TechCheck

Meta is notching another name in its expensive hunt for top AI talent, poaching a top Apple executive for reportedly tens of millions of dollars. We dig into how the cost of staffing Meta's superintelligence lab is adding up.  

President Trump's newly-signed spending bill slashes tax credits for renewable energy, which could have a massive and unexpected impact on big tech's development of AI, especially as China ramps up its electricity generation compared to the U.S. 

The talent wars between OpenAI and Meta are drawing headlines but Google is quietly making an AI move that could put the tech giant ahead. We dig into Google's AI mode and how distribution will be crucial to the next stage of the AI race. 

Tesla is the worst performer in the Magnificent 7 this year as the feud between President Trump and Elon Musk heats up. We dig into which parts of Musk's empire could be the most at risk from the fallout. 

Shares of Meta hitting a fresh all-time high today as it pushes full steam ahead on its AI talent spending spree. We dig into why Zuckerberg is poaching top AI names and how Meta is planning on reaching superintelligence. 

OpenAI is warning an emerging Chinese startup that it says is catching up quickly. We dig into how China's rapid spread of AI infrastructure could be the biggest threat to U.S. AI dominance. 

Tech stocks continuing to rally this week, the NASDAQ 100 hitting another record high today as AI optimism buoys big tech names. We dig into why the market could be overlooking a major risk propping up the next leg of the AI trade. Check out the full deep dive on CNBC.com/tctakes. 

AI reasoning models were supposed to be the industry's next leap, promising smarter systems able to tackle more complex problems. Now, a string of research is calling that into question. In June, a team of Apple researchers released a white paper titled “The Illusion of Thinking,” which found that once problems get complex enough, reasoning models stop working. Even more concerning, the models aren't “generalizable,” meaning they might be just memorizing patterns instead of coming up with genuinely new solutions. Researchers at Salesforce, Anthropic, and other AI labs have also raised red flags. The constraints on reasoning could have major implications for the AI trade, businesses spending billions on AI, and even the timeline to superhuman intelligence.

Shares of Uber surging after opening its robotaxi partnership with Waymo to the public in Atlanta. It comes just two days after Tesla launched its small-scale robotaxi fleet in Austin, we dig into the rapidly expanding race for autonomous taxis. 

Tesla rolled out their first limited batch of robotaxis in Austin Texas over the weekend, sending shares soaring.  We dig into how the robotaxi race is rapidly expanding, and how that value may be being overlooked in Google and Amazon shares 

 A source confirming to CNBC that  Meta tried to buy Perplexity before the $14.3B deal for Scale AI and its founder Alexandr Wang. Plus, we look at Softbank's Masayoshi Son is continuing his trend of moonshot bets with a reported proposal to build a $1T AI hub in Arizona. 

Ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, we look at what's at stake and what to expect from today's projections. Plus, Senator Warren joins us live from Capitol Hill to address President Trump's criticism of Fed Chair Powell and the conflict in the Middle East. And OpenAI's Sam Altman is accusing Meta of poaching its staff with 9-figure signing bonuses. 

One of the longest-standing partnerships in AI could be reaching a breaking point. We look at the souring relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft and why AGI is at the center of it. 

Geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East continues to escalate, as U.S. tech firms deepen their ties to Gulf states investing in AI. We dig into how those connections are starting to expose the risks of sovereign AI. 

Meta making its investment in scale AI official. Spending $14.3B for a 49% stake in the company, as CEO Alexandr Wang departs for a role inside Meta. We dig into how tech giants are spending

AI has gone primetime, with a completely AI-generated ad from the prediction platform Kalshi airing last night during the NBA finals. The company says it was created from idea to live in less than 72 hours and cost them less than $2,000 to make. It shows just how fast AI is moving up the value chain and raises new questions around public trust and AI media consumption. 

A source confirming to CNBC that Meta is spending $15B to obtain a 49% stake in AI startup Scale AI. We dig into why Meta is going big on the deal, and the flurry of AI valuation headlines making news this week. 

Researchers at Apple are out with a new paper that throws cold water on the biggest trend in AI right now: reasoning models. Scientists there say that beyond a certain point, the models lose all accuracy. Plus, OpenAI has just hit $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, driven by chatGPT, its consumer business and APIs. 

Morgan Stanley calling out Amazon as an “under-appreciated Gen AI winner” over its investments in automation. We dig into how robotics could translate into big savings for Amazon's core business. 

Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo may not be as loud as Tesla in the autonomous vehicle race, but co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana says that Waymo is the only company that's operating fully driverless rides at scale - most recently notching 10 million autonomous rides. CNBC's Deirdre Bosa sits down with her in an exclusive interview at the Google I/O developer conference. Aired on May 21st 2025.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is warning against a provision in the GOP's massive reconciliation bill that would ban state AI laws for 10 years. We dig into the growing debate and the newest AI-related threat to cyber security. 

