Save 25% on an annual subscription to read the most important news about technology and business first. For even more, Save $250 on The Information Pro for unlimited access to our proprietary org charts, databases and surveys.

1.	OpenAI in Talks to Power Amazon's Alexa, Other AI Products By Anissa Gardizy Source: The Information

OpenAI is discussing a commercial agreement with Amazon to develop customized models the e-commerce giant could use to power its artificial intelligence products, including its Alexa voice assistant, The Information reported Wednesday.

It isn't clear how much of a discount Amazon would get on the technology from OpenAI if it uses the ChatGPT maker's models for its products. The talks are happening at the same time Amazon considers making an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, which is also one of its cloud customers.

The Amazon-OpenAI relationship represents one of the many circular arrangements in the AI world, where a company (in this case Amazon) would be a customer, investor and vendor of OpenAI.

2.	Alphabet Will Double CapEx to About $180 Billion as AI Cloud Business Booms By Erin Woo Source: The Information

Alphabet reported a better than projected 18% increase in fourth quarter revenue, fueled by strong growth both in its core search ads business and in cloud sales. Google's revenue from search ads grew 17%, topping the third quarter's 14.5% growth, and Cloud revenue soared 48%, well above that segment's 34% growth in the third quarter.

The results suggest Google's advances in AI are lifting its business. And Google signaled its intention to keep the AI growth going, saying it plans to double its capital expenditures this year to between $175 billion and $185 billion.

Google also highlighted the growth of its Gemini app, which it said has now reached 750 million monthly active users. (OpenAI said last fall that ChatGPT had 800 million weekly active users.) Other segment results indicate how much money the company is investing in areas like Waymo and its Google DeepMind AI research unit. Alphabet's losses on Other Bets, which include Waymo, more than tripled to $3.6 billion last quarter, and its net loss on Alphabet-level activities, which Google said "primarily reflect expenses related to our shared AI research and development," more than doubled to $5.9 billion.

3.	AWS CEO Says Data Centers in Space are A Long Way Off By Catherine Perloff Source: The Information

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said that existing technology is "pretty far" from making data centers in space possible, just as Elon Musk has been pitching the idea as part of the logic for merging SpaceX and xAI.

"I don't know if you've seen a rack of servers recently," Garman said at the Cisco AI Summit in San Francisco on Feb. 3. "They're heavy. The last I checked humanity has yet to ever build … a permanent structure in space, on the moon or anywhere like that. So maybe. I know Elon says he's going to launch a million satellites. There are not enough rockets to launch a million satellites yet." Garman said there were some compelling reasons for data centers in space, including an infinite amount of power and easy cooling.

Earlier this week, rocket and satellite company SpaceX announced it was merging with foundation lab xAI, just as SpaceX plans to go public later this year. In a press release announcing the merger, Musk said that in 2 to 3 years, "the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space." Amazon founder and board chair Jeff Bezos has also expressed optimism about data centers in space, but on a significantly longer timeline than Musk. Bezos, who also founded SpaceX competitor Blue Origin, said last fall that data centers in space could be built within the next 10 to 20 years.

4.	Microsoft Replaces Security Leader with Windows Veteran By Aaron Holmes Source: The Information

Microsoft security chief Charlie Bell will leave his role and be replaced by Hayete Gallot, a former Microsoft executive who most recently served as Google Cloud's president of customer experience, CEO Satya Nadella said Wednesday.

Bell, who joined Microsoft in 2021 to lead its security business after more than two decades at Amazon, will move to a new role as an independent engineer, Nadella said, adding that he and Bell had been "planning this transition for some time."

Bell oversaw growth in the security business, with revenue growing from $10 billion in 2021 to more than $20 billion in 2023, which is the last time the company has disclosed security revenue. However, Bell's tenure was also marked by several notable security vulnerabilities that rattled Microsoft's Azure cloud unit and its 365 email and workplace software. After a federal government review found that Microsoft was responsible for a breach that allowed Chinese hackers to access customers' data in 2023, the company reorganized security teams under Bell and vowed to make changes including tying executives' pay to improving the company's security.

Before her roughly one-year stint at Google Cloud, Gallot spent more than 15 years at Microsoft, where she held various executive roles in its Azure, Windows and Office 365 businesses.

5.	Uber Reports 20% Higher Revenue As Growth Accelerates By Martin Peers Source: The Information

Uber reported 20% higher revenue for the fourth quarter, and a big jump in operating profits, as its business showed signs of acceleration, particularly on the food delivery side. Uber projected a slight slowdown in growth in the first quarter, however. Uber shares were trading down 3.7% in trading on Wednesday afternoon.

