Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal: Internal memo: Verizon CEO Dan Schulman says the company will begin notifying the 13,000+ employees impacted by its largest-ever round of layoffs — New CEO launches company's largest-ever round of cuts and says Verizon must reorient around ‘delighting’ customers
Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal: A study of mental health conversations with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Meta AI: they often failed to recognize signs of conditions and offered general advice — Research from Common Sense Media and Stanford finds ‘systematic failures’ in how chatbots recognize psychiatric conditions
Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal: Adobe plans to acquire NYSE-listed Semrush, which helps companies run search engine optimization as AI use rises, for $1.9B in cash, paying $12 per share — Semrush helps businesses from Amazon to TikTok with search-engine optimization and marketing — Adobe is nearing a $1.9 billion deal …
Jennifer Hiller / Wall Street Journal: Crypto miners like IREN are pivoting to AI data centers amid the AI boom; IREN's stock, down to ~$1 in 2022, is up 300% in 2025, giving it a $13B+ market cap — Developers desperately need access to electricity—and bitcoin miners are in prime position to assist
Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal: Kuaishou reports Q3 revenue up 14% YoY to ~$5B and net profit up 37% YoY to ~$632M, above ~$588M est., driven by ad growth and its Kling AI video generator — The Beijing-based company reported a 37% increase in third-quarter net profit — Kuaishou Technology delivered another quarter …
Steven Rosenbush / Wall Street Journal: OpenAI and Intuit sign a multiyear deal, set to generate $100M+ in OpenAI revenue, in which Intuit will deepen its use of OpenAI models and launch ChatGPT apps — Intuit sees the opportunity to expose its products, such as TurboxTax and QuickBooks, to a broader range of potential users on ChatGPT
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: Lambda, which rents access to AI chips, raised a $1.5B Series E led by TWG Global, after raising $500M in April 2024, taking its total funding to $2.3B — The fundraise will help the startup build its own data centers as the AI infrastructure boom shows no signs of letting up
Tim Higgins / Wall Street Journal: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai have each discussed lunar and orbital AI data centers, which could offer steady solar power with fewer regulations — Energy constraints in the artificial-intelligence race are causing tech companies to think out of this world
Wall Street Journal: A look at the global AI data center buildout, its limits, and ROI concerns; in 2025, US capacity that is built, underway, planned, or stalled has topped 80 GW — Record capital expenditures and data-center planning run up against the ground truths of physical infrastructure
Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal: A profile of Meta Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, reportedly leaving after being sidelined, who says LLMs are a dead end for AGI and backs world models instead — Yann LeCun invented many fundamental components of modern AI. Now he's convinced most in his field have been led astray by the siren song of large language models.
Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Amazon and Anthropic support the GAIN AI Act, which would give US buyers first priority on advanced AI chips, joining Microsoft; Nvidia opposes it — Legislation would give tech leaders preferential access to chips — WASHINGTON—Amazon.com is joining Microsoft in supporting legislation …
Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal: AI coding startup Cursor raised $2.3B co-led by Accel and Coatue at a $29.3B valuation, after raising a $900M Series C at a $9.9B valuation in June — Cursor, which was founded by four MIT graduates who are still in their mid-20s, raised $2.3 billion in its third funding round this year
Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal: SMIC reports Q3 revenue up 9.7% YoY to $2.38B, above $2.35B est., and net profit up 29% YoY to $191.8M, above $161.2M est., as analog chip demand rises — China's largest contract chip maker is upbeat on revenue growth in the fourth quarter — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. returned …
Paul Berger / Wall Street Journal: Stockholm-based driverless truck startup Einride plans to go public in H1 2026 via a blank-check merger at a $1.8B valuation and reports ~$43M in 2024 revenue — Swedish provider of battery-electric and self-driving trucks is looking to expand its global operations
Mauro Orru / Wall Street Journal: German chipmaker Infineon reports Q4 revenue up 1% YoY to €3.94B, vs. €3.91B est., a €231M net profit, and expects 2026 sales growth as AI demand keeps booming — Fiscal 2026 revenue seen rising moderately from €14.66 billion in the prior year
Jiyoung Sohn / Wall Street Journal: An investor group and AI developer Voltai plan to use AI to design, build, and run a 3GW data center in South Korea, set to cost up to $35B and open in 2028 — If completed as envisioned by its backers, the data center is set to cost as much as $35 billion and pack up to 3 gigawatts of power
