|
NVIDIA’s Big Week, New AI Models, Social Media On Trial
As it closes in on a big investment in OpenAI, Nvidia will report earnings on Wednesday, and the stakes are as high as ever.
|
| |||||||||||||||
 |
Welcome back to Big Technology’s Agenda Setter email, in your inbox most Mondays with a preview of what’s to come in the week ahead.
Nvidia reports earnings this Wednesday and the stakes will be tremendous as usual. CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang is expected to give updates on inference demand, the pace of shipped compute, and more on the company’s vision for robotics.
In a rocky month for AI (and the software stocks it might destroy), Wall Street’s bar for Nvidia is especially high, with some expecting between 60% and 70% year-over-year revenue growth. Nvidia stock has barely moved since the start of last year’s fourth quarter, it’s up 1.7% vs. the S&P’s 3.3%, and it might take a legendary report to cause it to budge.
So even as the tech giants have committed to spending $600 billion on infrastructure in 2026, the company’s earnings results will be a must-watch as usual.
There’s also a new wrinkle for Nvidia this week. After months of reports that the company’s relationship with OpenAI has been fraying, we may indeed see it come through on plans to invest $30 billion in OpenAI, part of a $100 billion funding round that is reportedly nearing a close.
If the OpenAI round is not announced this week, Huang might still provide some clarity (and likely steadfast support) about how he feels about Sam Altman and Co. Those comments may well be the week’s big headline.
One thing worth your attention:
It’ll be worth watching how Huang talks about supply and demand. On its last earnings call, when an analyst asked him if there’s a “realistic path” for supply to catch up with demand over the next 12 to 18 months, he didn’t give a straightforward answer. More clarity this time would be nice.
We’re also less than a month away from Nvidia’s annual GTC conference, where Huang said the company will “surprise the world” with a new kind of chip. Any new information on that front could make waves.
Other events this week:
Other companies scheduled to report earnings this week, with each likely to give updates on their AI roadmaps:
February 24: Workday, GoDaddy, HP
February 25: Salesforce, Snowflake
February 26: Dell, Intuit, Coreweave
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday will have a briefing to discuss “tech competition, critical minerals, and supply chain security.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet on Feb. 26 to discuss several proposed bipartisan bills related to protecting children online, including the COP Act, the ECCHO Act and the SAFE Act.
The Intelligence Report
Perplexity said it’s moving away from ads, claiming ads hurt trust in AI right as rival ChatGPT begins tests to introduce ads.
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei refused to hold hands while appearing on stage at the India AI Impact Summit.
ChatGPT’s early brands reportedly testing ads include Best Buy, Expedia, Qualcomm and Enterprise according to AdThena.
Meta plans to spend $65 million this election cycle to fund AI-friendly state candidates.
Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna spoke at a Stanford town hall about billionaires and the future of AI.