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Tech 5: Meta Plans Multi-Billion AI Bet, Apple Reveals iOS 26 at WWDC 2025
1. Meta's AI strategy takes shape with US$14.8 billion deal
Meta has a massive deal in the works with Scale AI, according to information provided by sources to multiple outlets.
On June 7, Bloomberg broke the news that Meta was in discussions for a potential investment of over US$10 billion in the AI firm. Then, on Tuesday (June 10), The Information reported Meta would acquire a 49 percent stake in Scale AI for US$14.8 billion, valuing the startup at US$28 billion, a two-fold increase from its valuation in 2024.
The news was followed by reports from the New York Times and Bloomberg Tuesday that Meta would be unveiling a new AI research lab focused on achieving superintelligence that would include Alexandr Wang, who is Scale AI's founder and CEO, among other Scale AI employees.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly acquired additional talent for the lab by offering lucrative compensation packages to engineers from multiple other tech firms, including Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and OpenAI.
2. Apple's WWDC disappoints investors
Shares of Apple stock fell by over 2 percent on Monday (June 9) and closed 1.43 percent lower after the company’s lineup of new developments and features revealed at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference failed to impress investors.
Apple’s forthcoming software updates featured subtle improvements, such as a revamped operating system (OS) and AI capabilities that were noticeably toned down compared to the previous year's unveiling. Among the new additions to Apple devices are in-app live translation, call screening, AI-driven information analysis and more sophisticated image generation capabilities thanks to its partner OpenAI.
The company also said it would provide developers with offline functionality for its on-device AI models.
The biggest development was the introduction of Liquid Glass, a new design language and graphical user interface developed to unify the visual experience across Apple’s operating systems. Also part of the push for unification, Apple shared it is switching to an iOS naming system using a number based on calendar year after its release, meaning the next release will be iOS 26.
Apple briefly mentioned the long-awaited AI-powered upgrade to its Siri assistant that was announced at WWDC 2024. During the previous conference, executives hinted that the new Siri would be released with iOS 18, which came out last September without the upgrade.
While no release date was provided at the event, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said that the company looks forward to sharing more details “in the coming year.” The company reaffirmed that timeline in a Bloomberg report after anonymous sources told the publication Apple is aiming for a spring 2026 release.
Shares of Apple stock closed down 3.88 percent for the week.
3. Amazon to build two nuclear-powered data centers in Pennsylvania
Amazon announced plans on Monday to invest at least US$20 billion in expanding its data center infrastructure in Pennsylvania, including the construction of two new data center campuses.
One of the campuses will be in Luzerne County, south of Scranton, alongside Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant. The second campus will be built north of Philadelphia in Bucks County, at the site of what was once a steel mill.
“Pennsylvania is competing again – and I'm proud to announce that with Amazon's commitment of at least $20 billion to build new state-of-the-art data center campuses across our Commonwealth, we have secured the largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) said in a press release.
Later, on Wednesday (June 11), Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) announced the expansion of its nuclear energy partnership struck with Amazon in 2022 to now supply AWS data centers with up to 1,920 megawatts of electricity from its plant, doubling its previous commitment of 960 megawatts.
The two companies also shared plans to explore the development of small modular reactors in the state.
4. Oracle earnings report sends stock to new heights
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) reported its fiscal Q4 and full year 2025 earnings on Wednesday, revealing total Q4 revenue of US$15.9 billion, above analyst estimates and a year-over-year increase of 11 percent. Earnings per share were US$1.70, which also exceeded expectations of US$1.64.
The software maker’s cloud infrastructure business grew by 50 percent year-over-year in fiscal year 2025, and Oracle projected a further increase of 70 percent in cloud infrastructure sales over the next year.
CEO Safra Catz's news during the earnings call that the Stargate joint venture is “not yet formed” had little bearing on the company’s stock price. The positive report sent shares to a new high of US$202.44, and they continued climbing to close Friday up 23 percent since the start of the week.
5. Nvidia CEO highlights AI job creation, European AI deals at VivaTech
In a week of announcements that coincided with the VivaTech 2025 conference in Paris, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang showcased his company’s role as a full-stack AI infrastructure provider.
