“Melania,” a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, is exceeding box office expectations, with Sunday estimates suggesting it will make $7.04 million on its opening weekend.The documentary is coming in third overall for the weekend, behind the Sam Raimi-directed thriller “Send Help” ($20 million) and “Iron Lung” ($17.8 million), a video game adaptation from YouTuber Mark Fischbach (better known as Markiplier). Amazon paid $40 million to acquire “Melania” and is reportedly spending $35 million to promo ...

Funding and Valuation - Waymo is nearing the completion of a $16 billion funding round, which will value the company at $110 billion [1] - Over 75% of the funding is expected to come from Alphabet, Waymo's parent company, with participation from new investors Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital, and DST Global, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala [1] Operational Performance - Waymo has completed over 20 million trips, emphasizing its focus on safety-led operational excellence and technological leadership to meet the demand for autonomous mobility [2] - The company is experiencing rapid expansion, including a recent launch in Miami, although it has faced challenges such as robotaxis stalling at traffic lights during a blackout in San Francisco [2] Financial Metrics - Waymo has an annual recurring revenue exceeding $350 million [3] - The company previously raised $5.6 billion in a Series C funding round in 2024, which valued it at $45 billion [3]

Core Viewpoint - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed reports of friction with OpenAI as "nonsense," emphasizing the ongoing partnership and investment plans between the two companies [1][3]. Group 1: Investment and Partnership Dynamics - Nvidia plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and build 10 gigawatts of computing infrastructure for the AI company [1]. - Huang has begun to emphasize that the deal is nonbinding and has privately criticized OpenAI's business strategy while expressing concerns about competitors like Anthropic and Google [2]. - Recent discussions between Nvidia and OpenAI are reportedly focusing on a potential equity investment of tens of billions of dollars, rather than the previously announced $100 billion [2][6]. Group 2: Statements from Key Stakeholders - An OpenAI spokesperson stated that both companies are "actively working through the details of our partnership," highlighting Nvidia's crucial role in powering OpenAI's systems [3]. - Huang reiterated his belief in OpenAI's work, calling it "incredible" and one of the most consequential companies of our time, and confirmed Nvidia's intention to participate in OpenAI's latest funding round [4][3]. - Huang declined to specify the exact amount Nvidia would invest, suggesting that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman should announce the funding details [6].

Self-driving truck startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise isn’t just about trucks.  The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn’t just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, ...

Core Insights - Elon Musk's companies, SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla, are exploring potential merger scenarios, with discussions reportedly in early stages [1][2] - Two primary merger scenarios are being considered: one between SpaceX and Tesla, and another between SpaceX and xAI [1] - A merger between SpaceX and xAI could precede a planned SpaceX IPO this year, consolidating various products under one corporation [2] Company Developments - Recent corporate filings indicate the establishment of two new entities in Nevada, suggesting Musk is keeping merger options open [3] - SpaceX has previously invested $2 billion in xAI, and Tesla has also made a similar investment, indicating a trend towards resource sharing among Musk's companies [5] Valuation and Market Position - xAI was valued at $80 billion following its acquisition of X, which was valued at $33 billion, while SpaceX's secondary sale valued it at $800 billion, making it the most valuable private company in the U.S. [6]

In Brief OpenAI, a company already valued at $500 billion, has made it known that it’s on the hunt for another $100 billion in investment. Such a funding round could lead the company’s valuation to shoot up to a titanic $830 billion. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Amazon may contribute at least $50 billion of that record-breaking investment.Not much is known about the potential deal, although the Journal notes that Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, is currently leading the negotiations with OpenAI CE ...

Microsoft this week deployed its first crop of its homegrown AI chips in one of its data centers, with plans to roll out more in the coming months, it says.  The chip, named the Maia 200, is designed to be what Microsoft calls an “AI inference powerhouse” as Microsoft describes, meaning it’s optimized for the compute-intensive work of running AI models in production. The company released some impressive processing-speed specs for Maia, saying it outperforms Amazon’s latest Trainium chips and Google’s latest ...

In Brief Apple, Meta, and Google are locked in a fierce battle to lead the next wave of AI, and they’ve recently increased their focus on hardware. With its latest acquisition of the AI startup Q.AI, Apple aims to gain an edge, particularly in the audio sector.​As first reported by Reuters, Apple has acquired Q.AI, an Israeli startup specializing in imaging and machine learning, particularly technologies that enable devices to interpret whispered speech and enhance audio in noisy environments. Apple has bee ...

After years of negotiations and false starts, Waymo is now allowed to operate a robotaxi service to and from the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The Alphabet-owned company said in a blog post Thursday it will begin offering access to SFO to a select number of riders before offering it to all customers in the coming months.Pickups and drop-offs will occur at the SFO Rental Car Center, which is accessible via AirTrain. Waymo said it plans to serve additional airport locations in the future. Waymo’ ...

Core Insights - Tesla's energy storage business significantly mitigated the impact of a poor earnings report, with a 45% decline in profit compared to 2024, primarily due to reduced electric vehicle sales [1] - The company achieved a record deployment of 46.7 gigawatt-hours of energy storage products in 2025, marking a 48% increase from the previous year [2] - Energy storage now accounts for nearly 25% of Tesla's gross profit, with the Megapack alone contributing $1.1 billion to the storage business's total gross profit of $3.8 billion for the year [2] - The gross margin for energy storage products stands at 29.8%, nearly double that of Tesla's automotive sales [3] Financial Performance - Tesla's storage and energy generation revenues increased by 26.5% to $12.8 billion [2] - The company anticipates recognizing $4.96 billion in deferred revenue from ongoing projects in 2026, more than double the amount recognized in 2025 [4] Market Dynamics - The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has phased out tax credits for residential energy storage systems, although commercial tax credits for larger products will continue [7] - Despite a decrease in the average selling price of the Megapack, sales volumes increased, indicating heightened competition in the energy storage market [7] - Tesla remains optimistic about the future of its storage business, citing opportunities for energy storage products to stabilize the grid and provide additional power capacity as AI infrastructure drives load growth [9]