tech

Max Knoblauch2/14/25

Dell shares get a boost on reports of $5 billion deal to sell servers to Musk’s xAI

Dell isn’t just a company that sells work laptops with excessive McAfee pop-ups.

Bloomberg reports that the PC powerhouse is close to striking a $5 billion deal to sell AI-optimized servers containing Nvidia semiconductors to Elon Musk’s xAI. Its shares were up more than 3% intraday.

Dell has rapidly boosted the AI server side of its business. In its November earnings report, Dell said it shipped $2.9 billion worth of AI servers and has an order backlog of $4.5 billion. Its servers and networking revenue rose 58% to $7.4 billion on the quarter. Analysts expect Dell to ship $14 billion worth of AI servers in its current fiscal year.

Last month, xAI launched a free app for its flagship chatbot, Grok.

Dell Nears $5 Billion AI Server Deal for Elon Musk’s xAI

Dell Nears $5 Billion AI Server Deal for Elon Musk’s xAI

Dell has rapidly boosted the AI server side of its business. In its November earnings report, Dell said it shipped $2.9 billion worth of AI servers and has an order backlog of $4.5 billion. Its servers and networking revenue rose 58% to $7.4 billion on the quarter. Analysts expect Dell to ship $14 billion worth of AI servers in its current fiscal year.

Last month, xAI launched a free app for its flagship chatbot, Grok.

More Tech

tech

Humanoid robot maker Apptronik raises $520 million

Apptronik, an Austin, Texas-based robot manufacturer, said it has closed out its Series A fundraising round, raising $520 million. The fundraising is an extension of a $415 million round raised last February, and included investments from Google, Mercedes-Benz, AT&T, and John Deere. Qatar’s state investment firm, QIA, also participated in the fundraising round.

Apptronik makes Apollo, a humanoid robot targeted for warehouse and manufacturing work. The company is one of several US robotics companies that are racing to apply generative-AI breakthroughs to humanoid robots, in anticipation of a new market for robots in homes and workplaces.

Apptronik Raises $520 Million in New Funding to Build More Humanoids

Apptronik Raises $520 Million in New Funding to Build More Humanoids

Apptronik makes Apollo, a humanoid robot targeted for warehouse and manufacturing work. The company is one of several US robotics companies that are racing to apply generative-AI breakthroughs to humanoid robots, in anticipation of a new market for robots in homes and workplaces.

Deserted CBOE floor

Patrick Sisson3h

tech

Ives: Microsoft and Google’s giant capex plans are worth it

Don’t mind the AI sell-off, says Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who thinks fears around seemingly unfettered Big Tech capex budgets are unfounded, especially in the case of Microsoft and Google. Together, the two hyperscalers are slated to spend around $300 billion on the purchases of property and equipment this year as they double down on AI infrastructure, but he says both have already shown that they can turn the spending into revenue and growth.

“They are reshaping cloud economics around AI-first workloads that carry higher switching costs, deeper customer lock-in, and longer contract durations than before,” Ives wrote, adding that these giant costs will be spread out over time and set the companies up for success in the long run. Per Ives:

“While near-term free cash flow optics remain noisy, the platforms that invest early and at scale are best positioned to capture durable share, pricing power, and ecosystem control as AI workloads mature. Over time, we expect utilization leverage to turn today’s elevated investment into a meaningful driver of long-term value creation.”

How the Big Tech companies are spending their huge capex budgets

How the Big Tech companies are spending their huge capex budgets

“They are reshaping cloud economics around AI-first workloads that carry higher switching costs, deeper customer lock-in, and longer contract durations than before,” Ives wrote, adding that these giant costs will be spread out over time and set the companies up for success in the long run. Per Ives:

“While near-term free cash flow optics remain noisy, the platforms that invest early and at scale are best positioned to capture durable share, pricing power, and ecosystem control as AI workloads mature. Over time, we expect utilization leverage to turn today’s elevated investment into a meaningful driver of long-term value creation.”

tech

Meta reportedly expands Hyperion data center site, purchasing an additional 1,400 acres

Construction is humming along on at Meta’s gargantuan Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

And Meta is seemingly already moving ahead with plans to greatly expand the site.

A new report from Forbes revealed that Meta has purchased an additional 1,400 acres adjacent to the construction site, increasing the overall size of the project by 62%. The massive size of the site is nearly 5 miles long and 1 mile wide.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the site “will be able to scale up to 5GW over several years.”

Meta is quietly expanding its $10 billion Hyperion AI data center, now sprawling to four times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park | Fortune

Meta is quietly expanding its $10 billion Hyperion AI data center, now sprawling to four times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park | Fortune

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the site “will be able to scale up to 5GW over several years.”

Rani Molla2/10/26

Tesla has been quoting the price of its long-awaited long-range Semi truck at $290,000, Electrek reports. The $290,000 price point represents a significant increase from the original $180,000, roughly 60% higher. However, it’s still well below the industry average for Class 8 electric semi trucks. California Air Resources Board data shows that the average cost of a zero-emission Class 8 truck was $435,000 in 2024, meaning Tesla is undercutting competitors by about $145,000.

On its last earnings call, Tesla said it would start production on the “designed for autonomy” electric commercial truck this year.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.

©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC