TL;DR

OpenAI, xAI, and Oracle drive massive GPU/data center buildouts; PJM power prices surge; Alibaba debuts 480B-parameter open-source coding model.

Highlights

• OpenAI to add 4.5 GW of data center capacity in Texas via Oracle , targeting over 1M GPUs online by year-end; aims for 100M GPUs long-term, reopening $40B equity round 16.
• xAI has 230,000 GPUs training Grok, with plans for 550,000 GB200/GB300 chips coming online soon and a five-year target of 50M H100-class GPUs; $12B debt arranged for Nvidia chip purchases 1.
• OpenAI and SoftBank scale back $500B Stargate AI project amid internal conflicts; OpenAI secures $30B/year Oracle deal and focuses on localized builds 6.
• PJM Interconnection sets record $329.17/MW-day capacity price (22% YoY increase) as AI data center demand strains U.S. power grid; $16.1B in capacity costs projected 9.
• U.S. to lift Nvidia H20 export curbs in exchange for rare-earth magnets from China, signaling a “chips for magnets” trade arrangement 2.
• Alibaba releases Qwen3-Coder, a 480B-parameter open-source coding model with 1M token context, matching Claude Sonnet 4 performance and priced at $1 per million tokens 3.
• OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT Agent for Pro users, enabling autonomous multi-step task execution; broader rollout to Plus, Team, and Enterprise users planned 7.
• Microsoft hires 24 Google DeepMind engineers, including Gemini’s former engineering lead, to strengthen Copilot and Bing AI teams 5.
• Amazon acquires AI wearable startup Bee, integrating a $50 always-on conversation-recording bracelet into its devices unit 4.
• Amazon closes Shanghai AI lab, following IBM and Microsoft in reducing China R&D presence amid U.S.–China tensions 8.
• UK CMA proposes designating Apple and Google as “strategic gatekeepers,” enabling binding rules on app stores and mobile OSs; potential fines up to 10% of global turnover 11.
• Pew study finds Google ’s AI Overviews halve search link clicks, deepening publisher concerns over traffic and revenue 12.
• Slingshot AI launches Ash, a therapy chatbot trained on 50+ modalities, after raising $93M; targets consumers and enterprise healthcare 13.
• Proton launches Lumo, an encrypted AI chatbot using open-source models, positioned as a privacy-first alternative 14.
• Alphabet and Tesla earnings in focus, with investors watching AI infrastructure costs and robotaxi updates 15.

Commentary

The scale of AI infrastructure investment continues to rise sharply, with OpenAI and xAI both announcing aggressive GPU buildouts and multi-gigawatt data center expansions 16. OpenAI’s $30B/year Oracle deal and xAI’s $12B in new chip financing underscore the capital intensity and supply chain dependencies now shaping the AI sector 16. These moves are already impacting the U.S. power market, as evidenced by PJM’s record capacity prices and warnings that new data centers may require dedicated power generation 9. AI professionals should expect further cost pressures and potential delays in both hardware and energy supply 9.

U.S.–China technology relations remain complex but are shifting toward transactional arrangements, as shown by the “chips for magnets” swap that will allow Nvidia ’s H20 to be exported to China 2. At the same time, U.S. firms continue to reduce their R&D presence in China, with Amazon shuttering its Shanghai AI lab, following similar moves by IBM and Microsoft 8. This ongoing decoupling will affect talent flows and could complicate global AI deployment strategies 8.

On the product and talent front, competition is intensifying. Alibaba ’s Qwen3-Coder demonstrates that high-performance, open-source models are emerging as credible alternatives, especially for coding and agentic tasks 3. Microsoft ’s recruitment of key DeepMind talent signals continued investment in proprietary AI assistants 5, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent rollout 7 and Amazon ’s acquisition of Bee highlight the push toward autonomous and always-on AI products 4. Privacy and specialization are also gaining traction, as seen in Proton’s encrypted Lumo assistant 14 and Slingshot’s therapy-focused Ash 13.

Regulatory scrutiny of platform power is increasing, with the UK CMA moving to label Apple and Google as “strategic gatekeepers,” potentially reshaping distribution and monetization for AI apps 11. Google ’s AI Overviews are materially reducing outbound traffic to publishers, raising sustainability concerns for the open web and prompting further debate on the economic impact of generative AI features 12.

Earnings from Alphabet and Tesla will provide further insight into how major tech firms are managing AI-related costs and capital allocation, particularly as they expand into infrastructure-heavy and regulated domains like autonomous vehicles and cloud AI 15.