AI leaves the lab. We follow what happens next.

Archive October 29, 2026 20:11 UTC
Listen to today's briefing 9:28
Signal: The buildout got priced and policed in one day: Alphabet burned $9BN of cash, Nvidia's White House cover cracked, Reddit locked the door.
NYT: Trump Sat on Spy Warning to Protect Nvidia
US agencies told the president a year ago that Beijing was getting reports from someone with direct access to Jensen Huang; he chose not to act partly to avoid denting the stock, and Nvidia calls the diversion claims debunked.
CNBC: Nvidia says the diversion claims were investigated and debunked last year TechCrunch: the US investigated a spy plot aimed at Nvidia's CEO

Google's Worst Day Ever: $9BN Cash Burn, $500BN Gone
Alphabet posted negative free cash flow of $9.07BN against the $2.7BN analysts expected, held capex guidance at $195-205BN, and fell 13% — the steepest drop since Google went public in 2004.
CNBC: Amazon misses too and holds capex steady, shares down 7% Ars Technica: Google admits AI search earns less, so more ads are coming
NEWCarney Puts C$1.6BN of Public Money Into Cohere
The C$7BN round — the largest ever by a Canadian startup, led by Lidl owner Schwarz Group with Nvidia and Bell — values Cohere at C$35.7BN and buys Ottawa an unprecedented direct stake.
CBC: 'Cohere will stay Canadian,' Carney said in Montreal
Workbench Weekly podcast Oct 19 – Oct 25, 2026 · 19:58
Anthropic Wants Courts Able to Kill a Model A draft federal bill would give Commerce the same power
NEWAI Ate Its Search Traffic, So Reddit Locks the Door
Steve Huffman is making Reddit a logged-in-only site to stop AI scrapers taking for free what model makers now pay to license — while US daily users are already falling.
The Verge: 'a logged-in-only experience,' says CEO Steve Huffman
Ghost Note His Faith Forbids the Copilot Rollout