Tech Weekly: SpaceX's XAI Deal, Magnificent Seven Earnings, and AI Chip Approvals

SpaceX Acquires XAI in Landmark M&A Deal

• 🚀 Elon Musk announced that SpaceX acquired his AI startup XAI in what is reported as the world's largest ever M&A deal.
• 💰 The transaction reportedly valued SpaceX at $1 trillion and XAI at $250 billion, preceding SpaceX's planned IPO.
• 💬 This deal integrates SpaceX with the creator of the Grok chatbot, consolidating Musk's ventures in space and AI.

Big Tech Earnings: The 'Magnificent Seven' Shine

• 📈 Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla led a strong earnings season for major tech companies.
• 📊 Meta particularly impressed investors with a surge in ad revenue and first-quarter revenue forecasts exceeding expectations.
• 💡 Apple reported record iPhone sales across all regions during the holiday quarter, with revenue reaching $85 billion.
• 💰 Rival Samsung also experienced a significant end to the year, with operating profit tripling to nearly $14 billion.

AI Chip Approvals and Layoffs

• 🇨🇳 China has approved the import of Nvidia's H200 AI chips, a significant move to balance AI development needs with domestic semiconductor industry support.
• ⚠️ The H200 is Nvidia's second-most powerful AI chip and a point of contention in US-China relations.
• 🤖 Beijing has also reportedly approved DeepSeek, a top AI startup, to purchase the H200 chips.
• 📉 Amazon announced a significant restructuring with 16,000 job cuts worldwide, citing pandemic-era overhiring and an expansion of AI tool adoption.