Homechevron_rightArchiveschevron_rightBusiness and Economy

Archives

Explore Stories by Date

02 Feb 2026

Nvidia's $100 billion OpenAI investment shrinks to $20 billion as chip tensions surface

Five months after announcing plans for a $100 billion investment, Nvidia and OpenAI's mega-deal has stalled. The chipmaker now plans a $20 billion investment instead, while OpenAI quietly pursues alternative chip providers. The tension centers on inference performance issues, with OpenAI reportedly dissatisfied with Nvidia's GPU speed for coding tasks, prompting deals with Cerebras and AMD to reduce dependency.

19 Sources

DRAM prices surge up to 95% in Q1 2026 as artificial intelligence boom strains global supply

Memory chip prices are experiencing their steepest increases in history, with DRAM contract prices jumping 90-95% in Q1 2026. TrendForce revised its forecasts upward as persistent AI and data center demands worsen the global memory supply and demand imbalance. PC memory prices are doubling while NAND flash surges 55-60%, forcing device makers to warn of higher costs ahead.

4 Sources

Chinese tech giants wage $431 million chatbot war as AI competition hits new heights

Alibaba pledges 3 billion yuan ($431 million) to attract users to its Qwen AI app during Lunar New Year, tripling spending by rivals Tencent and Baidu. The escalating promotional battle comes as Chinese tech giants prepare to launch next-generation AI models, with cash incentives, iPhones, and TVs offered to users who register and interact with their chatbots.

7 Sources

Oracle weighs cutting up to 30,000 jobs to fund $156 billion AI data centre expansion

Oracle is considering layoffs of 20,000 to 30,000 employees to fund its aggressive AI data centre buildout, according to TD Cowen research. The job cuts could free up $8-10 billion in cash flow as US banks withdraw funding support and investor concerns mount over the company's ability to finance its massive AI push.

3 Sources

Oracle unveils $50 billion AI funding plan as investors worry about mounting debt and OpenAI exposure

Oracle announced plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 through a combination of debt and equity sales to expand cloud infrastructure for AI workloads. The software giant kicked off a $20-$25 billion bond sale, but shares fell 4% as investors expressed concerns about its rising debt load and heavy reliance on OpenAI's ability to meet financial commitments.

11 Sources

India bets on tax breaks and data centers to attract AI investment, but funding cuts raise concerns

India unveiled a zero-tax policy through 2047 for foreign cloud providers running global AI workloads from Indian data centers, aiming to position itself as a compute hub. But the government halved the IndiaAI Mission budget to Rs 1,000 crore, sparking debate about whether India can build meaningful AI capacity while advocating for smaller language models over expensive frontier systems.

9 Sources

Waymo raises $16 billion to accelerate global robotaxi expansion across 20 new cities

Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit Waymo has secured $16 billion in a funding round that values the self-driving car company at $126 billion, nearly tripling its 2024 valuation. The company plans to expand its robotaxi service from 10 US cities to over 20 metropolitan areas globally in 2026, including London and Tokyo, while providing more than 400,000 rides weekly.

6 Sources

01 Feb 2026

South Korea exports surge 33.9% in January as AI chips fuel record growth amid tariff tensions

South Korea posted record January exports of $65.8 billion, marking a 33.9% year-on-year increase driven by booming demand for AI chips. Semiconductor exports more than doubled at 102.7%, reaching $20.5 billion as memory prices climbed on AI server demand. The milestone comes as Seoul navigates rising trade tensions with the U.S. over tariffs and ratification disputes.

2 Sources

OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT ads at rates matching Super Bowl broadcasts as monetization begins

OpenAI has begun rolling out advertisements in ChatGPT for free and $8 Go subscribers, with internal pricing reportedly set at $60 per thousand views—matching premium NFL broadcast slots. The company insists ads won't influence ChatGPT answers and will remain clearly labeled, though questions about engagement metrics and value persist as the AI monetization push begins.

2 Sources

Nvidia CEO warns TSMC must double capacity as AI demand threatens to overwhelm chip supply

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters that TSMC needs to work very hard to meet soaring AI demand, warning the chipmaker may need to double production capacity over the next decade just to satisfy Nvidia's requirements alone. Speaking after a trillion-dollar dinner with key suppliers in Taiwan, Huang emphasized the unprecedented scale of capacity expansion needed as AI infrastructure buildout accelerates globally.

7 Sources

Get all updates into your inbox 💌, Stay Up-to-date for Free 🥳

Your Daily Dose of Curated AI News

Don’t drown in AI news. We cut through the noise - filtering, ranking and summarizing the most important AI news, breakthroughs and research daily. Spend less time searching for the latest in AI and get straight to action.

The Outpost

News

About