Uber's gross bookings—the dollar volume of all the trips booked on its platform—rose 22% year on year, up a percentage point from the third quarter. That growth was particularly evident on the food dleivery side, where gross bookings rose 26% compared with 20% on the larger ride-hailing side.

Revenue—the amount that Uber keeps after paying drivers their cut—rose 30% on the delivery side and 19% on ride hailing side. Profits from delivery also grew at a faster pace, although ride-hailing still made twice as much money as delivery. Uber's free cash flow—cash from operations, less capital expenditures—jumped 65% to $2.8 billion.

6.	Washington Post Lays Off One-Third of Newsroom By Catherine Perloff Source: The Information

The Washington Post is laying off one-third of the newsroom, a spokesperson confirmed. Executive editor Matt Murray said in a note to staff shared with reporters that traffic to the Post's web site from organic search had fallen by nearly half in the past three years. Declining traffic, a result of less referrals coming from search, is a result of AI-powered changes to search and the rise of AI chatbots.

"Platforms like Search that shaped the previous era of digital news, and which once helped The Post thrive, are in serious decline," Murray said. "We are still in the early days of AI-generated content, which is drastically reshaping user experiences and expectations."

Murray also said story output has declined in the past five years and that the publication often writes "from one perspective, for one slice of the audience."

7.	Former PayPal Executive Marcus Explains How Payments Firm Lost Its Way By Ann Gehan Source: The Information

Former PayPal president David Marcus criticized his former employer in a viral social media post this week, writing that the payments giant had "lost its mojo" and arguing that the company had for many years prioritized the bottom line over its longer-term product vision. His comments were made on Tuesday, the day that PayPal announced it would replace current CEO Alex Chriss with HP CEO Enrique Lores, saying the company had fallen short of expectations on efforts to jumpstart growth.

Marcus was the founder and CEO of mobile payments company Zong, which was acquired by PayPal in 2011. Marcus rose to become PayPal's president but left the company in 2014, just before the company's spinoff from eBay.

Marcus said in his post that the company slowly lost its momentum following the spinoff, when PayPal was run by Dan Schulman, in particular after the departure of Bill Ready, who rose to become PayPal's COO before he left the company in 2019. Marcus said that during this period, the company mistakenly optimized for growing its overall payments volume instead of focusing on higher-margin products that deepened customer relationships like buy now, pay later offerings and had lost ground to other payment options like Apple Pay.

8.	AI Chip Startup Cerebras Raises $1 Billion at $23 Billion Valuation By Valida Pau Source: The Wall Street Journal

AI chip startup Cerebras Systems said Wednesday has raised about $1 billion in a new funding round that values the company at $23 billion including the new investment. The Information first reported in January that the startup was in fundraising talks at a $22 billion valuation before the new investment.

The new funding round comes as Cerebras is expected to list in the coming months. It aimed to go public earlier but said last September that it was withdrawing those plans and instead raised more money privately.

The company also recently announced a deal with OpenAI, which agreed to purchase 750 megawatts worth of computing power from the startup through 2028 for about $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal.

9.	Snap Reports Steady Revenue Growth in Fourth Quarter By Catherine Perloff Source: The Information

Snap revenue increased 10% in the fourth quarter to $1.7 billion, the same rate of growth as it reported last quarter. One worrisome sign is that Snap's daily active users fell to 474 million from 477 million in the third quarter, although it was up from a year earlier. This is the first time Snap hasn't reported sequential growth in daily active users in several years.

Net income, meanwhile, jumped to $45 million compared with $9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The fourth quarter tends to be the strongest for companies like Snap that make their money primarily from advertising.

Spiegel said the company is on track to launch its Specs line of glasses publicly this year. Last month, the company said it was spinning out Specs into a separate subsidiary, confirming earlier reporting from The Information. Snap shares fell 3% in after market trading.

10.	Crypto Venture Capitalist Kyle Samani Steps Down From Multicoin By Yueqi Yang Source: The Information

Kyle Samani, the co-founder of Multicoin Capital, will step back from his crypto venture firm to explore other areas of technology, including AI, longevity and robotics, according to a letter the firm sent to its investors.

Multicoin, founded in 2017, was known for betting big on solana tokens and FTX. David Sacks was a limited partner in Multicoin, until Sacks divested his interest in the firm when he became the White House AI and crypto czar last year.

Samani has been engaging with policymakers and regulators in Washington. He will transition to an advisory role at Multicoin and will continue to make personal investments in the crypto industry. He will remain chairman of Forward Industries, the biggest solana-holding stock.

Popular articles

Opportunities

Group subscriptions

Learn more

Brand partnerships

Connect with our team