- WSJ: SpaceX, xAI Tie Up, Forming $1.25 Trillion Company (Feb. 2, 2026)
SpaceX acquired Elon Musk’s xAI, combining rockets, satellites, and AI into a vertically integrated company valued about $1.25 trillion, with xAI near $250 billion. The share-exchange deal reflects prior investments, and signals plans for orbital AI data centers. - WSJ: OpenAI Plans Fourth-Quarter IPO in Race to Beat Anthropic to Market (Jan. 29, 2026)
OpenAI is accelerating plans for a Q4 IPO, holding informal bank talks and beefing up its finance team while racing rival Anthropic and SpaceX. The company is fundraising—seeking massive investments amid losses, competition, legal challenges and soaring infrastructure and chip costs. - The Hollywood Reporter: Darren Aronofsky Has Reconstructed the Revolutionary War Using AI (Jan. 29, 2026)
Darren Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup, with Google DeepMind, is producing On This Day… 1776, a Time YouTube series using AI visuals and SAG-AFTRA actors to reenact Revolutionary moments. Episodes drop on each 250th anniversary, reframing the Revolution, testing artist-led AI storytelling. - WSJ: Anthropic-Pentagon Clash Over Limits on AI Puts $200 Million Contract at Risk (Jan. 29, 2026)
Anthropic’s $200 million Pentagon contract is at risk after disputes over usage limits—its policies bar domestic surveillance and autonomous lethal operations, frustrating defense officials. Anthropic says it remains committed to national-security work and is negotiating with the Defense Department amid broader tension with the administration. - WSJ: The New Bipolar World of AI (Jan. 29, 2026)
AI creates a new imperial age in which sovereignty means the ability to build, train, operate and secure foundational AI for defense and state functions. Only the U.S. and China possess the scarce talent, energy, capital and trusted autonomy, so most countries must align, partner or lose agency. - Dean W. Ball: On AI Policy (Jan. 28, 2026)
Hands-on use of AI tools matters more than speculative policymaking by often-uninformed officials. They urge AI policy people to have policymakers try Claude Code or Codex so they grasp why AI will be significant. - WSJ: Apple Posts Blowout iPhone Sales, but Investors Focus on Higher Costs (Jan. 29, 2026)
Apple reported record December-quarter revenue of nearly $144 billion, driven by a 23% rise in iPhone sales to $85.3 billion, strong China demand and active devices topping 2.5 billion. Investors worry rising memory and chip costs tied to AI supplier demand could squeeze future margins.
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