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 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.

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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

“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.”

Jon Keegan24h

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

$290K

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.

Jon Keegan2/10/26

Report: OpenAI shuttering 4o model due to sycophancy that was hard to control

This week, OpenAI plans to permanently remove its 4o model from ChatGPT.

The model has developed an unusually devoted group of users. But it also has been criticized for being overly sycophantic and allegedly may have led to a series of dangerous outcomes for its users, including suicide, murder, and mental health crises.

The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI’s decision to shutter 4o stems from the fact that the company was not able to successfully mitigate these potentially dangerous outcomes, and wanted to move users to safer models. Thirteen lawsuits against OpenAI alleging harm from the use of ChatGPT have been consolidated into one case by a California judge, according to the report. At least some of them are tied to users of the 4o model.

The company says only 0.1% of ChatGPT users still choose to use the model, but with 800 million weekly users, that’s still a lot of people.

Fans of the 4o model are decrying the deprecation of the model, citing its unique ability to offer affirmation and support.

The decision to get rid of 4o illustrates the strange new world of moderation that AI companies must now figure out.

Inside OpenAI’s Decision to Kill the AI Model That People Loved Too Much

The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI’s decision to shutter 4o stems from the fact that the company was not able to successfully mitigate these potentially dangerous outcomes, and wanted to move users to safer models. Thirteen lawsuits against OpenAI alleging harm from the use of ChatGPT have been consolidated into one case by a California judge, according to the report. At least some of them are tied to users of the 4o model.

The company says only 0.1% of ChatGPT users still choose to use the model, but with 800 million weekly users, that’s still a lot of people.

Fans of the 4o model are decrying the deprecation of the model, citing its unique ability to offer affirmation and support.

The decision to get rid of 4o illustrates the strange new world of moderation that AI companies must now figure out.

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