His message during his keynote presentation on Wednesday was a stark contrast to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s warning earlier this week that AI could lead to widespread job displacement.
On the contrary, Huang said that AI will create new industries and demand for jobs. He also noted that quantum computing technology is at an inflection point, with the potential to solve problems that currently demand years of processing by classical computers.
His comments came just one day after IBM (NYSE:IBM) unveiled its newest roadmap, which includes plans for a new quantum data center and the IBM Quantum Starling, which the company says will be the world's first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Cementing Nvidia’s role as a global infrastructure leader, Huang shared plans to develop European sovereign AI models through a newly announced partnership with US-based, AI-powered search engine Perplexity and French sovereign AI start-up H Company. Developers will be able to access and fine-tune Perplexity’s models through Hugging Face, a platform for model sharing and collaboration.
DGX Cloud Lepton, Nvidia’s sovereign-ready AI cloud platform, will host the models on European infrastructure to comply with local data privacy and localization requirements.
Huang said that, with over 20 active AI factory initiatives in the region, he anticipates a tenfold increase in Europe's AI computing capacity within two years.
Also on Wednesday, insiders for Bloomberg reported that Nvidia and Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) will make minority investments in robotics software developer Skild AI as part of the company’s Series B funding round. The round is led by a US$100 million investment from SoftBank (TSE:9434) and will result in a US$4.5 billion valuation, according to the report. Sources with insider knowledge said that Nvidia will invest US$10 million and Samsung will put in US$25 million in a strategic move aimed at boosting the companies' influence in the consumer robotics sector.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Tech 5: OpenAI Restructures, Apple Pursues AI Search, Constellation Shares Jump
In addition to that, earnings reports from major tech players like Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) painted a complex picture of growth and challenges in a turbulent economic environment.
The interplay of innovation, regulation and market forces played out against a backdrop of trade developments between the US and the UK, with optimism regarding forthcoming negotiations with China boosting sentiment toward the end of the week.
Read on to dive deeper into this week's top stories.
1. Apple's App Store appeal, AI search plans and chip news
Apple is formally contesting last week’s judicial ruling mandating a reduction in its App Store commission.
The company filed an appeal against the order that would compel it to lower the existing 27 percent fee imposed on businesses offering links within their apps to external payment processing alternatives.
In related news, Apple executive Eddy Cue revealed during federal court testimony that the tech giant is investigating the development of its own AI-powered search engine for the Safari web browser. The news had an immediate impact on Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares, resulting in a 9 percent decline on Wednesday (May 7) afternoon.
In other news, Apple is reportedly making advances in its in-house silicon development.
The company is designing new proprietary chips intended to serve as the main central processing units for a range of future Apple products. These include anticipated devices such as smart glasses, more powerful iterations of its Mac computer line and specialized AI servers.
Combined with this week’s macroeconomic and geopolitical developments, Apple’s share price experienced turbulence, ultimately closing 2.25 percent below Monday’s (May 5) opening price on Friday (May 9).
2. OpenAI announces restructuring, acquisition and leadership changes
In a notable week for AI giant OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman shared a reorganization strategy on Monday, announcing that its operational arm will transition into a new public benefit corporation, with its non-profit arm acting as the primary shareholder. The decision follows talks with civic leaders and state attorneys general.
A person familiar with the matter told Business Insider that the new plan will let the company receive the full US$30 billion investment from SoftBank (TSE:9984). Meanwhile, sources told Bloomberg on Monday that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and OpenAI are still in negotiations regarding a restructuring plan. A later report from the Information reveals that OpenAI plans to slash its 20 percent revenue-sharing agreement with Microsoft to 10 percent by 2030.
Regarding the ongoing legal dispute between Sam Altman and Tesla (NADAQ:TSLA) CEO Musk, who alleges that the company has strayed from its founding mission, Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff, told Reuters on Monday that the team intends to proceed with the lawsuit. Toberoff also called the restructuring a “cosmetic” move that turns charitable assets into private wealth, adding that “the founding mission remains betrayed.”
In other news, OpenAI made its largest acquisition to date this week, agreeing to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for about US$3 billion, and named ex-Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) CEO Fidji Simo as its new head of applications.
