TechCheck

Behind the scenes at a quantum lab, SandboxAQ CEO on outlook, plus the U.S. TikTok alternatives users are flocking toDescription: Quantum computing stocks have had a volatile few months, with investors asking when companies will begin offering commercially viable solutions. We went behind the scenes at a leading quantum lab in Silicon Valley to find out, and talked to the CEO of the startup Sandbox AQ which is at the forefront of quantum development. Plus, as the fate of TikTok hangs in limbo, Americans are flocking to other, U.S.-based alternative apps that are quickly climbing the charts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

2025 is expected to be the year of the AI Agent and ChatGPT developer OpenAI making the first move. We look at their new ‘Tasks’ feature that OpenAI’s President and Co-Founder calls “Baby Steps” in the direction of the agentic future. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A report out today claims China is exploring a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to Elon Musk. With just days to go before the ban is set to take effect, we look at how another Chinese app is already rocketing to the top of the charts as TikTok users look for alternatives. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg continuing his MAGA makeover in a recent podcast appearance with Joe Rogan where he slammed Apple for a lack of innovation. We dig into how critics are responding to Zuckerberg’s public shift ahead of Trump’s second term. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI chip giant Nvidia coming out hard against newly reported AI chip export limits that the Biden administration is expected to announce. The three-tiered system would put new caps on companies and countries in an effort to maintain U.S. AI dominance. Plus, the fate of the TikTok ban now rests in the hands of the Supreme Court who heard oral arguments today in Washington. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just days before the Supreme Court hears the TikTok ban, TikTok Shop rival Whatnot announcing they’ve hit a nearly $5B valuation as part of its latest funding round. Plus, we talk to one Quantum CEO who is pushing back on Jensen Huang’s comments that the technology is still decades away. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta continuing their Trump charm offensive with an announcement today that the social media giant is ending fact checking. As more Silicon Valley leaders make public overtures to Trump, we look at what it could mean for the Tech Giants who haven’t. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This weekend OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saying that Artificial General Intelligence – a metric that would mean AI has caught up to human reasoning – is within reach. Plus, we look at viral videos that are raising questions about trust in self-driving technology. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Next week one of the biggest tech events of 2025 kicks off in Las Vegas. The Consumer Electronics Show – better known as CES – showcases some of the biggest names and advances in tech. We dig into what to expect as the focus turns to progress in AI applications, and signs of returns on the massive investments made in the technology. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tesla’s self-driving robotaxi technology may define the company in 2025, but it also puts them in direct competition against rideshare giant Uber. We take a look at the robotaxi battle lines taking shape in 2025 and who could be poised to come out on top. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DeepSeek v3 is a new AI model developed by a Chinese lab, built in just 2 months with less-performant GPUs and for a fraction of what it cost Google, OpenAI and Meta to build theirs. It raises questions of America’s place in the AI race and whether shelling out hundreds of millions or even billions into building frontier AI models is still a worthy investment. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

OpenAI laid out its plan for converting into a for-profit company in a blog post Friday morning. The Generative AI darling says their existing for-profit division will become a public benefit corporation. We dig into what this means for OpenAI’s future and why the move might not be as easy as they hope. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Increased competition is already impacting the chips trade, and that’s expected to continue into next year. But the biggest risk could be geopolitical, with Taiwan as the standout headwind for semiconductors in 2025. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Micron shares tumbling today on weak guidance, but what the drop doesn’t reflect are signs of strength in the chipmaker’s AI data center business. A sign that AI is moving towards the so-called ‘digestion’ phase. Plus a conversation with Chetan Puttagunta, General partner at VC firm Benchmark about the shifting trend from scaling to innovation in generative AI. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mega Caps stocks are popping this month, and the trend is being propelled by more than just traditional trading. We dig into how bullish options activity is driving some of the biggest moves in tech and fueling increased volatility as investors search for more upside. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa sits down with Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi to talk its mega funding round, what it means for AI enthusiasm and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Databricks is announcing an eye-popping $10 billion funding round at a $62 billion dollar valuation, one of the largest in Silicon Valley history. Investors include Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz as Databricks looks well positioned in the next phase of AI generative AI adoption. We look at what the ballooning Silicon Valley funding rounds mean amid Wall Street's IPO drought. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son joined President Trump at Mar-a-Lago this morning to announce a $100 billion dollar investment in the U.S. over the next four years. The AI-focused investment comes as Washington’s hunger for the emerging technology grows, and Softbank shows signs of refining their own AI strategy. We dig into what sets this apart from Son’s 2016, $50 billion dollar investment after Trump’s first win. