 2026
• Congress advances AI Overwatch Act requiring approval for AI chip exports to China
• DeepSeek prepares V4 model with enhanced coding capabilities ahead of Lunar New Year release
• Physical AI emerges as dominant 2026 theme with 5-6x market potential versus agentic AI

🏛️ Davos 2026: AI Infrastructure Takes Center Stage

Jensen Huang: AI Requires “Trillions of Dollars” in Infrastructure Investment

Major Declaration: At the World Economic Forum in Davos, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivered a stark message to global leaders: artificial intelligence development will require “trillions of dollars” of spending on what he called “the largest infrastructure build-out in history.”

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Humans& raises $480M seed round at $4.5B valuation—one of the largest seed rounds ever for human-centric AI startup founded by ex-Anthropic, xAI, Google researchers
• OpenAI reportedly evaluating Pinterest acquisition to access 200 billion images for visual AI training and shopping integration
• Elon Musk predicts robotaxis “very widespread” in US by end of 2026; claims AI could surpass human intelligence this year
• Physical AI declared “next major wave” at Davos—executives predict 5-6x larger market than agentic AI within five years
• Micron’s HBM memory completely sold out through 2026 as AI chip demand continues explosive growth
• Prosus reveals 30,000 AI agents currently running; CEO predicts companies could be run entirely by agents in 5 years
• Yoshua Bengio warns current AI training approaches are problematic; calls next few years “critical” for regulation

💰 Major AI Funding & Investments

Humans& Raises Historic $480M Seed Round at $4.5B Valuation

Landmark Investment: Human-centric AI startup Humans& has secured a staggering $480 million seed round, valuing the company at $4.48 billion—making it one of the largest seed rounds in venture capital history.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• ChatGPT launches advertising with $1M minimum spend beta testing for select brands, marking major monetization shift
• OpenAI confirms first consumer device targeting H2 2026 launch—voice-first, screenless AI interface
• Davos 2026 consensus: AI industry pivots from capability hype to demanding measurable ROI and profitability
• Thinking Machines implosion: Mira Murati’s $12B startup loses multiple co-founders to OpenAI in talent war escalation
• Healthcare AI race intensifies: OpenAI and Anthropic both launch medical AI platforms with record integration capabilities
• Elon Musk predicts AGI arrival within 1-2 years at Davos, accelerating timeline expectations
• Trump announces AI energy expansion requiring more than double current US capacity for data center buildout
• NVIDIA CEO forecasts trade job boom from AI infrastructure, predicting six-figure salaries for electricians and plumbers

💰 Monetization & Business Models

ChatGPT Launches Advertising Beta with $1M Minimum Budgets

Major Monetization Shift: OpenAI began testing advertisements on January 21, 2026, with select advertisers committing minimum budgets of $1 million each, representing a fundamental pivot in the company’s revenue strategy.