According to reports, Simo will manage operations and report directly to Sam Altman, who will retain his title as CEO. Altman will shift his focus to research, safety efforts and advancing artificial general intelligence.
3. AI chip regulatory developments
US Representative Bill Foster is preparing to introduce legislation aimed at tracking the location of AI chips, such as those produced by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), after they are sold.
The proposed bill, first reported by Reuters on Monday, would task US regulators with developing rules to monitor these chips, ensuring they remain in authorized locations under export control licenses.
It would also seek to prevent unlicensed chips from being activated outside of authorized locations.
In other chip-related news, NVIDIA shares rose following news that the Trump administration plans to eliminate the so-called “AI diffusion rule.” However, a spokesperson from the US Department of Commerce clarified upcoming plans in a statement to CNBC’s Kif Leswing on Wednesday, commenting:
“The Biden AI rule is overly complex, overly bureaucratic, and would stymie American innovation. We will be replacing it with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.”
The announcement highlights the Trump administration's intention to keep some guardrails in place to protect US interests, despite pushback from tech industry executives.
At a Congressional hearing on Thursday (May 8), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized the importance of maintaining US leadership in AI development. He cautioned against overregulation, warning that poorly designed rules could hinder America’s competitive edge, particularly against China.
4. Palantir, AMD, Arm and Super Micro share results
Palantir’s Q1 revenue rose 39 percent year-on-year to US$884 million, driven by demand for its data analytics software in the US. The company expects demand to continue, forecasting Q2 revenue between US$934 million and US$938 million. Palantir’s share price fell by 8 percent after hours as investors anticipated even stronger results. The company posted a loss of 5.6 percent for the week after a volatile week for tech stocks, as overvaluation concerns persist.
Advanced Micro Devices' Q1 earnings report shows quarterly revenue of US$7.4 billion, an annual increase of 36 percent, with adjusted earnings per share of US$0.96. Despite an initial 7 percent stock surge following a positive quarterly report, AMD shares fell following the company's announcement of a projected US$1.5 billion revenue decrease this year, attributed to US government limitations on the sale of AI chips to China.
Palantir, Super Micro, AMD and Arm performance, May 6 to 9, 2025.
Chart via Google Finance.
For Q4 2024, Arm Holdings reported quarterly revenue of more than US$1 billion for the first time in its history, but forecast revenue and profit for Q1 2025 below Wall Street estimates, resulting in a 4 percent slump on Thursday morning
Super Micro Computer’s net sales increased from US$3,85 billion in Q3 2024 to US$4.6 billion, while the company's earnings per share fell year-on-year from US$0.66 to US$0.17.
The company lowered its full-year revenue guidance from US$23.5 billion to US$25 billion, down to US$21.8 billion to US$22.6 billion, with trade war-induced uncertainty and increasing competition cited as obstacles to growth. The company’s share price opened over 5 percent lower the next day and fell by over 3 percent this week.
5. Constellation shares jump, White House plans reactor push
Shares of Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) rose nearly 10 percent in two days ahead of the Tuesday (May 6) release of its Q1 earnings report, which revealed revenue that exceeded expectations by over 20 percent.
Later, during an earnings call, CEO Joe Dominguez said the company was close to inking multiple long-term deals to provide nuclear power to meet surging energy demands, further bolstering investors’ optimistic outlook.
In another significant development within the nuclear energy sector, Ontario Power Generation said it has secured the necessary approvals to commence construction on the first of four small modular reactors (SMR) designed by GE Verona (NYSE:GEV), which will be located at the company’s Darlington site near Toronto.
The Darlington project is anticipated to be the first deployment of this particular SMR technology within a G7 nation.
Separately, Axios reported on Tuesday that sources familiar with the matter say the White House is in the final stages of preparing executive actions intended to accelerate the deployment of nuclear reactors. These plans, reportedly under consideration for several weeks, could be officially announced imminently.
On Friday, NPR said its reporters have seen a draft of such an order. According to the report, the order instructs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to send new reactor safety guidelines to the White House for review and possible amendments. The draft also calls for a reduction of NRC’s staff and a “wholesale revision of its regulation” in coordination with the administration and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.