Wall Street Journal: How China ramped up its AI development since early 2024 to catch the US, including relaxed regulations, huge government funding, and a focus on domestic chips — America holds a sizable lead, but China is working to tip the scales with a sweeping countrywide push, betting ‘swarms beat the titan’
Billy Gray / Wall Street Journal: Rumble agrees to acquire German AI infrastructure company Northern Data in an up to $970M deal, set to close in Q2 2026; both companies are backed by Tether — The deal brings together two companies backed by stablecoin issuer Tether — Rumble said it would acquire German artificial …
Peter Landers / Wall Street Journal: Chinese robotaxi companies' tech and rider experience are generally similar to Waymo's, as they build businesses at home while also expanding internationally — While U.S. companies dominate their home market, other countries look to China for driverless technology
AnnaMaria Andriotis / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Samsung is in talks with Barclays to launch a consumer credit card in the US; it's also exploring a high-yield savings account, BNPL product, and more — South Korean tech giant and Barclays are in advanced talks to launch a credit card, with both seeking bigger inroads into Americans' financial lives
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal: Letter: the MPA sent a cease-and-desist to Meta over Instagram's use of PG-13 for teen content restrictions, calling it “literally false and highly misleading” — Meta says it never claimed or implied that its teen accounts were officially PG-13 rated or certified by MPA
Jiahui Huang / Wall Street Journal: XPeng says it plans to launch three self-developed robotaxis in 2026, the first Chinese EV maker to do so, using in-house chips and its own software system — The Nasdaq-listed Chinese EV maker sees high potential in overseas markets — XPeng is set to become the first Chinese carmaker …
Wall Street Journal: Sources: Roelof Botha was asked to step aside after some Sequoia partners raised concerns about his leadership; Botha had declined to comment on Shaun Maguire — Sequoia leaders asked Roelof Botha to step aside amid leadership concerns and a turbulent stretch
David Uberti / Wall Street Journal: Goldman Sachs: just 33 US counties accounted for 72% of all US data center capacity as of July; places like Umatilla have been transformed by an AWS build-out — Residents, politicians and local agencies are making the most of the tech boom, but prosperity comes with costs; 'What's going to happen once they stop building?'
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal: Coca-Cola releases upgraded AI-generated ads for 2025 holidays, after finding people didn't know or care about the use of AI, despite criticism for its 2024 ads — ‘Holidays Are Coming’ faster and cheaper for the soda giant, which caught heat last year for its AI-generated ads
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: Despite the hype around large AI models, many companies like Meta are using small models for routine tasks, finding them more practical and cost-effective — For many tasks in corporate America, it's not the biggest and smartest AI models, but the smaller, more simplistic ones that are winning the day
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal: Google releases its first AI-generated ad, promoting Search's AI mode, but chooses not to include a label disclosing it was made with Veo 3 and other tools — The search giant becomes the biggest name yet to generate an ad entirely with its Veo 3 and other artificial-intelligence tools
Wall Street Journal: Amazon, UPS, Target, GM, and other major US companies are laying off tens of thousands of white collar workers, as executives hope AI can handle their workload — Layoffs at companies ranging from Amazon to Target are sending young and experienced workers alike into an unwelcoming market
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: Fireworks AI, which helps developers access AI chips and models, raised a $254M Series C at a $4B valuation, split into a $230M primary and $24M secondary round — The company raises $254 million to further develop its artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure, its CEO says
Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal: Sources: AI contractor marketplace Mercor is finalizing $350M in funding led by Felicis at a $10B valuation; founded in 2023, Mercor manages 30K contractors — Founded in 2023 by three college dropouts, Mercor recruits humans to train chatbots, a new industry gold mine
Jonathan Weil / Wall Street Journal: Microsoft's disclosures on its OpenAI stake are scant, including putting OpenAI-related losses into a $4.7B “other, net” expense line in the FY ended June 30 — Company's disclosures on its OpenAI stake are scant. That is no longer tenable. — How long can Microsoft expect investors …
Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal: Indonesia and other developing countries are becoming AI hubs amid the multitrillion-dollar spending boom, in part driven by an “AI decolonization” philosophy — As part of ‘AI decolonization,’ developing nations push Silicon Valley to build locally — JAKARTA, Indonesia—Tap water isn't drinkable.