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tech leaders are previewing their playbook for Trump’s second term. Including trips to Mar-a-Lago, and larger donations to the inaugural fund. So will it translate into warmer relations between Trump's new White House and some of the Silicon Valley leaders he's long railed against? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deirdre Bosa sits down with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins to talk the outlook for business under a new Trump Presidency and how AI is creating a boom for new digital infrastructure. Plus, the latest developments from the Barclays Global Tech Conference in San Francisco. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Google is announcing its more powerful Gemini 2.0 model, which will power its AI search tool “Overviews.” It means the company is now getting new capabilities like reasoning into the hands of more than a billion users, in contrast to OpenAI’s 12 days of Ship-Mas, where it released a full version of its model to a far smaller group of users. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Generative AI has developed so quickly in the past two years, massive breakthroughs seemed more a question of “when” rather than “if.” But in recent weeks, Silicon Valley has become increasingly concerned that advancements are slowing. One early indication is the lack of progress between models released by the biggest players in the space. OpenAI is reportedly facing a significantly smaller increase in quality for its next model GPT-5, while Anthropic has delayed the release of its most powerful model Opus, according to wording that was removed from its website. Even at tech giant Google, its upcoming version of Gemini is reportedly not living up to internal expectations. If progress is plateauing, it would call into question a core assumption that Silicon Valley has treated as religion: scaling laws. The idea is that adding more computing power and more data guarantees better models to an infinite degree. But those recent developments suggest they may be more theory than law. The key problem could be that AI companies are running out of data to train models on, hitting what experts call the “data wall.” Instead, they’re turning to synthetic data, or AI-generated data. CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa explores whether AI progress is slowing, and what it means for the industry. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President-elect Trump has selected venture capitalist David Sacks as his pick for White House AI & Crypto Czar, a role that involves two of the most important emerging technologies. It’s also a signal of the growing influence that Silicon Valley is wielding over the new administration, as the impact of tech elites like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen also expand. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The new frontier emerging in AI is 3D world-generating models, where you input text, an image or a video and generate a modifiable 3D world. Plus, OpenAI launched two new updates today -- a better version of one of its models and a $200 per month pro tier. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Spotify is now jumping on the AI hype train, teaming up with Google to use their viral AI podcast tool for the 2024 Wrapped, helping users generate customized content about their listening habits this year. It could be what Google needs to supercharge the feature’s reach with more consumers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Intel are extending yesterday’s drop after popping initially on the news of Pat Gelsinger’s retirement. It could be because investors are digging further into the chip giant’s issues, and finding the challenges run deeper than who’s at the helm – instead reaching the board, which lacks technical expertise more than other semiconductor peers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Google’s latest move after losing its antitrust case over search is subpoenaing AI rivals, trying to rebuff the Justice Department’s efforts to force a breakoff of Chrome and more. The strategy involves convincing the court that the emergence of AI-powered search competition needs to be taken into account. Plus, Amazon’s Prime Video will stream the NFL match up on Black Friday, and the game already looks like a success, selling out of ad inventory months earlier than last year. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nvidia is showing off a new AI audio generator tool they’re calling Fugatto, capable of creating never-before heard sounds through text and audio prompts. While Nvidia says it doesn’t have immediate plans to release the tool, the product is an example of Nvidia’s moonshot projects that has helped cement its dominance through shifting technological trends like gaming and crypto over decades Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting China for at least the third time this year as he looks to shore up relations ahead of a potential trade battle under President-elect Trump. It comes as Chinese tech giant Huawei makes smartphone tech breakthroughs to rival Apple and Google, while America’s chip revival under Intel hits more snags. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Elon Musk is emerging as a new wild card for big tech in Trump’s second administration. His empire of companies and ventures compete with megacaps on numerous levels, particularly Google, whose Waymo, Gemini and YouTube frequently go up against Musk’s Tesla, xAI and X. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Alphabet moved higher today despite reports that the Justice Department is planning to force a sale of the Google Chrome browser. It’s part of the government’s efforts to limit Google’s monopoly in search, but could it end up hindering the big tech firm’s position in the AI race too? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A federal framework for regulating self-driving technology instead of state-by-state ones is more likely to benefit the current and arguably underappreciated leader in self-driving cars, Waymo, which has clocked 25 million rider-only miles and is completing more than 150,000 paid rides a week. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One year ago this week we saw the dramatic ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and reinstatement just days later. Back at the helm, he has reshaped the company in culture, staff and even mission. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Amazon have seen a boost since Donald Trump was elected, but the e-commerce giant has had a tense relationship with the President-elect. Will it fare better during his second time in the White House? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tech giants and AI startups have all been working to get their hands on Nvidia’s upcoming Blackwell chips – but it’s the Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank that is set to receive them first. For Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, it’s a way for Nvidia to diversify away from its large U.S. customers to new opportunities in Japan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Box CEO Aaron Levie joins CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa to discuss why software stocks have been performing so well, how a new Trump term will impact tech regulations, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Traffic to ChatGPT is booming, now ranked the 8th most-visited website worldwide, according to Similarweb. But its incredible rise comes right as concerns in Silicon Valley grow over whether the advancement of AI models is slowing down due to the data wall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The next phase of AI development involves inference, the stage in which the models that have been trained are applied and generate responses. There, specialized chips developed Amazon and Google are designed to be more cost-effective and efficient than GPUs – and could be an opening for big tech firms to break into Nvidia’s stronghold. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The incoming Trump administration and Elon Musk’s role in it could be a new catalyst in the equation of how robotaxis will impact ridesharing. Lyft and Uber over the last few months have been on a dealmaking frenzy, most of them centered around autonomous driving. But now that Elon Musk’s influence is growing, that push could become more urgent – and tie-ups could go from partnerships to all-out consolidation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The impact of a second Trump administration on the AI trade: less regulation, potentially more volatility, and the China threat could all mean faster, unfettered development of the industry -- plus how Elon Musk's influence on AI policy could boost xAI against startup rivals. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The focus for big tech this earnings season has been finding ways to monetize AI – and one use that’s emerged is the military. Shares of Palantir surged after the company cited a boom in demand for its AI software from the U.S. government. And it’s not alone as other AI giants including Meta and OpenAI also look to expand their work with defense agencies. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As users search for election and voting information in new ways, generative AI startups may have the solution -- proving nimbler with less to lose than big tech firms. The startup Perplexity just unveiled a new dedicated election hub, promising answers to questions ranging from polling locations to election results, while for big tech names like Meta and Google, the lessons from 2016 may still be fresh. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI is the next catalyst for growth for the hyperscalers Amazon, Microsoft and Google – but whether it can offset spending is still unsettled. Alphabet’s quarter shows GCP is gaining on the other two, growing at a blowout 35% and changing the cloud landscape. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The market still hasn’t seen any examples of huge success in AI monetization for consumer-facing products, but Apple is differentiated in that its AI is free with a new Iphone or recent product. We dive into whether or not that will work out. Plus, OpenAI is rolling out a search function for ChatGPT, able to provide realtime access to things like sports, weather, and stock data, in a major challenge to Google and startup Perplexity. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Come Election Day, the future of big tech won’t be decided by either presidential candidate. Instead, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman has emerged as one of the most powerful people shaping AI policy. He’s put on a masterclass in wooing Washington, learning from Mark Zuckerberg and social media’s missteps on the Hill. And he’s turned OpenAI into a lobbying powerhouse, bringing on staff with deep ties to DC like its head of Global Affairs Chris Lehane. But just like when social media was in its early stages, lawmakers don’t have a handle on AI yet as the stakes only grow larger. Can we trust the people behind the curtain? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Alphabet jumped after reporting a big Q3 beat, reporting strong growth in cloud, search and YouTube. But one number you might not have seen yet: over 25% of all new code at Google is generated by AI. We dive into what that could mean for big tech earnings ahead and their push to be more efficient. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A big check on AI demand and spending is coming after the bell when Alphabet and AMD both report third-quarter results. Investors are looking to AMD’s print to see how it’s faring in its uphill climb to compete against Nvidia. Alphabet’s capex spending could also be a bellwether for how the rest of big tech earnings will shape up Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As power-hungry tech companies work to fuel AI data centers, the race for nuclear energy is on. Amazon led a $500 million investment into X-Energy, which develops small modular reactors. We spoke with CEO Clay Sell on what’s behind the nuclear craze. Plus, AI startup Sierra just raised a new $175 million in capital, quadrupling its valuation from January to $4.5 billion. We sit down with co-founder Bret Taylor on the age of the AI agents. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alphabet -owned Waymo just announcing a new $5.6B funding round led by its parent company with participation from investors including Fidelity, a16z, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. The robotaxi service has seen daily rides grow ten-fold in the past year, to more than 100,000 weekly paid trips. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As AI becomes more mainstream, the debate on how to regulate it is starting to take center stage. Recently OpenAI hired Chris Lehane as its head of global affairs with the goal of having a say in how these policies and regulations are formed. He sat down with Deirdre Bosa for a wide ranging interview about the company’s goals and why we need to think big and act fast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.