Tech
tech
Jon Keegan

More details emerge of rocky start to Meta Superintelligence Labs

This week, Wired reported that things weren’t exactly humming along in Mark Zuckerberg’s AI all-star-packed Meta Superintelligence Labs, with some recent hires leaving the company after just weeks.

Today more details are emerging from the Financial Times, which reports that the team of newly minted multimillionaire AI pirates is struggling to adapt to life inside a legacy Big Tech company.

The new recruits, some of whom were reportedly offered nine-figure signing bonuses, appear to be flexing their newfound power.

One of the highest-profile recruits, ChatGPT cocreator Shengjia Zhao, reportedly threatened to return to OpenAI just days after joining Meta and had even started filling out paperwork at his old employer before Meta appeased him with the new title of “chief AI scientist.”

Avi Verma, one of the recent hires who left, didn’t show for his first full day of work after going through Meta onboarding, according to the report.

Meta told the FT that “some attrition is normal for any organization of this size. Most of these employees had been with the company for years, and we wish them the best.”

Zuckerberg’s AI hires disrupt Meta with swift exits and threats to leave

Today more details are emerging from the Financial Times, which reports that the team of newly minted multimillionaire AI pirates is struggling to adapt to life inside a legacy Big Tech company.

The new recruits, some of whom were reportedly offered nine-figure signing bonuses, appear to be flexing their newfound power.

One of the highest-profile recruits, ChatGPT cocreator Shengjia Zhao, reportedly threatened to return to OpenAI just days after joining Meta and had even started filling out paperwork at his old employer before Meta appeased him with the new title of “chief AI scientist.”

Avi Verma, one of the recent hires who left, didn’t show for his first full day of work after going through Meta onboarding, according to the report.

Meta told the FT that “some attrition is normal for any organization of this size. Most of these employees had been with the company for years, and we wish them the best.”

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tech
Rani Molla

Amazon’s Prime Day is coming early this year

Amazon is moving its four-day Prime Day event up from July, where it’s been for the last five years, to June 23 through 26.

The retail giant cites scheduling clashes with the FIFA World Cup and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as reasons for the move. Prime Day is one of Amazon’s biggest sales events of the year, helping drive $24.1 billion in US online spending last year, according to Adobe Analytics.

More concretely, the move means Amazon will pull a massive chunk of sales from one of its biggest events into Q2, which ends June 30, rather than Q3.

Beyond the top-line revenue shift, Amazon is also using the event to flex its newer strategic muscles, aggressively cross-promoting its same-day grocery delivery networks and its Amazon Haul discount storefront.

tech
Rani Molla

Tesla’s China-made EV sales grew 39% in May, marking 7 straight months of growth

Sales of Tesla vehicles made at its Shanghai plant — produced for China, Europe, and other international markets — grew 39% in May to 85,982 vehicles, a record for the year.

The data marks the company’s seventh straight month of year-over-year wholesale growth for made-in-China vehicles and the company’s continued stabilization overseas. Across the entire Chinese auto industry, overall wholesale volume of so-called new energy vehicles — EVs and hybrids — produced domestically grew 12% from May 2025.

The China Passenger Car Association will report China-only sales later this month, offering a clearer picture of performance in Tesla’s second-largest market. On Monday, several European markets posted year-over-year sales growth for Tesla.

Tesla China May wholesale volume reaches 85,982 units, highest this year

Tesla China May wholesale volume reaches 85,982 units, highest this year

The China Passenger Car Association will report China-only sales later this month, offering a clearer picture of performance in Tesla’s second-largest market. On Monday, several European markets posted year-over-year sales growth for Tesla.

tech
Rani Molla

Alphabet announces $80 billion equity raise to fund AI infrastructure, including a $10 billion bet from Berkshire Hathaway

To fund its rapidly expanding AI infrastructure push, Alphabet just announced a whopping $80 billion equity capital raise.

While concerns over share dilution sent the stock down slightly after-hours, the deal secured a major anchor partner: Berkshire Hathaway, which is backing the offering with a $10 billion investment. (Berkshire was run by Warren Buffett until he stepped down as CEO at the beginning of this year, handing the reins to Greg Abel.)

Alphabet plans to spend up to $190 billion on capex this year.

Alphabet Announces Proposed $80 Billion Equity Capital Raise to Expand AI Infrastructure and Compute

Alphabet Announces Proposed $80 Billion Equity Capital Raise to Expand AI Infrastructure and Compute
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Rani Molla

Despite a massive surge in corporate AI spending, the technology is broadly failing to deliver the massive cost reductions executives had anticipated, according to a new global survey from Bain & Co. shared with Bloomberg. The largest share of major companies measuring their AI returns — 40% — realized cost savings of 10% or less, with poor access to internal data cited as the primary roadblock. Most had expected higher returns. More concerningly, Bain warned that many companies are using their original, overly optimistic projections — rather than their actual savings — to justify funding their next wave of expensive AI investments, creating a “circular bet with a structural leak.”

Rani Molla
6/1/26
Meta thinks it can save its hardware division with AI subscriptions. There are reasons to be skeptical.

An $8 AI subscription won’t plug a $19 billion hardware hole.

A visitor is seen trying a Ray-Ban Meta glasses at a Meta

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