Wall Street Journal: Sources detail how Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others brokered a call between SF Mayor Daniel Lurie and Trump to stop National Guard deployment — Sam Altman, Jensen Huang and Marc Benioff conferred with Mayor Daniel Lurie on how to persuade the president not to deploy the National Guard
Kim Mackrael / Wall Street Journal: EU accuses Meta under DSA of failing to give users easy ways to flag illegal content and adequate tools to appeal moderation decisions, in preliminary findings — Allegations against Facebook and Instagram owner risk ire of Trump administration — BRUSSELS—The European Union charged Meta Platforms …
Najat Kantouar / Wall Street Journal: AI creative studio Wonder Studios, backed by OpenAI and Google DeepMind execs, raised a $12M seed led by Atomico and aims to release its first content in 2026 — The funds will double the company's engineering team and accelerate a push into intellectual-property ownership and content production
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal: The NHL reaches multiyear licensing agreements with prediction market startups Kalshi and Polymarket, the first major US league to allow use of its trademarks — Licensing agreement is first of its kind between a major U.S. pro sports league and prediction markets
Vicky Ge Huang / Wall Street Journal: Crypto trading firm FalconX agrees to acquire 21shares, one of the main crypto ETF managers, for an undisclosed sum; 21shares had $11B+ in assets in September — FalconX considers IPO as cryptocurrency deals boom — FalconX, a crypto-trading firm, agreed to acquire 21shares …
Michelle Hackman / Wall Street Journal: The US government issues new guidelines on its $100K H-1B visa fee, saying it will apply only to new visa applicants outside the country, not all new applicants — Under new guidance, only applicants living abroad will be subject to the fee — WASHINGTON—President Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee …
Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal: Coinbase agrees to acquire Echo, a blockchain platform to let crypto companies quickly raise capital, for ~$375M, marking Coinbase's eighth acquisition in 2025 — Acquisition marks Coinbase's eighth deal this year — Coinbase Global has struck a roughly $375 million deal to acquire Echo …
Ian Walker / Wall Street Journal: The UK CMA says Getty Images and Shutterstock's $3.7B merger causes competition concerns and gives the companies until October 27 to offer plan to address them — The regulator says it will refer the deal for further investigation if the companies don't provide an acceptable undertaking to address concerns
Carol Ryan / Wall Street Journal: How luxury brands' stiffest competition is coming from secondhand online resellers like The RealReal and Fashionphile, driven by Gen Z and millennial consumers — Sales of secondhand luxury goods are growing faster than in brands' own stores — For luxury brands trying to win back shoppers …
Jon Emont / Wall Street Journal: How China gained control over global rare earth supply through state support, domestic industry consolidation, acquiring US companies like Magnequench, and more — Beijing used bare-knuckle tactics in a multidecade effort to consolidate control over supplies
Jinjoo Lee / Wall Street Journal: A look at some US energy companies linked to AI infrastructure, such as Sam Altman-backed Oklo, whose stocks have soared despite having little to no revenue — Concept stocks with no revenue have soaring valuations — Forget about the froth in tech valuations. The real excess might be building up in energy stocks.
Robert McMillan / Wall Street Journal: US DHS: Chinese criminal organizations made $1B+ in the past three years via scam texts; Proofpoint: last month, a record 330K US toll-scam texts were reported — Messages seeking payment for unpaid tolls or postage fees prompt victims to hand over credit-card information, which gangs use to buy gift cards and luxury goods
Kimberley Kao / Wall Street Journal: Google plans to invest $9B in South Carolina through 2027 to scale up its Berkeley County data center campus and support building two sites in Dorchester County — Investment will also go toward supporting construction, energy affordability, workforce training programs in South Carolina
Wall Street Journal: OpenAI agrees to acquire 10GW of chips from Broadcom and co-design custom GPUs with Broadcom to run its AI models; sources: the deal is worth multiple billions — The companies plan to deploy 10 gigawatts of custom AI chips over the next four years — OpenAI and Broadcom are working together …
Wall Street Journal: Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch has left to join Meta; he reportedly declined Zuckerberg's offer of a $1.5B+ package in August — Andrew Tulloch is the latest big-name AI researcher to join the social-media giant — A co-founder of Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab …
Edith Hancock / Wall Street Journal: The European Commission outlines its Apply AI Strategy and AI in Science Strategy, aiming to speed up AI adoption in key industries and AI-driven research — There is concern the EU is too dependent on foreign tech companies — The European Union outlined plans to promote European adoption …
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: Anthropic and IBM partner to make Anthropic's Claude models available in IBM's latest IDE, and IBM aims to make Claude available in more products soon — The AI startup and enterprise tech giant team up to make Anthropic's Claude models available to developers on IBM's software
Wall Street Journal: How Israel's war in Gaza engulfed the entertainment industry, including popular TV shows produced in Israel going dark on US streaming platforms like Netflix — The creators of shows such as ‘Fauda’ and ‘Tehran,’ along with critics of Netanyahu in the Israeli film industry, find themselves caught in the crossfire of war