New footage obtained by Bloomberg reveals the shocking moments before a pedestrian was struck and killed in 2023 by a Tesla using FSD technology. We dig into the camera vs lidar debate as Tesla gets set to launch its robotaxis in Austin this month. 

The Senate is getting their turn at the GOP's massive reconciliation bill, but now state lawmakers are speaking out against a provision buried inside that would tie their hands on AI regulation. We dig into how the controversial rule is reigniting debate on the future of AI. 

Startup Perplexity is close to a deal with Samsung that would make their assistant the default on upcoming devices. We look at what the deal means as AI companies battle to reach more users and become the default chatbot. 

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Anduril's Palmer Luckey are now teaming up to make virtual reality headsets for defense military training. But the new venture represents a reconciliation between two tech CEOs who had a complicated last decade and speaks to the new alignments taking shape between Silicon Valley and politics. 

China may have been the big headline out of Nvidia's quarter, with 28 mentions on the earnings call, but right behind was inference at 27. It represents the next wave of AI, models that generate responses after getting trained, and could unlock a major new growth engine for Nvidia. 

Meta is reportedly shaking up its AI team after months of delays on its latest Llama 4 Behemoth AI model. We look at how Meta is not alone in having model issues, and the reignited debate around slowing AI progress. 

President Trump's threat to slap iPhones with a 25% tariff is just his latest attempt to reshape the global supply chain. We look at how his push for American manufacturing could derail big tech's move into physical AI. 

OpenAI's deal with iphone designer Jony Ive came right in the middle of Google I/O and sent a signal the AI company is aiming to challenge the big tech ecosystem. Plus, we look what DOJ's reported probe of Google's Character.AI deal means for the AI talent battlefield. 

Alphabet kicks off its adeveloper event Google I/O today – we look at the tech giant's delicate balancing act between prioritizing AI while maintaining its core search business

Apple and Alibaba shares under pressure after New York Times reporting that their deal to bring AI to Chinese iPhones is facing U.S. government scrutiny. We look at how as Apple feels the squeeze of Trump's trade policies, defense tech is winning big. 

The Wall Street Journal reporting Meta has again delayed the launch of flagship AI model, named “Behemoth.” We look at how the news highlights Meta's massive AI spend and the increasing focus on leaner models. 

President Trump attacking Tim Cook over Apple's plans to produce more iPhones in India. We look at how Trump's tariffs are shifting supply chains. 

Databricks CEO talks with Deirdre Bosa about the company's $1B deal to acquire cloud-based database software vendor Neon, and the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Plus, we walk through what to watch in AI Infrastructure Coreweave's first quarterly report since its March IPO. 

President Trump escalating chip diplomacy in his trip to the Gulf states. We look at how Gulf ambitions to become an AI and their longstanding ties to Chinese tech. 

President Trump kicking off the first major international trip of his second term today, heading to the Gulf states as top tech CEOs make their way to the region for a major investor conference. We look at how a partnership between the Gulf and big tech could reshape the AI landscape. 

"Inside a secretive lab in Santa Barbara, California, scientists at Alphabet are working on one of the company's most ambitious bets yet. They're attempting to develop the world's most advanced quantum computers. Late last year, Google unveiled a breakthrough quantum computing chip called Willow, which it says can solve a benchmark problem unimaginably faster than what's possible with a classical computer. CNBC's Deirdre Bosa gets an exclusive look inside Google quantum lab and explores whether Willow may give Google a chance to take the lead in the next technological era.

OpenAI is now trying to balance the interests of its biggest backers after the AI darling announced their restructuring plan to remain under non-profit control. We look at where that leaves its major investors like Microsoft and Softbank. 

One of AI's emerging superpowers is writing software, as shown by the rapidly climbing valuation of Anysphere, which makes one of the leading tools in the space. But now, we're also seeing big tech jump in, with Microsoft, Google, and Amazon all saying that 30% of their code is being written by AI. We dive into when we'll start seeing evidence of the boom impacting profits.

As Apple and Amazon mark the tail end of the big tech earnings season, megacaps are sending bullish signals about their ability to weather the tariff storm. Amazon's CEO said AI demand is growing triple digits while Apple shifts production to India and Vietnam. But it might also be too early to capture the full impact of macro uncertainties, and quarters ahead could be messier.  

AI stocks moving sharply higher after Meta and Microsoft posted strong results and doubled-down on AI spending plans. We dig into why the AI bull case may be more complicated than it seems. 

Early in the AI race, apps like Perplexity, Cursor, Sesame and Abridge were known pejoratively as “wrappers,” describing the way their either app or business was wrapped around existing AI models. Critics called them as second-rate middlemen, slapping an interface on someone else's technology while companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic developed their own models. Now, that thesis is changing. Wrappers have changed the way Silicon Valley builds, ushering in the era of vibe-coding.